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A review by cleheny
Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympian by Gail Simone
4.0
I’m halfway through my re-read of Gail Simone’s run, and I find that I enjoy Rise of the Olympian more than I did the first-time through. A lot of threads that Simone laid out in her first two arcs (The Circle, Expatriate) really come together in this arc and the next, Warkiller. Not everything is successful, but enough is. I still think Rucka’s runs on Wonder Woman are the best stories I’ve read, but Simone’s take on Diana—strong, funny, compassionate, intelligent, principled, playful---is terrific. Where Rucka outdoes her is in the consistency of the quality of the storytelling; his runs feel intricately developed, everything leading to the climax, whereas Simone’s feel a bit disjointed. So the second volume, The Ends of the Earth, doesn’t pick up much on what the first two arcs started, and the final volume, Contagion, feels a very weak conclusion to the heart of her saga, which is contained in Rise of the Olympian and Warkiller. This may be due to editorial interference; I haven’t read enough of Simone’s other work to know if this approach is evident in her runs on other books.
The Circle’s antagonists—Alkyone and her fellow guardswomen/fanatics—resurface, though they fill a more ancillary role. It is the gods, in particular Zeus, who take center stage and drive the plot. At the beginning of The Circle, Diana was cut off from Themiscyra, the Amazons having been exiled and their memories wiped as punishment for the events of Amazons Attack! Hippolyta lives alone, remembering everything, and her only human companions the four imprisoned traitors. In order to save her mother from the Neo-Nazis sponsored by the Secret Society, Diana transfers her allegiance to the Polynesian god, Kane Milohai, another point that becomes critically important in this arc.
Zeus, to fulfill a promise to Athena, creates the Olympians, resurrected male Greek heroes, who are given their own island, Thalarion. Their leader, resurrected from fire and a brutal act by Zeus, is Achilles. Their purpose is to assume the mission of the Amazons and Diana. Because Zeus is arrogant and misogynistic, his plan to “honor” the Amazon’s thousands of years of sacrifice is really the ultimate disrespect—to strip them of who they are. This isn’t his motivation, he does “mean well,” but, at least in Wonder Woman stories, Zeus will always be a self-satisfied idiot who causes far more harm than he prevents.
But before Diana faces the first consequences of Zeus’ plan, she must confront the villain, Genocide. Genocide is a golem, derived from the corpse of a “magnificent warrior” which is magically infused with all of the hatred, violence, and cruelty of mankind, as captured in the soil of places like Auschwitz and Darfur. She is incredibly strong—as strong as, if not stronger, than Diana; she is unrelentingly ruthless; and she displays increasing levels of sadism as the story progresses. She can (and does) legitimately defeat Diana. In fact, their first fight is so conclusively won by Genocide that it makes it difficult to believe that Diana can eventually defeat her.
Simone enlists allies to support Diana, including Etta, Tom, and the DMA agents. But it’s the appearance of Donna and Cassie, the former and current Wonder Girls, that really moved me. They came together as both sisters and women who know their duty, even in horrific circumstances. The JLA also makes an appearance, although they are mostly there to be Genocide’s punching bags.
There are a few problems with Genocide, however. First, she is one-dimensional. She is nothing but hate and violence. Diana’s reluctance to kill her, therefore, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Genocide is a magical monster, and Diana has unhesitatingly killed those in the past. Here, after multiple acts of brutality and sadism by Genocide, Diana considers it “murder” to kill her. That’s not a logical position. There’s no hope of Genocide’s rehabilitation, and she is incredibly powerful and difficult for even Diana to stop, so killing her in the defense of humanity is justifiable. Second, and probably because she is one-dimensional, she’s not terribly interesting. Diana and the reader may not know what terrible thing she is going to do next, but we know it will be terrible and brutal. There’s not much mystery. Third, her character design is terrible. Several reviewers have described it as (bad) typical 90s’ design, and that’s about right.
Diana’s reaction to Genocide is also a bit problematic. There’s the reluctance to kill her, but, more significantly, there’s Diana’s reaction once she learns Genocide’s true origins. Before that reveal, Diana is feeling guilty and taking the blame for Genocide’s actions, presumably because After she learns Genocide’s origin, however, Diana doesn’t display any of that, only a determination to defeat the monster. That reaction doesn’t make sense, and, in fact, is a major flaw because
I still liked Tom Tresser in this, but I will say that I like him a bit more when he’s interacting with someone other than Diana. It’s not that he’s a jerk with Diana, but that he appears always conscious of his own unworthiness/insecure when with her. When he’s with someone else, his character really comes through, and he’s a really good guy, which is why what Genocide does to him more cruel.
Also, Diana’s predicament at the end of Rise of the Olympian is very effective. After the battle, she is forced to choose between her principles and sense of what is right and her allegiance to her family and the Olympian gods. That choice has devastating consequences for her.
The Circle’s antagonists—Alkyone and her fellow guardswomen/fanatics—resurface, though they fill a more ancillary role. It is the gods, in particular Zeus, who take center stage and drive the plot. At the beginning of The Circle, Diana was cut off from Themiscyra, the Amazons having been exiled and their memories wiped as punishment for the events of Amazons Attack! Hippolyta lives alone, remembering everything, and her only human companions the four imprisoned traitors. In order to save her mother from the Neo-Nazis sponsored by the Secret Society, Diana transfers her allegiance to the Polynesian god, Kane Milohai, another point that becomes critically important in this arc.
Zeus, to fulfill a promise to Athena, creates the Olympians, resurrected male Greek heroes, who are given their own island, Thalarion. Their leader, resurrected from fire and a brutal act by Zeus, is Achilles. Their purpose is to assume the mission of the Amazons and Diana. Because Zeus is arrogant and misogynistic, his plan to “honor” the Amazon’s thousands of years of sacrifice is really the ultimate disrespect—to strip them of who they are. This isn’t his motivation, he does “mean well,” but, at least in Wonder Woman stories, Zeus will always be a self-satisfied idiot who causes far more harm than he prevents.
But before Diana faces the first consequences of Zeus’ plan, she must confront the villain, Genocide. Genocide is a golem, derived from the corpse of a “magnificent warrior” which is magically infused with all of the hatred, violence, and cruelty of mankind, as captured in the soil of places like Auschwitz and Darfur. She is incredibly strong—as strong as, if not stronger, than Diana; she is unrelentingly ruthless; and she displays increasing levels of sadism as the story progresses. She can (and does) legitimately defeat Diana. In fact, their first fight is so conclusively won by Genocide that it makes it difficult to believe that Diana can eventually defeat her.
Simone enlists allies to support Diana, including Etta, Tom, and the DMA agents. But it’s the appearance of Donna and Cassie, the former and current Wonder Girls, that really moved me. They came together as both sisters and women who know their duty, even in horrific circumstances. The JLA also makes an appearance, although they are mostly there to be Genocide’s punching bags.
There are a few problems with Genocide, however. First, she is one-dimensional. She is nothing but hate and violence. Diana’s reluctance to kill her, therefore, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Genocide is a magical monster, and Diana has unhesitatingly killed those in the past. Here, after multiple acts of brutality and sadism by Genocide, Diana considers it “murder” to kill her. That’s not a logical position. There’s no hope of Genocide’s rehabilitation, and she is incredibly powerful and difficult for even Diana to stop, so killing her in the defense of humanity is justifiable. Second, and probably because she is one-dimensional, she’s not terribly interesting. Diana and the reader may not know what terrible thing she is going to do next, but we know it will be terrible and brutal. There’s not much mystery. Third, her character design is terrible. Several reviewers have described it as (bad) typical 90s’ design, and that’s about right.
Diana’s reaction to Genocide is also a bit problematic. There’s the reluctance to kill her, but, more significantly, there’s Diana’s reaction once she learns Genocide’s true origins. Before that reveal, Diana is feeling guilty and taking the blame for Genocide’s actions, presumably because
Spoiler
Genocide stole the lasso and is using it to psychically injure Diana’s friends and allies, in addition to the physical harm she inflicts.Spoiler
Genocide’s body is Diana’s; Wonder Woman is the “magnificent warrior” whose corpse is used to create the monster. Diana does have a moment of, “I did this,” but Athena is quick to reassure her that, no, Genocide’s real spirit is all Ares—Diana has nothing to do with it. Not only does that seem a cheap absolution, it doesn’t square with Athena’s other statement, that Diana has to accept that Genocide’s body was once Diana, for how else could Genocide wield the lasso made for Diana’s hand? This is problematic, as it suggests that the lasso was designed for Diana’s body, and not her soul. So, anyone inhabiting Diana’s body (evil magical golem, someone who possesses it) can effectively wield the lasso. But, in the Ends of the Earth—the preceding arc, Diana loses her connection to the lasso because her soul is stolen from her body. With that precedent, for Genocide to wield the lasso, she would have to have some piece of Diana’s soul; otherwise, she shouldn’t be able to do anything with it. And both Athena and Diana should realize that, so Athena’s consolation shouldn’t make any difference.I still liked Tom Tresser in this, but I will say that I like him a bit more when he’s interacting with someone other than Diana. It’s not that he’s a jerk with Diana, but that he appears always conscious of his own unworthiness/insecure when with her. When he’s with someone else, his character really comes through, and he’s a really good guy, which is why what Genocide does to him more cruel.
Also, Diana’s predicament at the end of Rise of the Olympian is very effective. After the battle, she is forced to choose between her principles and sense of what is right and her allegiance to her family and the Olympian gods. That choice has devastating consequences for her.