Wonder Woman #20 – Tom King, Writer; Guillem March, Artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: In the aftermath of the battle with the Sovereign, Diana is taking a bit of a breather – so of course, that means going into battle with the literal Gods. She gets an urgent message from her mother, Hippolyta – conveyed through a talking goat, as you do. Ares has been murdered, found dead in his bed – and Hippolyta was next to him, and is now prime suspect #1. Diana asks Batman to join her, because when you need a mystery solved, you call the world’s greatest detective. But from the start, as they enter the temple of the Gods and ascend to Olympus, things go terribly wrong. Zeus has already pre-judged Hippolyta guilty and plans to make her mortal again as punishment. He’s only willing to give them 24 hours to prove them innocent, and even that he’s only willing to grant with a boon – which Batman offers, giving himself up as a sacrifice if he’s not able to solve the crime.
And so the duo descends into the twisty world of the Greek Gods, with a betrayal around every corner. Dionysus hosted the party where Ares was last seen, and Aphrodite was the last person he was seen with. This plays out like a classic murder mystery, but with a supernatural twist, and it seems like a darker, more violent side of Diana starts to come out as the story goes on. She brutally deals with a recalcitrant Dionysus, essentially beating answers out of him. But then, as they start to get close to answers, someone tries to shut down the investigation – permanently. Batman barely survives an assassination attempt from a very familiar weapon, and Zeus almost seems to be gloating at the turn of circumstances. The odds are against them, Wonder Woman’s clock to save Batman is ticking down, and the cliffhanger indicates that things are about to get worse. A great change of pace for this creative team.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
