Wednesday, September 17, 2008

"Babies, Babies, Babies"; or, Amy Reads as a Fan

Not as an academic, Gentle Reader, or as a Reviewer. Not tonight. Not now. Tonight, I am a bit morose. Not suffering under any Romantic pretense of ennui, no, nothing so intellectual. Just a general sense of The Grumpies. So tonight, rather than reading in preparation of class, or working on various Bits and Sundries of Those Things More Important Than Comics, I instead Read Comics.

And I Read Comics as A Fan.

As Constant Readers of Arrogant Self-Reliance are aware, there is nothing of which I am a Fan more than The Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman #24 is *fun*, and *serious*, and *witty*. This is the complexity of Wonder Woman, surrounded by the complexities of Her Past. Beginning at Home, with a mother who decrees that Tom and Diana give her "Babies, Babies, Babies," we move from demands that Tom Tresser is "Not Food," to the gorilla guards' demands to "hear more about this fresh fruit portion of the negotiations." That is to say, I laughed out loud, and there is nothing I love more than laughing at good dialogue.

(Especially while suffering under my current general malaise.)

But here is The Thing, Gentle Reader. We get two panels of Wonder Woman, hugging a woman in need. And at a moment when This Humble Author is feeling--dare I say it?--rather fragile and In All Honesty in need of a hug, I felt myself thinking, "Wonder Woman hugs well."

She does, Friends, with whole heart and emotion, with no expectation and no sense of pulling away. The focus in on her face, with its eyes closed, its expression consoling and gentle, and you remember this is a Woman who is a Sister, used to hugging. This is the Diana responding to the birthday party from several issues ago. This is the Diana lamenting over the lack of hugs in her new life, her new workplace.

This is Diana, longing for her Sister Amazons.

Wonder Woman #24 deserves a Smart Review. A Longer Review, at least, something more In Depth, examining its place within The Mythos, the Larger Arc, and Simone's Larger Run. But rather, this evening, I would like to say simply, I liked it, very much.

Very Much Indeed.

1 comment:

skullduggery said...

I quite enjoyed the issue as well.
And I also got a chuckle out of the 'fresh fruit portion of the negotiations' statement.