Last week was quite quiet on the Wondy front. Sure, we had the last trailer for Batman v Superman before the movie hits the big screen next month. That featured not only a leaping/flying Wonder Woman…
…but also the first lines of dialogue we’ve heard her utter so far.
But in the comics book world, there wasn’t much to shout about. Unsurprisingly, given the ideas of romance demonstrated by DC in the first issue, there was no Young Romance this year to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Instead, we only had the concluding part of Wonder Woman ’77‘s fight with Clayface, young wartime Wondy going to the movies in The Legend of Wonder Woman #14 and alternative Diana doing some punching over in Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five #8.
All of that after the jump.
Wonder Woman ’77 #15
Plot
Having inadvertantly brought Clayface to Paradise Island and its magic clay, Wonder Woman is faced with the prospect of fighting someone made from the same clay as she. After a bit of a tussle with an army of clay Amazons…
…she has to face down a giant Wonder Woman.
Fortunately, as she is as one with the clay, she has as much control over it as Clayface.
So can dump him in a volcano.
After being healed by the Amazon’s purple healing ray…
…Diana delivers what’s left of Clayface to the still-poorly Steve.
Is it any good?
It’s okay. But it’s basically a big fight and not much else. It does have a couple of USPs, though:
- The introduction of the Amazons’ purple healing ray to the Wonder Woman ’77 universe.
- The way in which Diana controls the clay. Other continuities that have the clay origin tend to emphasise that while Diana was made from clay, magic animated that clay so she’s a real, live girl; here, we have her able to control the clay, implying to some extent that she’s still clay in some way.
Other than that, nice art but just a bit of fun, really.
Rating: 4/7 (Artwork: 6/7)
The Legend of Wonder Woman #14
Plot
Wondy goes to the movies to learn about the war in Europe – and movies.
Then she bumps into Steve Trevor at the recruiting office.
Is it any good?
Like Wonder Woman ’77, this one’s not got much by way of action – we’re now 22 issues in and the question of whether Diana’s ever going to put on her armour and do anything more exciting than leap on a table is starting to burn away – but it does have a few USPs.
Chiefly, this is a character piece. While I’m now at the point where I’m wishing Etta Candy would just clam up for a couple of minutes, Diana is at least finding her voice, even if it is merely to complain about pre-feminist misrepresentation of the Amazons in cinema.
It’s also the point where she realises that maybe women aren’t treated very well in Man’s World.
(Note Diana’s slightly broken English in the second panel, which is a nice touch)
All steps on the way to her becoming Wonder Woman, of course. On top of that, we also have a little visual gag: who’s that writing home to someone called, Martha, who answers to the name of Kent, I wonder?
I’m assuming this really is an Elseworlds tale, if Clark Kent isn’t Superman… Or maybe it’s his dad, Jonathan.
Could do with a bit more excitement and a bit less Etta at this stage, but nothing about the issue within itself to really fault, there’s some top notch writing in terms of recreating the lingo of 40s newsreels, and the artwork is particularly faultless, right down to the slightly out of focus newreels themselves.
Rating: 6/7 (Artwork: 7/7)
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five #8
Plot
Hawkman’s annoyed with Hawkgirl for joining Superman. So he decides to take it out on her with a mace. Members of the Justice League try to stop him, unsuccessfully.
But there’s one superheroine who takes a very dim view of domestic violence.
Is it any good?
As usual, it’s one long fight. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl both win in the end, though, which is a plus.
Rating: 3/7 (Artwork: 4/7)
Disclaimer: Owing to the small fortune it would take to buy every single DC comic each week, this is not a guaranteed rundown of all the comics that feature Wonder Woman. If you know of any I’ve missed, email me or leave a comment below and I’ll cover them next week
