Wonder Woman has found her twin brother. Her brother, Jason, was sent off of Themyscira after he was born to protect him from Hera’s wrath. For decades, he was raised by the last living Argonaut and was warned to stay hidden. He grew envious of how his sister had become a legendary superhero and joined Grail, Daughter of Darkseid, to take her down. The two demigods defeated the mighty Amazon and now plan to sacrifice her energy to give to Darkseid.
This storyline has had its highs and lows in terms of quality. There are times where the story becomes interesting, due to Wonder Woman learning the value of family and bonding and others where it falls flat. Its failures are because mostly because of not highlighting key plot points through pictures. Instead, we had scenes of forced exposition dialogue. We have reached the penultimate issue of the arc, with two demigods against Diana. How will she get out of this one?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
After losing the battle, Wonder Woman is held captive by Jason and Grail. They proceed to give villainous monologues until Diana has had enough and breaks out, ready to fight. While she is able to make quick work of the two demigods, a new challenger approaches to face her: Darkseid. With Darkseid now about the size of a teenager, he has enough power to face Wonder Woman with ease.
While I am relieved we have no more exposition through monologue, there is something that drags the issue down. Some of the characters don’t act as they should. Grail is usually a lot more vicious, even if she was under the command of Darkseid. Instead of just punching her, which barely worked in the previous battle, she would be using terrible forms of torture. Diana is not much better as she would be more compassionate towards her brother, saddened by his choice, instead of violent.
The character, however, that is the most guilty of acting illogical is Jason. One moment, he wants to kill Wonder Woman then he claims that he didn’t know that Grail means to end her. Another moment is during a scene very reminiscent of Return of the Jedi. As Darkseid blasts Diana with his Omega Beams, Jason begs them to stop because “they are blood.” I understand the writer wants Jason to have this redemption arc for Jason, but this is a woman he has known for about five minutes. If this bond was made during the first chapter of this arc, I could see it more.
Art:
While I had an issue with the characters, the real draw to this issue is the art. The pencil work is top quality, with amazing designs for Darkseid and a character that appears on the last page. The colors go hand in hand with this as well, by creating a vibrant world and beautiful flashback panels. If there is any reason to pick up this issue, it would be for the art alone.
Conclusion:
Overall, this is a weak penultimate issue to this arc. While it is beautiful to look at, the characters actions towards one another bring down the quality of the issue overall. We have one last issue that will wrap this up, after which we’ll have introduced Jason as a more regular character. Let’s just hope that the final issue brings something groundbreaking.
