CRISIS ON INFINITE ORIGINS OF THE SUPERFLUOUS, MISSING MISTER WONDER

[Second Edition]

By Edgar Miraculous Dyer

I am not sure Prince Jason, Wonder Woman's twin brother, should exist, ..at all. At least, I'm not sure he should have had a storyline built around him, in the Wonder Woman comic.

It might have been smarter to introduce Prince Jason in a smaller way, without devoting an entire issue to him. It might have been smarter to, instead, use that time to show him in action, with or against his sister, in some spectacular, game-changing role to play. I think, if he had appeared briefly in the story, leaving a decisive impact, we would be having a different conversation about him ..and looking forward to the special "The Amazing Origin of Wonder Woman's Brother, Jason" issue, filling in the blanks, ..later.

In the good, ole day, a popular superhero's brother would have been introduced to us, as if he'd been there, all along!

That's how many of the great comic book characters were introduced. Prince Jason isn't one of those.

In James Robinson's "Wonder Woman: Children Of The Gods", pre-prince Jason shows up, out of nowhere, ..is presented to us, as Wonder Woman's wonder-powered, twin brother, ..who is revealed to be allied, with her (then) silver-skinned arch-nemesis, Grail, ..before repenting, ..joining forces with his wonder-sister ..and sacrificing his own life, in battle with some evil, space gods, we've never heard of [Koff, koff], ..to save the world! What an entrance! Killing off a super-powered brother from nowhere, without a proper superhero name, in a fight, with no narrative jump-on point, at which we care, who Jason is, could be...or whether he lives or dies? For superhero comics, a medium - a genre, even - whose readers aren't typically kind to brand new characters...

That is asking a lot. That would be asking a lot, for a new Wonder Girl, a character, for whom there is already considerable good will, among fans.

Look at him! I don't know what the hell's going, on with this costume, ..but look at him! (Figure by HeroClix)

Firstly, Prince Jason wasn't just brand new to us, at the time; he was a brand new character to the Wonderverse*, as well. In classic literary fashion, Wonder Woman and Jason were separated at birth. Their father, the Greek god, Zeus, is basically, a stranger to both, with virtually no narrative history, between them. Wonder Woman's mortal friends and Amazon sisters have never heard of Jason or any exploits of his, worthy of celebration. As such, Jason had to come out of the gate blowing us readers, away! His retconned-in (as if he'd always been there) introduction had to convince us that the comic was incomplete, without him. It had to convince us that we'd been waiting for him, up to this point, ..but didn't know it! This is what happened, in the pages of the Superman and Batman comics, ..with Supergirl and Batgirl, respectively.

[Edgar Miraculous Dyer coined the term 'Wonderverse' on the Comic Book Resources community forums.]

That is not what happened, with the creation of Prince Jason, in Wonder Woman.

Secondly, James Robinson's Prince Jason has a branding problem. DC Comics' patron superhero of Greece - the Olympian - possesses the powers of several Greek gods and wears a uniform, bearing symbols of the mythical Argonauts (ram’s horn, golden armor, etc), ..all of which Robinson has given to Prince Jason. He even showed us Jason saving Demetrios, from being gunned down by Greek terrorists, a superheroic exploit, which conceivably sets up Jason claiming the mantle of a new Olympian! It seems pretty clear, ..right down to the big ram emblem, on Jason's magical, Excalibury, Prince Of Persia'ish armor, and his being raised and trained by Argonauts, that Jason inheriting the title is Robinson's intention, but, for whatever reason, Children Of The Gods leaves him, ..unbranded.

For the brother of the First Lady of Superhero Comics, that is a huge problem. Ultraman of Earth-1, the Argonaut, Wonderstorm, the Olympian, Mister Wonder, Wonder Boy - gotta' call the sod something snappier, than plain, dull-ass 'Jason!'

Superhero codenames are more, than just names, to readers of comics. For Wonder Girl, Batwoman and Superboy, the family codename – Wonder, Bat, etc. - and insignia tell the world, “This is our guy. He represents us. Respect him, as you do, Batman or Wonder Woman, ..and expect no less of him!” Why Robinson wasn't allowed or chose not to brand Prince Jason, in some way that points back to the Wonders, ..only made us less confident, in his creation. Less confident in his purpose, less trusting in his creed…

Less confident in his fitness to wear the Wonder brand, ..the eagle, stars, double double-u and all.

This, as I see it, may be one of the biggest failures of James Robinson’s Children Of The Gods. All the pieces for another earth-shaking classic, like Golden Age, were on the board...

There are so many of these 'Golden Agey' moments, from the 'Wonder Jason' thing--what happened? (Jesús Merino art)

What happened?!

Remember brilliant writer, James Robinson’s graphic novel, Golden Age? What happened, here?

I think we have to be honest about the rabid, misandrist ('hater of men') hysteria of some Wonder-fans have contributed to the breakdown of the Robinson run. I think we fans, some of us, and not me, ..have to be honest about fearing that the comic's introduction of a popular, male character, one with powers, similar to Wonder Woman's, might outshine the leading lady, herself. Before we have a rational conversation about where the Jason-thing broke down, I think fans have to be honest about how fear and misandry soured us all on the idea of a male Amazon, in the presently sacred, ..all-female Wonder Family experience. Seeing that coming (if we're to believe the interviews with him), should Robinson or Geoff Johns have had a better response ..to what seemed so inevitable, a half-backlash?

Maybe. Maybe, a better story? Maybe, a smarter story...

Despite its tantalizing girth and undulating athleticism - violent deaths of Hercules, Papi Zeus and the other Greek gods, ..rebirth of Darkseid, ..fighting Grail and Darkseid, etc - Jason's introduction invites us to wait for a superman - a Wonder Man - who never lands. The failure of Prince Jason to impress us did much to impair our ability to accept a non-romantic, male companion-hero ..or brother-figure for Wonder Woman.

Sadly for Wonder Woman, whose comic might be called, a character desert, ..it's going to be that much harder for another writer, even another really good one, to sell us that idea, again.

Look alive, kangaliers!

Note: This entry was previously titled "No, Fanboy--The Other Jason: Flash And Burn Of The Amazing Mister Wonder!" and something almost, as bad. Anyway, ..it's a better read. Enjoy.

Edgar Miraculous 'Mel' Dyer, without his fine, coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby (now moved on to that big, coyote-hatin' hate group in the Sky) continues a somewhat bleaker, dogless existence in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC. He has been an active member of the Latino Culture Council of the Capitol Area (El Consejo de Cultura Latina – La Zona del Capitolio) and the Kiwanis Club of Capitol Hill.