REVIEW: Wonder Woman No.785

I cant even lie that I have some severe issues with Wonder Woman in “Trial of The Amazons”, and Becky Cloonan’s puzzle piece here brings up nearly everything I have a problem with Wondy about in this integral piece of the DC Universe.

For starters, Wonder Woman No.785 is the third part of this arc, but when the final issue of Nubia dropped just a week prior with the first part of “Trial”, I ended up reading that out of order unwittingly, so by the time I got to the cover of this issue I felt like somebody pissed in my cheerios.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of work here : I love the exploration into the skirmishes between the Amazonian tribes and to see them handle their battles amongst each other diplomatically out of begrudging respect. The Baha-Migdal are growing on me even more than they did when the Tournament of Champions occured back when the DC logo was a bullet.

Honestly I can say that I am enjoying seeing Jumpa in the stables (though it would be great to see her with Grant Morrison guns) comfort Diana, but it’s the same old taboos. Hippolyta dies again and not only is a clone of Diana Prince a competitor for champion, but the issue gets capped off with Diana herself rounding out the competition with the Wonder Girl of Esquecida being the only true new face in contention. This is annoying. And the back up story with Young Diana only adds further insult to injury to the point I didn’t even read it, and I rock with Bellaire’s work. I am tired of Diana. Nubia was promised to be the new Wonder Woman after Death Metal and for the past year and change she’s just been Queen of Themyscira, not getting the opportunity to interact with the rest of the DCU.

If Wonder Girl has spent more time with Batman and Superman (Future State) than Nubia, who has been next in line for the golden bracelets, then there is a big problem here that only gets exacerbated with not only Diana but Donna Troy facing off to become champion.
Yes, the book is called “Wonder Woman”, but “if you don’t like it, don’t read it” doesn’t apply here since both Nubia and Wonder Girl’s titles have been canceled to tie-in to this.

I wan’t Diana out of the picture. It’s time for a new generation with “representation” being more than just the buzz word of the day at the dawn of this decade. Just getting around to killing off Earth-2’s WW and bringing back Diana from purgatory is hardly what I want if I am going to pick up a Wonder Woman comic moving forward, especially when I find the more ethnic drawings of Mike Hawthorne in “Evolution” or Daniel Warren Johnson on Black Label, far more wonderful than what I am seeing here when I look at Diana in her main title. In “Wonder Woman” #785 Diana is hogging the spot, for the remainder of this “Trial” she better move over.

Score : 1/5