Themyscira or Bust
Written By: Greg Rucka
Art By: Liam Sharp, Laura Martin, Hi-Fi
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: April 26, 2017
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
Where I've been loving the Godwatch story and the incredible way it's been making you feel for Veronica Cale and the desperation she felt to make her become the villain she's become, I have to say that the Truth just seems to be spinning its wheels while slowing making its way to a conclusion. Yeah, I love Liam Sharp's art in this part of the series, but that can only make up for so much when we spent issue after issue with Diana just sitting in an institution, talking to a snake in her arm until she was just cured out of nowhere when Ferdinand showed up. Yeah, it's been a little rough, but hopefully things pick up here since in our previous issue we ended with Colonel Poison shooting Wonder Woman through her back. Let's jump into this issue and see if our hero survives or if this title will take a weird turn. Let's check it out.
Explain It!:
Our issue begins with us seeing that Diana survives her bullet wound by Colonel Poison and not only that, but another one as well. That's right, Wonder Woman's getting riddled with bullets, but ultimately it means nothing to this story because she subdues Colonel Poison and her Poison mercs and Steve and her fly off to go track down Veronica Cale and Cheetah as they make their way to where Veronica believes a portal to Themyscira exists.
So yeah, Doctor Cyber tells Veronica that Colonel Poison has failed and that Wonder Woman will be right on Veronica's tale, but it doesn't really matter to Veronica because she's reached her destination and she believes that with Cheetah's help, she'll be able to open a gateway to Themyscira so that she can track down her daughter Izzy's soul that we previously learned was somehow on Paradise Island. Things seem to be going pretty well in the Themyscira hunt because the former gods Deimos and Phobos, who are now Veronica's dogs thanks to Circe run off and start howling....... Yeah, maybe you don't think that seems too positive, but after all, they were looking for their father Ares and their howls indicate to me that they found him and along with him Themyscira. Yeah, Wonder Woman eventually shows up and starts fighting Cheetah, but things continue to look up in a way because out of nowhere that gigantic dead tree springs up and back in Themyscira the Amazons prepare to fight whatever shall emerge on their end of the dead tree.
In the end, with Wonder Woman being injured from Colonel Poison's bullets, our hero ends up bleeding on the tree, causing a burst of energy to emerge and Deimos and Phobos run towards it........ but so does Veronica's no faced daughter Izzy. Once the energy disperses, we also see that Wonder Woman and Veronica Cale were sucked in as well, leaving Cheetah and Steve Trevor alone wondering what to do next, but we're not worried about them because inside Veronica finds her daughter Izzy alive and well........ and with a face! That isn't the only thing our characters find though because Wonder Woman comes face to face with Ares and we find out that the dead tree has actually been his prison........ which is kind of weird because we saw that tree a long time ago before Wonder Woman ever fought Ares in Man's World.
That's it for this issue of Wonder Woman and even though I loved the ending to this book, this issue really felt padded and even the entire beginning feels weird because none of it seemed to matter in the long run with Wonder Woman getting shot, except for her bleeding on the tree later on and we could have had Cheetah scratch her for that to happen while they were tussling. I loved the art in this issue as I always do whenever Liam Sharp is showing the rest of the world how comics are drawn, but it really feels that The Truth story is getting the shaft, while the Godwatch story is shining bright and wowing me every time I read an issue. I look forward to see where we're going now that we see that the tree is Ares' prison and now that Izzy got her face back, but this issue really spun its wheels just to get us to that point.
Bits and Pieces:
As usual, this book looks amazing, but besides for that and the cliffhanger, this issue really came off padded as hell. Not much has been going on in the Truth story, but hopefully after the reveal of this issue that will change and this part of our Wonder Woman story can stand toe to toe with the amazing things we've been getting from the Godwatch part of his series.
6.7/10
She didn't actually fight Ares in Year 1, that was Deimos and Phobos disguised as their father, Ares was imprisoned the whole time
ReplyDeleteDid you get that from them saying that they looked into Diana's mind before and didn't find what they were looking for?
DeleteIf that was not in fact Ares in Year 1 then that is yet another reason why this entire run sucks. No action and the action that does exist has WW on her knees or otherwise deflecting bullets. Whoop-de do. THIS is supposed to be an iconic character, not a soft-spoken Dow-eyed version of Red Sonja on Ritalin. What a disappointment. WW Fans deserve more bang for their buck after 21 issues. I am SOOOO glad Rucka is leaving this title. Also, it is worth noting that Liam Sharp is not good at action scenes. His characters are static with little sense of motion. Vibrantly coloured posed characters with no sense of gravitas. Unquestionably the most overrated Rebirth title of the entire line. I could not in good conscious recommend this title to anybody unless they were ONLY interested in art design. The writing and plotting is plodding, boring and depressing when one considers that this character had a rich history under Azarello and was a kick ass god of war whose partner was the most powerful man on the planet. My how the amazon has fallen.
DeleteApologies Comic Boom! but I can't agree about this run sucking. It would have been the perfect bridge out of the pre-Nu52 era into this rebirth revamp once upon a time.
DeleteThe glaring problem is that Azzarello's run was simply superior. It didn't need to connect to anything, it redefined WW in new terms for a new generation and made her quite possibly the most relevant and interesting character in the DC Nu52 universe. Of course the failing there, was that no other writer in all of DC knew how to handle her voice or her powers, either during or after that run.
Rucka is an incredible writer, and his tale here is a solid one. The split stories approach is wildly ambitious, and mostly successful. Though this Arc has been light on action, I feel its insight into the characters make up for it.
-Ascent
Eric, I totally agree with your review. While I liked seeing Wondy showing off and being a bit of a badass (something that we haven't really seen much in either Year One or Truth/Lies storylines), this is issue, and the storyline in general, feel decompressed as hell.
ReplyDeleteGreetings sir eric!! In the case of wonder woman, there is good storytelling and the convo of the characters with each other is really good too.. making it an intelligent read.. loved the year one story line btw.. HOWEVER the action department is severely lacking i guess and the slow burn pacing of the story continues.. there is only 1 more issue left to wonder woman the truth arc and im really hoping that at the conclusion to this arc, minds are gonna be blown away.. kinda tired of having alternating issues, just saying.. and now looking back on it, rucka had only 4 storylines/arcs in total in the 1st year of REBIRTH while the other bimonthly comics have told a lot of stories and even had crossovers with other comics.. im looking forward to having a new writer for a new and diferent perspective coming after rucka and that the story is not alternating anymore.. rucka is a good writer dont get me wrong but it would be nice to see someone else for a change.. david finch art might be cool too see again in wonder woman..
ReplyDeleteYou really, really need to edit your work.
ReplyDeleteNo, he just really does...two "reallys" is a bit over the top
DeleteDamn, welcome to the Bitchie Bitch comments page!
ReplyDeleteGood review, Eric; this story has been lacking (and lagging) compared to Godwatch. I'm not sure if a good ending issue (if it is actually good) would be enough to salvage this arc as enjoyable. Just too much filler and nonsense with no explanation to warrant the number of issues we've spent on this, just to make it sync with the better story going on in Godwatch. Not terrible, but not great; but nice art. A little below 7 seems about right. Jim will probaby give it a 7 on the podcast just to say he's more positive than you. :D
This review captures the essence of the issue, offering fans a comprehensive look at how the story unfolds and impacts the Wonder Woman saga.
ReplyDelete