Written by G. Willow Wilson
Illustrated by Cary Nord
Published by DC Comics
G. Willow Wilson returns to DC Comics with her unique take on the classic character of Wonder Woman. I’m sure DC is banking on her bringing some of her Ms. Marvel fanbase to this run.
As one of the smartest and respected writers in modern comics, Wilson’s new assignment is a shrewd move both creatively and financially.
Many great runs on Wonder Woman start exactly this way, from Byrne, Perez, to writers Rucka and Azzarello most recently. Diana deserves the best creative teams, not only to take advantage of the cinematic success, but also to honor what comes before. And with Ms. Prince, you not only have the 76 year history, but also the thousands of years of GrecoRoman mythology to bounce off of.
She delivers a hot first issue, one that eases you in with 20 pages of story and a classic last page that leaves you champing at the bit for issue #59.
In my summarized review below, I find it hard to not expose major players and names familiar to the mythos.
Read no further if you don’t wish to be spoiled, but I can say confidently this is a great “jumping on point” for cursory fans of Wonder Woman.
We open on Themyscira as Philippus and Hippolyta descend into a dark cave on the outskirts of the island where Grail and the God Of War Ares and are imprisoned. Ares demands she deal his chained body a fatal blow, shaking the Island with a fierce quake.
Diana is awakened by Etta who is leading a fight and rescue mission for Steve Trevor’s military unit under heavy fire. Wonder Woman takes to the skies to fight this Warlord of Durovnia who may have Steve.
Observing the action we see four gods in humanoid and beast form being led by Eirene. With pillars of marble in the background, Wonder Woman gets deep into the fray and nears closer to her target when she sees the glowing red eyes of a familiar silhouette, a god with a Spartan’s helmet. To her surprise, Ares has had a change of heart in his imprisonment and expresses a desire to join Diana in her fight against tyranny and injustice.
We’re off to a great start here and Cary Nord is fantastic on pencils. Mick Gray on inks and Romulo Fajardo Jr on colors, with master Pat Brosseau on letters rounding out the creative team for a great looking, if a bit standard modern comic.
DC books have seemed a bit short on pages lately, or maybe I expected more to happen after the Ares reveal. I may currently be enjoying where this story is going, but also feel like reading the trade length of this arc will be more satisfying than these first pages. Set us up for more, Ms. Wilson. We’re looking forward to seeing what adventures await Diana and company in Wonder Woman #59 and beyond!
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