Wonder Woman #45 – James Robinson, Writer; Ema Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, Marco Santucci, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr., Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 4/10
Corrina: So, Jason Gets to Meet Mom. But no reunion for Diana.
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: Wonder Woman #45 is the conclusion to the Darkseid vs. the Amazons arc of Robinson’s Wonder Woman, and it’s…basically exactly what you’d expect. Two details stick out about this issue, and they sum up a lot of the issues with this run overall – Wonder Woman’s title is narrated by Steve Trevor, and it’s mostly about Jason finally getting to meet his mother. This title has never particularly been about Wonder Woman as long as this run was going on. The issue opens with an invasion of Parademon Amazons breaking into Argus and attacking everyone in sight. There’s a jumbled, two-page battle that looks great but doesn’t really deliver much in the way of coherent storytelling. Steve and Jason fend off a lot of the monsters, while Diana tries to fight Darkseid and can’t get an advantage on him, leading her to express to Steve that he’s too strong and she doesn’t think she can beat him. You know, just like Wonder Woman.
As the battle continues, Jason realizes that as he never set foot on Themysrica, he can return there through the portal, and he’s finally reunited with his mother. This scene, as Hippolyta appears at length for the first time since the conclusion of Rucka’s run, could have been great if we cared about both sides. As it is, we’ve been given no reason to care about Jason, and Hippolyta’s decision to get rid of her son is a holdover from an unpleasant subplot from a good run that would have been better off forgotten.
Diana’s final showdown with Darkseid is a high point in the issue, as Lupacchino delivers some great visuals, and we get a brief cameo from Hercules and Zeus as they return in spirit to help Diana vanquish the villain. Worth noting that this version of Darkseid seems to have been a placeholder, as he’s destroyed and returns without his memories, setting up his face turn in Justice League Odyssey. This run will be concluding with Wonder Woman #50, and it can’t come soon enough. None of the ideas here have served Diana well at all.
Corrina: All you need to know about Robinson run is that what should be a huge moment for Diana, her reunion with Hippolyta and the Amazons, IS GIVEN TO JASON INSTEAD.
And, no, despite Steve’s meta-comment about beginning to like Jason, Jason is never going to happen. Stop trying to make fetch happen, DC.
This run would be so much better if it was simply a series of Jenny Frison variant covers.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
