A New Age of Wonder Woman has Begun!
It’s time for another new team to step in for Wonder Woman. Since 2017, we’ve had teams come and go more frequently than most of the other comics. Each team brought their own stories to the table, some of them good while others were bad. The last few issues written by Steve Orlando were average, but now we get a new writer: Mariko Tamaki. While she is still relatively new to the superhero game, only starting to write superhero stories in 2016, her work has been out of this world. With Supergirl: Being Super and She-Hulk under her belt, what stories will she bring to the table for the Amazonian Princess?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
We open with a mysterious narrator talking about the line between good and evil. They point out how those who fight for justice usually fight more for themselves than anything else. The narrator does point out that there is an exception to this belief: Heroes. The example they use is Wonder Woman and how she overcame those who believed they were doing good, such as Max Lord. This is when we cut to the present and find Diana has moved back to Washington DC. She meets her new neighbor, Emma, and joins her on a trip to the DC equivalent of IKEA. There they find a mother out of control, driving her car into oncoming traffic. While not a problem for Wonder Woman, she realizes that the mother was being mind-controlled into doing it.
This issue is an exciting read that is honestly a good issue for both long time fans and first-time readers. We get callbacks to previous iconic stories while getting a grasp on how heroes like Wonder Woman genuinely are good people. Using Max Lord as the opposite end of this belief is a fantastic choice. He is the ultimate example of a “fighting for the greater good” style of character. While many remember him for his evil actions, he started out claiming his want to protect the world. If Tamaki wants to tell this story about the definition of justice, and if the heroes can be held accountable, she picked a great villain for it.
The only real problem I had with the issue was honestly how quick the pacing was. We go from moving in, to stopping the runaway car, to heading to the prison with Max Lord so quickly we don’t get a chance to breathe. It’s nothing that detracts heavily from the story, but it does worry me that we might quickly rush through this story before getting a chance to enjoy it. We’ll just have to see as the series continues.
Art:
Mikel Janin is the artist for the team, and he illustrates a fantastic first issue. His previous work in Grayson and King’s Batman run shows he has the skills to pull us into the action, and this issue is no exception. Along with brilliant character designs, his work in the chase was terrific. Through the speed lines and sparks, Janin can convey how fast everything is and how dangerous it is. It looked more like stills from an action movie rather than a comic, and I loved it!
Conclusion:
This first issue has me more excited for Wonder Woman more than ever. We have the reintroduction of a menacing villain, a great action piece to set the bar, and Wonder Woman being the kindhearted hero we’ve always known her to be. Mikel Janin’s beautiful art is going to be a draw for the run, but the story itself shows promise. There might be pacing problems going forward, but it can easily be overlooked. This series is in good hands, and this reviewer can’t wait for the next issue.
