Wonder Woman #42 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Meredith Finch
Art By: David Finch, Jonathan Glapion, Johnny Desjardins, Brad Anderson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 22, 2015

The Game of Strife

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

With this being only my second issue of Wonder Woman that I've reviewed, it's weird for me because while I read a bit of this creative team's run, I never got where all the hate was coming from that I'd see people throwing at this book.  Especially after reading the last issue, which I really liked.  In that issue we saw Wonder Woman getting all classy with her new wardrobe and coming across someone who doesn't think Diana has what it takes to be the God of War and because of that, he wants to take it from her.  This mysterious fellow isn't alone though because as we saw at the end of the issue, he had himself some sort of wishing well that he talked to in his basement, that gave him the tools he'll need to complete his task.  You know, just some simple things like a a golden bow and arrow and a Pegasus.  You know, normal.  So let's get into this issue and see if this mystery attacker becomes known to us and if he's able to get the best of Wonder Woman.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our story begins with Wonder Woman letting out a little steam at a nightclub in London, where Hessia and her are dancing their asses off and having a blast.  Of course it can't last though because some asshole always has to come and ruin the fun........ I can't say that it's always by them coming up from behind and squeezing a woman's ass, but it's usually along those lines.  After Wonder Woman puts the hurt on the guy to make sure that in the future he knows that no means no, Hessia and Diana leave, only to be attacked by that mystery man from last issue.  Now, I'm no expert in weapons.......... or anything really, but I found this part weird because we begin by seeing Wonder Woman in the crosshairs of this...........bow....... not only that, but it seemed to be a magnifier of some kind and I'm not really sure how this guy is using this bow while looking through this crosshair the way it's presented............Maybe this is a thing that people do, but with this being a ancient mythological weapon, the sight on this bow just really came off odd to me....... Especially since the attacker missed.  With his surprise attack blown, the dude makes a run for it and Wonder Woman flies after him.  After a brief encounter, where the guy makes sure that Wonder Woman knows he's the one that attacked her last issue, he escaped by flying through a portal on a Pegasus and both Wonder Woman and I are left dumbstruck.  Did you all know that Pegasi could do that?  

It's finally time to get some info on who this Pegasus riding asshole really is and to do that we get a little flashback sequence where we see that his name is Aegeus and on her deathbed, his mother tells him how he's the descendant of Theseus who was born from a wicked three-way between Aethra, Aegeus and Poseidon.  Now since this guy is an asshole, he belittles his mother a bit about these silly stories she's been telling him since he was a child about his ancestry, but when she gives him a coin that his father wanted him to have, he seems to change his tune and we find him out at the ocean trying to commune with Poseidon.  Obviously Poseidon just let's it go to the metaphorical voicemail and our villain begins having himself a temper tantrum.  Now this could have just been it and Aegeus could have gone and lived a mediocre life where he wasn't trying to become the God of War, but even though Poseidon didn't answer, someone else did and we jump to Aegeus in his basement, talking to his wishing well again, having himself another tantrum about wanting to become a god and how the well promised it would make him one.  Well, the well doesn't take any shit from fools and puts Aegeus in his place, telling him he's got to work for his power.  Lousy whiny bastards, always thinking that the world owes them godhood.  We also get clued in that the being who is pulling Aegeus' strings is Eris, when the well casually uses the word "strife". 

In the end, Wonder Woman goes back to Olympus to try and find out about that Pegasus query that we were wondering about, but sadly, Hera has no answers for Diana.  Before she leaves and tries to track down some other leads, Diana visits Donna in her prison and I begin to have high hopes that we'll see a Wonder Woman/Donna Troy team up sometime soon...... But then it's all dashed when Eris shows up and plays on Donna's guilt and tells her about the Fates.  There's nothing like going to the Three Fates and having them assist with your suicide.  Lousy Eris.

That's it for this issue of Wonder Woman and I love the fact that this book can take us to so many places.  Yeah, we have the Greek Mythology aspect that kind of takes center stage with Aegeus being the villain of the story, but I loved that the issue started out with us just seeing Wonder Woman enjoying life and getting out with her friends a bit.  Now bear with me for this next part because I'm not sure if it's going to make sense or not.  The main strength of this book is also one of it's biggest weaknesses.  Yeah, I know, weird.  Now I love the fact that Meredith Finch is writing these gods as they've always been portrayed, like Eris' clever deceptions to get people where she wants them to be, but I also feel like it's getting kind of old and I would like to see them played out a little differently.  It's just at times it feels like I'm watching an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, which I loved as well, but I would like these characters to stand out on their own and not have to be exactly like mythology portrays them.  Even gods can grow.  Like I said though, I liked that Meredith is being so faithful to the source material and I liked everything she did in this book, I'd just like her to take some chances with these characters and make them her own.  The art as always was amazing and I loved every single panel that the art team gave us.  Hopefully in the next issue Aegeus puts his big boy pants on and stops being so whiny because I could see him being a really fun villain with how envious he is of Wonder Woman's power and title.

Bits and Pieces:

Wonder Woman continues to impress me as we delve deeper in this story arc and find out who her mysterious attacker was in the previous issue and his motivations behind the attack.  While this issue is a bit Wonder Woman light because of it setting up the villains of the story, I had a great time throughout and as always loved the art.  

8/10