Review: Wonder Woman #64

Â Â I won’t lie, I hadn’t been keeping up with Wondy previous to this, which is a crime considering how interconnected that this issue of the story is to previous issues. Upon understanding how much I’d missed, I went to correct this egregious error to make sure I understood exactly what G. Willow Wilson was actually writing about. Upon opening the issue, the first thing you notice is that not much has changed story-wise for Diana. She’s pitted against some of the same villains she has been for much of the past two-year.

Â Â Even the art by Jesus Merino, which slightly reminds me of something akin to a mix of Jim Lee kissed by Rob Liefeld, feels vintage — as if allowing the reader to remember that this, not only can feel slightly like a woman out of time piece, but also that this is a long-standing plot that is coming to a head. To be fair, Cale has been an on and off again Wondy antagonist for a while now. She plays her cards close to her chest, which hopefully is something that will resolve itself in upcoming issues. While I liked WW #64, there are some good and bad for me as far as the issues goes. Here are a few gripes that I had with the issue.

Â Â For me, the art style is not quite my liking. I think that people who enjoy works from the early modern-day of comics (especially the late 80’s to early 90’s) will find it resonates with their tastes, but it falls short of mine. That’s not to say that it’s not very beautiful; Â it’s just not the type of art that really does it for me when comparing this issue to say, last issue and Emanuela Lupacchino’s interiors. One of the main reasons for this is because the action in the panels feels a bit sluggish when compared to what we’ve seen previously. Instead of almost dynamic and seamless transitions from one fight to the next, it comes across to me essentially like a stop motion movie, choppy and with pause.

Â On top of the art, I’m struggling to care about the fact that Veronica Cale is still holding onto her grudge against Diana at this point. While her dialogue at times is witty, (see the panel with her exchanging dialogue with that young freelance photographer) I find much of her involvement in this stage of the story arc to be sort of…boring and long-winded. Her entire stance is something that reminds me of when Marvel“s Civil War started. I can also say that while I understand that the dramatics of the title itself is evident in much of Diana’s interaction with our mystery villain, it feels like upcycled cat and mouse tease type scenarios that make me cringe, at best. It’s almost Shakespearean when the two interact.

Â For me, I think that this issue is a 3.5 out of 5. While it’s good and a very interesting read once you get to the meat of the issue to find out exactly what might be causing this round of spurning from Cale, it’s just not exactly my cup of tea. What did you think? Did you agree with my rating?

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) G. Willow Wilson (A) Jesus Merino (CA) Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson