Wonder Woman #24 – Tom King, Writer; Daniel Sampere, Artist; Tomeu Morey, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: One of the most interesting things about Tom King’s writing is how good he is at turning villains from nobody to nightmare. Two issues ago, we were introduced to Mouse Man – a D-list supervillain who controlled giant mice and actually did a January 6th on the Capitol in the name of incel activism. He was easily defeated – but last issue, we found that he did pretty well for himself. In the aftermath of recent events, he managed to carve out a little island off the coast of the United States, seceded, and invited countless people to come there and create an isolated home for themselves – and turned it into a terrifying dictatorship. When Diana landed on the island last issue in search of a missing girl, she found that the island was a police state, filled with armed guards who punished any sign of dissent – and could only speak in canned lines like “Mouse Man Knows. Mice Have Ears”.
It’s a deeply creepy setting for a comic, but it’s also a bit of a challenge to read. Wonder Woman is having a conversation with this girl, but she’s only conversing in canned slogans with different meanings. You can feel Diana’s frustration – but she’s not going to let that stop her as she punches her way through an army of men and giant mice, trying to get the villain’s attention. Complicating things, the US government has recognized Mouse Man’s dominion, meaning Diana has no legal authority to be here – even to rescue a former US citizen. This is definitely the strangest issue of King’s run so far, the first that veers away from the more traditional epic storytelling he’s been using and into the very esoteric style of writing he uses on his more independent projects. I’m not sure if its narrative is always the clearest, but it creates a sense of tension and unsettling oppression that’s hard to match.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
