Wonder Woman #1 (DC Comics)
Writer: Brian Azzarello; Artist: Cliff Chiang; Colorist: Matthew Wilson; Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher; Associate Editor: Chris Conroy; Editor: Matt Idelson
More of DC’s “New 52.” Wonder Woman, an iconic character in the truest sense. The best known female superhero in existence in all comics. I’ve written about the nature of Wonder Woman as an archetypal figure, so I have a real interest in this relaunch. And the company has sold this as, supposedly, a restart that new readers can jump on board with. You would think that at a time when comics are trying to draw in more women readers, this would be the title they would use to appeal to those women.
Think again.
First off, it is eleven pages into the story (of a twenty-four page issue) before we see the title character in action. Count that as the first point missed.
We open with two pages of a guy with strangely lit eyes (and mouth – huh?) entertaining three beauties in a high rise apartment. With a sinister intent. Okay, not a bad opening; it’s intriguing. Count that a plus. Score 1 to 1.
Then we get a different location and a mysterious figure, female, judging by her bare legs, in a cloak of peacock feathers. She makes her way into a Virginia barn and whacks off the heads of two horses with a sickle that she magically refurbishes. Some strange creature seems to crawl out of the neck of one of those horses. Negative point for yet more pages without our title character. Positive point for mystery figure, mainly because for those who know Greek mythology (since any Wonder Woman reader ought to know a little bit), that peacock feather robe indicates the presence of Hera. So that makes the score: 2 to 2.
Surely we’ll meet our hero now? No. Remember, we’re only five pages in.
So, another five pages of Hermes showing up at the door of an unknonwn woman (Zola) – a Hermes in a guise I’m unfamiliar with (and I know a lot of mythology): totally black eyes, and bird’s feet. Hermes tries to protect this woman from monstrous centaurs attacking her house (the decapitated horses have been transformed). He gives her a magical key that allows her to escape to – finally – our title character. Postitive point for action, negative point for continued cluelessness for the reader; negative point (from this reader) for what I feel inappropriate gore and horror for this title. Score: 3 to 4 (negative leading).
Ah ha. Our shining heroine at last. Except … our heroine wakes up cranky! (nearly choking Zola in the process): -1. Wonder Woman knows she has to face the mythological creature: +1. Zola decides she has to go back with Diana: -1. Score: 4 to 6.
What? Wait, Zola’s escaped monsters and now she wants to go back and face these things she is utterly unprepared to deal with? Mind you, she’s barefoot, in underwear and t-shirt with a big shirt over that: just the perfect outfit for an intelligent woman to wear when monster hunting. Riiiight! (NOT!)
Hermes, apparently dying (an achievement for a divine immortal), conveys important news about Zola, which – if you know your mythology – explains why Hera has a hate-on for Zola. There’s monster fighting that seems successful. And then we wrap up the issue with the revelation that Bright Eyes from the opening has been using his three dates to spy on all this action from afar, which burns them up.
Oh, so sorry I spoiled that for you. [/sarcasm]
I’m not going to score the last part of the story. When we hit the 4 to 6 divide, it was bad enough.
I could spin a nice long rant about how this horror approach is not really well-suited to Wonder Woman. Who really thought this was a winning commercial proposition as a “jumping on point”? Sure, it’s a different approach to the character. But I’m not sure it is the right one.
In simple storytelling matters: it takes too long to bring Wonder Woman to the stage; the story isn’t even really about Wonder Woman, it’s about Zola. And DC is telling us that this is a great introduction for new readers who are interested in the character of Wonder Woman? Azzarello is a good writer, but I’m not sure his approach here is a winning one. This story is not really a Wonder Woman story; this is a horror story with Wonder Woman in it. Not what I, as a regular Wonder Woman reader, am looking for as a regular diet.
