Another Day In ParadiseWriter: Steve Orlando
Artist: Kieran McKeown, Scott Hanna, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 13, 2019
Steve Orlando jumps back on Wonder Woman and I am hoping he is just what the doctor ordered for this book. It is a bit odd to jump into an ongoing "event" like Year of the Villain, but crazier things have happened. So, does Orlando give the book the boost it needs? Let's find out...
The issue opens with Orlando giving you a preview of his modus operandi for this issue and maybe his run...lots and lots of characters. I love that sort of thing and some of the characters he uses here are pretty awesome...I just wish they were set up a little better to let everyone in on the fun. We start with Cheetah ripping through the jungles of Themyscira with a nod to the 70s television show and a lot of blood and bluster. Orlando picks up from G Willow Wilson's run with a tweest...Cheetah is doing all this ultraviolence for Diana. What What???? It is a sudden change, but not the worst thing as it ties into the Rebirth beginnings of this book.
We go off to Diana then and she is getting hounded by Etta Candy to take some time off. On a side note, I think Orlando shows readers what is probably going to happen in any book with characters involved in all those organizations that were taken out by Leviathan...they will be involved in "something else". Etta mentions Argus but moves right along and I give kudos to Orlando for not playing totally along with that piece of crap non-event! My guess is that Bendis did all that without any thoughts for other books in the DCU so screw him!!!
Wonder Woman's time off doesn't last long, but we do meet her crazy new neighbor (she doesn't microwave fish) and get Diana some new equipment. That is where Orlando got some bonus points from me. I would have expected some Justice League stuff here or even Etta pulling some government strings, but I love that Diana goes to Natasha Irons and Peng Deilan, the Wonder Woman of China. Please make these two regulars!!! The dialogue between the two Wonder Women was a bit off, but just seeing her again was so great.
Back on Themyscira, we get the full reveal of Cheetah's motives. She wants to kill Wonder Woman's patron gods (starting with Hera) to free her and make her stronger. It feels a little Joker/Batman but does tie into Greg Rucka's run on the book when Rebirth started. It all leads to yet another cliffhanger of Wonder Woman and Cheetah ready to battle.
I like the vibe that Steve Orlando is bringing to this book. Wilson's run ended up doing some pretty big things, but it never felt like it was fully part of the whole story. There was a weird disconnect to the run that seemed to me to come from Wilson doing things that she really didn't know or care about. Steve Orlando definitely cares and has more of a connection to the characters here, but not much really happens overall. Cheetah runs around repeating things a bit too much and Diana is just hanging around waiting for stage direction on when to jump into the scene. I understand that this might all be Orlando putting things in place to get his own story going and even with some problems, I still think this is a step up from what came before. I hope things only get better from here.
Kieran McKeown does a really good job here as well as the whole art team. Everything looks great and the colors really pop. I especially liked the character models for Diana and Cheetah and since they are the mains, that is a really good thing.
Bits and Pieces:
Steve Orlando starts another run on Wonder Woman and while not a ton happens in this issue overall, there are a bunch of cool characters, and some really nice nods to the beginning of this book's Rebirth story. Add some really good art and we have a good start that hopefully gets even better from here.
7.0/10
I was fine with the story. I have not been a fan of the constant writer switches in WW. Why can’t this comic get a consistent team. With the exception of the Azzarello/Chiang New 52 stuff, writers don’t last much longer than 6 months on this comic. Reading WW reminds me of the Challenge Showcase or the recent Kamandi challenge. You mentioned Orlando being a previous writer and I can’t remember his last run. That’s not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI think you may have forgotten the recent Annual written by Orlando though. It was a complete Leviathan tie-in, complete with a new villain for Diana. So, it’s safe to assume that when Villains Unite is over, we will see more Leviathan in these pages. I’m surprised DC kept WW out of the event this long.
Finally, I’ve not commented in comics online in years. What brings me to this blog to share my two cents? The art. I am not familiar with Kieran McKeown's work, but I felt I had to search to see what people thought of it. I couldn’t figure out how his pencil work made it past editorial. I am not a hater, I have better things to do. However, every single review mentioned his strengths. Did I miss something? Perhaps I just got used to the recent Cheetah models. I found this Cheetah’s face to be misshapen. Her eyes were out of alignment. I imagine that may have to do with her snout, which no longer seems cat-like. Every time I looked at a panel with her I was taken out of the story.
Oh wait, I now remember Orlando’s last run. It felt like a fill-in and had something to do with Mexico and the wandering Amazon tribe. Yeah, that was a great arc. He actually mentioned them in this issue. Way to do a callback Orlando.