Wonder Woman #73 Review

Writer: Steve Orlando

Art: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Pat Brosseau, and Jesus Moreno

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 26th, 2019

As Wonder Woman and her compatriots travel through the broken realm, Diana relates the story to the first time she left Themyscira in this week’s all-new WONDER WOMAN #73 by Steve Orlando. What other secrets did Dimension Chi conceal and have any of them followed Diana back to our universe? Let’s jump in and find out!

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

PERPLEXING ISSUE

Steve Orlando literally throws readers instantly into the story without knowing where we are, what happened prior, and what time frame we are in. At first glance, I felt like he missed an issue somewhere, especially seeing that G. Willow Wilson wasn’t writing this issue anymore. I was also confused as to who the women characters were and had to reread pages to clarify what was going on multiple times. 

In general, the mix between Orlando’s storytelling, as well as Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan’s art, added more to the confusion on each page. That said, it wasn’t necessarily the art teams fault.  Lopresti and Ryan’s art wasn’t bad. It was actually well detailed, thorough, and very intricate, which I love. Frankly, it may have been the best thing going on in the issue.  However, the panel progression intertwined with Orlando’s storytelling threw me out of the issue numerous times. 

For example, was young Diana thrown into a fire and killed or was that her doppelgänger? Or neither? And how could oversized kangaroos pull chariots? They would just hop all over the place and the movement alone would be too jerky. And when did Amazons get laser guns, play Risk, and act out plays? These “Games” Orlando created were not just puzzling to the issue but overly demeaning to the Amazons, especially through snapshots and montages that skimmed over why they were valued and important. 

POINT BREAK

Orlando creates this challenging scenario that quickly takes readers through the comic, which is completely unnecessary to the overall story and makes the issue almost pointless. Not only did last issue drop readers off into an unknown area called Dimension Chi, but now we are hearing a tale about Diana’s last trip into that Dimension. How is this progressing the story so readers get Themyscira back? In addition, why is this issue needed? Do readers need to spend an entire comic talking about a land that never existed until the end of the last issue that will probably be forgotten within two weeks? Or, was the issue solely to buy Wilson time and therefore unnecessary to those dedicated WONDER WOMAN fans? 

Even towards the end of the issue, I still wondered the point of Dimension Chi. The “Games” end because Atomia storms Dimension Chi and a young Diana breaks out of prison. Somehow, a young Wonder Woman rallies the doppelgänger troops to victory. Really?!? Again, the only logical explanation is that this story and this place were solely just a quick narrative placed into the arc in order to give Wilson a break. Otherwise, all we get is Diana screaming “Hi” in Spanish at the end of the issue and the doppelgängers coming to their senses and forming a truce with the Atomic World. Readers go from a town under love spells, to fighting a giant Minotaur named Colossus, to a story that involves twisted Amazons and an Atomic World led by someone who appears to look like Mera all in about three issues. Readers, this series is lost.

SPINNING OUR WHEELS

The issue ends with Orlando coming right out and saying that Dimension Chi was created by Hippolyta and if it still exists then Hippolyta and the Amazons must exist too. So, the comic was simply to reassure the readers that the Amazons and Themyscira are out there, which we all assumed anyway! Why would Diana be in a wild goose chase months now for readers to find absolutely nothing? Wilson has been in this series since issue 58 trying to tell us this story... seven and a half months... come on now. What do we have to show?

The series is spinning its wheels and completely stuck in the mud. All I wants is for fans who have stuck with this run to finally get Themyscira back or at least find the dang place. However, readers get story after story about people and places that aren’t getting readers any closer to the Amazons. Orlando simply gives a filler story to tell readers that Wonder Woman and her team are still on the right track. Well, guess what... who flippin’ cares anymore?! Plus, we’ll still probably get an entire arc of the team in Dimension Chi. Can’t wait... cough... sarcasm.

BITS AND PIECES:

This issue could easily be skipped and readers won’t miss a beat. It’s easy to see that Orlando was a guest writer to buy Wilson some time and maybe try to get back some of the magic he had on the book before Wilson arrived. This series needs a hard reset, a new direction, and maybe a new creative team fast. This is one of the members of the Trinity. This book should be epic... but sadly it’s not. My hope is that Wilson can at least come back strong, direct, and with purpose. Otherwise, call me when they find Themyscira. 

5.1/10