The Villains of Wonder Woman #1
Something caught my eye as I was reading through the new Wonder Woman #1: all three villains are doctors. There is Cheetah (Dr. Barbara Minerva), Giganta (Dr. Doris Zeul), and Dr. Psycho. The script isn’t even subtle about this fact, Minerva and Zeul get text boxes explaining their identity and Zeul even goes as far as correcting Wonder Woman (“It’s ‘Dr. Zeul’…”) when she addresses her as Giganta.
You can take it even one step farther: the villains are tied together (each is a doctor of some sort), yet each villain represents a different primary aspect of humanity. Giganta represents the physical (her size), Cheetah represents the spiritual (she gained her powers from a mystic “marriage” to an African god), and Dr. Psycho with his telepathy represents the mental.
Just food for thought.
June 12th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
all three villains are doctors
…just like Billy Marston, then.
Interesting.
Very Interesting Indeed.
//\Oo/\\
June 14th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Actually, Dr. Psycho may fall into that Victor von Doom category of villains who use the title “doctor” but don’t have an advanced degree in anything.
June 14th, 2006 at 8:00 am
Official Comment
That’s a good point Omar. I know he started out way back as a “mad scientist type” but I’m not sure his degree status — or specialty — has ever been addressed in his modern re-imagining.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:31 am
I recall that he at least posed as a psychiatrist in his first Post-Crisis story, but the ending of that tale left it up in the air as to whether he was actually accredited or not.
The thematic link you point out is quite a nice one, though.
June 14th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Dr. Poison needs to be featured more. I think she’s the granddaughter of the Golden Age Dr. Poison, a Mengele-like foe from the Moulton days.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:06 am
And let us not forget Dr. Cylvia Cyber.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Since there’s never been an official retcon…
Dr. Psycho was originally a medical STUDENT, who was sent to prison by a frame-up. Since then, he’s mainly been an occultist; an occupation that favors titles such as “doctor”, particularly if unearned.
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