Wrath of a Godess Scorned
The Good: Ok, THIS is an AMAZING cover. I wish Cliff Chiang had been in town later so I could've gotten THIS signed. Hera looks absolutely TERRIFYING on this cover, and the chaotic rioting of the shadows behind her is enhanced amazingly by the whirlwind of grit. There's a minimalist approach to the artwork here, and it works BEAUTIFULLY. We have the chaotic top half of the cover, and the haunting calmness of Wonder Woman reflected in the blood pool. Again, AMAZING cover.
We're getting the sense that the Greek God Pantheon is like a wealthy extended family. Everyone is making alliances and pacts and double crosses to try to get a bigger piece of the pie. Everyone always has a series of hidden agendas lurking behind their every freaking conversation. This is a really interesting, and interestingly accurate portrayal of the Greek Gods, and a perfect way to modernize them without destroying their roots.
The colors compliment every scene's mood with such subtle intensity.
Strife's attempts to stir up her namesake fail miserably in the more certain Wonder Woman. Strife actually ends up making Wonder Woman MORE confident, and made me appreciate the woman all the more when she displays such cold defiance to any adversity.
Hera's rage is a terrifyingly calm sight to behold. You know she's seething with spite and hatred, but she displays a surprising amount of calm in her rage that makes it utterly frightening.
I really appreciate that Azzarello has written a Wonder Woman who's at home in the modern world. Plenty of versions of Wonder Woman have her still far too out there for someone who's lived in our world as long as she has. The new Wonder Woman isn't an outsider in the modern world, and it makes sense really. Her humanity is what's winning me over while it's her divinity over gracfeul brutality that impresses me.
The dialogue between Hera and Hippolyta is so unique. The relationship is strictly that of a Queen to a Godess. But what happens when the Godess' husband has slept with the Queen? This answers that question in the way that makes the most sense.
The Bad: Hera, I get it, you're husband's a man whore. I know. It hurts. But why are you suddenly taking out furious rage on a woman he slept with so many years ago? I'm sure he's boned hundreds of women since then. Just because you didn't exlicitly know about this one, it makes her so much more relevant?
The pacing in this issue is a little off.
I didn't have a problem because ancient Greeks were naked plenty and it makes sense and is tastefully done, BUT, I just KNOW some people are going to retardedly bitch about Hera being naked in this issue. Being kind of bothered by it is ok, but I KNOW there's a few people who are going to make some stupid huge deal about it and it's going to really piss me off because they;'re just being moronic or prudish.
In Conclusion: 4.5/5
At least this issue didn't introduce a new plot element to the past just to tear it down. Like mentioning Wonder Woman being made of clay just to prove it false of mention her past nickname of clay just to have the amazons use it again. This issue humanized Wonder Woman with excellent subtelty, and really played with the politics of this bizarre and sprawling extended deity family. Wonder Woman is but a pawn in a ridicuously elaborate 3D chess game being played by a vague amount of players. But a lot of players. But she's going to shake up the board, because now it's personal. This is the best issue of this Wonder Woman yet, because it doesn't fall into a lot of the same flaws the previous issues keep having. It's not perfect, but it's damn close.
