Written by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad,
Jordie Bellaire
Art by Travis Moore, Paulina Ganucheau
Published by DC Comics
From the aftermath of Dark Knights, Future State and whatever multiverse of madness has come, DC Infinite Frontier has begun.
Everything is canon and within continuity somewhere, for those who care about such things. (I don’t.)
But what does this mean for Wonder Woman, whom we last saw assume full godhood at the end of a universe in Future State?
I haven’t a single clue.
But Wonder Woman #770 brings Diana of Themyscira to Asgard in a lushly illustrated issue by Travis Moore.
Diana awakens on a battlefield, dressed in full armor, an ankle-length cape with fur at the shoulders, her tiara now a full headpiece across her entire forehead.
A hand stretches out to help her up. “This is no place to rest!” says the dashingly handsome man attached to that appendage.
That man introduces himself as Siegfried, he of the famous, dragon-slaying, Brunhilde-saving tales of the Nibelungen saga, known in the 20th century through Richard Wagner’s opera and Fritz Lang’s films.
Siegfried explains that Diana is now in Asgard, an afterlife of warriors. Every day they fight and die; every night they feast, carouse (and likely, fornicate, a bunch) at the great hall, Valhalla. The next day, all are restored, and the cycle begins again.
Diana’s memories of her past are hazy, almost gone completely. (It wouldn’t be a modern Wonder Woman relaunch without her showing up someplace with the truth clouded from her.) She vaguely remembers being able to fly, being invulnerable, of being some kind of hero. But nothing from her old life is working in this place.
When Diana is killed on Asgard’s battlefields, she experiences visions where a levitating figure tells her that she doesn’t belong in Asgard, that she used to be someone greater. And that she has to leave before it’s too late.
Meanwhile, a magical forest creature brings her to help. A foretold sign of Ragnarok is manifesting. The valkyries are disappearing. And an increasing number of warriors are getting stranded in an ominous fog.
A hero is needed to find the truth, stop the evil and bring about justice.
This looks like a job for Wonder Woman.
If only she’d remember who she is.
Credit to Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan for lasering in on some core concepts any Wonder Woman fan would expect to see, while bringing us back to the gods in a different way. She’s not in Olympus anymore.
The cover reads, “a new odyssey starts here,” so be prepared for Asgard to not be the only place Diana visits in this storyline. Industry chatter says that Diana has moved into the “godsphere,” and we’ll see what trials she’ll undergo this time.
The backmatter story is an adventure of Young Diana. I always welcome a visit to Themyscira and Diana’s past there, and this is one of the few times in modern mainstream comics that we get to enjoy some childlike wonder anymore.
It’s a cute tale in which Diana the birthday girl, headstrong and impatient as ever as the only child on the island, is given a new adventure by her mother. But not before some reckless kanga racing through the city streets, of course!
I wouldn’t be surprised if this story is a dry run for what could be a standalone series aimed at the children’s and young adult markets. Jordie Belleaire’s script hits all the marks for that, and Paulina Gancheau’s art is clean, engaging and right at home in a 2020s pop culture world looking for something new after She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Steven Universe.
Overall this is a fine start, both present day and past, for Diana.
