Art by: Assorted, Daniel Sampere (backup)
Colors by: Assorted, Tomeu Morey (backup)
Letters by: Pat Brosseau, Clayton Cowles (backup)
Cover art by: Yanick Paquette
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: June 20, 2023
Wonder Woman #800 concludes the "Whatever Happened to the Warrior of Truth?" arc with a journey through dreams to meet Wonder Woman's closest friends. Meanwhile, the backup gives readers a taste of what's to come.
Is It Good?
Wonder Woman #800 could be summed up as "Validation: The Comic." Beck Cloonan and Michael Conrad say goodbye to Wonder Woman in this milestone issue with a stroll through a series of vignettes wherein the famous Amazonian meets and emotionally validates everyone in her circle of family of friends.
If you're the type of Wonder Woman fan who loves validation as the main plot of the story, you're going to get a barrel full and then some. Conversely, if you're the type of Wonder Woman fan who feels constant validation as the main plot is exactly why you've been staying away from current Wonder Woman comics, you're going to hate this issue. Choose wisely.
When last we left Wonder Woman, she skipped through one dream vignette to another, meeting, then encouraging, then validating each person in her circle of friends and family. Why or how this dream-hopping was happening wasn't made clear.
Now, we learn that dream-hopping is a side effect of a ritual Diana specifically asked to be performed so she could "refresh and heal" her mind and spirit. In short, the dreams in this issue and the previous one have nothing to do with the imminent Knight Terrors event. As each vignette begins, Diana spends some quality time with characters such as Yara Flor, Donna Troy, batman, and more to give each one an encouraging word and an uplifting message of hope. And that's it.
That's right. That's it. Issue #799 and #800 combine into what amounts to a two-issue goodbye. There's no threat. No great challenge. No lead into what comes next. In truth, I can't see anyone buying this comic on the story's merits because there technically is no story.
Watch our Wonder Woman #800 Video Review
With that, to Cloonan and Conrad, I say, "Goodbye, good luck, and may you find a better fit for your brand of storytelling."
And then there's the backup. If you're curious as to where this title is heading after the Knight Terrors event, Trinity is the backup story you should pay attention to.
Written by Tom King, with art by Daniel Sampere, Trinity follows the grown-up daughter of Wonder Woman and an unnamed father as she, Jon Kent/Superman, and Damian Wayne/Batman break into a mystical prison to find a deposed king who knows the secret behind Trinity's birth.
If you like Tom King's penchant for deconstruction (without bothering to reconstruct) and tales soaked in misfortune, misery, and malcontents, you're in for a treat. The new character of Trinity is, in a word, insufferable. She's rude, condescending, arrogant, impatient, and stops just shy of being a bully. In effect, Trinity is everything her mother is not in the worst way possible.
If this backup is a true foretaste of what's to come with the main Wonder Woman title under Tom King, prepare yourself. It's going to be a long winter.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Wonder Woman #800 is the second part of a long goodbye from the creative team. That's it. There's no story. It's a series of vignettes where Wonder Woman meets and emotionally validates every person in her life. If that's worth the cover price for you, go for it. Better still, the backup introduces the world to Trinity, Wonder Woman's daughter who will act as the title's focus when Tom King takes over in the Fall, and Trinity is everything Wonder Woman is not and more - truly insufferable.
4.5/10
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