Chapter Ten: ...Make the Axis Fold—Part Two: Giganta...

Place: Offices of DC Comics, New York City

Year: 1986

"Imagine the city in ruins. The Justice League and the US military are broken at the feet of a Godzilla-sized red head giantess with freakishly oversized disproportionate breasts, and muscles bigger than a male bodybuilder's. She's destroying everything she sees and people are running for their lives in panic, it's the end of the world! Giganta, they scream… Giganta! Gigtanta

"When she hears the last scream, we see a little girl in a leopard print leotard being scolded by her father for playing 'that silly game' again. She's twenty years old and playing male believe like a child! Four feet tall, weighing ninety pounds, and with all the curves of a ten year old boy, Doris Zeul looks at all the cardboard she's kicked around and mutters that it shouldn't have to be a game."

Perez was worried by the looks on the other writers' faces, Miller especially. "A leopard print leotard? I don't believe it…" he growled. "…You're bringing in Super Friends?"

Perez smiled. "Well why the heck not?! The cartoon version of the character gives Wonder Woman a more believable challenge than our version. As silly as Justice League light could get, the origin it gave Giganta is better that our evolved gorilla origin. Besides," he said more pensively, "more people know about the TV version the character than will ever know about the 'real' comic book version. Honestly millions saw that show and keep seeing it thanks to reruns but Giganta only made two post Golden Age appearances in the comics!"

Bridwell cleared his throat. "Not so. She made a third appearance in a book I wrote."

"Really?" Perez checked his notes but he couldn't find anything. Still, if Mr. Trivia said it… "Which book was it?"

"Super Friends!"

Eyes were rolled. "My point exactly."

Schwartz pounded the desk and called for order. "All right George, you've said you piece on the cartoon now let's say something about the villain you're revamping. And don't turn it into a freak show!" he quickly added.

"…Sure. Doris is the daughter of scientist Dr. Franklin Zeul, an evolutionary biologist famous for experiments that turned a gorilla named Giganta into a human woman. She has since been turned back into an ape and sent to Gorilla City but she hasn't left Doris' thoughts. Unlike other girls her age, Doris doesn't have anorexia, she has 'Bigorexia' thanks to a medical condition that stunted her growth. She's consumed by self loathing at being so small and weak and consequently stood in awe of gorilla Giganta's size and strength. She dreams of being that big and why not; she has red hair like the gorilla girl doesn't she?"

"Aside from 'cosplaying' her character," said Perez, borrowing a phrase from the fans, "her size fantasies extend to having seen Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman a dozen times and being the world's greatest authority on the film. Posters, autographs, props, interviews with the actors, she has the works. To that end she also has a collection of stories of folklore and sci-fi giantesses. She follows Rita Farr's Elasti-Girl adventures religiously and one of her most treasured possessions is a signed Elasti-Girl poster. She's even a fan of female bodybuilding and goes to their shows regularly. She's also a brilliant student at her father's university; she's determined to be the biggest at something. It's while she's on a camping trip in New Mexico that Doris becomes the biggest at everything

"There, she sees Tyler Long Shadow, an Indian from a long line of Mescalero Apache chiefs, on a vision quest. He's been fasting and meditating and then when he's ready uses the knowledge given him by his grandfather to claim his birthright. All Doris sees, however, is that he sprinkles some magic powder to grow fifty feet tall; with that, she knows she just has to have it. She storms camp and steals the powder at gunpoint regardless of Long Shadow's pleas. Nothing will get in her way, not when every dream, every fantasy she ever had is within reach. With that every fantasy she ever had comes true… and that includes rampaging through the city. She's drunk with power and is determined to pay back everyone who ever insulted her for being small and show them—and especially herself—just how big she is.

"Wonder Woman happens to be the nearest superhero and she immediately goes to the rescue. The man who called in her help was Franklin Zeul, however, and his words remain in her ears. Doris has had this fantasy in her head for so long that she doesn't know what's real anymore. Point in fact, I plan on drawing one panel as homage to the famous Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman poster; you know the picture, a freeway overpass between her legs, she's holds a car in her hands. The only difference is that here she's grinning.

"So the fight is on as Doris 'Giganta' Zeul throws down with the only woman in the world who can match her strength and she seems to win… until Diana brings in her secret weapon, Tyler 'Apache Chief' Long Shadow. She had contacted Long Shadow and he plays his part of the plan by growing that much bigger than Giganta. (They do have the same powers but he has years of preparation.) She tries to get bigger, she strains, but she can't and bursts out crying in a nervous breakdown. She sobs uncontrollably and screams, 'It's not fair I I've gotten this big and I'm still little! I'll never be big enough!' Traumatized, she shrinks to her original four foot size; she's so much smaller than her oversized clothes that they fall off and leave her naked. Her father Franklin Zeul is there and covers her nakedness with her coat. He comforts her and they wait as the police arrive."

"Another sympathetic villain who reforms?" asked Schwartz.

"Yes and no. In creating a brand new Giganta to replace the old one, I am more sympathetic to my characters. I don't intend for Doriz Zeul to ever be truly bad. She has no plans for world domination, she's not a sadist, or some career criminal. Still, with how she basically ruined her life when she destroyed half the city in her 'little' rampage, there's no place for her in polite society. As confused and angry as she is, she makes an easy mercenary. She works as three hundred foot tall dumb muscle for money and to indulge in destruction just for the heck of it. There's another darker reason; she's so haunted by her previous smallness that she wants to lash out at everyone just prove to them—and herself—that she's bigger than everyone. All this is why Tyler Long Shadow tried to keep her from the magic.

"Its only when she starts running towards growth instead of from smallness that she finds peace. Long Shadow knows that what's done is done and that the most responsible thing he can do is help her. With that help, she comes to terms with the fact that, in absolute terms, there will always be someone bigger than her but as long as she's the biggest she can be that's enough. Long Shadow even teaches her not to be ashamed of her original smallness by showing her that she was already a giantess where it mattered the most," Perez touched a hand to his chest, "in here. If anything, she even lets herself shrink back to her original four feet now and then just for the heck of it."

Jenette Kahn asked, "Exactly how big can she get? And what's up with her looking like a bodybuilder?"

"Doris Zeul 'normal' size is still a skinny and underdeveloped four feet tall; it has it uses when she wants some perspective or if she has to go undercover as Nancy Archer." He saw one person laugh at the injoke. "Her default size, however, is between seven to eight feet tall. It's the tallest she can be and live in the normal world—any bigger and she wouldn't be able to go into her house—but the shortest she can keep her giant muscles."

"I don't believe this George!" shouted Schwartz. "What you're going to draw on Wonder Woman is bad enough—and Silver Swan to boot—but another one?!"

"Oh don't worry about it boss," remarked the suddenly supportive Miller. "Giganta's a villain and that means she can get away with being ugly. I say go for it George. Breasts bigger than her head with biceps to match. Hell, have her back be so wide that her arms hang off her body at an angle and give her twelve pack abs to boot. She'll be so ugly that we'll hear the fans cheer from here when Diana beats her!"

"…of course, thanks for the assist Frank." He looked at Jenette Kahn and saw the same sad look on her face that he knew was on his. She's a villain so she can get away with being ugly? When are comic books going to change on that?

"Like I said, her default size will be about seven feet, six inches and she'll weigh in at eight hundred pounds."

Kahn glanced at her midsection and asked, "Uh, George, why is she so heavy?"

Perez stifled a laugh at that. Sometimes the stereotype is true! "I figure that since the biggest male weightlifters and bodybuilders come in at about three hundred pounds at six feet, she'd be four hundred pounds at that height. Not that she gets that muscular until she's tall enough. Thanks to the law of mass cubed, her weight cubes for every increase in size—x-many times as tall times x-many times as wide times x-many times as thick—so she's 7'6 at eight hundred pounds.

"In terms of strength, Giganta can lift three hundred tons at her default size so if she wants to get a good work out she needs to bench press five Abrams tanks. Her strength increases proportionately to her size, however. That means that if she grows to the size of the Empire State Building about one thousand four hundred feet, she'll not only be about one hundred eighty times taller, she'll be nearly six million times stronger! Multiply that against lifting three hundred tons and she can lift about," he looked down and checked his notes for the exact number, "…one thousand…" Perez swallowed, "…one thousand nine hundred fifty one megatons…" He looked up with goggle eyes and said, "…forget lifting it, she'd destroy it in one punch!

"Wonder Woman might be strong but even if she were to take her bracelets off and risk using full power, Giganta is the one woman who could match her strength for strength, maybe even surpass her as she gets finding ways to grow bigger and proportionately much, much stronger."

"Not good enough Perez." The grand old man drummed his fingers on the table. "I get the feeling you want to use Giganta as the occasional protagonist and that means a few limits are in order. I've edited a lot of comics in my day and I know that a story it will get real boring if the hero just steps on the villain."

"Fair enough Mr. Schwartz. I've thought about it myself and I'm planning to take a page from Marvel's Giant-Man, the bigger she gets, the faster she grows, or the longer she stays at an extreme size, the more strain she puts on her body. She can theoretically stay 7'6 forever though as her body gets used to it she'll grow increasingly larger. A plot bunny I want to use sees her facing a giant monster trying to destroy the city thus forcing to grow bigger than she's ever grown before. She's pale, trembling, and gasping for breath through blue lips but refuses to go down. By nothing more than sheer guts, she stops the monster and saves the day."

The curmudgeon nodded his approval.

"Make no mistake, however; I don't plan on Giganta being a hero," continued Perez. He turned from Schwartz to look at everyone. "Like I said, she's a little too selfish for that. I plan on her being somewhere between an adventurer and an anti-villain who, if, she does save the day, it's reluctantly. For example, she's going about her business when she sees someone about to fall off a building. What else can she do; let them die? Unless, however, it's happening right in front of her, she's not going to the rescue. She doesn't go looking for people to save—she figures that that's the Justice League's job.

"More often than not, Giganta'll do something stupid just for the heck of it or ambush Wonder Woman on principle. As the only other female who can give her a descent workout, she figures why not. This might sometimes get inconvenient for Diana but with how the Amazons are supposed to be warriors anyways and how Giganta only ambushes her if there are no innocent people around, Diana never holds a grudge.

"She does ultimately finish her higher education but indulges her size fantasies by posing at a hundred feet tall for her adoring—"

He was interrupted by laughter. "Aw man I love this!" cackled Miller. "The freak actually thinks she's beautiful! George, I'm sorry I said anything about Super Friends, I am. Please—please!—promise me that you'll have her wearing pink and fretting about her makeup."

"Well, I… was thinking of doing a few things like that." He sighed. Perez had been worried that a few people would treat Giganta like a joke. Not that I should be surprised. Why can't a woman wanting to be strong be regarded as normal and feminine? He rolled his eyes. What am I thinking? If Jane Fonda's exercise videos tapes are scary enough to some of these guys, them treating this is a joke is the best I can hope for.

That's what Perez thought. What he didn't know was that, in time, he would be vindicated. Yes, after Perez left the Wonder Woman, subsequent artists and writers either slimmed Giganta down drastically or kept her as a burly imbecile. Regardless, Gail Simone turned a one note joke into a real character. She emphasized Giganta's modeling career and through it, showed that there were fans who saw her as one the most beautiful women in the world. Giganta would also meet and befriend fellow giantess, Rita Farr. They shared a few adventures together and Farr helped Zeul with her modeling but there was a key difference. For Doris Zeul, being a giantess is more than a superpower and a curse, it was a lifestyle and the greatest blessing in her life.

She was living the dream except for one thing, someone to share it with. She dated a new Atom as part of an opposites attract idea; it doesn't work out. On the opposite end, a date with Apache Chief proved embarrassing with how he barely reached her chest now; it was like dancing with a little boy. That's when she met "Arnold," a noted philanthropist who confessed to a taste in big, beautiful women. He eventually confessed that he was also Aristeus, the last giant of Greek myth; all others were killed by the Olympians in the Gigantomachy.

He explained to her that, with only a few exceptions like Aphrodite, the gods of Greek myth didn't love humans like its giants did. Even after Chronus went mad, he at least treated the humans well and with how the gods were often just bullies, he might be justified in eating them. The fact that the exiled Chronus/Saturn established a golden age in Italy after being deposed by his son proved his sincerity, didn't it? The same can be seen in the Titan Prometheus who tried to raise men out of barbarism in Greece. What Zeus did next is well known.

Aristeus spent centuries disguised as a human and doing good deeds in secret but grew lonely. Human women to whom he revealed his true identity were afraid of his size and the giantesses of various mythologies were dismissive of mortals. Giganta was different, however, as she was everything he ever dreamed of. He wooed her and she gave him her heart because he was the one she had waited for all her life. Franklin Zeul gave his daughter away, Diana served as Maid of Honor, and Long Shadow was the Best Man on the day Giganta wed her Prince Charming.

In time, as revealed in Simone's epilogue, the couple went on to found their own world. Giganta became a second Eve as a race of giants came from her womb. They hailed her as queen and her husband as king and in time as gods as they left the mortal coil. A thousand years from now, the goddess Giganta still watched over her children, among them Gim Allon whom she blessed with the power to shrink down to human size that he might learn humility and friendship with the small ones. For his part Allon wondered why his Legion of Super Hero team mates called him Colossal Boy. If he shrinks he should be Micro Lad!

Author's Notes: Hi guys. I'm back and sad to say that what should have been one chapter has gone on to become two-or maybe even three. The next chapter is going to be Cheetah and Paula von Gunther. (As some have asked, when I'm done with Wonder Woman, I think I really am going to go back and add some for Superman and Batman.) On to the start.

Sir Thames: Thank you for your kind words, a pleasure as always!

"Anonymous": Liefield... I don't hate the man. The big reasons why people piled on him was an erratic publishing schedule and bizarre drawings. Being that I only learned of him years after his heyday, all the books I wanted were already printed and as for his drawing style... I actually liked it! I don't know if I was laughing with Liefeld or at him, but whenever I picked up his books a smile spread across my face. I even have his entire run on "Avengelyne!" ... No plans for Dr. Poison yet.

Wolmbm: As you can see, Gail Simone is right here in this chapter. ;-) Giganta is right here and Cheetah is coming up next. (Its going to be much better than the throwaway line here. :-D ) Von Gunther will be the third villain to get a chapter. As for the other JLA heroes, I do have plans but if anyone has any suggestions, I'll be glad to listen.

Until then, see you all soon!