Wonder Woman #65 Review

Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Art team: Jesus Merino, Andy Owens, Romulo Fajardo Jr, and Pat Brousseau
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: 2/27/19
Reviewed by: Jon Wayne

I have been struggling to review this book ever since I jumped on. Not because I think it’s awful, but because I think it should be so much better. G. Willow Wilson is one of my favorite creators and I can see the contours of a truly great story… it just isn’t there yet. From a war between the Greek Pantheon and Western Civilization (what the first arc of her run was apparently supposed to be) to the Civil War-vibes Veronica Cale was pushing last time, it all seems cool, it just hasn’t been tied together cohesively. Does that start to change here? Let’s find out.


Picking up in the aftermath of Cale framing Diana, we see the political pundits debating the issue while our hero cries into the storm above. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor wins the “DCU boyfriend of the year” award for patiently awaiting Diana’s return while his new roommate, Aphrodite, struts around in a two-piece bathing suit. Steve’s dialogue still feels a little off to me, but it is getting better, and his unwavering affection for Diana – even when she occasionally ignores him – is endearing.

When our titular hero does return, she catches Steve and Aphrodite up on what went down with Cale and how she believes Olympus and Themyscira are gone. They brainstorm for a moment and then Diana seems to lose hope – which feels very out of character here – before a pep talk from Aphrodite inspires her to bolt off and find Nemesis. Without even a peck on the cheek for the amazing Steve!

Diana does indeed find Nemesis – which isn’t explained at all – and what follows is a fight sequence that is both too long and too short. In the midst of it, Diana realizes that Nemesis was speaking the truth last issue when she implied she was controlling Veronica, not the other way around. The way Nemesis does this is rather lame in my opinion, but I’ll leave that for the readers to decide. After realizing that Cale is in trouble, our hero buries Nemesis in her “bolt hole” (I think? The art isn’t exactly clear here) and flies off to help her longtime enemy.

Diana meets Veronica in the villain’s home after the latter gives another speech denouncing former. Following some back and forth that is pretty generic, we get a brief monologue from Diana that is probably the best her voice has sounded since Wilson took over the book. It’s a touching moment as Diana pleads with Veronica to believe her, which I won’t spoil for you here, but once the moment passes we go back into the generic Wonder Woman talk. After returning home, Diana quickly announces to Aphrodite that she is leaving again – this time to find Themyscira and Olympus – and the goddess of love wants to join her! They fly off into the sunset as the issue ends – but again Diana does so without even caring to say goodbye to her beloved Steve!

Art is good, seems like Merino had more time with this issue as panels are more detailed for the most part. Hope he stays on the book for the next few issues at least, though the art team seems to be fluid on this book. The Artgerm variant cover is beautiful and I’m sure it’ll help the book sell an additional 10 to 15 thousand copies.

Bits and Pieces

This issue was ok, I liked it more the first time I read it and less so in subsequent read-throughs. As with last issue there are some positive takeaways, but still, this just isn’t quite sticking for me yet. It’s crazy, but we’re already 8 issues into G. Willow’s run and as much as I want her to succeed and remind readers why Diana is one of the best characters in all of comics, we aren’t getting that yet. I still have hope, but even with the mild improvements here the meandering plot is becoming tiresome.

6/10