Love Will Keep us Together
Written by: Amanda Deibert
Art by: Staz Johnson, Wayne Faucher, Kelly Fitzpatrick and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: March 20, 2016
Doing our site and podcast let's us keep our collective ears to the ground on certain subjects and one of those has been the state of Wonder Woman books at DC Comics these days. Most fans have been disappointed with what is being offered, but for the most part, they only look at the main line of books. It's a shame because the Digital side of things is where Wonder Woman is really thriving, whether it be the awesome The Legend of Wonder Woman book or this one, Wonder Woman '77. This one is a bit of a hard sell initially...it's based on a television show that most never saw (most readers aren't as old as me, I guess) and it gets thrown into the campy Batman '66 mix which isn't fair either. This book is a fun Wonder Woman book all on it's own and really has a low entrance fee, price and prior knowledge wise. With that being said, is this a good issue and possibly even one that all of you foot draggers can jump onto? Let's find out...
The issue opens up by reminding us that this book does indeed take place in 1977 as the Torrijos-Carter Treaties are being celebrated with a yacht race...kind of like a historical Cannonball Run...but with boats...and no Burt Reynolds...or Dom DeLuise...okay, it's nothing like Cannonball Run. Or is it?!?!
Where was I? Oh yea, the Ambassador is announcing this race that has nothing to do with Cannonball Run when an explosion interrupts the festivities. Luckily, Wonder Woman is there to save the day and in order to catch the terrorists responsible, her and Steve Trevor are joining the race by going undercover. I guess "undercover" means trying their best to look like Captain and Tennille and if so, they do a bang up job of it!
After some odd introductions, Steve keeps an eye on the Ambassador while Diana snoops around. She immediately sees a suspicious character and stops him before he can harm anyone...but we quickly learn that the bad guy all along was indeed the Ambassador. Dum Dum Dummmm! Now that the jig is up, he has Steve and Diana tied up.
Like every good villain does, he then tells everyone his plan of world domination. First you get the canal, then you get the world, then you get the women. Well, something like that anyway. While he doesn't go into a lot of detail, he does show Wonder Woman the means to his end. It turns this whole shebang into more of an Odyssey than I imagined when it began, that's for sure.
This chapter was such a quick read and that's not a knock on it. I had a lot of fun reading it and I think that Amanda Deibert does a great job of tying into an actual event, but twisting it in a way the TV show might have done back in the day. Plus, adding a mythical element makes it that much more fun when Wonder Woman is involved.
Staz Johnson's art adds to the fun by nailing the feel and characters of the show and time period. He doesn't get a whole lot to play with since it's such a confined issue, but he makes it all fun to look at. The highlight is definitely Steve Trevor in that Captain's uniform...maybe a tryout with the Village People is in order there Steve-o! Actually, I see him more as the Cowboy, but that's just me.
Bits and Pieces:
Amanda Deibert and Staz Johnson give us the first of a two-part story and while this is all setup, it's good fun that captures the spirit of '77. This story could have easily been a classic TV episode, but anyone can join in whether they are fans of the show or not. It may be the 'Homer" in me, but I can't wait to see what happens next issue when Wonder Woman comes face to face with a mythical threat with an insatiable thirst for destruction.
8.0/10
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