Written by: Tom King
Art by: Daniel Sampere
Colors by: Tomeu Morey
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: June 18, 2024
Wonder Woman #10 brings the Woman of Wonders capture at the hands of the Sovereign to a close with an explosive battle on a deserted island against Cheetah.
Is Wonder Woman #10 Good?
"Huh? How does a fight against Cheetah resolve the conflict with Sovereign" you might wonder. Don't worry. We'll get to that, but just know that if you're still a Tom King fan after this issue, you deserve every ounce of mockery you get.
When last we left Diana in Wonder Woman #9, Diana spent nearly the entire issue flitting from one hallucinogenic scene to the next with her imagined version of Steve Trevor. Why? To escape the mental anguish of being held in isolated captivity by the Sovereign. She may have also eaten one or two rats in her cell.
In Wonder Woman #10, the issue clearly labeled as the FINALE, the ever-chatty Sovereign narrates how all his efforts to break Wonder Woman had failed... but for one. In a desperate act designed to bring Wonder Woman to heel, the Sovereign maroons our hero on a deserted island with one other inhabitant - Barbara Minerva aka Cheetah.
Why would Sovereign do this? Unknown.
The battle rages over days as Cheetah and Wonder Woman kick, punch, slash, and beat each other to a stalemate. Eventually, their battle concludes when Cheetah gets the upper hand, but Diana professes her undying hope to save Cheetah from herself because she loves her.
Does that mean Wonder Woman and Cheetah are "more than friends?" Unknown. King intentionally obscures the nature of their love, presumably to get online pundit tongues wagging, but you could interrupt that love as platonic, sisterly, or romantic.
Diana's expression of love inspires a reversal in the Cheetah's aggression. She drags Diana to a campfire until she comes out of her unconsciousness, and the two chat like civilized people. Through the conversation, we get the hint or suggestion that Diana allowed herself to be captured by the Sovereign so that she could find and rescue Cheetah from the deserted island.
How on Earth did Diana know that Cheetah was captured by Sovereign, and why would she think that allowing herself to be captured would give her the opportunity to rescue Cheetah? Unknown.
Meanwhile, Cassie, Yara, and Donna engage in comedic hijinks as they try to fly the invisible jet to get to the deserted island to rescue Diana. Apparently, a jet that's invisible on the outside also means the jet is invisible on the inside. Shenanigans ensue.
Why would Cassie need a jet or be afraid of heights (as pointed out in this issue) if she can fly? Unknown.
The issue and the Sovereign's arc concludes with the Wonder Girl trio showing up on the island to give Wonder Woman and Cheetah a ride back to Man's World. The End.
What's great about Wonder Woman #10? All praise and kudos belong to Daniel Sampere for a gorgeous-looking issue. This comic is some of Sampere's best work, which should put him at the top of any DC fan's must-have pick for artist on forthcoming titles.
What's not so great about Wonder Woman #10? At this point, there's no marginally acceptable excuse for Tom King's writing. You can only conclude that King is either incredibly lazy with his pitches or he's purposefully messing with DC fans. How does this comic qualify as a "Finale?"
What happened to the Amazon who instigated this arc by killing a bunch of men in a pool bar? Why is the key event that started this whole run still ignored?
What of the implication that the aforementioned killer is pregnant with Trinity, the Amazon of the future who will be raised by Diana? Again, this is another key event with no context or background that's still ignored.
What of the Sovereign and all his machinations to start a war between America and Themyscira? Apparently, that plan meant nothing since the whole purpose of the Sovereign's torture was to bring Diana to heel like a dog. Why? What's the point? And why would the Sovereign suddenly decide his weapon of last resort is to leave Diana alone on an island with Cheetah?
Nothing. You get nothing. Nothing is explained, wrapped up, concluded, or even labeled as a "To be continued." At best, you could say Diana made some kind of peace with Cheetah, but to what end? Where is Tom King headed with this story, or is this another Batman: Killing Time scenario where Tom King gets his kicks by telling a story about nothing?
If you're a Wonder Woman fan, I feel bad for you.
Tom King and every editor associated with this title should hide their faces in shame.
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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Final Thoughts:
Wonder Woman #10 introduces a scenario where Sovereign decides to pit Wonder Woman against Cheetah on a deserted island for no apparent reason at all. Daniel Sampere's art is gorgeous, but it's clear Tom King has no ideas, no plan, and no justification for being on this title. Wonder Woman fans deserve better.
4/10
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Part 1: Oh no, the narration is back again to make it even worse!!!
ReplyDelete"This..this...woman" => "I'm....I'm....a misogynist" lolllll who talks like that and if they do why does King think it makes his villain work better as a formidable foe??? My point being if he wants to have a misogynistic patriot the archenemy of a warrior ambassador princess then he should write that character more formidable and have him actually have confidence in his abilities and some accomplishments! This guy can't even say woman lolll. And the writer still doesn't give him any threatening power unless the other person is a man i have noticed. Whenever Sovereign goes against any woman he has to immediately explain in narration how he can't do anything truly and they just let him ( Amazons, Diana, even Cheetah!!! She is a villain at least let him have a victory against her) but as soon as it's Steve or that veteran from previous issues, they don't have any hope of resistance.
Look in all my reviews for other titles I have not gotten involved in these discussions, i have stuck to the writing itself as much as i could but this series is so in your face and obnoxious, you can't talk about the writing and plot without these stuff because there is no real story aside from these talking points here.
No one could resist lasso of lies for a century except Diana and Cheetah huh?? Why???? What makes Diana so special other than the fact that she is strong and moderately kind??? Is that it??? You telling me for a century no other woman has come close to her? Ok then describe Diana in a way that is inspiring, give her characteristics and approaches to life that is remarkable. She does not have them because all they ever say about her is that she is remarkable, why? Cause she is wonder woman of course, people look up to her. That's not an answer to this question, that's a result and I say this cause this series clearly wants to market itself as a run that is all about exploring who wonder woman is and wants to leave a mark on this character. ( and we will see later this issue what genius never done before answer the writer has to this) It is really insulting to all the characters man and woman in that universe who got brushed aside so two subpar characters named wonder woman and cheetah could be special. So other superheroes and any of the inspiring leaders and people in real world that also exist in DC universe, that veteran soldier that committed suicide and steve trevor all could be 'tamed' ( such an ugly word to describe this) except a psychopath like Cheetah and a cardboard like Diana???? Make it make sense and while at it please don't make me laugh.
I noticed this series has to keep comparing her to the other two pillars of DC in any category that comes up. Can she withstand torture like them? Is her daughter as good as their children? Does she have an archenemy like them? I don't see superman constantly comparing himself to batman or vice versa basically every issue. Those kind of stories come up every once in a blue moon because the writers want the characters to stand on their own or at least have their own stories for a while then have fun with these kind of discussions people sometimes have, not evey other issue in a 10 issue run. Not wonder woman though, she has to keep comparing herself to everyone else because aside from this ongoing competition she has no other story.
And nothing screams insecure more than the fact that the writer has to keep saying that wonder woman is better than simple men cause anyone who has read a comic and thought about it for a second knows there is no way Wonder woman is better than the other characters in this universe, she does lose that competition to other men and women because all her story is about has always been that she is a woman and isn't that good???? No other ideology or aspirations, just isn't it remarkable that she was born a woman with super strength?
Part 2: See, this issue doesn't say she only is remarkable because of her soul or what she has accomplished as a person, it could have easily gone with that cause the setup was there, no it goes out of its way by including every other woman on that page against every other man to make it clear these all happened only because she is a woman. She did these stuff because she is a woman, not a good or bad one just a woman, not cause she is a good person. How ironic that those simple men could be reduced to simple concepts while at the same time we reduced our main characters to just the fact that they are women. Nothing else stands out about them or matters. Not their history, whether they did bad things before or not, whether they save people or not, as long as they are women! No thoughts, no history, no words, only their gender. Tell me how not reductive that is. Go on. But forget me demanding better of these character scause i don't care they men or women, just characters and heroes, let these 'girls' inject this copium all the way to their brain of wonder, maybe they themselves will at least believe it.
DeleteIn conclusion, there is no story to speak of except these boring monologues that has been this whole series and these boring monologues are very lame and paint every character in a bad light. But please please let King be on this series forever and keep him from everything else, I don't know the guy and am not commenting on him as a person but his writing is very bad. 1 out of 10. The art can't save this series. "Woman of Wonder " these dialogues and monologues.... also was that the plan all this time??? Where were Sovereign's forces then??? How was he watching everything then???? Why couldn't Diana find Cheetah with the satellites??? And please end the side stories already please, they have been horrible fanfiction from start to finish. Makes me glad we didn't get a young helena wayne in this continuity. King still ruined her character in his black label. I don't think this writer will ever get recognised for his bad writing as much as he should have been. Some people still defend these.
Also a hallmark of these stories is that they go nowhere, this was as anticlimactic as the batman rebirth run. It just proves that it doesn't have anything to do with outside interference or time getting cut short, 50 issues or 10 issues or even 100 issues we would still be getting this quality.
Doesn’t Wonder Woman fly? How can she be trapped on an island?
ReplyDeleteSo it never addressed why that one Amazon was killing people...
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised.
I would have been more surprised if it whole book took the approach of Cheeta representing toxic femininity(sp?) and Wonder Woman postive. That woukd have been subversive in todays culture climate.
But no. We have to have a narrative around an evil patriarchy and WW telling Cheeta she loves her and wants to save her from herself, because they are all part of the "sisterhood" and magically friends, even though this woman here, knows that's complete b.s.
Edit: I can't believe I spelled Cheetah wrong....twice.
DeleteWonder woman can fly, Tom King is ruining the character. As a wonder woman fan this is just embarrassing
ReplyDeleteI agree.. to wordy.. does Wonder Woman have any powers anymore? Nobody says anything about cheetah defeating her by sheer power. Couldn’t Diana just fly? What puzzles me is that in the forums nobody is even complaining, it only get praised. Things changed. After rebirth this comic has gotten horrible and Diana constantly mistreated. I only keep buying out of loyalty to my favorite character.
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman is a superhero who can soar, and Tom King is degrading her. For a Wonder Woman lover like myself, this is really uncomfortable but can play penalty shooters 2.
ReplyDelete