Controversy surrounds DC’s new Wonder Woman story

DC Comics announced a new story arc launching in September featuring Diana’s long lost twin brother, Jason, who was taken away from Themyscira as a baby.

A new creative team is taking over the Wonder Woman Rebirth title after Greg Rucka departs the title, and the newest story arc will feature Diana Prince’s long lost twin brother, Jason. “Children of the Gods” debuts on September 27 and features the talent of James Robinson, Carlo Pagulayan, and Emanuela Lupacchino. Of course, as exciting as this news is, there is already concern about adding a male character into Diana Prince’s story.

The new team will work on Wonder Woman over a six-month period, and their first story brings a mysterious character back into Diana’s life. Jason isn’t a new character, so the wave of furor over adding a man to Wonder Woman’s world is shortsighted. Jason debuted in July 2016’s Justice League Vol. 2 #50, so he has been around for a while even though he only showed up once before. This isn’t someone who was dreamed up after the success of the Wonder Woman movie; Jason was there already, waiting to return to the story.

In a way, it makes perfect sense for Wonder Woman to have siblings that she may or may not be aware of. (In this case she wasn’t aware of his existence because he was taken from Themyscira as an infant) Diana is the descendant of gods, and we know that gods love to cause mischief. That mischief includes reproducing to create heirs to carry on the family name, so why not add a mysterious twin sibling to the canon?

An article from the Mary Sue criticizes DC’s new direction with this “Children of the Gods” arc, stating that there is no reason for a brother to be inserted into the storyline. We know this is factually incorrect because Jason isn’t a new character–he first appeared back in July 2016. It’s entirely plausible that Diana had siblings, so this doesn’t detract from her story in the slightest. This isn’t an attack on the feminine strength of the story, either. This is an exploration of Diana’s family. We don’t even know if he will be a force for good, or a force for evil. It’s way too early to tell.

The Mary Sue article also calls foul with the change in Diana’s story that made her a descendant of Zeus instead of Aphrodite. Call me crazy, but being the Daughter of Zeus is pretty darn cool. He’s the Big Boss of the pantheon of gods, so being his daughter isn’t too shabby. I’d take Zeus over Aphrodite any day.

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I’m not going to jump to any conclusions about “Children of the Gods” until I read it. There are so many different directions that this story arc can go; I’m willing to go along for the ride.