Wonder Woman #77 Review

Give a Little Bit of Love to Grow

Written By: G. Willow Wilson
Art By: Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Pat Brosseau
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 28, 2019

We got Themyscira back, Veronica Cale got Isadore back and Chetah stabbed Aphrodite in the back (not really, but I have a thing going here!), so what are we going to get this week...Sir Mix-a-Lot?  I doubt it, but anything's possible.  So, do we get a little Oakland bootie all up in here?  Let's find out...



We open with Atlantiades and Steve returning home from grocery shopping to find Aphrodite dead on the floor.  I'm guessing this was supposed to be a rather emotional scene, but Wilson never really made me become attached to either character and they didn't have a good relationship with each other to boot.  It may say nothing will ever be the same again, but I'm just not feeling it.

Diana then arrives and I am again reminded that G. Willow really doesn't seem to know how to write the character of Wonder Woman.  I mean, she is going through the motions on the page, but something is missing.  After finding some bloody footprints, Wonder Woman jumps to the conclusion that its Cheetah (she is right though, the gal knows her footprints!) and then gets really angry until Steve tells her not to be and then she gets sad.  A roller coaster ride of emotions she is!  

Atlantiades and Diana take the body of Aphrodite to Themyscira for a proper burial and when Atlantiades says they want Justice, Wonder Woman shakes her fist like a modern-day Charlton Heston who just found the Statue of Liberty and tells her they will have it!  Again, the scene just has no emotion or soul to it.  

After a getting on the gear montage, Steve shows up to be a selfish prick and away we go.  Diana talks to herself about justice and rage and then finds some footprints that look to be from Big Foot.  Oh man, Wonder Woman found Big Foot and that's...oh wait, they are Cheetah's footprints.  Damn it, I was getting pumped up for a second.

Diana doesn't have to look far as Cheetah is hanging out in a tree and believe me, her bark is equal to her bite...and she has the huge God Slayer sword that kind of makes my tree pun sound silly now that I think of it.

The two old foes go back and forth a bit and while it feels like Wilson has been given a checklist things from Greg Rucka's run she needs to tie up before leaving the book, it doesn't seem like she read his run close enough.  Yea, Cheetah, and Diana are old foes, but they are also old friends and a big part of Rucka's run was developing Cheetah into a fully fleshed-out character whom you cared about even if she was a baddie.  Wilson leaves that behind and instead makes her a whisker twirling villain who licks blood off a sword.  

The issue ends with a prophecy, a fight and a little bit of fate.  It also left me wondering why Wonder Woman fans haven't gotten a fair shake of things for years now.

I don't want to speak for all fans, because that gets you yelled at, but I want and need a good Wonder Woman book and this just isn't it.  G. Willow recently announced she is leaving Wonder Woman and I can only think it was a mutual decision between her and DC and I doubt either side is that upset about it.  There is no sizzle here and for whatever reason, I don't think Wonder Woman is a good fit for Wilson.  Jesus Merino's art was a good fit for my eyes this issue, but there just isn't much else to recommend in this issue.  I keep saying it in my reviews and on our podcast, but the book just doesn't have a soul and hasn't had it full time since Ruka left.  Maybe Steve Orlando will do something about that once Wilson leaves for good.

Bits and Pieces:

Wonder Woman continues being a book with no heart and soul and while I'm sure T'Pau could do the trick, it doesn't seem like G. Willow Wilson can.  I'll keep reading and keep hoping that happier days are around the corner because Wonder Woman and her fans really deserve better.

5.5/10