Written by Becky Cloonan,
Michael Conrad, L.L. McKinney
Art by Jen Bartel, Alitha Martinez
Published by DC Comics
Even though this chapter of Diana’s last days doesn’t have the same action as the first, it carries all the same heart.
As Diana travels out into space looking for one more living being as the universe dies, she meets The Spectre in the ruins of Brainiac’s skull ship. Spectre, the angel of righteous vengeance and atonement, has nothing left to avenge.
Diana, in her compassion, helps Spectre cross over, for his watch is ended. We learn of Spectre’s regrets, because regret always lives at the heart of vengeance.
“I was Wonder Woman. I was a goddess of war, and of peace. A harbinger of both submission and dominance. Some have thought these things to be in contradiction, but those people never truly understood me.”
Diana contains multitudes, and she exists in the space between the duality of extremes. She is the shades of gray between black and white. And in the shades of gray is where you find life. Because between birth and death is the living.
I know that all sounds cryptic, but it figures heavily into how Immortal Wonder Woman ends her story and begins a new one.
Not only for her, but for the universe to begin anew as Diana, like many in Greek myth before her, turns into the very stars – creating a page in Jen Bartel’s storied artwork that must be seen.
The story does return to that battle between Superman and Darkseid, and it provides a male contrast to Diana’s feminine divine energy. Superman protects life, and Darkseid ends it. But Diana rises to grant life.
It’s interesting how the concept of the goddess as mother shows again in the next chapter of Nubia’s story.
With the return of an old Wonder Woman nemesis, Grail attempts to take Nubia’s tiara in order to unlock a mystical doorway to another dimension and a doomsday being of terrible, hungry power.
Alitha Martinez’s art roars with energy, the posing and panels stronger than the previous chapter’s already strong work and quality fight scenes. Nubia’s more of a grappler in these fights, and the artwork looks studied and fluid with how the movements connect to each other, panel to panel.
L.L. McKinney ties Nubia’s origin and power more explicitly to West African religion in an organic and dramatic way while also noting the Themysciran heritage. No spoilers here, but when the mother goddess reveals herself, the story goes into another gear.
In many stories, the hero rises by accepting the true nature of their power and personal strength. And with a Black female hero at the center here, that concept takes on added dimension and weight.
When Nubia learns more of her roots, she becomes nearly unstoppable.
