10 Valid Reasons Fans Dislike Wonder Woman’s Controversial New 52 Era

The New 52 was a bold and experimental era for DC and an attempt to revitalize the brand’s appeal to a new generation of readers. It was a risky move that entailed rebooting the company’s continuity like Crisis on Infinite Earths did. However, it was executed arguably more half-baked than the iconic event.

Many characters, such as Batman and Aquaman, got fantastic runs. Wonder Woman’s two major New 52 runs— from the creative teams of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang and Merideth Finch and David Finch, respectively— were quite divisive amongst fans. From disastrous retcons of the character’s origins to a poor depiction of the series’ lead and key themes, there are many reasons why fans look down on this period for DC’s most notable heroine.

10 It’s A Strange Starting Point For New Readers

Random introductions and assumptions confused any new readers the New 52 might have attracted

The New 52 prided itself on being an accessible new beginning for readers of all types, without the burden of continuity bogging characters or writers down. While this was true in some respects with the Wonder Woman title of this era, it didn’t quite stick the landing.

While Azzarello and Chiang’s run was fairly standalone from many events in the DCU, it still strangely relied on heavy knowledge of Wonder Woman’s past for its twists to have any impact or for readers to know anything about the character’s personality. It also gave Orion and Highfather of the New Gods notable page time, characters that new readers would likely not be familiar with going into the series. The Finch run got worse with this problem, as it brought in random characters such as the Justice League and Swamp Thing with little explanation, as well as Wonder Woman villains that hadn’t been established prior in the run, like Cheetah and Dr. Poison.

9 The Greek Gods Didn’t Feel All That Divine

While some of the Greek Pantheon were handled well, many felt one-note and shallow

One of the most well-known ancient mythologies today—likely due to the preservation of many of its texts—the lives of the Greek Gods have become a staple in pop culture. It makes sense that they’d be present in a Wonder Woman book, as they’re fairly foundational to her world and themes. However, their use was lackluster, to say the least.

Wonder Woman as a character was altered to fit the world of the Greek Gods, rather than the inverse occurring as per the character’s usual writing— yet some of the Gods still weren’t all that compelling despite being the stars of the show. A few were excellently done, ranging from the self-loathing of Hades to Hera appreciating mortality to Ares’ relationship with Diana. Unfortunately, the rest were extremely surface-level in the forces they represented or their general personalities. Their petty behaviors from classic myths were emphasized to a caricature-esque extent in a half-hearted effort to make the tone of Wonder Woman more grotesque and mature.

8 The Run Poorly Handled A Beloved Character

Orion was made into a flirtatious buffoon, much to the dismay of those introduced to the Dog of War in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World

Orion was one of the many breakout characters of Jack Kirby’s beloved Fourth World saga, a tragic character with a divine weight to him that only a Kirby character could have. The powerful Dog of War is the key focus of a character study on nature versus nurture, as he’s the biological child of Darkseid himself but maintains a heroic role. The character would make plenty of sense to include in a Wonder Woman run, with the potential to be a great foil to the lead herself.

When a reader considers it, a dynamic between the two seems quite fun, with the parallel of a New God versus an Old God and their different approaches to violence having the potential for great chemistry. Yet, none of this was tapped into during the story. Instead, Orion became a chauvinistic loudmouth who constantly hit on Wonder Woman and left the book for a while when she rightly made a fool out of him. For a character with such pathos, his writing in the New 52 felt haphazard and uninspired.

7 Wonder Woman’s New 52 Villains Felt Underwhelming

Many of the new villains of the New 52 weren’t notable in the slightest, with many already having been forgotten

Wonder Woman has a fairly notable rogues gallery, with many of her villains based on fascinating concepts and having solid chemistry with the hero herself. Unfortunately, they were absent for most of the New 52 run, but it’s understandable. Writers often craft new villains for their latest stories, though it’s unfortunate that the ones made for both runs at this time were lacking.

The menacing First Born was full of terrifying gravitas and Hera went through a great redemption arc, but not many other villains from this era could say the same. Apollo had hollow motives and an unmemorable design; the minor foe, Aegeus, was a petulant brat that didn’t stand as much of a threat. The witch Hecate was given shallow motives as she was only driven by a childish crush on Zeus, and the Goddess of Peace, known as Eirene, was only angry at Diana for replacing her lover Ares. Many of these characters felt one-dimensional, going through little growth or exploration. This was especially a shame with Eirene, as a narrative of a peaceful war god versus an angry peace god coming to blows could’ve been fascinating. Still, the narrative’s sloppy execution forbade that.

6 The Pacing Was Off Throughout The New 52

Many important beats in Wonder Woman were rushed through or lingered on

Wonder Woman in the New 52 already suffered from being a half-baked starting point for new readers, but the pacing across both of its major runs didn’t help much either. Azzarello’s run was a lot more cohesive, as it had a planned beginning, middle, and end— yet it also rushed a fair many of its beats, such as the reveal of Diana’s origins and a twist at its end around the character Zola.

The Finch run was unfortunately less coherent in its execution, despite primary writer Meredith Finch doing her absolute best. Storylines would jump all over the place, with sporadic introductions to characters readers had never met before yet were expected to be deeply familiar with. Many key beats would be rushed or poorly explained, with many excellent developments from Azzarello’s run becoming undone, yet also quickly brushed aside with little consequence. The series’ climax was also quickly packed into one issue— likely not Finch’s fault, as DC was gearing up for its Rebirth relaunch— that ended on a sad note, leaving a bittersweet taste in the mouths of readers as a new era was on the horizon.

While some phenomenal artists illustrated Wonder Woman, the new designs didn’t suit the stories

Cliff Chiang and David Finch are legendary comic industry artists with notable styles and clear strengths. There’s a reason why Chiang’s run with Azzarello was collected in Absolute editions, as the prospect of his art in high-resolution oversized format is enough for fans to shell out the high price tags of the hardcover format. However, despite their artistic skills, many new designs crafted for the New 52 era of Wonder Woman were very lackluster.

Diana herself had two unremarkable suits that didn’t quite fit the heavily mythological tone of the story or match her character or setting. Wonder Woman’s original concept design by Jim Lee wasn’t all that great either; she wore pants that made it look like she had just come from a yoga class. The Greek Gods across both runs also had a myriad of designs ranging from truly spectacular to bafflingly uninspired, with the ones in the latter camp sticking out from the rest.

4 Queen Hippolyta Got The Short End Of The Stick

For a story about familial bonds, Hippolyta wasn’t given much to do, making her quick demise fairly controversial

Queen Hippolyta is a massively important figure in Princess Diana’s life and was even the lead of the critically and commercially successful Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons.A complex character in her own right who is an excellent foil and parent to her daughter, the queen of the Amazons has been the focus of many stories over the years—something the New 52 didn’t grant her.

Hippolyta came off as more of a plot device than anything else, watered down to an ex-fling of Zeus whose sole purpose in the narrative was to explain to Diana how her origins were a lie. After this, she was almost immediately punished by the goddess Hera and turned into a clay statue, with a haphazard rationale for why that curse couldn’t be undone later on. While she had brief moments of closure with her daughter near the end of the Azzarello and Finch runs as a spirit, it was a disservice to Hippolyta to reduce her role in such a way. It especially stings knowing the runs were about developing Wonder Woman’s family ties to the Greek Gods, yet her mother and sisters were cut as key figures in her life.

3 The Amazons Didn’t Feel Like Sisters

The Amazons are a key element of Wonder Woman’s world, with their bond of sisterhood essential to the character’s roots— with later runs fleshing out the individuals that made Themyscira their home. The collective trauma the Amazons endured at the hands of villains like Heracles was also essential in coloring their views of the world and the multilayered society they crafted.

The New 52, unfortunately, saw fit to remove many of the group’s sympathetic traits, making them a clan of warrior women who were also violent misandrists who once slaughtered their brothers on a whim. The Amazons weren’t women who had unfortunate lives and were blessed to be reborn on Paradise Island. Instead, they were born from raids the warriors would lead on male sailors, killing them and trading the male babies to Hephaestus for weapons. The group also treated Wonder Woman as an outcast due to her origins and interactions with the gods. This approach was more mythologically accurate, but it turned the band of sisters into caricatures that opposed Diana only when the plot made it convenient.

2 It Felt Tonally Dissonant From Wonder Woman’s Spirit

The politics of Wonder Woman have always been essential, yet were all but removed in the New 52

Wonder Woman was a character who had a political angle since her inception, representing a wide array of themes related to feminism and human rights. It’s a key part of her DNA and why she’s so compelling among her fans, and thus, it’s a shame the New 52 seemed to scrub so much of this aspect of the character away.

The hero was originally written to have classic Greek myths bent to help enhance her story, but the New 52 era reversed this ideology. Instead, Diana and her principles were bent to fit classic myths, and as a result, many of her key themes were placed on the back burner. Both runs alluded to ideas of sexism, social justice, and understanding but rarely lingered on them— instead emphasizing bloody combat and epic new characters with a sore lack of substance to it all. One of the most controversial decisions from this era, making Wonder Woman a child of Zeus instead of being sculpted from clay, really emphasized this thematic disconnect. She no longer represented a mother’s love and the ultimate solidarity between women but was yet another generic demigod in a story with a strange focus on blood relations.

1 Wonder Woman Herself Was Lackluster

The titular lead of Wonder Woman had good moments but was one of the least interesting characters

In a comic series titled Wonder Woman, readers would assume the lead character would get the most focus and development. But, the New 52 was one of Wonder Woman’s most poorly handled eras as a character. Stripped of her origin, closest relationships, and having both runs of the time start with little introduction to the character, readers may not have been left with the best impression of her.

She was handled well in some arcs— such as her journey to the Underworld and her stint as the God of War— but most of the time, Diana fell flat and was outshone by her supporting cast. The Finch run was especially guilty of this, as the hero spent most of her time as passive and incompetent. Worst of all, while some of Wonder Woman’s empathetic qualities were kept intact, she was injected with a strange sense of brutish machismo that made her come off as a poor imitation of a sword and sorcery-type character like Conan. It’s best that everyone has moved on from this era for the character, as Wonder Woman has had many excellent runs since the end of the New 52 in 2016.