Written by: Tom King
Art by: Tony S. Daniel
Colors by: Leonardo Paciarotti
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Tony S. Daniel, Marcelo Maiolo (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: September 18, 2024
Is Wonder Woman #13 Good?
Writer Tom King completes Wonder Woman's meager contribution to the Absolute Power event with an issue chock full of prisonbreak hijinks, odd dialog, silly plot developments, and lots of smooching. There is one big development that comes out of this issue, so that's something at least. Side Note: Read Superman #18 before reading Wonder Woman #13. The outcome of Superman's journey with Zatanna directly ties into the outcome of this comic.
When last we left the Woman of Wonder in Wonder Woman #12, Diana teamed up with Damian Wayne to play good cop/bad cop with a captured Captain Boomerang to figure out who had the better method of extracting information - Diana's words of reason or Damian's penchant for dangling their captive from a rope. In the end, Boomerang gave up Amanda Waller's secret location of Gamorra Island.
In Wonder Woman #13, the Absolute Power tie-in continues. Steve Trevor, after running smack dab into Diana and Damian Wayne at the end of Absolute Power: Task Force VII #6, engages in serious lip-locking and possibly heavy petting with Diana, much to Damian's dismay. Impromptu make-out sessions are peppered throughout the entire issue.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Tom King's work on this title, but I'll give him credit for not shying away from the romantic relationship between Diana and Steve.
After the trio stealthily winds their way over the prison's roof, they decide to crash through a skylight into the security control center. After a brief fight to subdue the guards, Damian concocts a plan to free all the prisoners. Steve will activate alarms to draw attention, Damian will unlock the prison cells while everyone is distracted, and Diana will hold the line against the onrush of armed guards. The plan works. The prisoners are freed, and Damian activates a magical portal into the Dark Roads for everyone to escape.
Right, do you see what I mean? There's not much to this issue other than the prisoners have escaped Gamorra Island Prison. The rest is fluff and one bit of foolishness that's quintessential Tom King.
What's great about Wonder Woman #13? Despite oddly-toned dialog, Damian is the star of the show. He's witty, smart, and able to work out every plan to effect the escape. If there was any doubt Damian could take over for Batman, this issue helps put those doubts to rest.
What's not great about Wonder Woman #13? The issue stumbles in a few areas. First, the impromptu make-out sessions, while sweet, undercut the urgency and seriousness of the situation. A military man and an Amazonian warrior are the last people on Earth to not have their priorities straight in a dangerous situation. Second, Damian steals the show in this issue, but his dialog is oddly formal in several spots. King doesn't have Damian's voice dialed in, and it shows. Third, Gamorra Island must be one of the worst-run prisons on the planet if three unarmed civilians can hold off an entire army of stormtroopers and free every prisoner by opening one cell at a time manually. How could Amanda Waller effect a planetary takeover and have such a poorly secured prison? That's just lazy writing. Last but not least, Tom King engages in the worst example of making something happen because the script says so. A group of stormtroopers opens fire on Diana, who blocks every single bullet with her bracer. Mind you, Diana has been robbed of all her powers, so she has neither the strength nor speed of Wonder Woman. Somehow, she was strong enough to stop multiple bullets with her bracer and still remain on her feet. The stormtroopers become flummoxed and can't seem to figure out that they should shoot another part of her body. Again, we have yet another example of Tom King poorly elevating a character by making everyone around that character look like incompetent buffoons.
How's the Art? The art is fine to great. Tony S. Daniel brings the script to life with solid character designs, excellent facial acting, good use of perspective and silhouettes, and an all-around dramatic aesthetic.
Backup Story
For reasons that will remain a mystery, Damian Wayne recounts the events of the last two issues to Trinity with a decidedly biased view of his importance. This isn't the secret origin of Trinity, as the title suggests, but false advertising is to be expected in a Tom King comic.
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 #13 pairs Steve Trevor with Diana and Damian Wayne on a reckless mission to break all the heroes out of Gamorra Island Prison. Tom King gets the job done, even if Damian's voice is off and Wonder Woman's contribution ranges from marginal to ridiculous. Get this issue if you want to know how the prisoners escaped, but skip it for everything else.
5/10
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ReplyDeleteAll my compliments for last issue was thrown aside for this one, as I feared all the weird character moments that don't fit, cringe empty dialogues, eye rolling contrivances and nonsense plots are back. It seems issue 12 was the only issue worth looking over in this run. This issue was horrible. Was I supposed to stand up and clap after that fight scene with Diana and the guards?? The fact that they just shot one or two bullets at a time in just one place instead of several everywhere is ridiculous, the fact that diana withstands it is ridiculous. And the fact that the issue highlights this and says it's fine cause of the tHeMeS is ridiculous, why would you write for this fandom if you find the effort put into making and writing believable fights and stories according to power sets and characters irrelevant? The tie ins continue to be unbearable. At least Damian was thankfully spared in this run (not in the tie ins sadly, I wish those would just go away). There is no tension and stakes in the series cause it's all so comically nothing.
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