Comic Vine Review

33 Comments

Wonder Woman #35 - What he Said

5

It's the finale of Azzarello and Chiang's run on Wonder Woman

The Good

There's a battle over the throne and it's more than just First Born vs Wonder Woman. Everything changes in this thrilling conclusion to Brian Azzarello's and Cliff Chiang's run.

It's not the "battle to the death" that may people were hoping for or Diana going full-blown God of War are First Born, but the conclusion is incredibly satisfying and wraps up this run exceptionally well. Instead of taking an action heavy focus on one character "besting" another, WONDER WOMAN #35 remains heavily story driven and lets things play out naturally. The issue is really reminiscent of classic fantasy adventure films that strings the reader along as good takes on evil.

Azzarello and Chiang string reader along in an emotional journey through this issue. Certain characters have to make big decisions and those who have opposed Diana in the past show mercy; however, the decisions these characters make will have long-lasting affects on them. Readers have become invested in characters in this run, so the impact of the events within the issue will really move readers either by having them cheer for the win or morn the losses.

The dialogue is exceptionally well-written and moves the story along The last few pages of resolution really showcase how well good dialogue can raise the bar for a story and emotionally rope the reader into the book's characters. That's one of the many positives about this issue is that while it is a bit more dialogue heavy than people expect, it truly works in the context of the story.

Cliff Chiang and colorist Matthew Wilson present a beautiful issue here. The final page alone looks amazing, with some brilliant color work as well. The panel-to-panel story telling shows an incredible amount of movement. Everything really pops of the page and catches the reader's eye and the overall book is paced exceptionally well. Composition-wise, more comics should aspire to tell stories like this one. It's a great mixture of classic comic story telling with a contemporary twist.

The Bad

The book isn't pure perfection, but it's incredibly close.

The Verdict

It's sad that Azzarello's and Chiang's time on WONDER WOMAN has come to an end. However, the conclusion is incredibly satisfying and a worthy wrap-up to this book. Without a doubt, this will go down as one of the best Wonder Woman stories of all time as well as one of the best stories to come out of the New 52. Everything just works well here, and it feels like it will work even better in a collected edition of this book. Hopefully, DC will put this story into an over-sized hardcover omnibus, most likely in two volumes. Anyway, this is an iconic run and it's a must read in the New 52. Make sure to check this out.

33 Comments

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the_stegman

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the_stegman  Moderator

I have every single issue, and one day, I shall remove them from their bags and boards and read this perfect run over again. I just hope he next creative team brings the thunder.

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StarBrand1

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the best book out.

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BIGGGHEADTJ

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sad to see the creative team leave definitely the best wonder woman story i have read

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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Edited By CaptainMarvel4Ever  Online

My favorite book, and what I consider to be the best book in the new 52, thank Mr. Azzarello and Mr. Chiang, I can't wait to see what series you guys will move on to.

While I will miss this I'm still looking forward to the next creative team's run on the book.

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SanoHibiki

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Finally it’s over.

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redwingx

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Edited By redwingx

What a sad day.

WW will never be this interesting again.

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Mercy_

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I'm really sad this run is over :(

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deactivated-5fbfd5d291164

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Outside_85

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Sad to see it end. But end it did, and in the best way possible.

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SanoHibiki

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@dagmar_merrill:

That’s run is written damn perfectly (one of my favorite New-52 books), it gave extremely convincing reinvention of Wonder Woman, but in the end I grew tired from “Diana dealing with her divine part of family’ problems”-main theme. I definitely will reread Azzarello’s run in future, but as for now, I want something different from her book.

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movieartman

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A Toast... to a future of better.... Rendered & Detailed artwork (chiangs storytelling is not being diminished in this comment, only his violently offensive (to me) simplicty)

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justice teen

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Not gonna lie I found this to be the worst issue of the series. The ending just wasn't strong. Diana looked like a dick with how she defeated the first born, take my hand(when she was the one in the bad position) get his hopes up and crush them. Zeke was no surprise, Zola was though. All around this was my favorite rendition of WW, but the way he ended his run was just so blah to me.

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HolySerpent

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Finally it's over. It was decent series but I did not like the portrayal of the characters, especially war.

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HumanTorch101

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With all of the great things I've heard about this run, I will definitely be getting all of the issues from this series.

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Superguy1591

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Edited By Superguy1591

What a twist! This book was Diana in a nutshell. Thanks, Azz! It ended too soon.

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GustavoBurciaga1

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Edited By GustavoBurciaga1

The only thing I didn't like about this issue was that cover, I liked the idea behind it, but why are her head and her body not proportionate to one another? Aside that I loved everything about the issue. It was an amazing run and which still left room for much more writing to be done by whoever takes the book next. I hope they'll be just as good as Azzarello. I'm not a big fan of Chiang's art work but even I could acknowledge that he went all out on this issue.

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Superguy1591

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GustavoBurciaga1

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Edited By GustavoBurciaga1

@superguy1591: I don't know man, I feel like even if it's from an angle the head should still be a bit larger. But it's not about the cover it's about the amazing story that was.

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DonJack

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Edited By DonJack

@justice_teen said:

Not gonna lie I found this to be the worst issue of the series. The ending just wasn't strong. Diana looked like a dick with how she defeated the first born, take my hand(when she was the one in the bad position) get his hopes up and crush them. Zeke was no surprise, Zola was though. All around this was my favorite rendition of WW, but the way he ended his run was just so blah to me.

She wasn't in a bad position, she can fly. She lured First Born to try and show him what means to submit, and to love. But he wouldn't get out from everything he had done easily, would he? I think it's a dubious moment.

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kivatt

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Honestly, I feel worried about the next run. The way they talked about it being Justice League heavy in her stories is not my cup of tea. I would rather have stories to focus on her and her character.

Besides the Gail Simone, J. Michael Strazynski, and this, which are good Wonder Woman runs?

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MadeinBangladesh

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Even though I haven't been reading it, all I hear is good things.

R.I.P.

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Outside_85

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justice teen

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@donjack: I can understand that but it seems out of character for her to do something like that.

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kivatt

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@outside_85: Thanks. How was Amazons attack? I keep seeing it at my comic shop.

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johnfrank120

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@mercy_ said:

I'm really sad this run is over :(

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Outside_85

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@kivatt said:

@outside_85: Thanks. How was Amazons attack? I keep seeing it at my comic shop.

It depens on what you think it should be.

  • Die-hard WW fans hate it with a burning passion because of how the Amazons are being depicted in it, because they are the aggressors that occupy central Washington DC.
  • Me... I rather like it simply because it is one of the few examples of the Amazons actually being a formiddable military force rather than a bunch of useless red shirts.
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Comicuser

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Im so glad its over.

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Wilbertus

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Azzarello and Chiang. Words cannot express how grateful I am for this run. You redefined Wonder Woman for me and made me a fan of hers for the first time. Thank you so very much.

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UltimateSMfan

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Loved this issue, loved this run...Welled up a bit at the end, that perfect end :')

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Zearing

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I loved this run; this and Superman/Wonder Woman got me truly interested in Wonder Woman for the first time. I hope the next run can keep my interest.

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Guerraa

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Edited By Guerraa

I know I'm late commenting on this, but what an amazing run this series has had with this creative team. This is how you write comics in my opinion. No need for "story arcs". Just tell an ongoing story. That's how your real life would work if you were a hero. It would just be ongoing, not a "6 issue story arc". I will miss this creative team. Right up there with Batman, All Star Western, Nightwing, and Batman & Robin as the best of the New 52.