The time has come. After the revelation in The Darkseid War, Wonder Woman finally comes face-to-face with her brother, Jason. The search for Diana’s brother had truly started after the death of Hercules. He, along with many children of Zeus, had been targets for Grail, daughter of Darkseid. With every child of Zeus dead, Darkseid takes another step to his return.
While I have enjoyed this story arc so far, it is far from perfect. The first chapter had little Wonder Woman, but the previous chapter was able give her a better connection to her family. With us finally meeting the twin of the Amazonian princess, we will probably see the two fight against Grail and grow as a family. They first need to get past their introductions.
**SOME SPOILERS BELOW**
Story:
We find Wonder Woman exactly where we left her: face-to-face with her twin brother. Jason is a fisherman in Greece, fitting as he was raised by the last of the Argonauts. He is ecstatic to meet his twin sister and begins to tell her what his life has been like. Unfortunately, that family talk is sidetracked as Grail arrives soon after to kill them, leading to a battle between the demigods.
I love this introduction to the character of Jason. The dialogue between Diana and he feel human, as the pair catch themselves up to speed. It shows the two are going to have a special relationship going forward.
That being said, I have an issue with this installment. This chapter breaks a comic’s cardinal rule–it tells instead of shows. A comic should use its visual style of storytelling to its advantage. Instead of seeing the epic training of Jason by Hercules, we get told of it by the Amazonian twin. It left me feeling unfulfilled. The issue description of the next issue implies we get to see this origin, but it would be better than exposition.
Art:
The issue walks a line in terms of quality. While there are some great designs, the inconsistencies that plagued the first issue have returned. While it isn’t as obvious as it was in the first chapter, there are some that is very distracting. The real source of the inconsistencies comes from the inks and colors, that give Jason a disappearing 5 o’clock shadow.
Another distracting art choice is that of the speech bubbles. While speech bubbles change shape to describe the tone of voice, some of the choices in this issue made me unsure of what I should have imagined. One bubble, in particular, was curved and jagged in several different ways. It made me unsure if she was yelling, had a gravelly voice, or struggling. It’s interesting to see such choices, but at the same time, confusing.
Conclusion:
While it was nice to see the human dialogue between Diana and Jason, it feels like we missed out on a major story. We have to wait to see the origins of Jason play out in a future issue, which brings the story down in quality. While the art is beautiful to look at, odd choices in the pencil work and colors drag the reader out from their immersion. While it’s not the best chapter of the arc, it’s not the worst.
