The Compassionate Brutality of WONDER WOMAN: DEAD EARTH

[@MattDraper]

Read the full essay on Comic Book Herald: www.comicbookherald.com/the-compassionate-brutality-of-wonder-woman-dead-earth/

[@jredgil4703]

Since Donny Cates is leaving Venom after #200 what do you think of his run?

[@vincentbatten4686]

You really should check out Extremity. I didn't realize Daniel Warren Johnson worked on this book. I'll be checking it out. His writing and art are both fantastic and his juxtaposing of light and dark themes converging are bittersweet when contrasted against the dueling natures of blunt realism and nuanced fantasy.

[@OwenLikesComics]

Fun fact: Dead Earth is actually the alternate universe without any Matt Draper videos.

[@MattDraper]

Honestly that sounds wonderful

[@rantetwins527]

Probably I like the sound of that, Matt. Because pls. do more video about alternate universe in DC or Marvel😍😍

[@ogracid9883]

@@MattDraper that sounds awful

[@Simplystimulating]

Nuh

[@Simplystimulating]

Huh

[@JuneieBack]

Saw this video a few years ago and decided to finally read Dead Earth yesterday. It’s one of my favorite Wonder Woman stories ever and brings up important points about love and compassion. What I love about Diana is that the way she loves isn’t how most people today would consider love, which is: Love those who love you back. Anybody can do that. What she does is use love as a way to serve others. I once saw this quote and saved it into my phone. It says: (Love is) “not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the higher good for another.” It’s why I love the character so much.

[@goldreaper4209]

Dead Earth’s probably one of the best Wonder Woman stories, which is unfortunate considering it’s not canon (though even if it was, it would have been retconned by the time the next run comes around). Glad to see it’s getting some love!

[@ride-playerbb2818]

It's not like its possible to be made canon anyway, with all the post-apocalyptic stories out there, and genuinely good ones at that, its not really fair to point at one and say _"this_ is the canon one." And all of them also isn't possible. This story can't exactly coesxist with Last Knight on Earth after all

[@fram8590]

With the concept of multiverse every reality is canon in its own

[@theauthor6669]

@@ride-playerbb2818 Well you know, it theoritically could. They had a baby superman at the end and if Batman uses his little cloning machines then he should be set.

[@Ashguy733]

I love post Apocalyptic stories like this because there is hope in the worst of scenarios, it takes alot to have hope in the face of such a hopeless reality. I'll admit I was never much of a fan of Wonder Woman, but I bought this trade and im happy its on my shelf, its a beautiful, badass metal story. I can't wait to read Daniel Warren Johnsons take on Beta Rey Bill.

[@rosegokublack9863]

Apokolips war is definitely one of the worst world ending stories there was absolutely no hope and Constantine made sure that future wouldnt happen by making flash go back into the past

[@SnapperChannel]

I started reading Daniel Warren Johnson’s works following Chris from Comic Tropes’ video on him. Since them I’ve been loving his work from Murder Falcon to Dead Earth. This was another great video and a very nice change to focus on Wonder Woman. It’s surprising that DC hasn’t capitalized on Wonder Woman’s success following her film back in 2017 (probably due to inconsistency in writing as you said and turning the DC universe into “Batman and friends”). But I love Dead Earth for getting to who she is as a character and adding in a post apocalyptic setting. Mike Spicer’s colors help the art pop even more. Can’t wait for Beta Ray Bill

[@lemonl80]

jeez, the faces, expressions are so good-looking in this miniseries...

[@OWXMUSIC]

I loved this series so much, I bought copies for several of my friends who used to be comic fans, especially Wonder Woman fans.

[@mrboerger1620]

Hmm love the use of hollow knight music.

[@salvatoreocello]

It’s engrained in my head

[@pagd222]

A channel that deserves a million subs. More power to you man❤️

[@johnlindsay7301]

This Wonder Woman story reminds me of another of my favourite WW stories, Super Friends from Tom King’s Batman run. In that two issue story Wonder Woman and Batman are transported to a dark dimension where they must face off against an endless hoard of evil warriors. They battle non stop for centuries only finding comfort and solace in each other. It is truly an inspiring story and one I’d love to see you do a breakdown on.

[@deenydude7]

Got here early for one of my favorite KZbinrs talking about an awesome artist!

[@Xeronimo74]

Great video! Makes me wanna buy that comic

[@brendanjoyce645]

How is your comment two Weeks ago but it was posted 5 min ago lol?

[@MattDraper]

@@brendanjoyce645 Early access on Patreon

[@zemox2534]

The reason why WW is inconsistent is because DC editors and writers refuse to picknone definitive origin and stick to it! They should have stuck with the original George Perez wrote, but they chose to ignore it for stupid reasons. At least DWJ gave Diana the respect she deserves. Good video . I hope you get to talk about the Perez WW run one day.

[@johnpittsii7524]

Great video man. Much ❤ as always

[@Cheeseaddicteddaleks]

Brilliant analysis as always, Matt. I'm so happy that you've chosen to do a Wonder Woman story and look forward to your future views on the princess! The character means an awful lot to me and this video really reminded me of one of the core aspects of Diana which makes her stand out so prominently; while most heroes are motivated by tragedy, Diana is motivated by love (to use the Greco-Christian term 'agape', an unconditional love for humanity, regardless of their faults). As a man of faith myself, it's beautiful for me to observe the exploits of a hero who exhibits that kind of compassion and grace, and I can't wait for you to turn your analytical lens on more of her stories. I know you said you already had ideas and so my guess is that you've already read 'The Hiketeia' by Greg Rucka and JG Jones (arguably the most celebrated WW story of all time), but, if not, I would highly recommend checking it out. It's literally Diana trapped inside the dramatic constraints of Greek Tragedy. I'd also recommend 'JLA: Golden Perfect' by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke and 'Batwoman: World's Finest' by JH Williams III and W Haden Blackman for some more obscure Wonder Woman stuff!

[@briannalee1998]

Yes!!! Great choices! And WW The Once and Future Story and JLA A League of One. Those are great Wonder Woman stories, too!

[@armandotorres8962]

10:50-11:11 YES YES YES. I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR SO LONG. YES! I love Wonder Woman, she's a great character and has a mission statement unique and different from other heroes, but still rooted in the same for doing good. If only DC itself realized that, cause Diana is the biggest victim of: "I have made a great saga with Wonder Woman, but now i must leave the title because reasons" "Now I am the new writer, and I shall contradict everything the other writer did to suit my own needs" "HALT, now I am the new writer for Wonder Woman and I will contradict what the other writer did" "STOP, I am now the new writer, and I will change everything about Wonder Woman because I don't like her, I never bothered to do research on her and maybe DC shouldn't have picked me to do the book and should likely pick writers to do books on characters the writers at least like!" Umm, sorry, I got lost on that tangent. What I want to say is that Wondy sadly doesn't have a lot of defining stories like her fellow Trinity buddies or even Flash and GL, because DC constantly shifts writers with her and they don't really embrace her origins. Think about it, Diana is rooted in Greek Mythology. Think about a lot of cool things you could do with her and that mythology. Have her have tea with Hades and Persephone, show the good part of Man's World to Athena and Artemis and eventually have her fight Zeus and Hera, because they're assholes. Tartarus, replace Zeus and have Gaea join the Quintessence and have them show up at times in WW tales. Use Greek Myth in more of Diana's stories aside from just her origin and battles with Circe and Ares. I've talked to my brother about this and we agree that Diana needs to be DC's pseudo Thor. Think about how many great writers Thor has had. Were Thor stories great because so many of his villains were just some wormy normal people from Earth? NO. His villains can be from the cosmos to beings from Norse Myth. Would Walter Simonson's run on Thor have been as epic if Thor fought Doc Ock? I like Doc Ock but he wouldn't make a good Thor villain. Diana should be fighting so many of her own pantheon, defying them and showing them their own hubris. Yet so many of her writers are like "let's have Diana fight some jabroni". Sigh, a guy can dream.

[@fuzzydreg]

Bro 12 seconds into the video and i already love how your talking about this you deserve more recognition

[@JTHMRulez1]

Amazing series. It's a big shame that it got a mixed receptions, especially from people who were not willing to experiment with the series' theme. It really shows how toxic comic fandom really is.

[@dot-comintelligence9148]

Truth and Facts

[@gabrielcarrasco8414]

As a story it's good, as a Wonder Woman story you have to pretend it's not Wonder Woman at times. Didn't like how it seemed the Amazon's or the World was useless. Like where is Aquaman? Or anyone else.

[@briannalee1998]

Omg yes! The biggest complaint I've heard is how she looks and while I don't love Johnson's design of her, I felt he got her personality right. Its just a more flawed version of the character.

[@briannalee1998]

@@gabrielcarrasco8414 probably all dead from the apocalypse

[@rdryrcet]

You really deserve more subs quality content

[@eduardoruiz7600]

I swore I was gonna slow down on my comic buying for the rest of this month but now I gotta read Dead Earth for myself so I’m sorry wallet

[@coffeebreath5325]

Great coverage of a great series. I am really looking forward to Johnson's upcoming Beta Ray Bill series for Marvel!

[@NEON-XMV]

I think we can all agree this needs an animated movie in the future, right?

[@briannalee1998]

Yes!

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

Yes

[@kennethsatria6607]

I don't quite get the notion that Superman of all people would be afraid of saying I love you considering how much he loves the earth, its people, lois, his friends and heroes in the JL. I've only ever seen it occur in the remake of the Death of Superman animated movie where he struggles to let Lois into his life at the fear of putting her in danger which is a very reasonable fear and highlights a big choice in his life. Batman I get, that's his trauma, but Wonder Woman maybe I just never got into her stories enough to see it but the fact she kills people if needed sounds pretty contrasting with this loving nature people talk about though its definitely needed in the worst scenarios like Maxwell Lord or if Superman is compromised, she's like a sharp sword and a sheild, and that works. I guess the big thing I can take from that is she has the wisdom to know which to be at the right moment. Yeah of all things Injustice really fails to capture the trinity's core characterizations, its a shame modern perception's been kind of blurred by its existence.

[@ShinbrigTV]

I'm broke and NOW I have to buy this, thanks Matt!!

[@SGorath]

I hope DC makes this an animated movie...without changing the main story or characters.

[@santiagomoreno3669]

Damn Daniel Warren Johnson is really one of my favorite artists, his style just sparks so much emotion

[@perplexedblerd1278]

Bruh I just read this last night and it's so good. It's one of my person favorite Wonder Woman stories

[@BrodyW2012]

so you're saying it's not about destroying the things we hate but saving the things we love

[@alexisburns1196]

this felt like a breath of fresh air in the world of comics

[@blueblackyellow]

DEAD EART NEEDS TO BE ON THE BIG SCREEN.

[@realityshifter3399]

Maybe it could be the plot for WW3.

[@joeclarke7982]

I loved this series. It's awesome to see you make a video on a very new book.

[@nathanieljupiter5780]

I loved it, I sometimes think of it as a wonder woman's old man Logan or Batman's killing joke

[@TevyaSmolka]

Great video man on Wonder Woman dead earth

[@seanrichardgreen]

Once again Matt, you out did yourself. Thanks for this.

[@mr2000s]

This is Diana’s equivalent to DKR/All-Star Superman

[@handrikusnadijulianto2124]

Big three

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

I Guss

[@renatotapia1716]

I swear every video you make is a gem!!

[@Jj-vf2cd]

That was beautiful man

[@Chandasouk]

Matt Draper and comics are peanut butter and jelly!

[@TheTrueJuan]

Thank you so much for discussing this. It deserves to be talked about. The art is amazing, the themes are explored in great depth. One of the best limited series of the last year. Appreciate the tidbit on Black Label, an imprint that had so much possibility, only to be squandered. Some of my favorite stories as of lately have been coming from there.

[@sorry987654321]

maaan, this haunting soundtrack. hollow knights ost was really something special

[@SnakeRoadComicsOfficial3677]

Awesome video as always. I wonder if you'll cover some of the IDW Transformers books like MTMTE/Lost Light and the Wreckers Trilogy

[@William-Morey-Baker]

hands down best Wonder Woman story.

[@finklebottommale4548]

Hollow Knight soundtrack? Instant like.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I love Wonder Woman dead earth it was a really awesome and very interesting elseworld story.

[@jamjars865]

Isnt this the comic were ww takes supermans spine and uses it as a weapon? If so then can with this comic and fuck the edgelord writer.

[@MichaelFitzTroyTV]

Love your channel. Love this book.

[@begro362]

Fallout 4 Wonder Woman edition

[@dfailsthemost]

Radical compassion. Nice

[@pierre-alexandredemers4423]

Dead earth is amazing

[@realityshifter3399]

If WW3 with Gal Gadot every happens, it should be a loose adaptation of Dead Earth.

[@ChuckD008]

I'm SO stoked for his Beta Ray Bill series. This was the first of his work I read & immediately I went & bought Murder Falcon after reading the first ish. MY friend also has the Old Man Skywalker comic he did & its fan-FUCKIN-tastic

[@ricardoramos1059]

W.W. Dead Earth reminds me so much of what marvel is leading thor into. Diana and thor will ultimately outlive their friends and family; the last heroes on earth in a Dead Earth with humanity being the final villain for it is they who will unleash hell upon themselves for they are animals that believe themselves perfect when in reality the are chaos made flesh and bones. A king of nothing and a forgotten legend

[@ayushrayoo3624]

This was beautiful

[@ttm77777]

great video! i bought this a while ago bc i thought it was cool and liked ww from movies and tv shows, but never read her comics. any good minisseries or runs somebody here recommends?

[@davidsantos1299]

The current Wonder Woman book is absolutely great. It's exciting, mysterious, funny, touching, etc. Start with Wonder Woman 770. It's not an origin story, but you can enjoy it even if you don't know anything about Wonder Woman.

[@sharpyshores]

I love the Hollow Knight music in the beginning! Nice touch 😉

[@LucasDarkGiygas]

Can't wait to read this.

[@cavc94]

This is the best Wonder Woman comic I have read. Ok, it's also the only one WW comic I have read but it's really good.

[@zacharywong5632]

I wish there was a live action r-rated Wonder Woman else world movie.

[@williampressley5195]

Definitely with Wonder Woman dead Earth was very ambitious of a story. From start to finish it was fantastic I mean Daniel artwork and storytelling it was on par with each other I mean my God they even come up with this futuristic post-apocalyptic world with Wonder Woman not knowing what happened well I mean correction like that were Beverly what happened and just see how like so much has changed over time and how she has to bring hope in a world is so hopeless it just see some familiar characters come back and very interesting ways this definitely was one of the best stories from DC I read a long time. It definitely this is stores that a deathly be an instant classic give it about baby like 10 years or maybe even shorter than that five years you're going to have a lot of people talk about this particular story years from now

[@brotherjustincrowe]

The best comic of 2020, bar none.

[@TheReelAnalyst]

Great story

[@armandotorres8962]

I need Draper Wonder Woman videos now!

[@diaqs]

Wow that us heavy. Very apocalyptic indeed 🔥🔥

[@darioscomicschool1111]

Thank you so much!

[@tankdempsi9983]

Is that hollow knight music? I’ve subscribed and put notifications immediately 😂

[@ginofrancejr555]

I love DWJ ' S work dead earth is one of his best also extremity murder falcon and beta ray bill is incredible as well

[@srinivasanbalaji4867]

the best part of this story was batman drinking alchohol

[@contrabandresearch8409]

Wonder Woman's original artist, HG Peters, is extremely great and nearly forgotten.

[@kinggrimlock311]

Can you please do a video on Our Worlds At War? It's such an underrated but beautiful DC Comics event that I think you could bring the right attention to, your videos are always amazing and I think it'd make for a very entertaining one.

[@Simplystimulating]

Interesting

[@skiisama]

I’m 4 minutes in and you’ve described Wonder Woman the same way in different ways 😂

[@sgauden02]

I liked this comic book a lot. One thing I wish they'd done however, was put more emphasis on Wonder Woman's, and the Amazons' guilt over the fact that the apocalypse was their fault rather than humanity's. Diana's mother kept saying how humanity didn't deserve them, but in a twist of irony, it was actually the Amazons who actually caused the war that ultimately ended the world. Humanity only launched the nukes at Themyscira in an act of desperation because they were on the verge of losing the war against the Amazons, who were refusing to make peace. This in turned caused Wonder Woman to go berserk, and kill Superman, destroying the world in the process. Consumed by guilt, Wonder Woman would be forced to admit that the Amazons weren't any different than humanity, and that she herself wasn't the perfect champion that she'd always thought she was. Wonder Woman's problem wouldn't be the question of whether humanity deserved her, but whether SHE deserved THEM.

[@gabrielcarrasco8414]

They did give humanity chances though. The Amazon world was about to be destroyed by the rising oceans. The humans also consumed resources too quickly.

[@sgauden02]

@@gabrielcarrasco8414 Yeah, but still, the Amazons didn't make peace when humanity was willing. In the end, the Amazons gave in to the very flaws that they'd always accused the humans of, and ended up making the same mistakes. I think this comic should've emphasized that. Like maybe show Hippolyta rejecting attempted peace talks, because now she wants nothing less than unconditional surrender. They also could've shown Diana trying to reason with her, but she refuses to listen because she's becoming mad with power.

[@isaacalexander5286]

Great job man a video is on point as expected. Could you cover Avengers No Surrender and No Road Home some time?

[@MattDraper]

Loved those books! Not sure what I’d say in a video about them but they’re great

[@catspaw3092]

Wow, this is deep.

[@ghermaneldermendes3674]

I preffer This story over the dark Knight returns

[@roguebritgravy1]

I missed these vids.

[@mancavetheater1240]

I recieved such a kick in the cerebral,on how frank Miller depicted wonder woman in all star batman and ROBIN the boy wonder 😎 she's truly a feminist! Cool breakdown of one's thoughts on published material mate,its why I'm a subscriber 🍻

[@Trakinasnove]

Great as always Matt! Will you talk about other DC Black Label stuff? Like Batman Damned and his dick? Or lack of in the reprints.

[@MattDraper]

Just the dick

[@rantetwins527]

Probably I like the sound of it, Matt. Can you pls. make more videos about alternate universe in DC and Marvel Comics😆😆😆

[@alg5868]

I recommend you The Ghost Fleet, by Johnson and Donny Cates. Carpenterian action-horror-thriller.

[@Xehanort10]

Great versions of Wonder Woman like the comics and DCAU versions just shows how bad her DCEU version was done especially in Wonder Woman 1984.

[@vincentbatten4686]

The only problem with this video is I need to finish the book before I can watch more.

[@mayotango1317]

Please talk about the Waid/Johns era of Wally West's The Flash.

[@pudlordtynan919]

Another brilliant essay. I believe Wonder Woman is a truly great character who can teach us many important lessons. This book seems to follow in that path. Also, ahem, fuck yes to the artwork. Shit looks rad as fuck. Spoilers!!! I'm not super keen on the whole killing of Superman (he's one of my favourite characters). But I feel like he'd be proud of the Diana trying for a better world. I just get a shiver of cringe whenever I see heroes fighting Superman, it's just not my cup of tea.

[@keithgehman3945]

Fun fact, the future of Dead Earth is actually what happens if Matt Draper doesn't do Wonder Woman Earth One!

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

: D Cool

[@SuperStar-ss1pn]

12:33 Ok that's a stretch Dianna being able to kill superman

[@brentonirwin8895]

Its happened more than once and they have fought for real a few times and superman isn't that much stronger than her

[@spoodurmin9742]

@@brentonirwin8895 thats bullshit lol

[@Comicbroe405]

​@@spoodurmin9742 It's her going all out plus kryptonite. I can see it.

[@spoodurmin9742]

@@Comicbroe405 And Superman wasnt going all out. We’ve seen what happens when he does and it’s not even fair or close.

[@Comicbroe405]

​@@spoodurmin9742 Yeah he didn't wanna fight at all.

[@marceib4658]

Do Karnak: The Flaw in All Things

[@salvatoreocello]

Hollow knight?!?!

[@antondelacruz9362]

Its hard to write a definitive take on ww because she is more a set of vague ideals than a character. Her origin is the most solid and intriguing aspect of her character, and since grant morrisons jla run, she will always be in the trinity, which is fitting since she is simply a female superman. Howevee she has no iconic rogues gallery and her powers are always changing because unlike superman and batman, whose abilities are part of who they are, ww is the same character whether she is as strong as superman or as strong as captain america. The best attempt to make her something unique and stand out was when she was retconned to be ares daughter, but that was a better story for cassie sandsmark as she was a rebellious teen who needed her own identity apart from the other 2 perfect womder ladies. Also it made diana too unrelatable and dark, like new52 superman. Fun but not iconic. In the end all her recent memorable stories have involved the amazons. Hopefully theyll figur3 out better stories with diana in mans world, with more fitting enemies than cheetah.

[@valiantgold442]

came here for the story... not for this bs.

[@Comicbroe405]

It doesn't say "story explained" in the title so not his fault.

[@Neverleterlun]

Came here to kno the story got a essay vid. Disappointed 😞.

[@itsnotme987]

This book is ugly and pointless.

[@deadlypants9464]

Can you please please please do a video on Daniel Warren Johnson’s other work Murder Falcon. It’s my favourite comic of all time and more people need to know about this amazing rollercoaster of a story