Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are tasked with the unenviable job of writing Wonder Woman. More than many others, Wonder Woman fans are a delicate and vocal bunch. And frankly, it seems Azz and Chiang could care less. Not because they lack respect for the character or its fans, but because they seem casually confident they’re building something good here. A Wonder Woman with a world and mythology that is captivating and relevant. This Wonder Woman title is “cool” without trying to be, which makes it cooler. Its god characters are modernized but more faithful to their greco-roman inspiration than ever before. And Wonder Woman as protector and guardian makes more sense and feels more true here than it probably has for a long time.
This first issue is simple. Placing a young woman named Zola in the role of human Macguffin. The spoilerish twist is that she is unknowingly carrying Zeus’ child. Zola learns of this via Hermes, the messenger god. He hands Zola a key just as the sword of a Centaur is about to split her in parts. Suddenly she finds herself in what appears to be an up scale apartment in an urban setting near the bed of a stunning dark-haired woman. The sleeping beauty snaps out and grabs Zola by the neck demanding to know what is the meaning of this intrusion. Upon seeing the key however, the naked goddess snaps into action, immediately revealing herself as Wonder Woman and insisting that Zola will need to hand the key over if she is to survive. Zola decides to get plucky and instead uses the key to teleport them both back to her cabin where she had been attacked. The fight scene that ensues is cleverly choreographed and finally displays on the comic page what the WB films have been doing so well. Wonder Woman’s fighting style is the most distinct and entertaining of all the DC heroes. Where Superman – ever the noble brute – punches and smashes his way out of predicaments and Batman is essentially Bruce Lee with gadgets, Wonder Woman is a tactical fighter. She uses her environment to her advantage and thinks laterally to out-strategize her opponents. It’s exhilarating, raw and entertaining to read.
All of these events take place in Virginia, USA and are being witnessed by Apollo all the way from Singapore. The sun god here is cast as an upwardly mobile, fashion conscious womanizer. He uses three bimbos as avatar’s for divination. Apollo observes the goings-on of the story a priori and is made privy to the motivations of his father, Zeus.
Chiang’s thick frayed lines electrify the script, especially the action sequences. His layouts don’t flow so much as they snap into place like a schoolmarm’s ruler whipped down on a pupil’s desk. His Wonder Woman is stately and decisive looking. Tall with a presence oozing of primal nobility. A goddess unimpressed with and uninterested in her own divinity. The more grotesque or fanciful characters he draws seem completely indifferent of their obvious unusual appearance. The colors shape the environments according to time of day giving the scenes a strong sense of place. They play an important role in giving the fragmented concept of “gods in the world of mortals” a cohesiveness. Oh, and the horror aspects Azz promised? It’s there, but not as much as I might have expected. Click the image on the right for a slide show example.
Wonder Woman #1 reads more like a greek tragedy than you might expect. The gods are for the most part petty, conniving, immoral individuals with no regard for the lives of humans. In fact, they would probably ignore mortals altogether if they were not entwined in their plots. And I like how Azz has positioned Wonder Woman between two realms as a sort of deterrent to the mischievous whims of corrupt beings with more power than they should have.
It’s hard to tell if this story will connect with Wonder Woman fans (hardly anything ever does these days) nor if it will draw in new readers. Nobody really gets enough panel time for the reader to entirely connect with anyone. This book is mostly plot. The issue asks more questions than it answers and so probably remains an unknown quantity. But the premise as a whole has a compelling resonance that shouldn’t go ignored. It’s a good story and the re-invention that is present within is a fortunate by-product which exists to serve the story. That’s pretty much what Wonder Woman fans have been adamantly demanding (pants aside). Here’s hoping they’ll be willing to recognize it.
Script: 8.5/10
Art: 9.5/10
Parental concern: Red for gory violence
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