Wonder Woman #31 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Goran Sudžuka (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Diana ruins things for her re-election in the next Amazon election cycle.

The Review: Diana’s call for the Amazons to accept Zeke as one of their own may have been a radically progressive shake-up to a culture that’s stuck to its no-boys-allowed policy for so long, but it really is (almost literally) a baby step. Even though infancy has never stopped the Amazons from their zero tolerance, they owe some degree of respect to their gods, especially now that their entire spiritual underpinnings are coming apart.

Things are looking bad indeed for the Olympians, as two others fall to the First Born, although the consequences are unclear. Even the—spoiler alert—defeat and torture of Hades, allowing the dead to walk among the living, doesn’t seem to register on the world at all, as not a single mortal notices the mischievous, faceless souls around them. The fall of Hermes* has even less impact, except as an emotional blow to our cast. You’d think the deaths of gods would have some profound effect on the DCU at large, but so far, they’re disappointingly contained to this title.

Wonder Woman #23 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Cliff Chiang (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Now’s our chance to see which era had the most badass warriors.

The Review: Troubled as some people were by the slow pace Wonder Woman had been running at for some time, it’s been even more troubling to see the title suddenly speed up in the last few issues.  Last issue in particular was something of a disappointment for how much it truncated Diana and Co.’s time on New Genesis when we had all been so longing to see the Fourth World’s standing in the new DCU.  It was the very definition of a missed opportunity.

In the same fashion, we’ve all hankered to see the ultimate throwdown between Diana and the First Born, yet now doesn’t seem like the right time for it.  To make the First Born a truly worthy adversary in Wonder Woman’s gallery, there has to be time for the two to develop a relationship, even an antagonistic one.  Given that in context, she’s only known him for about a few hours (setting aside the time she spent comatose), having a final confrontation now seems premature.

The Unwritten #48 – Review

By: Mike Carey & Peter Gross (creators), Chris Chuckry (colors) and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Tommy continues trying to save his lady love from Hades.

Review (with SPOILERS): This issue is a little hard to react to.  For the past 6 months or so, The Unwritten has really poured on the subtext.  Every issue was almost hard to review because there were so many subtle things going on, that I just knew I wasn’t doing a thorough job of discussing them all.  So, as I braced myself for this issue, I was bemused to discover that it was just…fine.  This month The Unwritten gives us a pretty straight-forward story without any subtext.  It isn’t awesome or mind-bending or lousy or crap; it’s just “fine”.

Wonder Woman #10 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Kano & Tony Akins (art), Dan Green (inks), Matthew Wilson (colorist)

The Story: Woman hath no fury like hell scorned.  No, wait…

The Review: One of the great evolutions of Wonder Woman’s character over the years is how she has become the paragon of warriors in the DCU, regardless of gender.  Yet this focus on her fighting spirit and ability leaves little room to appreciate her sensitivity and compassion, a common conflict for many women in positions of power.  Yes, she can kick nearly anyone’s butt six ways to Sunday, but she’s also capable of incredible depths of tenderness.

At first glance, this series has shown many different sides to its star—her cleverness, her never-say-die persistence, and that all-consuming desire for truth—but love doesn’t quite shine through.  In retrospect, it’s because the kind of love Diana indulges in is very, very tough.  She can be warm and affectionate, but never expect her to be sweet or lavish.  She’s actually quite maternal, but she’s not the mom who bakes you cookies after you come home from school; she’s more like the mom who gives you a hand after you fall off your bike, then shushes you as she puts iodine on your skinned knee.  She wants the best for you, but she won’t brook any nonsense.

Wonder Woman #9 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Tony Akins (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Not even the god of death can keep crashers from his wedding.

The Review: As I read this month’s issue of Wonder Woman, I suddenly thought about All-Star Superman and what made it such a great, timeless story for the Man of Steel.  Writers tend to pay attention to superheroes for their power sets and fantastical backgrounds, but in All-Star, Grant Morrison managed to craft tales which got to the very essence of what made Superman beloved in the first place: a character who makes you believe anything is possible.

The reason why any of this is relevant to Wonder Woman is because Azzarello is attempting the same feat with comics’ leading lady.  We haven’t seen a lot of physical challenges for our heroine, which at first seems a waste of her strengths, but now I begin to think Azzarello wants us to put her bodily gifts aside.  The obstacles he’s set in her path may not require outstanding bouts of warrior prowess, but they’ve been no less demanding on her.

Wonder Woman #8 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist)

The Story: Don’t take this the wrong way, Diana, but death really becomes you.

The Review: My favorite creative writing professor in college loved Ernest Hemingway, and he got us to love him, too.  Even though Hemingway was a morose, chauvinist drunk who treated nearly all four of his wives unconscionably (third wife Martha was forced to take a ship full of explosives to meet him in London because he refused to help her get a press pass on a plane), his ability to craft stories of great depth from few words made him a master of the highest order.

Azzarello may be the Hemingway of comics today.  Whereas most of his contemporaries love to embellish their scripts, filling up panels with long captions of text, Azzarello goes for sparse bursts of dialogue which, like Hemingway’s famous “iceberg” analogy, contain profound levels of meaning beneath the surface.  He doesn’t impose his own interpretation of the story on you; he leaves you space to fill in with your own understanding and perspective.

While in the underworld, Diana is aghast to find the souls of the dead are indeed all around her—making the composition of hell itself.  Hermes claims that since mortal souls can thus reinvent themselves eternally, they have greater freedom than the gods, who must remain bound to their natures for their immortal lives.  Diana doubts any soul would wish to be “reinvented” into such horrors.  In response, Hermes says, “…Free will is a funny thing.”  The ambiguity of the statement leaves you free to interpret it as you wish.  Perhaps it’s noting how we’d prefer to endure pain rather than stagnancy; maybe it’s a commentary on how free will allows us to choose evil; it could also be Hermes’ way of saying we humans waste our freedoms.

At times, Azzarello’s minimalist scripting can be a double-edged sword.  It gives each word a semblance of import, but also produces ambiguity.  Hades says to Hermes, “You came here with one, but to get another.  So…which child of Zeus is your ‘we’?”  It’s a rhetorical, if confusing question, but for some reason it makes Hermes fly into an uncharacteristic rage.  Even now, after several readings, I confess I don’t know why Hades’ words provoke such a reaction.

Wonder Woman #6 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (writer), Tony Akins (artist), Dan Green (inker), Matthew Wilson (colorist)

The Story: Actually, Wife Sharing With the Gods may be the one reality show I would watch.

The Review: If any of you have ever read Azzarello’s 100 Bullets (and if you haven’t, it might be a very good idea to start), you know his extraordinary talent for building conspiracies, stories rife with intrigue and tension.  In short, he’s the dream pulp writer, and indeed, his bibliography seems to speak to that; he spearheaded DC’s short-lived First Wave series, and his Batman: Knight of Vengeance mini for Flashpoint dripped suspense in every issue.

So on paper, having him write a character so grounded in myth and legendarium seems like a bit of an odd mix.  But you have to consider the mythic figures we’re dealing with here.  The Greek pantheon, with all its affairs, betrayals, and toxic relationships, can probably be considered one of the original mafia families.  Though they may stand as one against their mutual enemies, the vast majority of their conflicts comes from within, and is often more bitter.

What sets them apart from the typical cast of Sopranos is the scope of their squabbles.  In this case, the very heavens are at stake now that Zeus has vanished into the ether, and none other than his older brothers want a piece of it for themselves—although frankly, they’d prefer the whole shebang.  Before we can see them duke out the question, however, Wonder Woman and Lennox pipe up with their own suggestions for power-sharing, one that definitely puts Hera on the losing end, no matter which of the brothers gets the best deal.

Incredible Hercules #131 Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Ryan Stegman (artist), Terry Pallot (inker), Raul Trevino & Chris Sotomayor (colorists)

Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, on the off chance that you’re reading my review of your comic book right now, please know that I forgive you for those incredibly shitty “Dark Reign” tie-in issues; and that after this issue in particular I now hold special places for you both in my heart.  After taking a break from the title for a few months, I have returned to Hercules with this issue to find that not only is it every bit as funny as I remembered, it’s even funnier.

The best punchline of this issue, and easily the entire series to date, comes early on as Hercules is battling the reflection of his mortal self in Hell.  I won’t spoil the surprise for you, except to say that if, like me, you’ve ever groaned and wondered why all the gods in the Marvel Universe talk like they’re starring in a high school Shakespeare production, then this issue was written for you. Overall this is a very solid, very enjoyable issue; and I was especially pleased that I could pick this up after taking a break from reading it and still follow what was happening.  And that’s really the key to this comic’s success, I think it has less to do with any kind of a plot as much as it is the joy we get from watching Marvel’s ultimate frat guy punch and womanize his way through one merry adventure after another with the shit-eating grin and reckless abandon we’ve come to love in the Lion of Olympus. That’s all there is to it, and Pak and Van Lente are right to stick to this formula as closely as possible.

I enjoyed the bold lines and expressive qualities of Stegman’s art but felt it was often overpowered by Pallot’s inks. Fortunately, the dynamic colors of Trevino and Sotomayor compensate for this and make the finished pages absolutely sparkle. With all the melodramatic doom and gloom running rampant throughout Marvel’s “Dark Reign” snorefest, it’s a real treat to come across that occasional comic that wants nothing more than to laugh loudly at it all and entertain. This is one of those comics, so be sure to check it out.

Grade:  B+

-Tony Rakittke