Review: Wonder Woman #30

Andy Hall

7 years ago

Having discovered that the attacks against her and her friends, were not the work of bounty hunters, but, in fact, the work of a rogue military cell, Diana is captured. Their goal is to synthesize and replicate Wonder Woman“s powers through a formula based on her own blood. To stop them, she might fight a squad of soldiers who have powers equal to her own.

Luckily, she is Wonder Woman.

Greg Rucka“s run on Wonder Woman was about stripping away all of the unnecessary mythology built up around Diana to reveal the true hero. Shea Fontana“s Heart of the Amazon is about Diana, having accepted those revelations, figuring out her place in a complex world. Themes that would resonate with anyone coming to the comic book after seeing the Wonder Woman movie.

While I understand that Wonder Woman“s ultimate goal is to spread peace, I find it hard to believe that she would be as seduced by a peace enforced by Hamilton Revere“s squad of Wonder Soldiers, whose criteria were combat skills and patriotism. And yet for a time it seems like she is considering this warm gun of peace idea.

Fontana“s (DC Super Hero Girls) writing does make us see why Diana would even consider this idea for a short time. The story and writing have really held this storyline together. She presents a complex antagonist in Revere. He is persuasive in his arguments and you get the feeling that he believes this would ensure peace in the long run.

The art in all five chapters of Heart of the Amazon has been all over the place as a number of fill in artists have covered issues for David Messina. In this book too, the art remain disappointing. There is a crucial fight in this issue that is clearly mapped out across two pages, but I still don“t understand how Wonder Woman loses.

There are elements of Messina“s (Angel: After the Fall, True Blood) style I really like, but so much of what he needs to convey seems to be missing or muddled. Most of the characters have a very generic look to them, that makes it hard to track any of them, unless Messina pulls our focus on them directly and starts to give them details.

I really want to see where Fontana plans on taking Wonder Woman from here. The art, however, has really been the downfall of this run. I would score the book higher, but honestly I am getting tired of DC and Marvel not paying attention to a fundamental element of their books.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Shea Fontana
Artist: David Messina
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Artists: Jesus Merino and Alex Sinclair

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!