Deeper into the Styx.
Following the events of Wonder Woman #8, Diana finds herself enthralled by Hades, king of the underworld. But while the colorful cast of friends she has made along the way rush to save her from an impeding marriage to the cunning god, it seems Diana may be plotting a plan of her own. And of course, whenever trouble befalls Wonder Woman, Strife is behind the scenes digging the knife further in. The story is as engaging as ever, and although I don't think Brian Azzarello has yet done Wonder Woman justice as a true Amazon Warrior, the overall narrative is strong enough to forgive his transgression.
Azzarello is a writer who sometimes comes on a little bit too strong, with his strange wordy and cryptic dialogue. His work on First Wave is a good example of where I feel that style fails, where Spaceman is a book where I feel that style brilliantly succeeds. So you would think flowery and esoteric dialouge would be a no brainer for the age old gods from Wonder Woman, instead Azzarello keeps these larger than life characters speech patterns rather loose and standard. Hermes in this issue even speaks the colloquialism "True That" at one point. Azzarello seems to realize that these otherworldly and exalted characters are already hard to relate to for the common man. He therefore uses their speech patterns as a way to humanize this strange cast.
Cliff Chiang is unfortunately absent again as artist in this issue. But Tony Atkins, who has provided less than stellar fill in work in the past on this series finds his stride in #9, with vibrant inventive work. Wonder Woman looks grim yet elegant in her wedding dress, Hephaestus looks appropriately imposing, and Strife has probably never looked better. If anyone has to fill in for Chiang on the series, it appears that Atkins really is a stellar choice after all.
This is the best of the best in modern comic books, while hardcore Wonder Woman fans might be disappointed in the lack of spotlight she receives in her own title, fans of ancient mythology and fans of great storytelling will find no other DC title that succeeds so well as Wonder Woman.
