This was a good issue as it made lots of good forward moving progress. Well, whoever Doctor was still remains a mystery, but, I'm liking my chances; but, for now, part of the good surprise is Veronica Cale is back, unless she's the Doctor (and, this issue removed Doctor Cyber as the candidate for Doctor, I'm happy to report, as the tech is from Veronica); but, looks like Doctor is Dr. Psycho and he's connected with Veronica and Sasha this time, for now, although it still remains to be seen.

And, it appears that the New 52 is still cannon in relation to Diana, as it was confirmed that she was with Superman and Steve has apparently moved on to another woman and has a daughter who's in the eighth grade. But, I like a number of lines that Wonder Woman made in this issue (e.g. but, it seems like two high schoolers dancing around a romance; sorry, no offense, as this website has lots of young folks); Wonder Woman's lines were extremely piercing, just the way she was drawn made her seem like a high school girl.

I loved those lines. A very good issue.

I'm kinda confused now. Diana's mom is brunette in year one, now she appeared to be blonde.. So which one was real? or both of them are real? The thing is, I still believe that she is Zeus daughter, why? Because, Geoff Johns wont tease Jason (her supposedly twin brother) in Darkseid War if Diana wasnt a demigod.

Diana being with N52 era Superman has been acknowledged in other Rebirth books, it's as if some of you people don't bother reading anything outside of this one title.

It's established here, however, that she never thought of the relationship as a romance, but rather a "simple" and "uncomplicated" fling from which to distract herself with, and to make sure she didn't drift back to Steve. In the New 52, she was always afraid her closeness to him would get him killed, which is why she broke it off with him to begin with.

Damn Rucka throwing shade at the Superman/Wonder Woman romance. Not that I disagree, it was ultimately a simplistic and one dimensional relationship. Diana and Steve have a lot more to their personal connections.

Relax mate. Personally I have almost every Rebirth title on my pull list, but don't go talking down to other people for not being up to date, or interested in other titles. It isn't any business of yours.

Also just a general thing. I notice that Diana is wearing her bracelets while out of costume. I'm curious as to whether or not she has them on to keep her god-mode (if she is still the daughter of Zeus) in check, or just in case she needs to use them for defensive purposes.

Sorry chum, it's just I prefer fans to be in the loop with all things Diana so they can make better sense of what's going on when things like this sneek up on them.

@zariusii: damn ahahahah "chum" ?

"Also just a general thing. I notice that Diana is wearing her bracelets while out of costume. I'm curious as to whether or not she has them on to keep her god-mode (if she is still the daughter of Zeus) in check, or just in case she needs to use them for defensive purposes."

Or, she could be wearing the bracelets because it should be cannon, because Marston created her where the bracelets are necessary for stories around her weaknesses, versus just the strengths, since the start of the post-crisis era; Wonder Woman needs the Marston stories modernized.

@lvenger: I agree. Though I hate the SM/WW relationship, I think it's unrealistic for her just go "welp, I mean it was fun...". I would've liked her to at least mull over it a little more instead of jumping right back to Steve. I mean Rucka's Steve seems like an understanding enough man to wait to give her enough time to collect herself before looking for a rebound.

To be clearer, I don't mind her sort of getting back with Steve this "quickly", but I think them addressing her relationship with Superman could've offered a bit more character development on what love to her is.

I guess it comes down to I know SM/WW fans already hate this run to begin with, and I think they have some right to be a bit miffed about this somewhat disingenuous explanation of that relationship.

@klaus: Unlikely, she didn't take them off in his previous run either, and she also wore jeans and a white tank top btw, just a fun fact. I noticed Rucka is somewhat evasive regarding Wonder Woman's birth, how Diana came into this world is anybody's guess but seeing as she just received the blessings my guess is she's no longer the offspring of Zeus. I haven't got a clue how Jason fits into this story though. I really dig berserk-mode and I would really like to keep it

@vinomonster: I think the new 52 Amazons are the Bana Mighdall and someone tricked Diana into thinking fake-Hippolyta is her Mom, she's supposed to be dead btw. The real Paradise Island is in the "Upside Down", calling it now

@archizooom: Stranger Things have happened....:P

On a side note---Red pickup truck, blue jeans, drinking before 5pm, Steve only needs a giant American Flag bumper stick to be even more painfully American than he already is.

@alsummers: lol good pun

I really really liked this issue. And more than anything i just want that amazons are rapists to be officially retconned as soon as possible. I already know they are going to do it im just waiting for it to happen.

Think it's pretty safe to say that despite the OP's fondest wishes, Psycho has nothing to do with this story, but that Cyber very likely does... and could very well be the AI Cale is talking to.

I don't think it's Psycho either, I think the source of the lies is ultimately Maxwell Lord. They're probably working together, but Rucka's big set piece was Sacrifice. Like Veronica Cale he'll want to revisit it.

I think you might be right about the Bana Mighdall ... I've said many times that the Azzarello depiction was far closer to the Bana than the Themyscirans.

@dshipp17 ... It's quite possible that Veronica Cale IS Dr. Cyber now. Cylvia Cyber has been out of action so long it wouldn't be difficult to just ditch the name altogether, or, as they did with Cheetah's Priscilla Rich alter ego, make it simply an alias she's used in her various activities. This issue actually lays the ground work fairly well. Veronica is a tech wizard who seems to have a global network of minions, all she needs is a cybernetic suit and a facial disfigurement (which Cylvia suffered after her introduction) and presto chango Veronica Cale is Dr. Cyber.

Those are good wizard tricks for clearly losing on Dr. Cyber, but, I think it's going to be Dr. Psycho as things are clearly trending in that direction; as I pointed out, Liam had confirmed that Dr. Psycho will appear and Dr. Cyber is just something you all pulled out of your hat. Veronica Cale had her own separate history in Wonder Woman outside of Rucka, so, Veronica will be Veronica. If you all had a chance at being right, it would have clearly ruled out Psycho for Cyber, but, instead, Cyber was ruled out or distanced considerably from being the suspect in favor of Veronica.

Possibly, Psycho has been brought up by Rucka as a "later" exploration though and he doesn't really seem to fit into where the Veronica story is heading. Cyber makes far more sense in the context of that story line given all the tech heavy elements. Veronica coming into the story was a bit of a "meh", yet not unexpected, development IMO, I'm hoping Rucka does something more interesting with her this go round.

How are things "clearly trending in that direction"? I don't see where Psycho fits in here aside from the chance that Diana's memories are wonky. So far the story has been far more centered on mythical issues with a sideline of tech ... neither in Psycho's wheelhouse.

“Cyber makes far more sense in the context of that story line given all the tech heavy elements.”

As I’d previously explained, cyber, in the case of Dr. Cyber is just a label; it had nothing to do with technology; as I’d previously explained, Dr. Cyber was either a club banger or gang leader; that’s just the history, origin, and fact of that character; if we go by Rucka 1.0, the tech heavy elements were established by Veronica Cale. And, Dr. Psycho, in his origin, is associated with science and tech, while Veronica was actually adjusted into the tech elements by Rucka; actually, placing Dr. Psycho into tech elements would be a form of modernizing Marston, something that needs to be done in the case of Wonder Woman; weren’t you paying attention to our previous discussion of the Doctor being either Dr. Psycho or Dr. Cyber, as it was clarified that Dr. Cyber actually had nothing to do with tech, despite the label?

“How are things "clearly trending in that direction"? I don't see where Psycho fits in here aside from the chance that Diana's memories are wonky. So far the story has been far more centered on mythical issues with a sideline of tech ... neither in Psycho's wheelhouse.”

Tech most certainly is a Dr. Psycho wheelhouse, if you know anything at all about his real origins; and, yes, it would be Diana’s memories, along with Sasha being mind controlled in the previous issue, all associations of Dr. Psycho; while the tech would have seemed like a radical update of the post-crisis version of Dr. Psycho, it would have shown signs of some intentions to modernize Marston, but, bringing in Veronica now explains the tech; so, Veronica with Dr, Psycho greatly explains what might be coming; again, Dr. Cyber was just an insertion on you all’s part; we could have inserted Dr. Poison (which still has a slight possibility, since she was previously introduced in the New 52, certainly over Dr. Cyber) or one of several characters from Wonder Woman, or, likely, some character from some place else (e.g. Lex Luthor), or a new character that Rucka was bringing in to explain the tech elements.

Dr Psycho has never been a tech-heavy villain. In his Golden Age incarnation he was an occultist/mystic with the ability to draw on "ectoplasm" there is not over the top tech theme to any of his incarnations. Sasha is a cybernetically enhanced human, and she's obviously been "hacked" ... given that her cybernetic eye glows when she's being controlled it seems pretty obvious that she's being manipulated by a tech-based villain, Veronica clearly. It remains to be seen if Veronica is the new Dr. Cyber as the character is clearly hinted to be making a reappearance from the cover of Issue 9 (IIRC). There is nothing subtle about the imagery. I'm more inclined to believe a totally new character before Psycho's inclusion in this particular story line. Bluntly, there are many better options for this story than Psycho. I'd much rather have him headline his own story-arc than have him bolted on in a story that doesn't need him thrown into the mix. If he's somehow behind "Lies" and is messing with Diana's memories that's fine, but there seems to be more going on here. Rucka looks to be doing some longer-term set up with the Veronica story as a bit of a side plot running concurrently with Lies. Rucka seems to have every intention of bringing Psycho back into the book at some point and I'd much rather him do that in a way that makes Psycho the "featured act" rather than a side player.

We've been arguing about this for months, I can't figure out why you're dead set against Dr. Cyber appearing in favor of Dr. Psycho. It makes no sense to me.

We already know Rucka likes to use multiple villains at the same time. For instance in his last run Circe was working with the Gorgons to revive Medousa and Veronica Cale was working with Dr. Psycho to control Vanessa as the Silver Swan. He likes a wheel within a wheel to turn the gears.

Currently we have Steve Trevor working for what appears to be the military, but is really an organization run by Director Sasha Bordeaux who secretly empowered Cadulo and then sent Steve's Echo Team to capture him. Cadulo explicitly asked Steve if he was with the C.I.A. or ARGUS and got no reply, however there's a framed photograph of J. Edgar Hoover on the wall of Bordeaux's office implying it's the F.B.I. (or some other shifty government agency) but the C.I.A. is headquartered in Langley, Virginia just like Picket.

In turn Sasha Bordeaux is overseen by Veronica Cale of Empire Enterprises and they have a nefarious scheme against Wonder Woman that apparently Steve, Commander Etta Candy and Picket know nothing about, although all their tech and resources are under Cale's control. So the next question is if Picket is also a part of Godwatch and if not, who do Steve and Etta think they're working for?

Dr. Cyber is clearly in the background of the latest issue's cover. All communication between Adrianna, Bordeaux and Cale is through a cybernetic interface, that seems to take possession of Bordeaux as well as Adrianna. It was Veronica Cale who introduced cybernetics to the Silver Swan. Maxwell Lord has history as a cyborg as well. Now whether Dr. Cyber will be Adrianna, Veronica Cale, Sasha Bordeaux or all 3 of them I don't know. Dr. Cyber may only be the name of the program through which they communicate, but nothing at all points to Dr. Psycho.

I just re-read all the Rebirth WW books back to back and the pacing problems disappear when read in one sitting. What's certain is the mysteries are deepening and what was already good is getting better. This is going to be one hell of a trade!

@scorpio_cassadine: I am inclined to agree that Lies is more likely to be Max Lord than Psycho, especially since there seems to be a broader DC story line around it and Max is more of a DC wide villain.

@csg_cl said:

@dshipp17 said:

@csg_cl said:

@dshipp17 said:

@scorpio_cassadine said:

I don't think it's Psycho either, I think the source of the lies is ultimately Maxwell Lord. They're probably working together, but Rucka's big set piece was Sacrifice. Like Veronica Cale he'll want to revisit it.

@csg_cl said:

@archizooom said:

@vinomonster: I think the new 52 Amazons are the Bana Mighdall and someone tricked Diana into thinking fake-Hippolyta is her Mom, she's supposed to be dead btw. The real Paradise Island is in the "Upside Down", calling it now

I think you might be right about the Bana Mighdall ... I've said many times that the Azzarello depiction was far closer to the Bana than the Themyscirans.

@dshipp17 ... It's quite possible that Veronica Cale IS Dr. Cyber now. Cylvia Cyber has been out of action so long it wouldn't be difficult to just ditch the name altogether, or, as they did with Cheetah's Priscilla Rich alter ego, make it simply an alias she's used in her various activities. This issue actually lays the ground work fairly well. Veronica is a tech wizard who seems to have a global network of minions, all she needs is a cybernetic suit and a facial disfigurement (which Cylvia suffered after her introduction) and presto chango Veronica Cale is Dr. Cyber.

Those are good wizard tricks for clearly losing on Dr. Cyber, but, I think it's going to be Dr. Psycho as things are clearly trending in that direction; as I pointed out, Liam had confirmed that Dr. Psycho will appear and Dr. Cyber is just something you all pulled out of your hat. Veronica Cale had her own separate history in Wonder Woman outside of Rucka, so, Veronica will be Veronica. If you all had a chance at being right, it would have clearly ruled out Psycho for Cyber, but, instead, Cyber was ruled out or distanced considerably from being the suspect in favor of Veronica.

Possibly, Psycho has been brought up by Rucka as a "later" exploration though and he doesn't really seem to fit into where the Veronica story is heading. Cyber makes far more sense in the context of that story line given all the tech heavy elements. Veronica coming into the story was a bit of a "meh", yet not unexpected, development IMO, I'm hoping Rucka does something more interesting with her this go round.

How are things "clearly trending in that direction"? I don't see where Psycho fits in here aside from the chance that Diana's memories are wonky. So far the story has been far more centered on mythical issues with a sideline of tech ... neither in Psycho's wheelhouse.

“Cyber makes far more sense in the context of that story line given all the tech heavy elements.”

As I’d previously explained, cyber, in the case of Dr. Cyber is just a label; it had nothing to do with technology; as I’d previously explained, Dr. Cyber was either a club banger or gang leader; that’s just the history, origin, and fact of that character; if we go by Rucka 1.0, the tech heavy elements were established by Veronica Cale. And, Dr. Psycho, in his origin, is associated with science and tech, while Veronica was actually adjusted into the tech elements by Rucka; actually, placing Dr. Psycho into tech elements would be a form of modernizing Marston, something that needs to be done in the case of Wonder Woman; weren’t you paying attention to our previous discussion of the Doctor being either Dr. Psycho or Dr. Cyber, as it was clarified that Dr. Cyber actually had nothing to do with tech, despite the label?

“How are things "clearly trending in that direction"? I don't see where Psycho fits in here aside from the chance that Diana's memories are wonky. So far the story has been far more centered on mythical issues with a sideline of tech ... neither in Psycho's wheelhouse.”

Tech most certainly is a Dr. Psycho wheelhouse, if you know anything at all about his real origins; and, yes, it would be Diana’s memories, along with Sasha being mind controlled in the previous issue, all associations of Dr. Psycho; while the tech would have seemed like a radical update of the post-crisis version of Dr. Psycho, it would have shown signs of some intentions to modernize Marston, but, bringing in Veronica now explains the tech; so, Veronica with Dr, Psycho greatly explains what might be coming; again, Dr. Cyber was just an insertion on you all’s part; we could have inserted Dr. Poison (which still has a slight possibility, since she was previously introduced in the New 52, certainly over Dr. Cyber) or one of several characters from Wonder Woman, or, likely, some character from some place else (e.g. Lex Luthor), or a new character that Rucka was bringing in to explain the tech elements.

Dr Psycho has never been a tech-heavy villain. In his Golden Age incarnation he was an occultist/mystic with the ability to draw on "ectoplasm" there is not over the top tech theme to any of his incarnations. Sasha is a cybernetically enhanced human, and she's obviously been "hacked" ... given that her cybernetic eye glows when she's being controlled it seems pretty obvious that she's being manipulated by a tech-based villain, Veronica clearly. It remains to be seen if Veronica is the new Dr. Cyber as the character is clearly hinted to be making a reappearance from the cover of Issue 9 (IIRC). There is nothing subtle about the imagery. I'm more inclined to believe a totally new character before Psycho's inclusion in this particular story line. Bluntly, there are many better options for this story than Psycho. I'd much rather have him headline his own story-arc than have him bolted on in a story that doesn't need him thrown into the mix. If he's somehow behind "Lies" and is messing with Diana's memories that's fine, but there seems to be more going on here. Rucka looks to be doing some longer-term set up with the Veronica story as a bit of a side plot running concurrently with Lies. Rucka seems to have every intention of bringing Psycho back into the book at some point and I'd much rather him do that in a way that makes Psycho the "featured act" rather than a side player.

"Dr Psycho has never been a tech-heavy villain. In his Golden Age incarnation he was an occultist/mystic with the ability to draw on "ectoplasm" there is not over the top tech theme to any of his incarnations."

While his doing research into occultist and mystic activity is not considered scientific, by today's standards, Dr. Psycho was doing those activities as the result of scientific research; and, he was enrolled in university, as a science major; so, while you'd have to make a slight adjustment, he was a scientist; and his brother was a geologist. No one would have been tech heavy, in the days that Dr. Psycho's origins were addressed.

"Sasha is a cybernetically enhanced human, and she's obviously been "hacked" ... given that her cybernetic eye glows when she's being controlled it seems pretty obvious that she's being manipulated by a tech-based villain, Veronica clearly. It remains to be seen if Veronica is the new Dr. Cyber as the character is clearly hinted to be making a reappearance from the cover of Issue 9 (IIRC)."

I'll stick with my prior position, because Dr. Cyber was a club or gang leader; the stuff on that image could mean anything and actually could be connected to the Hive, as shown in Superboy; since Dr. Cyber is something that was just through in the air, the current context says that's Hive technology, if not just some new technology indicative of Veronica Cale; and, Hive means Dr. Psycho, currently, if anything. Right now, I'd prefer mind-control (and, that being the case, a Dr. Psycho appearance) in the case of Sasha, as why are you mentioning that now? I don't know much about Sasha though.

"There is nothing subtle about the imagery. I'm more inclined to believe a totally new character before Psycho's inclusion in this particular story line. Bluntly, there are many better options for this story than Psycho."

Nan, given the indicators, including mind-control, Dr. Psycho is the best and most obvious candidate, as Liam said he'll make an appearance. I'm just going by the logic and connecting it with the promise to introduce Dr. Psycho.

"I'd much rather have him headline his own story-arc than have him bolted on in a story that doesn't need him thrown into the mix. If he's somehow behind "Lies" and is messing with Diana's memories that's fine, but there seems to be more going on here. "

If he had his own story arc, that would be sweet. It could be both; this arc could spin off into a Dr. Psycho, self-contained arc. And, Diana's mind is being messed with; a messed with mind is clearly the hallmarks of Dr. Psycho.

"Rucka seems to have every intention of bringing Psycho back into the book at some point and I'd much rather him do that in a way that makes Psycho the "featured act" rather than a side player."

I agree with all here.

"We've been arguing about this for months, I can't figure out why you're dead set against Dr. Cyber appearing in favor of Dr. Psycho. It makes no sense to me."

It makes all the sense in the world, based on the context. We have, 1, a promise to bring Dr. Psycho back, and 2, mind control. Dr. Cyber was just an option brought in from the ether, as a way of responding to mind-control equals Dr. Psycho, simply in an effort to disagree with the logic before everyone's eyes.

"Currently we have Steve Trevor working for what appears to be the military, but is really an organization run by Director Sasha Bordeaux who secretly empowered Cadulo and then sent Steve's Echo Team to capture him. Cadulo explicitly asked Steve if he was with the C.I.A. or ARGUS and got no reply, however there's a framed photograph of J. Edgar Hoover on the wall of Bordeaux's office implying it's the F.B.I. (or some other shifty government agency) but the C.I.A. is headquartered in Langley, Virginia just like Picket."

And, you neglect to mention that this is so, because of mind-control. Rather than running anything, Sasha seems to be being used within something that she otherwise runs, but, independent of these things.

"Dr. Cyber is clearly in the background of the latest issue's cover. All communication between Adrianna, Bordeaux and Cale is through a cybernetic interface, that seems to take possession of Bordeaux as well as Adrianna. It was Veronica Cale who introduced cybernetics to the Silver Swan. Maxwell Lord has history as a cyborg as well. Now whether Dr. Cyber will be Adrianna, Veronica Cale, Sasha Bordeaux or all 3 of them I don't know. Dr. Cyber may only be the name of the program through which they communicate, but nothing at all points to Dr. Psycho."

In modern context, that cover actually seems something indicative of Hive; Hive, in tern, is indicative of Dr. Psycho, in now day and age. Dr. Cyber, again, was character involved in gang banging or club activity; she had nothing to do with technology; the name is just a cool label, I guess. Sure, mind-control points very clearly to Dr. Psycho.

Boring book , glad I dropped it after reading #6