Art by: Daniel Sampere
Colors by: Tomeu Morey
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Daniel Sampere (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: February 20, 2024
Wonder Woman #6 rejoins the fight to take Wonder Woman when the Sovereign's version of the Legion of Doom ambushes Diana in Washington D.C.
Is Wonder Woman #6 Good?
Wonder Woman #6 is an improvement over the previous five issues. Not a big improvement, but a marginal step in the right direction.
When last we left Wonder Woman, she engaged in a series of physical contests against the Wonder Girls, with the winner deciding who would or would not aid Wonder Woman in her escalating conflict against the American government. Meanwhile, the Sovereign used Agent Steel to assemble a pseudo-Legion of Doom to aid in the fight to take Wonder Woman down.
Now, Angle Man and Doctor Psycho mind control Steve Trevor to convince Wonder Woman to meet him at a public spot. The pseudo-Legion of Doom attacks. Wonder Woman wins, but it takes everything she's got, so she passes out in the end, presumably to be taken captive.
And that's it.
Pacing? Plot? No, why do you ask? This is a Tom King book, so you're not going to get any of that here.
Let's recap the series so far.
Issue #1 - Nonsensical inciting incident involving a rogue Amazon
Issue #2 - Wonder Woman fights the military and wins
Issue #3 - Wonder Woman fights her way up a government building while the Sovereign convinces a soldier to commit suicide.
Issue #4 - Wonder Woman spends a make-a-wish day with a kid dying from an unspecified disease
Issue #5 - Wonder Woman fights the Wonder Girls to tell them to stay out of it. They eventually ignore her.
Issue #6 - Wonder Woman fights the pseudo-Legion of Doom and wins but passes out.
Pacing? Plot? Tom King doesn't care for such things!
What's great about Wonder Woman #6? The winner of this issue is Daniel Sampere's sumptuous art. Regardless of the story, or lack thereof, Sampere is firing on all cylinders to make this comic as gorgeous as possible.
What's not so great about Wonder Woman #6? This series, so far, is the most egregious mix of wonky character work and treading water I can recall in years. Not one ounce of movement has been made to find the rogue Amazon to learn why she killed 19 men in a pool bar. We have no idea what any of this has to do with the Sovereign or the final goal.
King somehow concluded you can stuff an ongoing series with a bunch of meaningless action and pointless feel-good moments, and nobody would care. Well, we know better.
Worse, the Sovereign's obnoxious, overblown, meandering narration sullies every page for no purpose other than to narrate Wonder Woman's actions through the eyes of a misogynist.
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 #6 looks fantastic, and the issue-long battle is amazing, but the plot is going nowhere, nothing of importance happens, and the Sovereign's overwritten narration has overstayed its welcome by three issues. If King didn't have a knack for tapping killer artists, this series would be a complete dud.
4/10
I hate the narration. It completely nullifies any kind of tension or immersion one might have had in the traces of a plot that there is. The worst part is the end. We end on a low point for wonder woman and before the reader might dare to feel some anticipation and investment for future issues, the narration has to come in and make sure that you understand how pathetic the enemy is and how not even for one second, Diana might be in danger. Just in case the men had the upper ground for one second you have to of course know, right now, how that couldn't be possibly true. I don't care for the politics, they don't concern me but for whatever reason this narrative decision is made, it only costs the quality of the series and adds nothing.
ReplyDeleteNext issue Wonder Woman will be fine and have escaped like nothing happened. Of course this will all happen off panel and King will just narrate what happened.
ReplyDeleteThis is Batman/Catwoman all over again