Wonder Woman #61 Review

Don't Hurt Me No More

Written by: G. Willow Wison
Art by: Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 2, 2019

I am really hoping that this is the issue that gets me onboard this G. Willow Wilson run of Wonder Woman. After waiting for what felt like forever, I just haven't enjoyed it that much. It feels like she is struggling with her characters and the story has been more about political cliches than anything else and it hasn't resonated with me at all. So, do things change for the better this issue? Let's find out...

We start off with Steve Trevor as he gets to know Aphrodite a little better. While he stammers for words, Wilson again seems to be struggling with the characters and by the end of this scene, it is obvious that she does not have a good grip on Steve Trevor at all. The whole scene had me rolling my eyes with Aphrodite and Steve debating love and war.

We then head off to Wonder Woman and it doesn't get any better. Again, I don't think Wilson has a good grip on Diana and her dialogue feels wooden and empty. Sure, she talks a good game about war and mentions Themyscira and her mother, but it feels like Wilson is trying to convince us she knows the character instead of it happening naturally.  This doesn't improve when Diana finds the Prime Minister (the talk of gods here is laughable) and is reunited with Steve Trevor.

The issue ends with Diana, Steve, Aphrodite, and Etta making sure the Prime Minister gets to a scheduled peace meeting, but even with all the generalized political talk being flung around, I really couldn't tell you much about this whole fight going on enough to care. I guess the cliffhanger is supposed to get you excited, but it's pretty much a "been there done that" sort of thing and I just want this arc to end so Wilson can hopefully get on to bigger and better things.

I mentioned in the introduction that I have been disappointed with Wilson's young run but this is by far the worst issue yet. I can no longer even say that this is better than the previous run and believe me, I hated what we got there! Wilson doesn't have a good grip on her characters and instead is focusing more on a bunch of cliches and generalized political nonsense. All that being said, the worst thing about this issue was it was a boring read that was a slog to get through.

I did like the art and I think that Xermanico is a huge step up from normal artist, Cary Nord. Oh well, it only made the issue slightly more readable, but at least it looked good.

Bits and Pieces:

After anticipating G. Willow Wilson's run of this book for what felt like forever, the only thing I feel now is let down. I have struggled with trying to like this book because of my respect and love of G. Willow Wilson, but I can't turn a blind eye to the truth...this just isn't a good Wonder Woman story. I will put a "yet" on the end there and hope that after this first arc is over, things will change for the better. For now, though, I can't recommend it.

5.0/10