Natasha Pacifico

Legends of the Dead Earth: Annual 1996- Issue 5

Wonder Woman

In this Issue… The human race and Earth alike is now a thing of the past, and new humanoid creatures, called the unremembered, take center stage. This is when we are introduces to AlyXa. AlyXa is characterized to be intelligent, curious, brave, and has a striking resemblance to Wonder Woman. AlyXa and her people are living on an abandoned spacecraft and are trying to fend off other humanoid characters that also inhabit the craft. In this issue, we learn that AlyXa has left the unremembered, because she had a disagreement with her fiancé, and does not care for him in the same way that he cares for her. She then stumbles on the other creatures on the ship, and also discovers another female. Curious she follows the female and discovers that her and the creature share a special connection to the memory of Wonder Women, because of their similar personality traits. AlyXa then comes to the conclusion that herself and the creature are not that different after all, and both of their kinds are working just to survive.

The overall theme in this comic is character

development and women empowerment

AlyXa is the main character in this story,

and although having her own personal look she also shares a lot of the

same characteristics and the body type as Wonder Women.

This montage shows AlyXa’s earlier memories, and how she and her kind live out life. Having specific gender roles.

McCloud tells his readers that it is important to create a life history/inner life for a character. This is so you can further develop your story line and also make them more relatable your readers.

In this scene, AlyXa is discovering her connection with Wonder Woman, and is living her memories. Here she is shown preforming the same expressive traits as Wonder Woman would.

McCloud tells us that expressions are a visual form of communication that no two people have in common.

This picture depicts AlyXa in a frightened state running away from the monstrous creatures that also inhabit the ship that she and her people are residing on.

This scene is one of the last panels in the comic it shows AlyXa and the humanoid creature communicating and understanding, it shows they have a great deal of respect for one another. It is also a dramatic change from when they both were frightened from one another, in the beginning of the comic.

In Making Comics, McCloud makes a reference to gestures and communication, as a form of body language. Since these two species have never spoken to each other, this eye contact and hand gestures are needed in order to communicate.

McCloud describes body language in four different categories, three of which are shown in the picture on the right: elevation and status, distance and relationships, and gestures and communication.

In the photo on the right, AlyXa is confronting the leader of the unremembered and explaining to her people that just because the other humanoids look different from them does not mean that they should be treated any different. This is also a dramatic change from in the beginning of the comic when AlyXa’s solution was to run away from her problems instead of confronting them.

Used to move the story forward while changing angles to direct the readers attention.

AlyXa is watching the female from above where she is sitting and is amazed at what is happening down below.

Example 8

Also used to further plot and keep the story at a brisk pace.

This is a battle scene before AlyXa and the female humanoid broke it up. The men in this situation only know how to solve their problems with violence.

This subject can determine the tone of a whole comic. Many artists change the style of drawing their characters from time to time depending on what tone the story is taking.

AlyXa in this panel is giving a speech on how the humanoids are no different from the unremembered. The artist chose to use a realistic tone in this drawing in order to give her authority. It also shows how much she has developed as a character and finally has a say in her society.

Works to help compress a story down to a manageable length.

These panels contain a time skip that allow the entirety of the story to be told in a single issue.

This is another tool used in establishing the shot of a comic.

AlyXa is watching the female humanoid to see what she is up to. She is taking incentive to explore and find out what all this ship had to offer.

AlyXa is focusing on the the machine that made the other female lead embody Wonder Woman, and that will soon help he develop into the person that is shown later on in the story.

These comic analysis are a little more detail then the common comic book because they are focused on communicating clearly and are very specific.

This technique is used to compress a lot of information in a short comic or to free up future pictures.

KatXyn is telling the story of how the unremembered came to be on this ship that has been passed on by generation after generation of leaders before him. He could not fit all of that information down in one panel so it was split between many other wordy panels.

The panel can function on its own without including any text bubbles, or even graphic devices.

This panel shows the female humanoid trying to break up the battle between her species and and unremembered. As seen by her costume she also embodies the same ideals and characteristics.

AlyXa is staring at her reflection in an old astronaut suit, and is astonished at how her reflection looks upon a smooth surface. Eluding to the fact that within her community they do not have a lot of goods/resources.

Duo-specific word and picture combos may seen redundant (having the same information stated in the text as the picture that was created), but is in fact an effective way to ensure your readers clarity.

This is then the image would partly make sense without the text, and vice versa. However, when they work together thye send a stronger image.

On the left, this is when AlyXa’s fiancé is talking about her, and how she is different from the other women who “just have children and deplete our resources.” This is another example of how sexist AlyXa’s community truly is.

This page is a good foreshadowing device, because it serves the purpose to know that the women are now getting involved and also that a big fight/altercation is down the road. It also builds the mood for the world and the reader.

During the explanation of what actually happened to Earth and all of its heroes, this panel is shown with all of the trademark superheroes. Without the text bubble or even without the image, you would not be able to truly know what this section of the comic was about.

To Be Continued… AlyXa did in fact have a special connection with Wonder Woman, which she shared with the female humanoid. She also stood up to her fiancé whom was placing her into a lower demographic just because she was a female, and saved the lives of her people and the other females community as well. AlyXa has changed from just another weak needy female to someone who can hold her own, and was worthy enough to live Wonder Woman’s life if only for a moment.

Work Cited • McCloud, Scott. Making Comics. New York:

Harper, 2006. Print.• Byrne, CockRum, and Breyfogle. "Legends of

the Dead Earth: Annual 1996 Wonder Woman." DC Comics. Vol. 5. New York: DC Comics, 1996. 1-38. Print.