Saw the tags on your latest panel. I'm disappointed! I liked the first arc of Rebirth. What's dragging the second arc down? Also, THEY DIDN'T BREAK UP, DID THEY???
Answering this late; you’re referring to this post. No, Wonder Woman is still dating Steve. But under James Robinson I hesitate to call this character “Wonder Woman,” so I don’t really care. If you really want to know why recent issues are awful, I tried to give #31 and #32 a go, but I don’t have the energy to recount why things are getting worse with each issue. And not only does this really bad writer’s tenure continue on Diana’s main book, but he’s also writing the new arc on Trinity starting today which continues to ignore Rucka’s heartfelt and thoughtful work on WW’s story and instead picks up right where we left off in that endless pile of steaming poo that was Diana’s New52 continuity.
Five times Steve and Diana sleep together plus one time they sleep together. Title taken from the achingly good poem of the same name by Margaret Atwood.
Hi! I have another meta question if you're up for it! I learned scrolling through your blog that all incarnations of Steve Trevor cook as a hobby, which is awesome and totally going into the fic I write. Are there any other characterizations that we movie!Steve lovers would be delighted to find out? I'd also love to know if he has a canon backstory -- like what state he's from, etc. Basically: Trivia about Steve Trevor, please and thank you! :)
^ Literally more information about Steve in the above two panels than we’ve had in 70 years combined
Hi! This is a great question, and I wish I had a great answer for you! Steve Trevor doesn’t have the benefit of a lot character development. When the modern age of comic books (Post-Crisis in DC) rolled around and comic book writing became more sophisticated, Steve was unfortunately aged up into an older gentleman who married a matronly forever-dieting Etta and served as Diana’s father figure (did that sentence make you gag because just typing made me retch a little). Still, we can glean some trivia about him:
He speaks good German (Golden Age)
Cooking is his hobby (timeless!)
He’s a good dancer (Golden Age, Silver Age)
He played football in college (Golden Age)
He was in a fraternity in college (New52/Rebirth)
He went to college at the University of Southern California (Bronze Age) or the Air Force Academy (Post-Crisis)
He grew up in Oklahoma (Post-Crisis)
His middle name is either Howard (New52/Rebirth) or Rockwell (Post-Crisis, one instance in New52/Rebirth)
He has had a few family members over the years that have been retconned; currently he has a sister named Tracy, her kids are named Ian and Allison (New52/Rebirth)
He likes to read: classics, military history, true crime, and mythology (Bronze Age, New52/Rebirth)
He likes instant black coffee (New52/Rebirth)
He’s good at video games (Bronze Age)
He really likes Star Wars (Bronze Age, New 52/Rebirth)
He likes running (New52/Rebirth)
His nickname for his daughter Lyta is “pum’kin” (Bronze Age)
His nickname for Diana is “Angel” (timeless!)
He’s the designated family photographer (Bronze Age)
He has a goddaughter named Sandy (New52/Rebirth)
It’d be great to see some of this sparse canon incorporated into more fan fiction!
So, I'm reading Rebirth Vol. 1 right now. I literally haven't read a comic since I was a kid, so I know I've missed a ton. Do you mind giving a little backstory for us newbies? I get that Diana and Clark had a thing -- what happened there? Steve mentions someone starting 8th grade and someone named Maya. Does he have kids? I did a cursory Google, but, alas. I thought you might be the expert to go to! :) Also, I am digging the beard!
Heck yeah, my friend! You came to the right place. I *love* helping people get started with Wonder Woman. Luckily, you only need backstory starting from 2011 with DC’s massive relaunch called The New 52 (there’s a New 52 reading list for those interested, as well as a Steve Trevor comics masterpost).
Pertinent backstory: The New 52 kicks off in “Justice League: Origins,” where we learn that Steve Trevor is a military pilot who crash-landed on Paradise Island. He comes back with Diana, and when there’s a massive invasion she joins other superheroes in saving the world and they form the Justice League. Steve Trevor serves as both the government liaison to the League as well as the head of an agency called ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans). The JL timeline jumps five years in the next arc (“The Villain’s Journey”) and during this interlude apparently Diana and Steve were together. However, this story begins when Steve is kidnapped by a villain intent on taking down the League, and he’s tortured nearly to the point of death. Once the JL finally saves the day, Diana goes to visit Steve in the hospital and decides—against his protests—that she cannot endanger his life anymore and breaks up with him. Later that night, she runs into Superman and thinks to herself “This dude’s not going to get almost killed by my enemies” and then starts dating him (if this seems poorly thought out, it was).
I love Superman, but having *Wonder Woman* date literally the only man stronger than her is the antithesis of who she is. Unfortunately, as DC was going for a Twilight thing, they really drove into this hard and had Steve make occasional petty appearances in Superman/Wonder Woman. In between said petty appearances, Steve went on to assemble the Justice League of America, the government’s answer to the actual JL. As a result, he made cameos in a lot of New 52 books.
Skipping ahead: The next relevant storyline was “Forever Evil,” where the Crime Syndicate (remember Earth-3′s evil Justice League: Owl Man, Ultraman, Superwoman?) come to our earth and trap our Justice League in another dimension. Steve got his own mini-series spinoff, Forever Evil: ARGUS, which is basically just him fighting all manner of villains in order to “free Wonder Woman—I mean the Justice League” (his words, not mine). It’s incredibly romantic and shirtless and still very surreal. Diana doesn’t know who did all of this because Steve gets knocked out by a villain at the very last minute and Cyborg has to finish the job.
Connecting the New 52 to Rebirth: In the last big storyline of the New 52, “Darkseid War,” Diana and Steve are reunited when they have to save the world. This time, we learn that Diana still loves Steve but is unsure whether he feels the same. Just as things are about to get warm and fuzzy, one of the villains (Grail, daughter of Darkseid and a rogue Amazon) kidnaps Steve because she thinks that he is the missing element for her to get revenge on the Amazons—she literally binds him to the anti-life equation and luckily he somehow survives this; when Diana sees that he’s survived she stops frontin’ and they exchange a wordless but emotional hug. (Oh, and Superman dies, but later we learn that he was never really Superman anyway.)
Throughout *all* of this, in her home book Diana learned that she was not made from clay but instead from Zeus’s God-Sperm. The Amazons are rapist-murderers, and everyone is just super mean. DC realized that the hopeless tone of the New 52 wasn’t sustainable and so in Rebirth, they brought on Greg Rucka to fix WW. The very first issue of Rebirth starts with Diana processing all of this information—horrible Amazons, her lack-of-clay origin, her romance with Superman (basically, the horrific time she had in the New 52)—and demanding to know what the truth is. In other words, everything she thought she knew was a lie and now it’s time to find out what’s behind all of this in Wonder Woman Rebirth Vol 1 - The Truth. That should bring you up to speed!
As for the two specific points you mentioned, I would recommend starting with WW Rebirth Vol 2 - Year One before you read The Truth (I know, counter-intuitive, but it’s because of how the issues were released). It shows what the *real* (not New52) Amazons are like, and it explains who Sandy and Maya are (Steve’s goddaughter and her mother, respectively). Hope this helps you and anyone else trying to start the comics!
Author’s Synopsis: “Same premise, different consequences owing to a treatment facility for mutants called Southaven and a focus on the chemistry between Logan and Rogue.
Notes: A different version of X1, but with some great insights into Rogue and Wolverine.
Diana’s Christmas plans involved sunning herself on a Mediterranean beach and indulging fond memories of her childhood on Themyscira, at least until they were derailed by a blizzard.
And a reunion she never could have expected.
(a very belated wondertrev secret santa gift for @blueincandescence - happy holidays and I hope you enjoy!)
The advertisement across from the gate was mocking her.
Diana slumped in her seat with a sigh, her bare shoulders sticking to the vinyl as she shifted to find a slightly more comfortable position. The sunlight glistened off the clear blue water and sparkled as it hit the soft sandy beaches in the photo across the way, a picture-perfect reminder that she was not currently sunning herself on a secluded beach in the Mediterranean. Instead, she was wrapped in her only sweater as a blizzard raged outside, one of many travelers stranded at Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle on Christmas Eve.
As she watched snow cover every flat surface outside the window, she was overcome by a longing that took her breath away — for a moment, she was in a small village in the Belgian countryside, snowflakes weighing down her eyelashes as Steve’s hand rested warm on the small of her back. For all that came after, that night had many happy memories, and they warmed her despite the chilly air outside.
The loud thump of a bag dropping on the floor next to her seat jolted Diana out of the past. Frustrated at the interruption, Diana turned in the chair, sharp words at the ready for whoever dared break the sacred code of lonely travelers trapped together on a holiday - never interrupt another’s brooding.
But the words died in her throat as the man she had been remembering so fondly dropped into the chair next to hers, as if conjured by her thoughts.
His clothes were modern and his hair styled like the young men who worked in her office, but it was undoubtedly Steve. His eyes and the set of his shoulders and even his small half-grin were straight out of her dreams for the past ninety-nine years.
“I was supposed to be landing in Greece right now. It’s like the ad is mocking me.” Diana jumped at the sound of his voice—they could have been sitting around a fire with the rest of his team, eating rations as he moaned with the others about the terrible coffee.
She had seen doppelgängers of Steve over the years, but they had never sounded so like him before.
For a brief moment, she considered that being isolated in a terminal by a blizzard was scrambling her brain.
“I actually thought the same,” Diana ventured, watching for his reaction in her peripheral vision. He seemed surprised that she responded, but she had no sense that he recognized her. “Does the sand sparkle even brighter in the picture than in person?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Most of my time spent in Greece was in a hospital, and the other parts—well, actually, that’s why I’m going back.“
“What do you mean?”
“I was in an accident. A plane crash, to be specific. Broken bones, traumatic brain injury, pretty much what you would expect. I recovered in a hospital in Athens, but I still have weird gaps in my memory. The doctors said amnesia is a tricky thing—I can perfectly recall the series of events that led to the Great War, but I can’t operate a smartphone to save my life. So I’m trying to retrace my steps, see if I can find out what happened.”
Diana’s heart seized at maybe-Steve’s expression of frustration and confusion. She knew all too well how it felt to have no solid footing, nothing to ground yourself as the world spun around you. “So why Greece? If it holds only memories of a crash and a hospital stay?”
“I can’t explain it,” he said, shaking his head, “but it’s as if I’m being drawn back there somehow. I remember snippets after the crash, things that don’t fit with what I’ve been told. Ancient Greek architecture still in excellent shape, clear blue water, dazzling green fields, some sort of cave. I think I crashed on an island, possibly Greek, so that’s where I’m starting.”
Themyscira was never far from Diana’s thoughts despite the near century she had spent in the world of men, and she was sure there was no other island that could hope to be its equal. None had ocean water so clear, or training fields quite so lush, or an acropolis that matched the majesty of the Amazons’ architectural design. Hope bubbled up in her heart—likely a foolish hope, one that would turn on her at the last moment, but hope nonetheless.
“But that’s probably enough about my sorry tale,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “what sends you to Greece this holiday season?”
Diana shrugged. “I was raised on an island quite similar to the one you describe. I left some time ago, and the circumstances of my departure were…less than ideal, to the point that I am no longer able to return. I never celebrated Christmas as a child, but I had a friend—Etta—who brought me into her family and their celebrations of the holiday, and somehow the notion of Christmas as a time for family stuck with me long after she was gone. Going to Greece this time of year, it’s almost like I’m back on Themyscira again.”
She glanced at Steve—not Steve, maybe Steve, the man—out of the corner of her eye as she spoke the name of her island. His brow furrowed, and he pressed the heel of his hand to his temple for a moment, as if trying to alleviate a sudden headache.
Gratified that she received a reaction, she decided to press a little harder. “My name is Diana, by the way. Diana Prince.”
There was a brief moment of hesitation, a faraway glance, before he clasped her hand in his. “Steve Trevor. Pleasure to meet you.”
If she had been standing, her knees would have given way beneath her. Ninety-nine years of grief and longing and clinging to wisps of memory, and here he sat next to her, alive. His hand was warm and solid in hers, and Diana’s head spun. Her breath caught in her lungs as it always had when he touched her, thoughtless hands on the small of her back or cupping her elbow, guiding her through dance and battle alike.
He looked down at their joined hands, and then back up at her, confusion written across every inch of his face. “Do we know each other somehow? Because I just had the strangest sense that we’ve been in this position before.”
Diana couldn’t help but smile. “We actually know each other quite well, Steve Trevor. Ours is an epic tale of honor, danger, and love. It takes us across oceans, battlefields, and even time itself.”
“I don’t understand,” Steve said, bewildered. He shifted closer, his knees touching hers.
Diana took both of his hands in her own, rubbing her thumb across his knuckles. “I know it sounds fantastic. Impossible. But I swear to you it’s true, Steve. I have waited for you for a very long time. And I am more than happy to share our story with you, if you wish to hear it.”
“Please.” His voice was quiet, full of wonder. “Did I call you Angel?”
Diana felt the press of tears behind her eyes. It had been so long since she had heard that name. “You did, Steve, you did! But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. That comes later in the story. I have to tell it correctly, or else it won’t make any sort of sense.”
“Well, I’d hate for it to not make any sense. Please, tell it as you see fit. No more interruptions,” he retorted, pulling one hand from hers to mime zipping his lips together.
By the gods, she had missed him. “Thank you for your courtesy,” she teased, capturing both his hands in hers once more. If she could, she would never let go of him again. “Now, this story starts, as all of your stories do, with a plane crash…”
blueincandescence replied to your post: im glad wonder woman had a native american...
Obviously, totally agreed about more representation. One interesting tidbit I learned when I was researching more about the character of Chief is that Eugene Braverock speaks Blackfoot when he introduces himself as Napi to Diana. Braverock himself is Blackfoot, specifically Kainai, who are called the “Many-Chief People.” A pretty cool shoutout if you have that information, but doesn’t do much for people who might just think “Native character = Chief makes sense.”
