I WILL HAVE THE TRUTH

One of the aspects of ancient mythology that I enjoyed studying the most was mythic syncretism. It's the process which variant versions of a myth meet, interact, and eventually synthesize into one broader but unified myth.  

Mythic syncretism is an exciting literary process and one that stretches beyond the tastes of individual authors and audiences; it's key to making sure that stories are not ephemera but contribute to the evolution of myths that can last across time.  Much of what we take as original, essential characteristics of our comic book characters is in fact the result of the syncretism process.  One of my earliest posts was about how the Mad Hatter as we know him today is the result of such syncretism.  Syncretism is why I don't freak out as much as other fans do when the television or cinema version of some hero's story "isn't right" and doesn't agree with canon. Well, of course, it doesn't.  If it did, there would be little reason to make it.  Maybe it will contribute some new wrinkle or viewpoint to the myth. Maybe what it does will be too out-of-line, and be rejected; but even that contributes to the reaffirmation of the existing myth.  

It's a fascinating process, as if entire civilizations were individual authors trying to establish a continuity that encompasses different and sometimes contradictory stories about particular characters or events. It often reveals what the purpose of the myth itself is, which elements are most essential to it, and sometimes makes the story a more universal one, accessible to a broader audience.

Very much as DC is trying to do right now. The writers (and the characters they are writing) are trying to reconcile divergent sets of stories (the New52 DCU and the Post-Crisis DCU...maybe the Pre-Crisis one as well).  And nowhere in the DCU is that process being embraced for what it is more fully than in--appropriately enough--the mythology-based Wonder Woman Rebirth #1.  

Wonder Woman quite literally address her realization that she has more than one backstory: "why does my story keep changing?"  Vowing to get to the bottom of it, she repudiates her recent characterization as a God of War.  She crushes the Helm of Ares (which should not be doable even for her) and points out the first casualty in war is....the truth.  This, along with her vow to uncover who has deceived her and why, is a unequivocal reaffirmation that 'truth' rather than 'war' is the core concept of the character.  

I have to note that 'truth' being one of Wonder Woman's  core concepts is NOT original to the character.  If you read her Golden Age adventures, you'll see that the core concepts are ones of aggression/submission and love/hate.  What we now call 'the lasso of truth' was in fact a lasso of CONTROL  Because 'submission to a loving authority' was the concept that Wonder Woman's creator, William M. Marston, thought of as being at her core.  History had a different idea, as it turned out, and through various other post-Marston versions of her, Wonder Woman became about truth; it was a result of syncretism.  

In the Superman books, Rebirth is an issue of responsibility.  Details of recent history be damned; this looks like a job for Superman and he's going to do it, and chance the consequences, because Superman is a man of action.

In the Batman books, Rebirth is a mystery.  Batman and his fellow detective the Flash intend to find out which thief stole history from the DC and right that injustice.

In the Wonder Woman books, Rebirth is matter of myth, of figuring out which version of her story is true, because myths matter.  In the fashion of Greek myths, Wonder Woman speaks about concepts in a personified way, e.g., "the lie is afraid of me" and "hostility, the child of fear".  She vow to "find the source of the deception".  My hope is we are seeing the reintroduction of the perfect foe for Wonder Woman; not Ares God of War (because Wonder Woman has always been quite willing to do battle for what is right), but rather Deception God of Lies.

In any case, I am for now, definitely along for the ride.  Because this is a Wonder Woman that works for me.

  

But the water is REALLY well drawn...

There are a great many words in Aquaman Rebirth #1.

I'm not sure they are all necessary. I'm not sure ANY of them are necessary.  

The dialog? Yes, dialog is necessary. But the bulk of the words in Aquaman #1 is crammed into a seemingly endless stream of voiceover boxes that the writer is trying almost desperately to use to convey all possible information and viewpoints about Aquaman (presumably for new readers).

There are a few problems with this approach.

• It's very distracting from the action (which is kind of cool, with Aquaman kicking the patooties of some Atlantean terrorists and then spending some downtime with Mera).
• The narrator (we discover at the end) is actually an unreliable (or at least biased) one.  This undermines the validity of everything being said.
• In fact some of what's being said doesn't seem quite right.  Particularly with regard to Mera.
• It skews the show/tell ratio and is mostly redundant.  I think I could 'read' this entire comic without looking at any of the voiceover boxes, and still 'get it'.

I applaud the reintroduction of Atlantis's 'lower castes' as (sometimes terrorists) foes of the rapprochement with the surface world.  It's a realistic problem and one that only Aquaman can deal with.

I decry the characterization of Mera as unfamiliar with surface culture and unwilling in her role as ambassador to it.  This precisely NOT what was show in the previous two issues.  She lives in New England; she should already know what 'chowder' is.

But Aquaman himself is in good character and I am looking forward to seeing where this renewed series goes.

Confucius Say: The More Things Change...

Everyone is focused on the new Superman storyline that leads from the New52 into Rebirth.  Superman is dying and is setting up a team of "super-substitutes" to take up the slack after he's gone.

With four replacements -- Supergirl (the search for whom is a plot point), Superwoman (now revealed to, somehow, be Lois Lane), pre52 Superman (Superdaddy?), and "New Superman", the Chinese guy who gets some of Superman's powers -- DC is clearly echoing the "Reign of the Four Supermen" that followed "The Death of Superman" in 1993.  And pretty cleverly, I think.  Whereas in 1993, Superman was replaced by four men (okay, actually ONE man, one boy half-clone, one cyborg half clone, and one...well, whatever the heck The Eradicator was supposed to be), now in 2016, he'll be succeeded by two men (an adult and a YA) and two women (an adult and a YA).   

But this section from Vaneta Roger's coverage at Newsarama reminds me of a different old Superman Story:

In Superman #51, readers were shown a character in China named Dr. Omen, who was hacking into the Fortress of Solitude. (Apparently, there was a compromise created by the fusion of the Justice League and Stormwatch operational bases, or maybe it was because of Vandal Savage.) Superman's system booted Dr. Omen's system out, but not before she apparently got enough info to do whatever it is she was trying to do.
She then refers to a figure who's in some type of stasis chamber, "Your time to shine has come. All my dreams are on their way."
Then in Batman/Superman #31, "New 52" Superman is talking to Batman when they're both attacked suddenly by the "Four Pillars," the "embodiment of the Chinese zodiac."  One of the creatures draws blood from Superman with a claw, then teleports away.
It's all very mysterious. But it's probably related to the upcoming new title, New Super-Man, which launches in July and stars a Superman in Chinese culture who has been "infused" with Superman's powers.
Tomasi acknowledged that the New Super-Man is related to what's happening in China in "Final Days."  "Everything out of Superman #51, from the China stuff to… these are all threads that are all now tying together, right into all the Superman books coming out of Rebirth," he said.
So is that in-stasis figure the new Chinese Superman? And what does Dr. Omen have to do with it? And how does he get infused with Superman's powers?

Interesting.  A reasonable plot development.  A foreign power (or just someone in one) tries to 'bottle' some of Superman's body so as to copy it.

But I can't help be reminded of:

THE SINO-SUPERMEN!

In the late 1970s, DC Comics was -- much like now-- all about the Bat-family.  DC liked extended dynasties generally (e.g. "The Superman Family", "The Shazam Family"); but they were particularly fond of the Bat-family.  That's what gave us stuff like The Joker's Daughter:

Gods help me.  I still love that storyline, I just can't help it, no matter how stupid it was.

It was in this period that Batgirl discovered she had a previously unknown brother, Tony Gordon.

And that pornstaches, big rimmed glasses, and an air of presumptive authority are genetic.

Anyway, he was being held captive by the Chinese communist government for balloon-spying (because comics just love balloons).  He was rescued/escaped and got a new identity as a tour guide at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where he runs into his sister when Captain Aero--oh, never mind, it's too stupid to explain.

The point is, eventually, she discovers his existence and as a result faces off against ersatz Chinese communist supersoldiers called; THE SINO-SUPERMAN.

They were genetically altered to duplicate the powers of certain Justice Leaguers, giving us female Flash, cinch-belt Green Lantern, fabulous pillbox hat Firestorm.

I can't imagine how this process helped make a Green Lantern.  

Maybe instead of a power ring he just had an impervious skull.

And of course... a Chinese Superman.

Best thing about the Sino-Superman? LOTS OF BIG BARE MUSCLE CHINESE THIGHS, poised to crush my decadent capitalist hegemony. 

Uh, I mean....OUR decadent capitalist hegemony.

Anyway, the zapping process by which these people with superpowers was (of course) unstable, so as soon as they had used their powers once or twice...

they exploded. 

Fortunately, they didn't care. Because they were Chinese, after all.  Dulce et decorum est, you know.  I mean, who wouldn't want to undergo a fatal procedure for a panel or two of superpowers, only to be kicked to an explosive death by an American congresswoman in high-heeled yellow boots?

The idea of a Chinese (semi-)Superman is certainly engaging.  But there are parts of this new storyline (like the ethnically themed Chinese Zodiac attack squad, the insidious Chinese scientist, etc.) that I find just too uncomfortable reminiscent of the Sino-Superman storyline, which its emphasis of Asian governments trying to steal and make poor copies of American technology (in this case, superheroes).  

I am eager to read about this New Superman.  I just hope their keep him far away from Batgirl (and her boots).