Before we begin I think I should do you all the favor of giving you a warning: this may perhaps be the most shocking review I will ever write, it might even break the internet (!) I’m gonna work a little bit of that Tarantino magic (and by which I mean, starting at the end) and you’ll see why.
Final Score: 10/10
Yeah. That’s right.
First of all I’d just like to say that all of the material not related to her “reboot” is barely worth reading. It’s not terrible, just, pointless, but I won’t let all that interfere with the real reason I’m rating this comic these comics the way I am. In regards to the problems I actually have with those stories, it’s really that I’ve never enjoyed the way DC has tried to force Wonder Woman into being a part of their “trinity” or “Big 3.”
Nothing against the character of Wonder Woman, but I just don’t think it’s ever really worked. In regards to the DC Universe as a whole we have a very clear understanding of the roles Batman and Superman represent, as well as what they represent to the universe at large; it’s never seemed like with Wonder Woman to me. It’s always wound up being a giant game of telling rather than showing. Yeah they tell us Wonder Woman is important, but I’m hard pressed to believe it.
Now for the meat of the issue, the reboot, which was written by Geoff Johns & drawn by Scott Kollins, it pretty much happens exactly as you’ve all been reading in interviews. We’ve got some exposition – presumably by the gods (or godlike beings) about the role of Wonder Woman in the world and how they feel she is undervalued. Then they work their magic and Diana turns a corner chasing a vision of her younger self, she finds herself in the new altered reality.
For those of you who don’t know, this version of history (for now I’m just assuming Wonder Woman’s history has changed, we have no idea how it relates to the rest of the DCU) Diana left paradise island under much different circumstances. Themyscira was attacked by the armies of man.
Hippolyta sent Diana off with some Amazon protectors and she then committed suicide (by jumping into a fire – pretty bad ass) in order to not reveal any secrets to her captors (as they had bound her with the lasso of truth.) Diana has since spent the last twenty years or so living with her protectors in secret and training until it was time to assume her full powers (she only has enhanced strength and agility at the moment) and fulfill her destiny – finding the scattered Amazon tribes and reuniting them. Before that – she’s got to go see The Oracle, from who Diana (and us, the readers) learn about this new reality. Even more interesting is that the nature of changed world isn’t hidden from Diana, she learns and even dreams about this the version of her own history we’re all familiar with. Trippy right?
There is no spoon.
With the rest of the story, we get to see a little more about Diana’s new foes. We’re not sure who they are, but they’re some sort of military organization hellbent on destroying the Amazons. Diana follows them to their airbase and hangs on the wing of one of their planes, hoping to reach the Amazons they seek to destroy before they do…but our issue ends as she realizes she’s arrived much too late.
Now let me just say, these two stories…not the best comics I’ve ever read, but I’ll be damned if they’re not the best Wonder Woman comics I’ve read in a while. No offense to the creators who have been working on the title since it’s relaunch during the One Year Later jump, but up until now, the run has been bullshit. There’s been no direction to the book, no plan at all, really. The book has just been switching hands and getting caught up in whackass crossovers (I mean, holy hell, who thought Amazons Attack was a good idea?)
Maybe it’s a little early to tell, but reading these two issues of Wonder Woman, I’ve finally felt like the book – the character – was going somewhere and that when this stort ends, I’ll feel like I actually read something and didn’t just bear through it. I’m giving this comic a perfect rating because for the first time in a long time, I care about what’s going on with Wonder Woman.
You guys should too.
JMS is going to do something fantastic and rejuvenating with this run. I’m calling it now, when they make the Wonder Woman, it will based on what he’s doing right now. Don’t come late to the party, catch the awesomeness before the trade comes out.
PS: Somehow the art always becomes an afterthought in my reviews but that’s just the English major in me shinning through. Don Kramer did a fantastic job with the art and he does a great rendition of Diana’s new Jim Lee designed costume.
