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This is a recreation of a page from Matt Wagner's controversial three part story "Trinity", which purported to tell the first meeting between Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. However, many liberties were taken with the source material and most fans of the Amazing Amazon view the work to be an Elseworld's Tale and not within present continuity.
"Trinity" was felt by many Wonder Woman fans to depict Diana as weak and ineffectual and one dramatic sequence pitted the Amazon Princess against the powerful Bizzaro in a brutal battle. Although she initially gains the advantage by ensnaring Bizarro in her lasso, the creature somehow breaks the supposedly "unbreakable" golden rope and proceeds to ferociously beat an understandably surprised Diana senseless.
People often ask me why, as such a devoted fan of Diana, I would commission such a bloodthirsty piece that depicts Wonder Woman suffering such a brutal defeat?
The simple answer is that I always knew right from the start that this would be controversial - and indeed wanted it to be so - because I knew it would spark debate, particularly over just how badly Diana was portrayed in this storyline.
I felt the original, rather "cartoony" artwork by Wagner almost disguised the events that were being portrayed in the book, as if to divert the reader's attention from the various things that Diana was actually being subjected to. I knew Al Rio's more realistic art style would convey the true violence and ferocity of this particular sequence - and whether some fans liked seeing it or not - it would leave nobody in any doubt as to what horrors Diana was experiencing throughout this story - in which she was at various points bound in chains, threatened with rape and impaled with a spear!
So,whether the intensity of the subject matter, or the fact that Wonder Woman
is shown suffering such a comprehensive defeat is to your liking or not, no
one can deny the sheer power and drama of this set piece as portrayed by Al
Rio.
Scroll down to see the full coloured version together with the original Matt
Wagner art.
Below is the original artwork from "Trinity" as pencilled and inked
by Matt Wagner
And below is Al's version!
Coloured by Tom Smith whose credits include "JLA/Avengers" with George
Perez.
Artwork created exclusively for "Amazon Archives" by
Al Rio!
