Amy Reads the Week (of February 3rd, 2008)

Yesterday, Mr. Reads and I went out to A Nice Dinner With Friends, and as it often happens while driving, Gentle Reader, talk turned to comics. There has been Great Hubbub in the World about the “new” Captain America, and this led, naturally—in the Reads Household, that is!—to talk of legacies. Mr. Reads told me that apparently Rumor Has It that Batman may follow in Captain America’s footsteps, so to speak.

“Who would you pick as Batman’s replacement, then?” This Humble Author asked Her Darling Husband.

“I’m not sure,” Mr. Reads said. “Probably Dick.”

I would prefer Tim, and said so, although We Reads agree that Tim’s desire to be a grown-up Robin is smarter and Much More Interesting than a desire to be Batman.

“What if Wonder Woman died?” Mr. Reads asked in the hypothetical questioning that We Reads often enjoy during car rides. “Who would you pick for her replacement?”

I thought about this, Gentle Reader, long and hard. Who would be a suitable replacement for the Amazon Princess? Wonder Girl is, naturally, the Next In Line, but I think Cassie is too young to take on the mantle. Donna? Never. Here is my Secret Confession, Friends: I loathe Donna Troy as a character. I am just Uninterested in her storylines, and find her a Poor Replacement for The Wonder Woman.

“Grace,” I said, after much deliberation. “If Diana were to die, Grace Choi should become Wonder Woman.”

Grace, like Barda, like Diana, is one of the characters that This Humble Author is most fascinated by. There is something about the Amazon, the statuesque, incredibly strong woman that intrigues me. Perhaps—just perhaps, Gentle Reader!—it is because This Humble Author never attained the height she felt herself destined to be. I am, dare I say, completely and utterly average. Too short to be tall, and too tall to be short. In the middle of it all, I never felt comfortable here. I aspired to just shy of six feet. I stopped growing several inches shy.

When I dabble in the more creative arts, I find my heroines, again and again, to be tall. Some are preposterously tall for their time, while others, well, most, hover just around 5’10. My heroes, too, are Rather Tall, and My Most Beloved Hero is an astonishing 6’5. But for Grace, for Barda, and for Diana, we are presented not with the statuesque woman, who is tall and slender as a weed, but rather, with the Amazon. The woman who is tall, and muscled, and very, very strong. Most importantly, when drawn well, these characters are Very Strong Indeed, as their image projects. Wonder Woman is never as fascinating as when she is meaty. Barda is nothing if not muscled. And Grace? As a Bana Amazon, she, too, follows along those lines.

I confess, Gentle Reader, that I have not yet read the latest issue of Gail Simone’s fantastic run on The Amazon Princess, and so thus I confess that I have no review for you today. But I do have it, and am excited to finally (!) have the time to read. So I should run away and do that very thing, no?