Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Wonder Woman # 22

By Koppy McFad
July 15, 2008 - 04:24

Wonder Woman joins forces with old DC Comics sword-and-sorcery heroes, Stalker, Beowulf and Claw the Unconquered to battle a satanic creature in some alternate, barbaric universe. But the creature's magic is apparently affecting her, weakening and corrupting her.

Despite its rather complex story-- involving three guest stars, a dream sequence and a subplot with Nemesis battling intelligent gorillas, this issue is actually pretty easy to follow. There is a lot of dense narration-- or internal monologue-- but surprisingly, this does not bog down the story. All the characters also speak with a unique voice that makes it easier to tell them apart-- and makes their interaction more interesting. It appears that the creative team of this book has found the perfect way to balance action and dialogue so we get a story that says a lot but which also moves at a pretty brisk pace. All those writers who have embraced "decompressed storytelling" could take a lesson from this.

The art is also surprisingly good as it is detailed and lush but also conveys a sense of movement and excitement. The heroes look heroic, the bad guys look frightening and all of the cast look distinctive and highly individualized so that Claw is never mistaken for Stalker, not even in the crowd shots.

The only weakness to the story is the way Nemesis suddenly uses holograms in his battle with the gorillas. There is no explanation for this, not even in his thoughts or his dialogue so any newcomer reading the book would wonder how the heck he could suddenly transform into a gorilla. This is a widespread problem with most comic books today, where they simply assume the reader knows everything about all the characters and don't even bother to explain how someone can suddenly fire rockets out of his butt or perform some other super-feat.

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12