6/3 — Wonder Woman: Mission’s End
The decision to turn Wonder Woman into a murderer ahead of Infinite Crisis was, if nothing else, flawed. Greg Rucka is known for placing his characters in impossible situations and forcing them to make terrible compromises, but in this case his Wonder Woman has crossed a bright red line, and it irreversibly weakens her character, which is not the most advisable thing to do to one’s flagship female hero.
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Of course Batman and Superman wouldn’t have done the same thing, in Diana’s position. Of course they have no sympathy for her plight, even as she tries to get them to understand why she had to do it. The fundamental justification that Diana is a warrior and sometimes warriors have to kill is thin and displeasing, because it makes it seem like all of the other heroes who haven’t had to kill are either not true warriors, or just incredibly lucky. I don’t think you can take an icon like Wonder Woman and push her down into the dirt without compromising the suspension of belief that it takes to appreciate Batman’s cunning or Superman’s faith. If Wonder Woman had been under control of Max Lord, and Superman had to find a way to stop her, he wouldn’t have killed Max. I mean that the writer would never have concluded that the story should end with Superman killing Max. The writer would have gotten Superman out of that situation without killing anyone. Just as they’ve always done for Batman. Why not Diana — what makes her less sacrosanct than the other two? There is no good answer.
All of this being said, Rucka’s run on Wonder Woman has been one of the most daring takes on a beloved female character that I’ve ever seen in comics. This glaring weakness that allows her to kill is most likely Rucka’s attempt to finally humanize Diana, after decades of trite writing have portrayed her as indelibly pure and kindhearted. That so many ordinary humans in this story still believe in Diana even after seeing what she did reveals that our own moral calculus yields results much closer to hers than to Bruce’s or Clark’s. This makes a lot of sense — I know I certainly don’t deserve to stand next to these heroes in the Hall of Justice. I suppose I still believe in Diana too. I just wish she hadn’t been put in this situation.
Regarding the finale, in which Diana spurns all manner of deus ex machina, ends up permanently exiled from Themyscira (which is gone), permanently shunned by her two closest allies, in trouble with various human authorities, and cut off even from her patron, the goddess Athena, all I can say is that Rucka’s disdain for happy endings is fully apparent here. It’s not until Infinite Crisis, after Superboy dies to save the universe, Nightwing nearly joins him, and Clark and Bruce each -almost- kill a villain, that they are willing to forgive Diana. Well, sort of. Clark has lost his powers, and all three want to take some time to understand themselves better, so rather than reforming the Justice League, they agree to go their separate ways. We won’t be seeing Diana as Wonder Woman again for a while. It’s gratifying that Rucka’s ending will stick with Diana in this fashion. Too often the next writer just immediately undoes everything that came before.
