Wonder Woman #36

The Good

There's no denying that Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang had a great run on this series. The truth is, some of the story elements introduced weren't exactly for everyone. While the previous team would be missed, I looked forward to seeing what a new creative team would bring.

There's an interesting shift in the series. Previously, the series felt almost unattached from the rest of the New 52 universe. That was good and bad. We're seeing more of an integration here, especially with the Justice League's appearance. Continuity shouldn't be forced upon a book at the sake of the story but Diana does point out here how her time is split between different things. It makes sense to see the League since she does devote a lot of her time to their missions. There are reminders of Diana's nature as a warrior, god, and leader of the Amazons. Throughout the story, you can feel the burden weighing heavily upon her. She feels almost distant to the others as a strange tragedy has struck an area.

Along with this, Meredith and David Finch give us a balance of Diana the warrior along with the softer side to her. While it may seem a little gratuitous to start off with a shower scene, there is nothing gratuitous about the imagery and showing Diana washing away blood from what we can assume was a fierce battle was a nice touch. As controlled as she is throughout most of the issue, she does allow her anger to surface an unleashes her anger upon an unsuspecting opponent.

And we get a pretty crazy final page that make sure you come back for more.

The Bad

Allowing Wonder Woman to show some emotion is important but, at times, it almost felt as if she's become too soft. After a violent outburst/attack against poor Swamp Thing, it almost feels as if she's feeling sorry for herself when laying out her problems to Aquaman. Almost all of the League has an inordinate amount of responsibilities and events going on in their lives (except Cyborg, right?). Where as before she exuded confidence and had such a strong presence, here it feels a little diminished.

David Finch always pours in a lot of detail into his art. Unfortunately there were some inconsistencies with Diana's face and expressions. At times, she almost appeared to have a child's face. There might be an aim to soften up the warrior/demi-god portrayal of Wonder Woman but it shouldn't be at a cost of the strong presence she usually commands.

The Verdict

There will be some having difficulties adjusting to the creative change. It is important to go into this new direction with an unbiased outlook. Meredith and David Finch do a fine job setting up the hectic nature of Wonder Woman's life. There are moments where the edge Wonder Woman usually had previously and in other books is diminished. Showing a softer side has its merits but it's a fine line to make sure she doesn't appear to weak or lost. Still, there are some interesting aspects being introduced here to make you come back for more next month.

3 is good enough for me, I'll keep this on my pull for a while.

@the_stegman said:

Same here, I expect this book to have a rough start, but I have a feeling it will still be good. Plus David Finch's art is always a nice bonus.

The way Cyborg was drawn in that 2 page spread is terrible, from his face to his abdominal area.

I don't think this book is meant for me anymore, and that's fine..... I wish the Finches the best of luck...

3 stars is mercy.

I know I'm way behind, but I just finished reading volume one of Wonder Woman. I liked it and I'm going to keep reading the series.

3 stars is generous for this garbage. Knew I'd miss Azz and Chiang farewell WW.

oh man I was excited for this

I thought this was a great first issue and did a fantastic job of moving on from the previous run which was always going to be under immense scrutiny.

The art was amazing and I loved merdith's writing style. Good for her! Haters gonna hate.

This book was on the top of my pile this week and will be next month as well.

Should have been given 4 stars in my opinion.

i'll be waiting on the volume of this unless i hear it's a total trainwreck.

@asjmooney: write up your own review to tell the world! Go to the issue page and add it at the bottom.

It was not the best start for a new creative team. It seems like editors did not tell them about what happened to the statue at the end of Azzerello's run and Meredith does need a lot of help with dialog, I found there was some very odd choices and one scene particular sounded like a fight on tumblr not amazons speaking about traditions.

I will give the first storyline a shot but I agree with Tony on this one. 3 is fair score for this book if you go into it not holding Azz's run against it. If you go in expect something as good as Azz's run then the score would be much lower.

this spread?

other than being a little thing i think he looks absolutely fantastic.

i respect you so much for this post instead of screaming burn it with fire and that all male readers can die like others with your point of view.

@movieartman: You know I'm a guy right?

@g_man: sorry wasn't meant to be critising your review if that was the way my comment read. My haters comment was referring to people above dissing an issue solely because it is not the Azerlello run.

I literally just finished reading and....wow, I agree that 3 stars is generous. The dialogue is clunky and almost unreadable. The pacing is way too rushed. There was almost no point to the "fight" between Diana and Swamp Thing other than to make Diana look like an impetuous and rash child.

I will say that Finch's art is nowhere near as bad as I thought it'd be, but A) the faces still make the guys look like gorillas and the women look like 12-year-olds, and B) its a definite step down from Chiang.

....This really makes me miss Azz.

You got that only from one issue? Granted I've been there before but that is usually with something that gave an impression. This was almost like filler.

I'll have to check it out...it's the Finches first issue it's bound to be a little rough when they just begin, Azz's run was to in the beginning. Best luck to the Finches :D .

I'm one of those reader who follow creative teams over character. I'm not a fan of the direction they want to take this book. What I loved about the last run was how self contained it was. I don't want to hear about Lex joining the Justice League in my Wonder Woman comics......

ok I get that

@movieartman: Yes that page, the perspective just looks off to me.

damn it, was so looking forward to this.

Only a REAL fan would give a new creative team a chance.

No.

Beata

Loved it. Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Womans faces look weird but the writing was really good.

I like that Meredith is writing Wonder Woman as a very complex individual. I like that shes digging deeper into Wonder Woman and showing different sides to her.

She's very much like most real life people. We may exude confidence in some areas but we also have different part of us that show at different times. I love that she felt comfortable enough with Arthur to vent a little. Usually Wonder Woman is shown as a merciless and cold warrior in the JL issues. In the Azzaralo run she was different. And now shes being shown as a complex individual that is confident, a warrior, a queen, a Hero with the JL, and a God, but is still fallible. I love it. I cant wait to see where this goes.

Agree with this.

3 starts sounds about right. It was just ok. Not that bad but not that great either. I'm going to cut this issue a bit of slack cuz its a new start so sometimes it takes a bit to get off the ground.

I'll give it another 2 issues or so and see what happens.

I thought it was a pretty good debut ... I'd give it 3 1/2 stars

You know what? Not a bad book.

It's not too bad. I think it has some silly writing in it. Some writing choices that I don't necessarily like after Azz's choices... The politics within the Amazons for example. The way they wrote it was kinda... off. The outburst on Swamp Thing was also a bit out of character. The dialogue is also kinda crap lol.

But you know what? not a bad book. A good debut and I'm looking forward to this new team! Azzarello had his brilliant run and I'm just hoping that the next team will just be good.

I give it a 3.5/5 stars.

3 stars are too good for this issue, I don't understand how the same reviewer give 3 stars to this crap and 3 stars to guardians that have much better art and writing.

The issue is pretty decent. I give it a 3.5

Double agreed.

I saw zero self-pity out of Diana. A half-dozen other emotions, drawn to great effect by David Finch, but not "sorry for herself." Might be the first time I flat disagree with Tony.

Pfft is actually typical of Wonder Woman to attack someone head on without asking any questions a not whether because she's troubled or wasn't in the mood, she would do the same.And yess poor Swamp Thing :(

I thought it was pretty good. I'll definitely be back for the next issue.

2/5 from me, it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be, but the writing wasn't terribly good and the art made everyone look deformed.

@knowledge: totally aggree

Honestly though, I'm a bit worried after thinking a bit more...

It's as if the new team just totally forgot everything that happened before this issue... All the important themes and stories that happened are just... ignored completely? NO. THROWN OUT!

It's a bit sad seeing what made the Azzarello run so great just tossed out but as a stand alone issue, once again, not really terrible nor great... Kinda expected that kind of rating tbh

And what's this I hear about Gail Simone having some free time? Why wasn't SHE attached to WW? She did WW before. A rather good run and also very different from Azzarello's run so if that's what they wanted why not Simone? Maybe they wanted to test out the new writer. Give her something big to do.

Damn finch...you've sunck so low

No it wasn't. Azzarello's run was well-received right from the beginning.

I thought it was pretty good then again I'm a big fan of Wonder Woman and The Justice League as a whole. I though the art was fantastic, you can tell a lot of effort was put into the art specially trying to make sure Diana looks as attractive as possible. I will say Clark, Diana, Bruce and Barry look good but Arthur's body was kind of lacking detail, everyone else looked fine for the most part. I like where the story is going too.

Look I know that Azzarello's run was fantastic, and I do think that this issue was not very good. But it is the arcs that make a writer and artists run, not the first issue. A good example of this is the new released Doctor Who 12th doctor series. The first issue sucks it set up a good storyline that payed of in the end of the 2nd issue.

yeah the dude is making excuses for the Finches.

look the Mrs. Finch came out and said right from the start that they were going to change everything about the Wonder Woman title that existed. Subsequently it was all the cool things that everyone liked about the established storyline, they said they were going to change.

I will no longer be pulling this title and the Finches can have fun ruining an impeccable character.
I actually kinda feel bad for Azzarello/Chiang, all their hardwork on creating a new mythos will be slowly chipped away by the Finches.

good job DC. doing a solid job as always.

Seriously stop hating on DC. Things end and you have to go with what comes after that. It's only been one issue. I don't understand why everyone is freaking out.

Good start. I absolutely love the art and i dig the direction it seems to be taking. Cant wait for the next issue.

Hmm, I liked it

Would have personally gave it 4/5 stars

@xframe29: A very well received creative team finished their run and were replaced by an unknown entity and an artist who is not overly popular with certain people, especially those who adore Chiang's style. I haven't read this issue and probably won't unless it gets positive buzz down the line. Azz and Chiang's run on the book was what actually got me interested in the character. It was going to end eventually but I was hoping that the book would maintain the unique style it had. All the interviews I have seen from this creative team indicate that they are heading in a direction with this title that I quite frankly don't want to see. I'm not making a quality judgment here having not read the issue but I can certainly understand why people might be quick to get upset. This review is actually more generous than others I have seen so a big dip in quality in some people's opinions will garner negative reactions even if it is just the first issue.

i don't think this was a great review to be honest. for anyone who really didn't care for Azz's interpretation of Diana this is a relief. if the art was better this would be an easy 4 star. maybe Kenneth Rockafort has some free time to do some extra drawing? :D

...i was really looking forward to this run.

i hated Azz's replacement origin and didn't care for his characterization of WW. she was all business and warrior and had none of the human qualities that make her popular. being a powerful warrior and being a compassionate being contrast against each other and they make the character endearing. in Azz's run, she was written like a man with boobs and a couple women's issues. this comes from some men not understanding how to make a female character powerful. giving her a power boost by making her Zeus' daughter when she's already one of the top 5 powerful heroes in the DCU wasn't necessary. she didn't need more raw strength to be taken seriously. she needed to be written consistently and with respect to be taken seriously.

what i did like about the run, was the creative visual interpretations of the gods by Chang and I liked the narcissistic and petty infighting and plots between the gods.

in the Finch's first issue, i like WW's characterization here a lot. it's very reminiscent of how she's portrayed in the JLU animated series. she's both strong and powerful. she's regally composed while being compassionate and vulnerable. at times i could hear Susan Eisenberg speaking Diana's lines as I read the book. this felt like the WW character we all know and love. plot wise; the end confrontation felt forced. i initially read it and thought i missed a page to get there because it escalated too quickly.

while i'm looking forward to seeing more involvement in the larger DCU, i don't want to see the League become a big focus on the book. Diana and Zatanna should be the League's go-to experts on anything supernatural so i'd like to see that leadership in that domain but otherwise i'd prefer to not see much of the league in Diana's solo book. but aside from that, i really enjoyed the writing. i didn't care for the art most of the time. Finch draws Diana with chubby cheeks appropriate for a very young woman or teen and the males are just unappealing to look at. but while i loved Chang's creativity, i disliked Chang's art style on this book too for various different reasons.

Funny, I didn't realize that a writer needed to write a female character as being fundamentally different from a male character. Silly me, I forgot. Azzarello should have taken into consideration all of those pesky female hormones that make a woman overly irrational and whiny. Yeah, I guess attacking Swamp Thing on sight without any foresight or forethought, really, and then whining to Aquaman about how her life is just sooooooo hard, all while clutching a goddamn teddy bear, is much closer to how a real woman would act.

Also, what book were you reading? There are several examples in Azzarello's run of Wonder Woman being compassionate and thoughtful. For example, when she won over Siracca by embracing her as a sister rather than fighting her as an enemy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that "human" and "compassionate." I'm willing to accept other opinions but you're just factually wrong in this regard.

Also, this characterization is only like half of what we got from Timm's characterization. Timm's characterization was always a bit quick-to-anger, but at least she always had a well-thought-out reason to be angry. Here, its literally "Wonder Woman sees some video and immediately wants to kick someone's ass."

Also, just as a general rule, almost everything that a writer does with a character is unnecessary. However, that doesn't mean that it doesn't add something to the story/character. Azzarello making Diana Zeus' daughter added something to the story and to her character/perspective. I'm at least happy to see that the Finches haven't done away with that thread.

However, what I have to say is the most egregious offense of this issue was that at no point did it seem like a coherent story was being told. All of it really just seemed like a bunch of random crap happening. It never had any flow, any subtlety, or any structure.