In Wonder Woman #773, Diana Wraps Up Her Asgardian Adventure

The final battle of Diana’s trip to Adgard unfolds as the truth about the Valkyries is revealed in Wonder Woman #773 featuring a story by Becky Cloonan and Michael W Conrad, art by Travis Moore, colors by Tamra Bonvillain and letters by Pat Broseau.

Cat Purcell: Though I had some quibbles with some plot points of the last issue, this has been an enjoyable arc. This issue wraps up this stage well, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing Diana stomp around with some of my favorite Norse characters. I was excited to see how this team depicted the Valkyries and am looking forward to talking about this issue with you, Andrea!

Andrea Ayres: I’m happy to be back discussing Diana and the Valkyries with you. I admit to feeling less charitable towards the plot points. Still, I’m eager to get started in our discussion about Wonder Woman #773.

The Valkyries

Cat: We left Diana at the steps of the Valkyries’ crystal fortress. She puts the key in and comments to Ratatosk that this is all a misunderstanding and it’ll all go smoothly. This came off as very naïve to me. I like a Wonder Woman who sees the best in everyone, but for her to think that several people who’ve warned her that her squirrel buddy is a trickster are misguided is a little foolish. How did you take this opening scene?

Andrea: I kind of took it as she was sarcastic? Though, looking back on the subsequent panels, she does appear overly confident as she announces herself? The fact I’m not sure about that kind of gets into a widespread issue with the series. When is Diana just joking, when is she serious, when does the narrative want to impart a message about power, war and fighting, and when does it just want to have fun? For reasons we’re likely not privy to, the balance of these elements has felt off the entire run to me. I’m getting too far ahead of myself. What’d you think of us finally getting a chance to see the Valkyries?

Cat: I feel pretty similar to you on not being sure what mood we were currently in, but I did love the way Moore and Bonvillain depicted the Valkyries. They felt ethereal. They felt powerful. They definitely would have stopped me in my tracks had I broken down their door to get in uninvited! This scene here was one where the callbacks to some original comics felt earned. It’s been nice all long to have the narration boxes like Golden Age issues, and Moulton never shied away from having Diana bound, so this worked for me. On top of that, I found myself nodding along to each comment they said about being done cleaning up all the bodies day in and day out.

Andrea: I adore the Valkyries. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind just an entire series about them. Their luminescence was delicate and simple. I have trouble getting over how good Bonvillain and Moore are. I have trouble swallowing the idea that there is ever honor or glory in battle. I know, I know: then I’m reading the wrong comic. There’s something about the narrative here, those bits of exposition in particular, which I am genuinely exhausted. “War, valor, somewhere along the way those words lost their meaning.”

What disturbs me about this is that I have difficulty stomaching the concept of war having a meaning. The language feels almost reflexive, but it renders shallow. Either that’s because I find these platitudes shallow without deeper investigation in the first place, or the work simply wasn’t done in this series to get me to interrogate these ideas more. It is likely a bit of both.

That said, the juxtaposition of the etherealness of the Valkyries against Thor and his would-be army on page 6 is gorgeous!

Cat: I also stopped and just stared at that page and the next for a long time, admiring that contrast! I feel torn on this critique, Andrea! Let me start by saying you’re RIGHT, but I grew up on these tales and would beg to stay up late to watch every Klingon episode of Star Trek when I was a kid. Our world has an unfortunate, complex history with a need to defend itself and call a place its home, which meant violence was the answer. There are great stories where we can find our humanity in these would-be honorable warriors.

There’s good poetry in Conrad and Cloonan’s language: “A crackle of thunder, the bellowing of a thousand years of rage and entitlement, and the valkyries howling war cries swirl in the air around her. The storm is about to break”. I appreciate the Valkyrie’s point that even the Amazons are of this nature, with a need to fight to protect their own from the world and terrible deeds of man. That being said, gosh, I do wish we could find a way out of this need.

At heart, I am a pacifist who has never knowingly killed a creature in my life, and I don’t think I could bring myself to do it. Diana should exist as a character to try and thwart these violent efforts, to stop the drive of war from Ares. Though she steps in between the Valkyries and Thor with a, “The women were talking,” it smells of the same surface-level feminism that irks me. How did you feel about her intervention in the fight to end it?

Andrea: I suppose I have a bee in my bonnet because it’s not that I mind the existence of stories about heroes or valor, or even that we have a need to tell and pass down these tales. Stories that present these themes without deeper introspection rely on our cultural knowledge and biases towards “warrior” as “good” without always working to further our relationship to these words and tales. The evocation of the phrases and concepts becomes a place to hang a narrative hat to belay a depth that may (or may not) be deserved.

It’s not like Conrad and Cloonan started off wanting to tell that story, though, and I’m not suggesting that is the story they should have told. I wonder if we needed that particular exposition at all without more depth behind it? I may just be upset about not having more Valkeryies here before Thor barges in.

To get back to your question, however. Again, it’s so frustrating to me because I love the action, the line work of these panels, but I vehemently dislike the boiler-plate feminism. I have to moderate myself and keep in mind this comic is meant for a broad audience. My expectations aren’t always in line with the realities of modern comics publishing.

I think one of the great encapsulations of Diana is on page 12 when, after really diminishing the hell out of Thor, she touches his chin with her hand. She is soft, tender and strong. She has power, but she doesn’t always need to use it when kindness can be just as mighty. I didn’t mind Diana’s intervention because I realize these pages speak to a vast audience. Though that doesn’t mean I don’t find some of the sentimental #girlboss vibes a little much at times.

Cat: Hear, hear!

Dr. Psycho

Andrea: I don’t have a lot to say regarding Dr. Psycho? It felt anti-climatic to me. I also could have done without the entire Boston Brand (Deadman) cameo. I’m not sure what else to say about it? Dr. Psycho never felt like a very compelling villain in this arc. What were your feelings, Cat?

Cat: I definitely wanted more villainy out of Dr. Psycho. I expected him to do more than a little mind control via weapons. Though that was cool, I thought he was behind the missing warriors! The pun lover in me did chuckle at seeing Diana knocks him out while telling him to stop the head games. Deadman felt anticlimactic for sure, moreso than Dr. Psycho. Having not known him before this run, I was left feeling a bit more “why him?” Instead of the desire to learn more about him as a character.

Andrea: Thankfully, we don’t have to deal with Dr. Psycho for long before we are back with our mighty maidens (oh, and Thor). Page 16 of Wonder Woman #773 gave me a massive hunger. A hunger for a TTRPG game featuring all of these characters. Zoinks. I could have done with an entire issue of how they solved the problem between Asgard and the Valkyries. There is a good deal of information to digest, and we gloss over what might have been the most compelling bits. It’s just like, “Oh, Hey Diana! You are back. Anyway, we solved everything…” Am I too harsh?

Cat: Not at all! I wish this arc had another issue or two in it before concluding. There were some cool ideas, and character combinations here that I felt didn’t get enough room to breathe. I would love nothing more than a chance to drink around that table and debate the afterlife with this crew. On that note, I felt this issue showed a more consistent view of the Thor we were first introduced to and appreciated that.

Getting to meet Gundra, Brunhilde, and Fey was a delight. I wish they’d had more space for their arguments. Perhaps then the wrap-up and agreements would have felt more earned. Either I forgot or it was a VERY clever twist to add in that the spilled blood of the warriors was Yggdrasil’s nourishment. Once Diana realized it, though, that part clicked for me. I was surprised by how the Valkyries, who’d earlier wanted to give up replacing warriors at all to encourage the men to stop fighting, so easily agreed only to take one day off a week. That hardly seems fair, but I’d come around for each Thirsty Thorsday…

Asgard and Home

Cat: …Which we get to see a glimmer of as the Asgardians and Valkyries celebrate together in the hall. Of course, we can’t end without seeing Siggy again, who apparently has little in common with the same one from Prose Edda. How did you feel about Diana’s last night with him, Andrea?

Andrea: Listen, any time I get to see a hunk without his shirt on, I’m not going to complain. It’s my own Thirsty Thursday, I reckon. I was happy to see Siggy go after Diana as she attempts an epic Irish exist. The colors so well convey the magnificence of her journey as Diana makes her way home. What did you think of what she found when she arrives?

Cat: Absolute devastation. With the narration, I expected it to be amiss but not destroyed. I was not prepared to see Olympus in flames and shambles, and I could feel the horror and anger and sadness captured so well on Diana’s face in that last shot. And I’m at a complete loss for what could be next for her.

It did make me thankful for this past arc for her. Maybe the plots tied up too tightly in such a short arc, but Diana solved some mysteries, helped people find their peace and had a good night or two with a cute man. I hope she carries those memories with her into whatever comes next because she’s going to need it.

Andrea: I realize I’ve come off as a bit of a curmudgeon throughout our discussions together. I genuinely am sensitive to everything the writers have to juggle concerning continuity and marketability and I don’t want to discount the work done. I wish there was a little less because I found so many of the narrative threads so absorbing. The complex nature of comic production makes it nearly impossible to have the kind of payoff some of these storylines deserve. Diana certainly has an absolute mess in front of her, and you are right; I’m glad she has some happy memories to carry with her.

Cat: You’re totally fair in that, Andrea! From coming at this as a huge Wonder Woman and Norse Mythology nerd, I’ve had my one-bones to pick. I’m really disappointed that the worst Ratatoskr did in terms of trickery was to be a big ol’ gossip. I also really thought there was going to be more ore squeezed in there with Sigfried and Gram, but maybe that just gives them a chance to bring him back.

Final Thoughts

Cat: At the end of it, I’ve really appreciated the research and new ideas Cloonan and Conrad brought to this and I look forward to more! Moore and Bonvillain are a powerhouse of color and lines that make this one a reread for me!

Andrea: Please just give me a stand-alone comic featuring Gundra, Brunhilde, and Fey.

Wonderful Whims

“The name’s Wonder Woman, and I’m making it my business.” Hot damn!
As much as I liked Siggy, I hope going into June DC let’s Diana keep her canonically bi status in this next bit… -CP (Andrea absolutely agrees)
I swear I felt Brosseau’s “THOOM” on page 3