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Warning: contains spoilers for Future State: Wonder Woman #1
It’s a common refrain that superheroes are modern mythology. Regardless of the idea’s merit, it ignores the fact that many superheroes are already part of classic mythology. Though obvious characters like Marvel’s Thor and Hercules stick out, Wonder Woman has made Greek myth an essential part of the DC Universe. Since her debut, Diana’s origins have been closely tied to the Greek pantheon and those ties have only grown stronger over time. But the introduction of a new Wonder Woman, Yara Flor, is ushering a new mythology into the DC Universe.
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Though Yara Flor is not the first Wonder Woman of color, she is the first South American woman to earn the mantle. Instead of her heritage and culture just being minor details though, they play an important role in her backstory. Yara is the daughter of an Amazonian and a Brazillian river god. In her debut issue, Future State: Wonder Woman #1 by writer and artist Joëlle Jones, readers are introduced to the newest Wonder Woman in her element, battling monsters deep in Amazon Rainforest. As she does so, an unnamed narrator speaks about the parallel histories of Zeus and the Guarani thunder god, Tupã. On opposite ends of the world, both gods created their people, but the people eventually lost faith in their creators, requiring the two gods to create a bridge between the gods and humans. Thus heroes were created. Heroes like Yara Flor.
The rest of the issue sees Yara navigating the Greek underworld so she can reach Hades himself and convince the Greek God of the Underworld to return her sister. Though most of the issue sticks to familiar Greek ground, the mention of Tupã and Yara’s origin as the daughter of a Brazilian River God guarantees that the rest of this tale will be anything but familiar.
The DC Universe has always had an odd relationship to mythology as a whole. Much like Marvel, DC operates on the idea that all mythologies are at least a little true. While Greek and Norse mythology are the most immediate examples of this, Egyptian mythology has played an important role in the backstories of characters like Black Adam, Hawkman, and Blue Beetle. The highly influential Sandman series deserves specific mention for introducing a wide variety of myths into the DC Universe. Despite all of this though, South and Central American myths have played a relatively small role in the DC Universe, making Yara Flor’s new series all the more exciting.
Wonder Woman books have been building up to a South American tribe of Amazons for some time now, meaning DC has been hinting at Yara’s introduction for almost a year. In this first issue alone, Yara Flor shows tremendous courage and attitude, already marking her as a departure from Diana’s cool confidence. Readers can only hope the new Wonder Woman’s mythology will receive as much care and attention as the character herself.
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