The Good
This issue is all about trust, and although I did have some problems in the beginning with the overall organization of the story, I felt that it was incredibly compelling overall. Here is Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons who is supposed to be strong, domineering, who doesn't need a man -- but even she has a weakness and succumbed to her carnal desires. What's interesting about the scene and the way Hippolyta describes the relationship she had with Zeus makes it seem as though the two characters were honest with one another. In the first issue, Hermes alluded to Zeus taking on other forms to seduce women; however with Hippolyta he did not do that. With Hippolyta, Zeus was himself and they were both attracted by each other's power.
In this one issue, Azzarello not only sets up the turmoil between Wonder Woman and her mother, but also Wonder Woman and the Amazons. She feels as though she is not a part of them. She does not know where she belongs, and thus, Azzarello has broken Diana down and gotten to her very core. Who is she? Where did she come from? Where is she going? Where does she fit in? Azzarello has laid out the groundwork for all of these questions in this issue -- he's set up a foundation for his series that will allow him to explore Diana's character in a way that has never really been explored before.
Azzarello will also be dealing with the Amazons' relationship with Hippolyta; now that they know she and Zeus were together and that she gave birth to Zeus' child, will they respect her as a leader? Something tells me there will be trouble on Paradise Island.
The Bad
You might notice that if you read issue two and three back-to-back, they down't flow very well. It seems as though Azzarello skips ahead a tiny bit. The end of issue #2 left readers with heightened tension and an action packed scene. When we open issue #3 the Amazons are burying their dead. So what happened between those two scenes? It feels as if the action scene doesn't happen, or is purposely left off panel. Instead of fighting against her, the Amazon's sort of allow Strife to harass them. It seems somewhat odd and out of place.
The Verdict
Overall, this issue is fantastic. Azzarello lays the foundation for his story in this issue, and it definitely goes beyond Wonder Woman's discovery. Here he has laid the foundation for political turmoil and possible upheaval, and Hippolyta's broken relationship with her daughter. It's all very interesting. This book will leave you with a lot of questions and a desire to keep coming back for more. Not to mention Cliff Chiang's gorgeous art makes certain scenes very tasteful and beautiful. Definitely worth picking up the two previous issues if you haven't already; this is certainly becoming one of the series I am most looking forward to reading each month.
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