I’m very nervous. This is another issue without Chiang on art. His work, I think, has been hugely important to this book’s success. I hope there is not a team change on this book coming (which could explain why there is a delay on the trade announcement.)
WONDER WOMAN #6
Written by BRIAN…
Sue, you’re scaring the hell out of me with this conjecture!
Source: dcwomenkickingass
Last month, I spoke very highly of Wonder Woman #1, finding it to be a high action, high intrigue book with amazing visuals. The second issue is no less a success.
So, following the immense popularity of my 5 Essential Character Redesigns post, I decided to take a more thorough stab at revamping DC Comic’s Justice League. I’ve already mentioned before that I think their current “New 52” reboot, aimed at gaining new readers, is terribly ineffective,…
While Aaron Diaz and I have differing opinions on DC’s new 52, this is a great potential reboot that could be an Elseworlds book quite easily. Until that day, you can also read his comics at http://www.dresdencodak.com.
Source: dresdencodak
So, due to a new puppy in the house, this review is late. Please don’t take that as indicative of how I felt about this book, because I think this book has tied itself for first for me in the New 52.
This book is amazing.
Before I gush about this book, let me go through what I know about Wonder Woman pre-this issue. I’ve read nothing. I know her name is Diana and she’s from an island of Amazons and she’s been blessed by the gods. I feel I know the character - because it’s friggin Wonder Woman - but I, like many, I’m sure, have never heard of any compelling stories for who is supposed to be part of the ‘DC Trinity’, along with Superman and Batman. This may not have been necessarily clear before, but this book sets that straight.
Wonder Woman is written by Brian Azzarello, who has been with Vertigo for some time writing a book about a guy with 100 bullets called, yep, 100 Bullets. He also wrote the Flashpoint Batman tie-in, which I hear was the highlight of the miniseries’ this summer. From what I understand, he writes gritty noir-type stuff. I have also seen a picture of the man and his beard is magical.
What Azzarello brings to this is just epic. Over the summer In interviews about the book, he kept going on about how this was going to be a horror book. Mission accomplished. This has creepy factor surpassing the weird demon baby scene in Demon Knights and equal to Animal Man. This horror goes beyond the art (I’ll get to that), it just has a feel of doom over the whole affair.
The story is set up to be about a set of power plays between the Greek gods, of whom Apollo, Hera, and Hermes are introduced, with a plan by Zeus taking centre stage as the forward-moving plot element. What I love about these Gods is that they have a old-creature-in-a-modern-world ethic to them, akin to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, with the gods being both familiar and completely alien. As for Wonder Woman herself, she’s just there. No backstory. No origin. Just 6’+ of fierce, female form. This is a Wonder Woman who doesn’t deal with nonsense well, nor does she have a problem employing lethal violence to resolve a situation. I don’t really know how others have written the Amazon princess, but this is a Wonder Woman who would have fit well in the ancient Greek myths of old. I like that a lot.
The pencils, inks, and cover are by Cliff Chiang, with colours by Matthew Wilson. I love Cliff Chiang’s work. I was actually introduced to Chiang’s art a while ago though the mighty power of the internets and just love his hard, clean lines and his ability to make ladies look great without making them all t&a. Chiang also has a flair for fashion, which doesn’t necessarily show up in this book, but in a lot of the other work I’ve seen by him. This, added to the teasers I had seen for #1, made me excited for this book’s art, and I have certainly not been let down. Chiang has loosened his lines a bit to give it a bit more of a rough feel, which adds so well to the horror tone of the book. Being a horror book of sorts, you do expect some level of gruesome, and Chiang does that well, with no over the top gore, but a suitable level of creepy coming from the creation of centaur assassins by Hera.
Chiang’s Diana is awesomely tall and buff, without her being grossly macho. And, what may be the best part, is that her costume is functional and her boobs are not gigantic. She’s made to fight, and fight she does! Chiang’s actions shots are better than any others from the books I read this month. The scenes are dynamic and forward-moving, with few tired and ‘traditional’ panels.
Wilson’s work on colours is also really good. He has successfully did what Sepulveda and Passalaqua couldn’t do in Stormwatch - subtle and effective digital colouring. Kudos to you, Wilson!
TL;DR
Wonder Woman #1 is a fantastic start to what looks to be a seminal volume in the history of Diana the Amazon Princess. I’ll be #2 come October for sure.
WK
