Wonder Woman #8 – Tom King, Writer; Daniel Sampere, Belen Ortega, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Alejandro Sanchez, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Last issue was a breather for a Superman/Wonder Woman team-up set in a giant space mall, but now we’re back to the main narrative—and it follows up on a brutal cliffhanger that saw Diana ambushed by all her deadliest villains, pushed to her limits, and ultimately broken and captured. And that’s where we find her now—face to face with the Sovereign for the first time, bloodied and bound by a mystical rope. As Sovereign, a mad patriarch who is trying to restore what he believes to be the natural order, torments her, Diana strains against her bonds and tries to remember who she is. Which is going to be trickier than she thinks—because she’s caught in an alternate world that’s more than a little eerie.
That world finds her as a ’50s-inspired housewife, dutifully serving her husband—an emotionally abusive Steve Trevor, who views her as a distraction at best and a failure at worst. It’s clear that this isn’t the real Steve, but King and Sampere manage to infuse the scene with a lot of tension. Sampere’s art is also interesting in these scenes, feeling painted and reminiscent of Marguerite Sauvage in places. There’s an intriguing subplot involving the Wonder Girls capturing Sarge Steel and trying to get information out of him, but this issue is mostly a tense, one-on-one play as Diana is lost inside her mind and battles her way out bit by bit. It’s a brilliantly done spotlight that sets up next issue’s showdown.
This story is so intense that it makes the mood whiplash in the backup all the more welcome. It’s another Super-Sons story, this time with a pre-teen Lizzie. Damian was in charge, and rather than help Lizzie with her homework, he sent her back in time to study the real thing in feudal Japan—which creates a chaotic series of events that send the timeline into complete flux, with some hilarious visual effects. I’m always surprised in these stories just how good King turned out to be at writing comedy.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
