Why I Changed My Mind About Wonder Woman

Continuing to spotlight my drawings, which I've neglected to do as of late, I thought I'd take a crack at drawing Wonder Woman. I've never tried to draw Wonder Woman, so I was up to the challenge.

Wonder Woman

This is a drawing that could benefit from colorization, which I'll most likely attempt soon. Hey, I might as well keep the experiments coming. I'll probably run it through Photoshop to do so, in order to clean up the lines. An illustrated woman benefits from clean flowing lines. I also want to add a background.

Truthfully, I was never really into Wonder Woman while exposed to comics. I understand that she's one of the Big Three, and holds a very special place in comic book history, but I just didn't have any desire to read about the character. She seems way too perfect, and let's face it, at times she can be a bitch. Not even the Justice League cartoon made me feel any better about the character.

That all changed after I read Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

Please bear with me if you're not a comic book reader. If you are one, there be SPOILERS ahead!

In Countdown, Blue Beetle, a second-rate hero and former member of the Justice League International, stumbled upon a conspiracy that endangers the entire world. And no one believed him. Batman disregarded him, Superman had more pressing matters to attend to, and the rest of the heroes, well, had better things to do than go on a wild goose chase. No one believed him, except for his best friend Booster Gold, and Wonder Woman. With Booster Gold in the hospital, and Wonder Woman on another assignment, Beetle went himself to uncover the conspiracy. Blue Beetle ended up being right, discovering a spy satellite that was once Batman's but is now under the control of a villain. With it, this villain knows the whereabouts and identities of every hero in the DC Universe. Sadly, Blue Beetle was shot in the head by former ally and once head of the Justice League International, Maxwell Lord. No one knew the fate of Blue Beetle. Within 80 pages, you learn to love him, then he dies.

With Beetle's whereabouts unknown, Wonder Woman agrees to help Booster Gold find his best friend. When they find out, Booster angrily attacks Batman for dismissing him.

Now here's where it gets good. Maxwell Lord, Beetle's killer, has a plan to kill all the superheroes and villains on Earth called The OMAC Project, which is what Blue Beetle also stumbled upon. He also has the ability to control minds. With Batman hot on his trail, he enacts a plan that he's been working on for years: gaining control of Superman. Infiltrating his mind, Max made Superman see his worst enemies brutally kill his wife Lois Lane. Superman went on a rampage as a result, almost slaughtering his enemies. But what he didn't know was that he wasn't fighting Brainiac, Darkseid, or Ruin. He was fighting Batman, seriously injuring him. If Wonder Woman hadn't interrupted, Batman would be dead.

When Martian Manhunter discovered it was Maxwell Lord who did this to Superman, and determined it was irreversible, a devastated Clark incapacitated the Justice League and went to confront him. However, he walked right into his trap. Wonder Woman followed him only to find Superman once again under Max's control. What follows is a brutal fight between Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman was seeing Doomsday rip Lois apart, and believed Wonder Woman to be Doomsday. He was not holding back. But Wonder Woman held her own (barely) and eventually tied Maxwell Lord up in her lasso. Flinging her tiara at Superman's throat, she demanded Max release control of him. He did, leaving a stunned Superman now aware of what he's done. Max says this won't stop him, saying he'll regain control of Superman, killing Batman, Lois, and many more. She asks him how to release his control of Superman. Bound by the Lasso of Truth, Max Lord said "Kill me."

Without hesitation, Wonder Woman snapped his neck.

THIS is why Wonder Woman kicks ASS. She did what was necessary for the safety of the entire world without flinching. She is a warrior after all, and has no qualms about killing when no other option presents itself.

However, the Big Three are split. WW and Superman don't trust Batman because it was his satellite they didn't know about. WW and Batman don't trust Superman because of the brutal beatings he handed down to them. Superman and Batman don't trust Wonder Woman because of her willingness to take a life.

This makes for compelling reading. Props to Greg Rucka, for it was him who wrote all that. It will no doubt lead into the Infinite Crisis that will shatter the DC Universe.

Phew! Thanks for bearing with me folks.

Comic Musings

It's that time again! Yup, time to get nerdy! Pass the Fonions and
polish off your pocket protectors! I'm gonna talk about comics.

Back in 2003 Marvel Comics decided to release a line of comics called Tsunami. The hook of the line was that it was influenced by manga comics, or Japanese comics, which have been gaining in popularity lately, sometimes pushing American published comics off the shelf. The titles were Mystique, Venom, Sentinel, Inhumans, Human Torch, Runaways, New Mutants, and Namor. They were written by up and coming writers and featured manga influenced art by up and coming artists.

They were all eventually cancelled.

Runaways lasted for 18 issues and Mystique lasted 36 or so, and New Mutants was later renamed New X-Men: Academy X (Because they didn't have enough X's in the title). But still, all kaput.

Sentinel, written by Sean McKeever and penciled by UDON, was the only one I bought every issue of and I loved every bit of it. For those of you who remember, a Sentinel was one of those giant purple robots that dominated the first season of the old 90s X-Men cartoon on FOX. They pop up every couple of years in the comics in some form or other, but they all have the same origin: built by the government to exterminate mutants.

The comic uses this robot, but in a different way. The comic was about a
high-schooler named Juston who finds the remains of a mutant-hunting Sentinel, and decides to fix it up and keep it. The premise sounds cheesy and a bit familiar (Iron Giant anyone?) but I was surprised about the complexity of it all. It's not really about the Sentinel at all. It's about Juston. It's about a 9th grader who gets picked on by bullies and whose mother ran from the family. It's about a normal kid who has crushes on girls and best friends who stand by him. And he has a robot of his very own. What he does with it is where the story comes from. I also found it appealing that he basically turns a weapon of mass destruction into a force for good. Unfortunately, just as the story was getting even better, the series ended with issue #12.

Juston and his Sentinel

But, like the manga they were influenced by, most of the books were released in digest form, then sold in bookstores. Runaways, the other good book of the line, sold well enough to get a second chance. The second volume is now selling pretty well.

And just recently it was announced that Sentinel will also continue in a second volume. And I'm very happy about that. I love it when comic companies do what I want them to, cause they rarely do.

I started that picture at work a few weeks ago, then finished it last night. A few of my sketches start like that. The Sentinel is supposed to look a bit derelict, since it was practically rebuilt with spare parts and stuff. I didn't get a chance to draw its main power source: a snowmobile engine.

The author's site can be found here.

Just Around the River Bend...

Sometimes things don't go the way they're planned. In that case, you pick up the pieces, brush yourself off... and go white water rafting!!!

Ben was nice enough to bring Jon and I with him and his family to Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania for a camping/rafting trip. And it was a blast!

I'm not buying a better photo.

I've never been rafting before so it was new to me, but it was fairly simple to learn the methods of navigating the rapids of the Youghiogheny River. Ben's brother Pete was elected captain, shouting commands like "all forward" and "back left." If we got stuck on a rock, we move to the other side of the raft and bounce up and down. It was upwards of a four hour trip, and every bit of it was fun. Sure, it was a little tiring at parts, but when we'd stop to rest there was always a nice view to admire. We stopped midway to eat lunch that they prepared for us.

Another interesting tidbit: I didn't fall out!!! We had a crew of 6, and only 3 fell out of the raft into the rough cold waters. Ben was, of course, one of them, his cousin Chrissy and his dad following suit. I laughed like a madman, which hurt, because the vest was on so tight.

The company we rafted with was Wilderness Voyageurs.

Thank you Ben and his family for including me on the trip. I'd gladly do it again.

You Will Believe a Pat Can Fly

I'm high!

Between the last update and this one, I had a birthday. I didn't really advertise that, but a few of my friends threw together something anyway. Awesome cake.

Anyway, I got a new bookshelf to replace my old one. I still haven't figured out a better way to store my comic books, but at least my other books, novels, and DVDs have an organized place to reside. I also recieved money. You can never go wrong with money. I recieved a copy of Boondock Saints, one of my favorite movies. And someone got me a flight lesson.

Driving up to Frederick Airport, I was greeted by a flight instructor (whose name escapes me at the moment) then took me to a plane, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. After preflight checks, he guided me through taxiing to the runway, then through takeoff.

I flew the plane for about half an hour. It's very easy and I played with some G-forces for a bit, flying over Harper's Ferry close to Brunswick. Then we landed. It was fun.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

I'll be going away this weekend, but I should update when I get back.