writer: Brian Azzarello / artist: Cliff Chiang
So. It’s really happening. The historic Wonder Woman book from the Azzarello /Chiang creative team is finally coming to an end. There have been some (valid) criticisms of the Wonder Woman book that deal with social ideologies, but no one can dispute the quality of the writing or the movement of this story. It has been the New 52’s 1a book (Zero Year pushed Batman slightly ahead in the last year) and I for one am sad to see it go.
In the penultimate issue of this run, Azzarello gives us Paradise Island in its darkest hours with the first born marching towards the Amazon’s extinction while Diana bleeds out in the bastardized version of Mount Olympus. All the heroes of Olympus and other locales are on hand here against the unstoppable army of the First Born, including Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother finally resurrected. While the plot is only moved slightly forward towards the end, the character moments are what shines here: Orion’s defiance, Strife and Hera being very Strife and Hera. Another strong entry and set up for the eventual battle among the gods.
As far as the art, Chiang is his consistent, stellar self, but what popped to me was Wilson’s colors complimenting the art. The use of tone and shade really transitions the book well between the very different locations and settings.
This issue set the table for the finale more than it contained real movement, but the character studies and the ability to give almost everyone a little shine made this another great issue. It will be bittersweet seeing this run come to an end with the next issue, but I’m also really excited to see what surprises we get in the end.
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