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A review by themyskira
Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picoult
1.0
There are a number of major issues at work here, all of which come together to produce a colossal train wreck of a book.
The first problem is that, as I mentioned in my review of [b:Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Who is Wonder Woman?|154539|Wonder Woman, Vol. 1 Who is Wonder Woman?|Allan Heinberg|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340255934s/154539.jpg|149160], this 'soft' relaunch is based around the erroneous premise that Diana is so far removed from humanity that she can't relate to ordinary people, and that she needs to get a secret identity (as a very ordinary and relatable high-tech metahuman-fighting secret agent) in order to get in touch with her humanity. Given that one of Diana's most defining characteristics has always been her compassion and ability to relate to people from vastly different walks of life -- and that she's a one-time goddess of truth who has always been open about her identity -- this is utterly ridiculous. But DC wanted to boost sales and somebody really wanted to bring back the white-suited martial artist Wonder Woman of the 1960s, so here we are.
The second problem is that this story is intimately tied to DC's other brilliant plan to boost readership: the execrable Amazons Attack crossover storyline, in which thestraw feminists Amazons of Themyscira storm Washington DC for nonsensical reasons and nobody behaves remotely logically or in-character. And there's really nothing more I can say about that without dissolving into expletives.
And the third problem is that Picoult's writing is a mess. In every way.
Another thing I mentioned in my review of Who is Wonder Woman? was that Allan Heinberg's writing was all show and no tell. Picoult makes him look downright subtle. Like Heinberg, her method of reinforcing the theme of Wonder Woman's search for identity is to have Diana constantly tell us that she doesn't know who she is. Ditto, every issue Tom Tresser reminds us that his code name, Nemesis, means "enemy", before going on to muse about the thematic significance of this.
For reasons I don't understand, she also writes potential-love-interest Tom Tresser as the most unlikeable, boorish, sexist perv possible, and I think it's intended to be endearing.
Her take on Diana is mostly defined by (a) Diana's feeling of being alooooone and removed from humanity and unsure of who she is, and (b) her hilarious lack of understanding of how modern technology and society works (ha ha! she's so wackily archaic! good thing Wonder Woman hasn't been living in Man's World and interacting with modern society for years or this would make absolutely no se-- waitaminute.)
There's also this running "joke" that Wonder Woman is an unpopular superhero who's never gained the same level of following as Batman and Superman, and her merch doesn't sell and people think she’s kind of a lame superhero. Which... while I get that it's supposed to be meta, it mostly comes off as mean. And honestly, fuck off, Wonder Woman has always been portrayed as an individual who inspires. In fact, the very issue before the beginning of Picoult’s run was literally all about how Wonder Woman is an empowering and inspiring role model to ordinary women in the DC universe.
So, we've got anvilicious writing, bad characterisation, a weirdly creepy love interest-- and then three quarters of the way through the story Picoult completely loses track of the plot and ends up contradicting what she'd established only one issue before.
And ultimately, there's not even any proper resolution. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and an ultimatum which was them promptly swept away and ignored by the next writer. And everything is overwrought writing and dead Amazons and bees.
BEES. MY GOD.
The first problem is that, as I mentioned in my review of [b:Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Who is Wonder Woman?|154539|Wonder Woman, Vol. 1 Who is Wonder Woman?|Allan Heinberg|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340255934s/154539.jpg|149160], this 'soft' relaunch is based around the erroneous premise that Diana is so far removed from humanity that she can't relate to ordinary people, and that she needs to get a secret identity (as a very ordinary and relatable high-tech metahuman-fighting secret agent) in order to get in touch with her humanity. Given that one of Diana's most defining characteristics has always been her compassion and ability to relate to people from vastly different walks of life -- and that she's a one-time goddess of truth who has always been open about her identity -- this is utterly ridiculous. But DC wanted to boost sales and somebody really wanted to bring back the white-suited martial artist Wonder Woman of the 1960s, so here we are.
The second problem is that this story is intimately tied to DC's other brilliant plan to boost readership: the execrable Amazons Attack crossover storyline, in which the
And the third problem is that Picoult's writing is a mess. In every way.
Another thing I mentioned in my review of Who is Wonder Woman? was that Allan Heinberg's writing was all show and no tell. Picoult makes him look downright subtle. Like Heinberg, her method of reinforcing the theme of Wonder Woman's search for identity is to have Diana constantly tell us that she doesn't know who she is. Ditto, every issue Tom Tresser reminds us that his code name, Nemesis, means "enemy", before going on to muse about the thematic significance of this.
For reasons I don't understand, she also writes potential-love-interest Tom Tresser as the most unlikeable, boorish, sexist perv possible, and I think it's intended to be endearing.
Her take on Diana is mostly defined by (a) Diana's feeling of being alooooone and removed from humanity and unsure of who she is, and (b) her hilarious lack of understanding of how modern technology and society works (ha ha! she's so wackily archaic! good thing Wonder Woman hasn't been living in Man's World and interacting with modern society for years or this would make absolutely no se-- waitaminute.)
There's also this running "joke" that Wonder Woman is an unpopular superhero who's never gained the same level of following as Batman and Superman, and her merch doesn't sell and people think she’s kind of a lame superhero. Which... while I get that it's supposed to be meta, it mostly comes off as mean. And honestly, fuck off, Wonder Woman has always been portrayed as an individual who inspires. In fact, the very issue before the beginning of Picoult’s run was literally all about how Wonder Woman is an empowering and inspiring role model to ordinary women in the DC universe.
So, we've got anvilicious writing, bad characterisation, a weirdly creepy love interest-- and then three quarters of the way through the story Picoult completely loses track of the plot and ends up contradicting what she'd established only one issue before.
And ultimately, there's not even any proper resolution. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and an ultimatum which was them promptly swept away and ignored by the next writer. And everything is overwrought writing and dead Amazons and bees.
BEES. MY GOD.