Wonder Woman ‘77 Chapter #14 Review and *SPOILERS*

Clay You, Clay Me

Written By: Marc Andreyko

Art By: Richard Ortiz, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Letters By: Wes Abbott

Digital Price: $0.99

Release Date: February 1, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Happy February! It’s Groundhog Day Eve, and to celebrate the occasion DC Comics’ digital line has sneak-dropped a brand new Wonder Woman ’77 chapter—if it sees its shadow and scurries back into its virtual hidey hole, we get six more weeks of Batman ’66 Meets the Man From U.N.C.L.E.! I kid, I kid…it may have appeared like a thief in the night, but I’ve been hoping to check out the urbane world of Diana Prince that so stoked my childhood imagination. And no, I’m not talking about boners! Read on, ya perverts!

Explain It!:

I’ve been wondering where Marc Andreyko disappeared to lately, and it turns out he’s still on Wonder Woman ’77, a digital comic that comes out on a schedule that can only be described as “fuckwitted.” Jim tells me this comic book used to come out on Thursday, hasn’t been seen since October, and he only happened to stumble upon it today because his finger slipped on the way to the Neko Atsume app on his smart phone. Well there’s a backlog at the old Weird Science Corporate Headquarters, so I’m going to pitch in and check out good ol' Diana "Wonder Woman" Prince is up to.

Our story begins with Clayface, looking suspiciously and awesomely like the Clayface from Batman: the Animated Series, who is shuffling along the street and emitting a rattling cough. He’s on his way to the villains’ health clinic, which is basically the best thing because it’s exactly what you’d expect: a big waiting room crammed with supervillains in their costumes waiting to be called by a bored and overworked nurse. Seems Clayface is having trouble holding his form, and his pal Cheetah tells him that she knows of a certain place that has magical clay…from whence came a woman made from said magical clay…some might say she is a “wonder” of a woman…a “wonder” woman…okay so she’s saying Clayface should go to Paradise Island and absorb the same magical clay that made Diana.

Meanwhile, at the Museum of Global Antiquities, Wonder Woman is dressed in an incredible red, white and blue cape, and addressing an assembled crowd in appreciation for the return of several Amazonian artifacts. After wading through a crowd that includes a skulking Clayface, Wonder Woman loads the stuff onto her invisible jet, which you may remember as one of the Top Five Greatest Things Ever. Clayface smuggles himself aboard the jet by changing into a bird, then a spider, then a packing crate which is exactly how I like to see him: transforming into stuff like Plastic Man, instead of just turning his fists into hammers and scythes or whatever. His inner monologue seems to be concerned about being able to hold his shape, but in reality Clayface fools ‘em all and is well stowed away when Diana peels off in her invisible flier.

At some point, Clayface does have trouble holding his shape, and exposes his position to Wonder Woman because, remember, the jet is invisible. That means even if Clayface was back in the on-board recreation room playing foosball, she could have seen him. Wondy throws her lasso around Clayface, but as we’ve learned from the Justice League Unlimited cartoon (and I believe at least one other comic book instance) it pulls right through him because—right; clay. He busts up the ship and jumps off into the ocean, where he turns into a dolphin and begins to make for Paradise Island! Wonder Woman leaps after him and changed into just about the most awesome body suit you can imagine, but she is too late! Clayface makes it to the home of the Amazons and turns into like two dozen clay Wonder Womans! Or Wonder Women?

I am kicking myself for not checking this out sooner! Hey, everyone! Your “fun” Wonder Woman, the one with the stable origin story and familiar trappings like the invisible jet and goofball Steve Trevor? It’s over here! Yoo hoo! The art is great and I loved every character design. I especially loved seeing Diana going through several costume changes as is her wont. If this Wonder Woman wants to stroll over to the current Wonder Woman comic book and sort of nudge her to somewhere off-panel for a while, I wouldn’t complain!

Bits and Pieces:

It’s the Wonder Woman you know and love, with an invisible plane and a lasso of truth, and just the right amount of body to her hair that tells us we’re in the late 1970s. Here she faces a villain (normally found in Gotham) and it’s for a pretty cool reason if you know your Wonder Woman. And if you don’t, you’ll figure it out. This book is a lot of fun and a perfectly fine point for the curious to come and take a look.

8/10