‘Wonder Woman #750’ Review
Written by Various | Art by Various | Published by DC Comics
Wonder Woman has had quite the renaissance in recent years, and as one of the Big Three (with Superman and Batman) it is thoroughly deserved. You don’t get continually published since 1941 unless you have something that clicks with readers after all. She first appeared in All-Star Comics #8 in 1941, graduated to her own book with Sensation Comics #1 in 1942, and has never looked back since. She has gone through several’ fad’ phases down the years, such as the depowered white jump suit era (yikes), and has sometimes struggled with getting enough readers to pick up her book. Historically, though, having a female character they are trying to aim at girls but written by middle aged men, doesn’t really work, and also ends up alienating the male audience. Most self respecting teenage boys back in the day wouldn’t pick up a Wonder Woman book if it was the last thing on the shelf. Me? Loved the character, loved her book. Still fill in gaps in my collection to this day. But I digress.
This book, Wonder Woman #750 is pretty impressive in that very few titles have reached this milestone. Sure, numbering deviated along the way, but ultimately this is indeed issue 750 of her own book. DC have wisely elected to make an event of this fact, with a nice big feature film on the horizon this year of course, with a 96 page Giant full of creators past and present. Actually, scanning the creators list, as impressive as they all are (Kami Garcia to Gail Simone is a pretty broad spread of experience) it would have been nice to see creators from the 70’s and 80’s. What we do get is nine separate stories by nine different creative teams, so for this to be a good issue you look for consistency and for stories deserving to be in here.
The lead story is ‘The Wild Hunt Finale’ written by Steve Orlando, pencilled by Jesus Merino, and inked by Vicente Cifuentes. This seems to wrap up the ongoing story from Wonder Woman’s monthly book, Year of the Villain related stuff, and sees fighting, both physically and emotionally, between Diana, Hera, and Cheetah. It is slightly confusing if not following the monthly, so perhaps stand alone stories only would have been better, but the art is just stunning. One two page spread alone is worth the price of entry. Gorgeous art. Nice ending too. The tone shifts completely for the second story, ‘From Small Things Mamma’ by the fab creative team of Gail Simone and Colleen Doran. A lighter, more emotional take on Diana that still works nicely. I like it, though didn’t love it. ‘The Interrogation’ by Mariko Tamaki and Elena Casagrande again changes tone, this time taking a look at what it takes to be a hero, what drives you, what makes you keep coming back each time, as Diana always does. What starts as a simple police interrogation ends up in a fight with Ares. liked this one.
‘Never Change’ sees the great team of Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott return to Wonder Woman, and they craft a tale of friendship and love/hate, emphasising Diana’s qualities of empathy and loyalty, guest starring the Cheetah and Circe. Nice enough story, and again some stunning art. ‘To Leave Paradise’ has the very different art style of Phil Hester and Ande Parks, and is written by Kami Garcia. It focuses on a pre-Wonder Woman Diana on Themyscira, admittedly an area that has been mined to death over the years. Affectionately delivered though, a nice enough read. ‘Emergency Visit’, by writers Shannon and Dean Hale, with art by Riley Rossmo, was perhaps my least favourite of the stories. An average story with very stylized art, this one didn’t work for me. ‘To Me’, by Margueritte Bennett and Laura Braga, was much more to my liking, revisiting the DC Bombshells style. Lovely art and text.
The penultimate story is ‘Always’, by Vita Ayala and Amancay Nahuelpan features Silver Swan, one of my favourite Wonder Woman characters. This story shows how sometimes Diana realises you win by not fighting, trying to understand a person rather than just hit them. Nice, light touch script wise, and some lovely art yet again. The big finish is provided by writer Scott Snyder and artist Bryan Hitch, quite the A list creative team. Set back in the late 1930’s, this is Wonder Woman as icon, as the hero, role model, person to look up to. The person to build a better world, lead a better example. Untarnished, pure. Affection for the character literally drips off Snyder’s pen, and its lovely to see. We literally end the book with the beginning of her story.
This collection of stories and creators is near perfect for the issue. Throw in all the wonderful pin up pages and the alternate covers, and there really is something for everyone. It’s not just nostalgia though, this issue showcases just how relevant Diana of Themyscira still is. Hero, Amazon, leader, icon.
She can still make us look up in wonder.
