Warning! Spoilers for Wonder Woman #9 ahead!

Wonder Woman writer Tom King is definitely doing something right – he and artist Daniel Sampere just received Eisner Award nominations for their work on the series so far. However, when fans of Diana Prince thought King had made a mistake by keeping the main character mostly solo, they helped respectfully change his mind. Wonder Woman is a hero who thrives on community, so King reunited her with fan-favorite characters, the Wonder Girls.

In an interview with Popverse, Tom King said he wanted to make sure the Wonder Woman cast was small: “This is going to be Wonder Woman-focused because, in a lot of books, she ends up not being the protagonist in her own book…every single issue of this book is about why Wonder Woman is awesome.” Wonder Woman fans agreed, but had an enthusiastic, respectful request of King: bring back Diana’s Wonder-Family.

After discussing with his creative team, he conceded: “I was convinced and I was like ‘I know this was Rule #1 in my bible, but I’m throwing it out.‘”

Positive Fan Interactions Are Still Few and Far Between

Historically, when fans have an issue with the direction a new creative lead takes, conversations on social media are disrespectful at best and can transform into harassment, hate campaigns, or worse. Perhaps inspired by Diana Prince herself, Wonder Woman fans had different tactics. Tom King said, “The fans were coming at me, not in a mean way, but in the kindest, nicest way, saying ‘We want to see the Wonder Girls!'” Far from taking the focus away from Wonder Woman, her protégés show one of her great strengths – fighting not for vengeance or power, but for hope and love.

In both the “Wonder Woman: Outlaw” and current “Sacrifice” stories, Diana has been marked as an enemy of the United States, and tries to fight alone. Wonder Woman #5 – by Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles – shows Diana forcing her sidekicks to swear oaths that they will not help her at all. Similar to how King wanted to keep her by herself, but fans changed his mind, Diana is surprised at the end of the issue to find that the Wonder Girls have decided they don’t care what she wants: if she needs help, they’re there for her.

The Wonder Girls Play a Big Role in Taking Down “Wonder Woman’s Joker”

In the recently-released Wonder Woman #9, the Wonder Girls have kidnapped Sargeant Steel, the military man who’s led the Sovereign’s campaign against Diana. It’s revealed that getting captured has been part of Wonder Woman’s plan to get close to her enemy, but it remains to be seen what Cassie, Donna, and Yara’s job is with Steel. In the months that Diana is surviving solitary confinement as the Sovereign tries to break her spirit, the girls are giving Steel some payback – shown in the previous issue trying to shoot an apple off of his head while blindfolded, and somehow “accidentally” missing.

There’s one more member of Diana’s family who has yet to be seen in the main story: Wonder Woman’s daughter, Lizzie. Ever since issue #1, the Sovereign has been narrating this story to someone, and referring to Diana as “your mother.” Is he talking to her because he’s been captured, and is offering a dying man’s story? Or is it because he’s captured her? The Amazon whose crime kicked off his hate campaign has been revealed to be pregnant – is this Lizzie’s actual origin? Only time will tell, but whatever happens, Wonder Woman will have her family by her side.

Wonder Woman #9 is available now from DC Comics.

Source: Popverse