Wonder Woman and the Hero's Journey

Wonder Woman #10 by Cliff Chiang

Yesterday Wonder Woman #7 was released and created quite a stir (even though this post was inspired by WW #7 the cover to #10 above is not an accident - it will be explained below).  Although Wonder Woman herself has stayed the same in the new DCU - compassionate, loving, brave and powerful - the world around her has become completely different.  Her origin and those surrounding her have gone through a huge change in this reboot.  And I think you can’t mistake this, it is a total reboot.  What happened in the previous DCU is gone now.  I make this point because people bring up the previous universe in a way that seems to imply that it should have a bearing on the new one but it doesn’t.  It has become a totally different universe.

*** SPOILERS BELOW***




The change that was portrayed in today’s comic involved the Amazons.  Typically they have been portrayed as a utopian race of enlightened women living without men on an island, but with today’s issue that view was shown to never have existed in this universe.  There were hints there all along but today everything was revealed in all its dark and horrific glory.  These Amazons would leave their island several times a century, find a ship with men, seduce them, have an orgy, and after the sex they would kill them.  They would then return to their island and 9 months later give birth to the children, keep the girls and trade the boys to the god Hephaestus for weapons he forged.

*** END OF SPOILERS ***

Unfortunately, and to a certain degree understandably, the reaction to this has been based on modern political, societal and moral ideas.  The problem with this is that Azzarello has been writing about something that is completely outside of these things.  What Azzarello is writing about is something totally different in nature.  It’s more primal.  It’s about something that Joseph Campbell described as the ‘monomyth’.  From the moment I started reading the DC52 version of Wonder Woman it was made apparent that this version has deeper ties to Greek mythology than any previous incarnation.  Not only that, but Azzarello seems to be writing the hero’s journey, similar to Homer’s “The Odyssey”.
When I referred to the monomyth above, I’m talking about the fact that no matter where a culture is from, whether it’s Norway or Australia, North America or China, there are certain threads and ideas that are shared within every human myth, fairytale, rite of passage, and even every organized religion.  It’s the monomyth, or single myth, that we as humans all share.  The Greek heroic tales are steeped in the symbolism of the monomyth and so is Azzarello’s Wonder Woman.  This version of Wonder Woman is like no superhero comic that DC makes.  To me it’s not even a superhero comic anymore.  It can’t even be compared to the other comics DC is printing right now because Azzarello has truly taken the idea of mythology and gone to a place no one has dared to go with Diana and that is to fully incorporate the ideas of the monomyth into her story.
Anyway, what are some of the characteristics of the monomyth that make me certain that this is what Azzarello’s story is actually telling?

• the hero begins the journey due to the appearance of a seemingly humble, less than desirable person (old, sick, poor, etc.) who ends up being more important than you would think (Zola)
• the hero will have a guide or several guides or helpers who will aide in the adventure (Hermes, Lennox, etc)
• the hero will have supernatural help by means of being given special weapons, knowledge, potions that will facilitate the upcoming journey. (Hephaestus, Eros)
• Monsters, typically reptilian (serpents, dragons), are very important symbols and make appearances in these stories. (see issues 4 and 7)
• Usually there is the appearance of a trickster (see issues 2-4 and Eris)
• the hero will experience a series of trials (this has been ongoing but I think that the next few issues will be the more formal version of this)
• The hero will travel through several thresholds, doors, etc and will meet guardians at each one (see the amazing cover above for one of the most famous journeys involving going through a threshold)
• the hero dies either figuratively or literally or both (see cover above)
• the hero will be cut to pieces or threatened with being cut to pieces - this can be literal or it can be spiritual as when the hero’s belief system is systematically destroyed (see issue 3 and issue 7 and probably 10)
• part of the point just above is achieved through a revelation of truths about the parental figures of the hero (see spoiler above in issue 7 and issue 3 where Diana finds out who her father is)
• Parental figures, either mother or father, are seen as having opposing qualities.  In other words, they are both seen as being good and evil, creators and destroyers. (this is what happens in issue 7 that upset people)
  

Some other characteristics of the monomyth that haven’t showed up but I’m sure will at some point:

• Confrontation or meeting with the goddess (a mother figure, perhaps Aphrodite or Hera)
• Confrontation with the father/god (Zeus)
• A rebirth and transformation of the hero (occurs after the death of the hero, of course)
• some form of atonement for the hero
• enlightenment of the hero - usually involving the father(god) and/or mother (goddess) figure and the realities of life and its cruelties
• the hero can then teach others and transform them
• boons or gifts will be given to the hero that they can share with family/village or even, in some cases, the world.

I think this is a large enough post but I think that this illustrates what I think is actually happening in Azzarello’s Wonder Woman and I just find it an amazing read and a huge departure for a comic book and is about as epic a story that can be done for a character.