"The Circle" is a four-issue
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
story arc
A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...
written by
Gail Simone
Gail Simone (aka Gladys Simonetti) is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's ''Birds of Prey'', '' Batgirl'', Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Othe ...
with art by
Terry Dodson
Terry Dodson is an American comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work on titles such as ''Harley Quinn'', ''Trouble, Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'', '' Marvel Knights: Spider-Man'', ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Uncann ...
and
Rachel Dodson
Rachel Dodson is an American comic book inker, who often works with her husband, Terry Dodson. Her work includes '' Marvel Knights: Spider-Man'', '' Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'' and ''Avenging Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics and ''W ...
. Published in issues #14-17 of ''Wonder Woman'' (Vol. 3), it marked the first arc by Gail Simone on her run of the book.
Publication history
Gail Simone, after much success with female characters such as from her run on
Birds of Prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
, was felt by fans to be the perfect writer for
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
as she would know how to handle such an iconic female role model. Diana had appeared in an issue of ''Birds of Prey'' during Simone's run, and in a two-issue story of ''
The All-New Atom'' also by Simone. Simone had gone on record, expressing her admiration and affection for the character, and many readers felt she was needed for the book due to the relaunch having many problems that was costing the book readers (mostly from ''
Amazons Attack!'').
Following her debut issue, and the issues that followed on this arc, the story arc beginning Simone's arc was a resounding success. Many fans consider Simone's run to be a new "''golden era''" for Wonder Woman, not experienced since just a few years ago when Greg Rucka's run ended.
Simone's next major storyline on ''Wonder Woman'' would be "
Ends of the Earth".
Plot
Prologue (Past)
In a prologue backstory, told before the main story in each issue; some time before
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
's birth,
Queen Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...
knights four Amazons as her personal guards: Myrto, Charis, Philomela, and Alkyone. One night, they all agree to guard their queen with their lives, but later on, they learn that Hippolyta had pleaded to the Gods for a child. Alkyone, the bald amazon, believes having a child would destroy them, and when they hear that one of their Amazon sisters has made a convincing baby doll, pretending it was real, she orders her dead.
Alkyone pleads with Hippolyta not to bring a child to their home, calling it evil. But Hippolyta leaves, saying that this ''event'' will be their salvation. Alkyone crushes the small baby doll and leads the other three to the city. At the same time, Hippolyta makes a baby girl out of clay. When it comes to life, she shows the baby to the rest of the Amazons, claiming she is ''their'' daughter, and names her Diana. Elsewhere, the four women watch from a distance, waiting.
Nightfall; the Circle head to where Hippolyta sleeps with her baby. Wounding
Philippus the Captain of the Guard, they enter Hippolyta's chambers but the three women, except for Alkyone, start to admire the baby. When an eagle screams outside, Hippolyta is woken up and fights her traitor sisters as baby Diana watches. The fight is short as the other Amazons, with the wounded Philippus, surround the Circle.
Present
On
Themyscira; Hippolyta is the only
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
(see
Amazons Attack!), but she isn't alone, for the four Amazon women are still imprisoned on the island. The same night every year, she asks all four of them in their prisons if they wish to repent, but all of them say no. But the last one, Alkyone, gives Hippolyta a crown and says that it is Hippolyta herself who had betrayed them by giving birth to ''the dragon'' (referring to Wonder Woman). Hippolyta says no and walks away when the woman tells her she must kill her daughter, or reveal the truth to her. Elsewhere, Wonder Woman is attacked by gorillas loyal to
Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''The F ...
. She does subdue them to talk to their leader named Tolifhar, who reveals they want to attack humans for what they do to their kind. She promises, under the word as an Amazon, that she will help it. Convinced, the gorillas and Diana are now allies, and she has them stay as houseguests to her apartment. Picking her up,
Nemesis takes her (as Agent Diana Prince) to Department of Metahuman Affairs, where after they celebrate her birthday,
Sarge Steel
Sarge Steel is a detective/ spy character published by Charlton Comics during the 1960s. As he was published during the time of Charlton's ''Action Heroes'' line of superheroes, and had loose ties to some, he is sometimes included with that group. ...
recruits her and Nemesis for a cooperative strike. Later, Sarge meets a
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Etta Candy
Etta Candy is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as the best friend of the superhero Wonder Woman. Spirited and vivacious, with a devil-may-care attitude, Etta debuted as a young white woman with ...
, who he reveals that he believes Diana Prince has some connection to Wonder Woman, and Etta agrees to help. During the mission, Diana and Nemesis arrive at their target: a site reported to house members of the
Secret Society of Super Villains. Inside, they are attacked by
Captain Nazi
Captain Nazi (Baron Albrecht Krieger) is a Fawcett Comics and DC Comics supervillain, a rival of Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr..
Captain Nazi made his first live-action appearance in a 2016 second season episode of The CW TV series ''DC ...
, who reveals he and many of his followers want a nation of their own. At the same time, those followers reach and plan to take over Themyscira.
Diana struggles against Captain Nazi. Because she has no powers in her secret identity, she uses other tactics and blind grenades to give her time to transform. Now as Wonder Woman, she wraps her lasso around Nazi to learn what is going on, and in process his sorrowful life to which she gives
empathy
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...
. On Themyscira, as the Nazis land and prepare to take over the island, Hippolyta sees them, trims her hair, dons in her armor and fights them, all in hopes as forgiveness toward
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...
. In various places, Wonder Woman asks for help to get to Themyscira: among them are
Wōdanaz,
Raijin
, also known as , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, beatin ...
, and
Bast, who all decline to help. But it's
Kāne Milohai
In Hawaiian mythology, Kāne is considered the highest of the three major Hawaiian deities, along with Kū and Lono. He represented the god of procreation and was worshipped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. Kāne is the creator and gives l ...
who agrees to help, and back on Themyscira, Alkyone tells the Nazis that if they free her and the other three Amazons, they'll help them find and kill Hippolyta.
The Nazis destroy all pieces of statues, poetry, and art in favor of their new fatherland. The squad leader prepares to kill the four Amazon women, released from their prisons, until news about Hippolyta stops him. The survivor of the attack repeats what Hippolyta said to him "My daughter will come for me". Just then, the Squad Leader orders all that they have on the shores, just as Diana arrives. She orders all of them to surrender, but when they decline, she (saying to herself, the words of her faith), with help from the Gorillas, attack them all. Learning that she left due to a ''flu bug'', Etta Candy heads to take a closer look from Diana Prince's apartment. Only to be confronted by another intruder. The tactics change as Diana goes to find her mother, just as a soldier informs the Squad Leader that they found Hippolyta's body. Diana hears the news and threatens one of the soldiers over where her mother is, as the four women attack the Nazis surrounding them. Diana finds her mother; she is hurt badly.
Two Nazi soldiers, along with others behind them, patrol when they hear something and come face to face with Diana, and Hippolyta behind her. Claiming that caution will not help them, Diana fights them all. When she gets to the last one, he screams to her that he surrenders and she stops, telling him to round up the others and tell them to drop their weapons. Moments later, Diana makes all the Nazis get back into their boats to leave the island and give them the coordinates to where they will be arrested. After the Nazis leave, hiding and armed with their bow and arrows, the Circle attacks Diana with god-made arrows. Seeing that it's an Amazon like her; Alkyone tells Diana that the Circle has Hippolyta, preparing for her funeral as she is dying. She tells her to go to the southern bridge, walking the statuary path, to get to her, and not alert the gorillas or cheat her way there, or the ceremony begins early. Diana tries to get there, but members of the Circle hit her with the arrows to stop her, knocking her unconscious. Waking up some time later, she realizes the Circle is using the old way of combat, so she takes her blood, uses it as
war paint to make a "W" on her face, and heads out again. Moment now before the funeral begins; Diana uses the same old ways the Circle is using against them. Soon, Diana makes it to the Funeral pyre, and shows Alkyone the weapons the Circle were carrying, symbolizing that the other three women were defeated. Raising her sword, Alkyone prepares to strike, but Diana subdues her. Hippolyta tells her that because the Circle was imprisoned, they did not know that the Amazons became Diana's mothers, and Diana herself gave all of them hope and saved them. Alkyone refuses to believe her, but pleas with Diana to kill her. Diana refuses and forgives her for what she had done, but then Alkyone says that Diana could have been hers, revealing that she herself had the desire for a child like everyone else, but wanted to ignore it. Alkyone runs off and falls into the ocean, to her death. As she leaves, the rest of the Circle have returned to their prisons, and the gorillas tell Diana that they will watch over Hippolyta.
In an epilogue, the
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
holds Diana's birthday. Etta Candy is there too, revealing that she knew Diana was Diana Prince. Talking outside, Diana talks about Alkyone, how she died for no reason. Etta cheers her up, saying that if she searches, she'll find. Before going back inside, Etta comments on the moon, and Diana says "it's a perfect circle".
Reception
The four issues that make up "The Circle" were highly praised, which in turn garnered attention and praise for Gail Simone's future issues.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
had bolded on its article that "the series finally gets going, and that it was the best Wonder Woman since
Greg Rucka
Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', ''Queen & Country'', '' Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well as ...
's name was still in the credits". They also came up with the idea that Gail Simone and artists
Terry Dodson
Terry Dodson is an American comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work on titles such as ''Harley Quinn'', ''Trouble, Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'', '' Marvel Knights: Spider-Man'', ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Uncann ...
and his wife
Rachel Dodson
Rachel Dodson is an American comic book inker, who often works with her husband, Terry Dodson. Her work includes '' Marvel Knights: Spider-Man'', '' Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'' and ''Avenging Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics and ''W ...
were DC's versions of
Brian Michael Bendis and
Frank Cho
Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, (born 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series ''Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as ''Shanna the She-Devil'', ''Mighty Avengers'' and ''Hulk'' for ...
from
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. Readers praised the
retcon
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...
in Diana's origin, as well as the characters that made up ''The Circle'', wondering why no other writer came up with it before. ''The Circle'' was also seen as a breather to Diana's Rogues Gallery, which needed fresh new additions.
The greatest acclaim, however, came from how Gail Simone handled and wrote Diana, in comparison to previous writers. Dan Philips of IGN reviews: "Far too many writers have wavered randomly between depicting Wonder Woman as a bloodthirsty warrior one minute, a peaceful and compassionate Ambassador the next, and an antiquated and naïve Goddess the next. Simone seems to have struck the perfect balance between the first two and finally put the third to bed, and most importantly, she's molded Diana into a very relatable and sympathetic character. And as any Wonder Woman fan knows all too well at this point, that's exactly what the character's been in dire need of for so long".
Collected editions
The storyline has been collected into a single volume:
* ''The Circle'' (collects ''Wonder Woman'' #14-19, 144 pages, hardcover, November 2008, )
''The Circle'' hardcover details
at DC
See also
*List of Wonder Woman enemies
This is a list of fictional characters from DC Comics who are or have been enemies of Wonder Woman.
Central rogues gallery
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance and when or if they were involved in Villainy Incorporated ...
Notes
References
*
External links
Review of ''Wonder Woman'' #13 Comics Bulletin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Circle
Wonder Woman characters
Comics by Gail Simone