Wonder Woman #80 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Jesus Merino, Tom Derenick, Pencillers; Vicente Cifuentes, Trevor Scott, Inkers; Romulo Fajardo Jr., Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8/10
Ray: G. Willlow Wilson is heading over to the Sandman Universe shortly, so this Wonder Woman #80 is her penultimate month on Wonder Woman.
She seems determined to go out with a bang, pitting Diana against her nemesis Cheetah in a high-stakes battle with Lex Luthor and Veronica Cale pulling strings behind the scenes. This issue takes an unusual approach and has minimal dialogue over most of the issue, instead letting Diana’s narration dominate the story. It gives it a melancholy feel as everyone grapples with the death of love.
Diana tries to recover from physical and emotional injuries while Steve heads for the airport consumed with the feeling that he’s lost something. Maggie and Atlantiades continue to bond over their mutual loss and grow closer. Cheetah, meanwhile, stalks the streets of Washington hoping to lure Diana out of hiding and fulfill her main goal since the Rucka run – to find her way to Themyscira and claim that she believes is hers.
The first half of the issue is slow and somber, while the second breaks out into explosive action starting when Diana gets a package from Veronica Cale containing the neutralizing formula that she developed to stop Cheetah’s Godkiller sword. The message she leaves Diana essentially says “now we’re even” and we can assume the hostilities will resume soon.
The final battle between Diana and Cheetah delivers in action, but I’m worried about the characterization of some of the villains. Cheetah’s instability makes sense given the otherworldly influence, but there’s a twist involving Veronica Cale’s role that really falls flat. Both Rucka and Wilson have done a lot of work with the character, and unless there’s a twist coming this issue seems to not only make her irredeemable but a lot more stupid. Her whole thing is cold logic, and this feels like an emotional decision that might wind up destroying her too.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
