Justice League slipped a week again, hence the late arrival of the review Wonder Woman review. Sorry – blame DC and Geoff Johns.
Anyway, where last we left Wonder Woman, she was down in the Land of Death, about to be hoist by her own petard – her golden lasso, in fact. What happened next?
Well, I was surprised, that’s what, since rather than what we might all have been expecting based on Brian Azzarello’s writing so far, we instead got an old-school Wonder Woman conclusion to this part of the story. Which is odd.
Meanwhile, back in Justice League #10, we find out that actually, yes, Geoff Johns has been reading Wonder Woman, since we get our first bit of continuity so far. And over in the new, weekly Ame-com – which is a digital-only series based on a series of statues (no, really) – Wonder Woman wears relatively few clothes and swears a bit too much for a title clearly aimed at young girls who like Disney princesses.
Follow me after the jump to find out more.
Wonder Woman #10
Plot
After at first being resistant to Hades’ demands, Wonder Woman agrees to have the lasso placed around her and surprisingly… admits that she loves him. However, when Hades demands that they be bound together (presumably not literally), Wonder Woman refuses and hoofs it away from the altar.
After a bad pun or two, Wonder Woman manages to escape from the souls of the death and some dog-faced goddesses (I’m going to hazard a guess that they’re supposed to be the Furies/Erinyes), before finding her allies have already arrived to rescue her.
That all goes graphically pear-shaped when Hades catches up with them.
Strife then wades in to led a literal helping hand but it’s ultimately Wonder Woman who saves the day by revealing that she loves everyone and that the reason Eros’ pistols didn’t work on her is because Hades doesn’t love himself.
Which results in Hades surprisingly letting them all go, Hephaestus confessing that might have been his plan all along, and Wonder Woman getting to use a gun to create love.
Is it any good?
Actually, I really rather liked this one. It had pretty much all the best aspects of Azzarello’s writing, beyond his ludicrous attachment to puns, an old-school Wondy ending in which she triumphs over the enemy through love and largely by herself, without any real help. There’s judicious use of action and good touches of characterisation.
I have my usual complaints about the misrepresentation of the Greek myths:
- Eros was the god of erotic, passionate love (hence the word erotic, in fact), Wonder Woman’s claim to ‘love everyone’ is something that really only works in English (the appropriate Ancient Greek word being φῐλέω – or phileo, from which we get philanthropy, etc) unless she’s Wonder Woman XXX
- The Erinyes were only dog-faced in later Christian representations: they were women (or snakes) in myth and Greek art.
- The gods did love each other, even when they did fight.
But, to be honest, as transgressions go, they’re pretty minor, so let’s go along with it.
Even Tony Akins’ art is almost up to Cliff Chiang’s level at last, so I’m not even that fussed by Chiang’s absence this time. All in all, a very good issue and I’m hoping we can get back to the Apollo-Zeus plot next issue.
Rating: 4.5/5
Justice League #10
After a few issues that have been largely adult and entertaining, issue 10 of Justice League sees a reversion to the somewhat teenage style of previous issues, with most of the League talking about dating, and a great big baddie introduced in a slightly tedious origin story.
Someone has been trying to find out as much as possible about the league and their potential weaknesses:
Here we learn that Wondy does indeed go off and do nice things for women on her days off, something that we didn’t really know about from her current title. We also discover that Wonder Woman’s arch-enemy, Cheetah, is around in the nu52 and still fighting Wondy. Which is (good) news.
Wonder Woman also denies being more than just friends with Steve Trevor but then goes ballistic at the thought that something might have happened to him, when the big bad turns up:
Which is a bad idea, because the big bad kills Wonder Woman by drawing on the loss of her mother back in issue 4.
Don’t worry though. Everyone dies at the end, so clearly it’s not permanent.
On the whole, an okay issue with a slightly shocking conclusion, but one that spends too much time setting up the big bad and dealing with who’s been stealing whose girlfriends.
Rating: 3/5
Ame-Com #1-3
Ame-Com apparently make a series of statuettes of superheroes and superheroines that have a somewhat Manga-esque look. Well, apparently the world needed comics based on these versions of familiar heroes and heroines and here they are.
The series starts off with a familiar story – how Wonder Woman came into the world of men from the island of the Amazons aka Paradise Island aka Themyscira, thanks to Steve Trevor – and gives a slight, Disney princess twist. Here, Diana is a spoiled, large-breasted princess who disobeys her mother and fights with minotaurs in an inappropriate costume that’s probably available as a statuette.
When the island is invaded by a hostile group of men, it’s up to Diana to repel the invaders in an even more inappropriate costume that’s probably available as a statuette .
Diana is then sent into the outside world as an ambassador to recruit the help of the US in defending Paradise Island from future attack. To do this, she must wear an even more inappropriate costume that’s probably available as a statuette and use gendered profanities (are there even Amazon prostitutes?).
Off she goes to the White House on the back of what every young girl wants – a flying horse – dressed in a way that’s probably available as a statuette but shouldn’t be.
After addressing the UN with a little help from Steve Trevor…
…up pops an old enemy. The Cheetah!
Surprised? What do you mean she was already mentioned once already this page? Oh well.
Anyway, issue 3 results in a fun play-fight between Wondy and Cheetah…
… who reveals that she’s been paid by someone else to attack the UN – some familiar faces in inappropriate costumes that are probably available as statuettes.
And then the whole thing gets continued in the Batgirl series.
On balance, it’s a fun enough little collection of stories that retell the classic Wonder Woman origin – although as is typical these days, in a way that’s far less effective are far less complementary to both Diana and the Amazons than the previous versions. I’m not sure exactly who should be reading them though, since the writing style is aimed at tweenies and teenagers, but the content alternates between being inappropriate and overly-sexual. There’s probably a younger manga-reading female audience who might like it but that’s a mighty niche area, and they could probably do with something written for older girls. But fun enough for what it is and better than you might expect of a statuette tie-in series. What’s next? A Wonder Woman series based on a commemorative plate collection?
Rating: 4/5 (for what it is)
