Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #2 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Augustin Padilla (penciller), Jose Aviles (inker), Val Staples (colorist)

The Story: Boy, that decision to not sign a pre-nup sure takes on new meaning now, doesn’t it?

The Review: In the thick of war, neither party can claim to be innocent of wrongdoing, which is often the same case when trying to piece out who started it.  But in the Flashpoint world, with the aggressors on either side including characters we normally see as heroic to the core, you have to be a little interested to see what kind of incident can provoke them into all-out ruthlessness.

DnA do a very good job making the war a tragic chain of events beyond either Wonder Woman or Aquaman’s control, making them sympathetic figures even as they commit some fairly unconscionable acts.  On the one hand, you can’t help feeling like Diana gets the truly rough of the stick, losing first her mother, then her best friend and homeland, but knowing what you do about who’s really pulling the strings here, it’s impossible to blame Arthur.

In fact, you’ll have just as much pity for him after seeing his genuine dismay and horror at the damage inflicted upon Diana’s family and home, and his desperate attempt to make things right even his efforts are futile (“Diana!  We’re all being deceived!  Diana!”).  Again, I marvel at the difference in Tony Bedard’s totally hardcore portrayal of Arthur over in Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman, and DnA’s loving, trusting, and peaceful (at first) version of the character here.

Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #2 – Review

By: Tony Bedard (writer), Vicente Cifuentes (artist), Diana Egea (inker), Kyle Ritter (colorist)

The Story: Think Little Mermaid, but with a lot more drama and stabbing.

The Review: In almost every kind of traditional storytelling, a strong narrator is essential to detailing a scene and giving us insight into the characters’ minds.  In a visual medium like comics, since the art pretty much takes over most of the expository duties, narration can actually become cumbersome and redundant, especially with a strong artist on hand.  In this case, the narrative must frame the scene, highlighting details the art and dialogue wouldn’t by themselves.

In this issue, Bedard demonstrates the merit in the old adage, “Less is more,” only he does so by showing what a drag excessive narration can be.  Almost at no point does his voice help the scene; oftentimes, it just tinges everything with melodrama (“History is littered with the corpses of the complacent.”), and it almost always reiterates the facts that are in plain sight to you.  Not to take it personally, but I find that kind of storytelling almost patronizing.

Perhaps Bedard felt pressed for time so he found it easier to just gloss over certain details rather than take the time to show them, but by doing so, he actually undermines the impact of his own story.  If he really wanted to convince us that “Arthur Curry returned to the deep too young to understand the virtues his father had tried to teach: patience, kindness, humility,” then Bedard should’ve given us more scenes of Tom trying to teach his son exactly those things.