Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Liam Sharp & Laura Martin
Publisher: DC Comics
With the Rebirth issue of Wonder Woman, writer Greg Rucka set up what had potential to be a incredible plot. We saw a Wonder Woman that has never made an appearance before – one that was unsure of her identity, and more importantly, the role she had to play. The follow up to the Rebirth issue spent a lot of time establishing the supporting cast – and not a ton of time fleshing out the plot further. Then, with issue #2, we got the start of Rucka’s origin story for the character.
And I’m now realizing I spent the first paragraph of this review doing what I critique so may comics of doing: explaining what’s happened in past issues.
Oh well.
Anyways, the point that I’m trying to make is that, with Wonder Woman #3, we’re back to the plot that’s the driving force behind the modern day Wonder Woman story. It’s certainly moving along slowly – the next issue is almost sure to have another detour. But the thing is, Rucka spends multiple pages of this issue reminding the reader what the conflict here is. That it’s not just between Wonder Woman and Cheetah – it’s an inner struggle within Diana.
Rucka doesn’t explain this with monologue – in fact, no character in this issue has an internal monologue, which is kind of refreshing. All of the writing is dialogue between characters, and all of it is spent fleshing out these characters. Sure, there’s a line of exposition here and there, but it’s necessary for Diana to explain her predicament to Cheetah.
On the topic of Cheetah, for a character that’s supposed to be Wonder Woman’s arch nemesis, there aren’t a whole lot of super memorable Cheetah stories. Her relationship with Diana is one that’s been established, but is rarely explored. What Rucka is doing here is something I expect to be critical to the character years into the future. It’s important work, and her dynamic with Wonder Woman is incredibly well executed. They’re not on the best of terms, but the fact that Wonder Woman doesn’t use all that much force in this issue is evidence that Rucka intrinsically understands that character.
Of course, there’s room for action – this is a comic after all. And when it comes, it’s wonderfully executed by the art team of Liam Sharp and Laura Martin. Because there’s no monologuing, the duo have room to let the breathe. They capture the dynamic motion and visceral nature of the combat when necessary, but perhaps more important is the way in which they handle the quieter moments.
In addition to the dialogue, there’s a lot of physical interaction between Wonder Woman and Cheetah in this issue. Sharp draws contrasts between the two in multiple pages – showing Diana standing straight, at the ready while Cheetah looks downtrodden, or having Cheetah in the forefront with Wonder Woman a shadowy figure in the background. The way these panels are penciled and colored is immensely important to pushing forward the arcs of these characters. In fact, some of the best moments in the book rely more on the art than they do on the dialogue.
I will say that, for as much as I liked nearly everything about this issue, I was instantly bummed when I turned the page and saw Steve Trevor. It’s not that I think his subplot is bad – in fact, I defended his inclusion in the first issue. That said, it’s just so much less interesting than the rest of the book. And yeah, we’re getting to the point where he’ll meet up with Diana and I’m sure that will be great. But for now, it’s the weak link of the book. When it’s out in trade, I’m sure I’ll read that and say “huh, why did I critique this?”
But until then I get to be mean, and I like being mean. Especially to comics that I really love! It makes me feel great on the inside!
Actually it hurts a great deal to point out the flaws in books I like a lot, but alas, I half to retain my integrity as a critic. That’s a joke. I have no integrity.
Also holy shit this review is over 700 words long and I should probably wrap it up what am I doing this is a run on sentence and hopefully one of the editors fixes it.
So yeah, I had a lot to say about Wonder Woman #3. The thing is, it’s the type of comic that I love writing about because of how rich it is. It’s something I want to pick apart, analyze, and talk about. And that’s great – it’s what more comics should aspire to do. The entire creative team is doing some truly great work on this book, and I cannot wait to see how the story comes together over the course of the next few months.
