Review: Wonder Woman v3

Wonder Woman Volume 3: Iron

Collecting Wonder Woman #0, 13-18

Writer: Brian Azzarello

Artist: Cliff Chiang

DC Comics, $24.99, color, 176 pages

What I like about the new Wonder Woman continues in the volume, so I enjoyed Iron immensely.

With the understanding that some here dislike what Azzarello is doing in Wonder Woman, I am not one of those. I've never been a traditionalist about WW; in fact, I rarely enjoyed her previous series. But this one I do, because Azzarello is doing what he does best: a crime noir book. And the tools for that kind of story were already in the sandbox -- the Greco-Roman gods -- so it feels organic to me.

Speaking of organic, this book doesn't stand alone -- it builds on what the first two books gave us, and continues on into the next one. I usually find fault with that, but not in this case, because Azzarello isn't pretending otherwise. This is a huge, sprawling story that is being released in increments (both monthly and in trades) until whenever it is that it will conclude.

And I will also state on the front end my one annoyance with the series, is that for the last year of issues Wonder Woman and her "team" have essentially been chit-chatting in a London flat. These conversations are entertaining and endlessly revealing, but a bit ... sedate.

Meanwhile, Azzarello continues to build the supporting cast, mainly gods and demigods. We learn something important in this book, that Diana is one of seven illegitimate children sired by Zeus in the 20th century -- and two of them are already dead. I assume one of these is Lennox, another is the blind seer Milan and another is the wind demigod Siracca ... but whether she's alive or dead, I can't tell!

Not that Azzarello is neglecting his established characters. The selfish, venal gods continue in that vein, double-crossing each other in pursuit of private goals. In this book alone two major gods switch sides, at least briefly. Like in any crime noir book, no one can be trusted. And as established by Edith Hamilton and others, these particular characters cannot be trusted. Orion of the New Gods is also now involved, and whether he can be trusted (or even liked) is yet to be seen.

Two other plot points of note: The unnamed "First Born" of Zeus is resurrected after 7,000 years of exile by Cassandra, and this Hercules-like powerhouse is not only formidable, but thinks he is destined to rule Olympus. And in Wonder Woman #0, we discover that War once trained Wonder Woman, which ended badly. But what made my ears prick up is where he roars, "I am blood! I am guts! I am Iron!" Since the nouns in that challenge happen to be the names of the first three Wonder Woman volumes, I suddenly realize War is going to be more important than we know.

And right now he's sitting on Wonder Woman's couch, playing with Zola's baby.

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  • You'll be happy to know that Wonder Woman's picked up a bit since all the talky-talky in the apartment. This latest issue had several fantastic moments.

  • Haven't read it yet, but a quick flip-through made me happy that Orion is still around!

  • Not to start anything but people are unhappy with the DCnU Wonder Woman but have no problem with this... this....guy calling himself Orion! I'm confused!

  • Ha!

    Nothing you can say will make me like the New DCU, nor dislike the Wonder Woman book! Wooohooooo! (Starts dancing "yee-haw" and firing six-guns into the air...)


    Philip Portelli said:

    Not to start anything but people are unhappy with the DCnU Wonder Woman but have no problem with this... this....guy calling himself Orion! I'm confused!

  • Has anyone said they are unhappy with the new DCU Wonder Woman?  She's OK.  Doesn't seem to have much of a personality in the issues I saw.  Very muted actually.

     

    The set up, execution and underlying assumptions of the series Wonder Woman on the other hand...

  • Wonder Woman is one of the few Nu52 comics I've been enjoying.  I still feel Diana is broken as a character, so anyone that can tell a decent story utilizing her is doing something right in this instance.

  • It is the only version of Orion I've ever found even tolerable.

    Philip Portelli said:

    Not to start anything but people are unhappy with the DCnU Wonder Woman but have no problem with this... this....guy calling himself Orion! I'm confused!

  • Given that I think the entire 4th world is the most overrated idea ever to come from Kirby's brain, I'm not going to like any version of Orion...or Highfather...or Darkseid...or any of the others, so it's all good to me.

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