Wonder Woman #28 – Tom King, Writer; Daniel Sampere, Jorge Fornes, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: It’s the conclusion of the Mouse Man storyline, as Wonder Woman finally deals out some VERY well-deserved justice to the sadistic misogynist who enslaved his population of refugees. Tom King’s Wonder Woman can be more ruthless, even cruel at times than the character is usually portrayed, but when it happens, it’s typically VERY well-earned. We’ve seen her tortured, seen her discover that one of her fellow Amazons was killed and her daughter orphaned, and even seen her own daughter threatened. And now, after handling the villain and putting him in the hospital, she extorts the peace that’s deserved – by any means necessary. Daniel Sampere does an amazing job of capturing the shift on the island from haunting terror to hope and peace, as we see them slowly start to begin a new life, despite some holdouts. But that’s only the first part of this issue.
While Sampere does the segments of this issue set in the present day, Jorge Fornes takes over for a segment set in the future – as the Matriarch makes her debut. This is the character heavily implied to be Emelie’s daughter, and she’s grown up into a monster who is determined to wage war on Themyscira and the Amazons. In this segment, the masters who have raised her and are unleashing her on an unsuspecting world have set up a demonstration – collecting the many villains Diana defeated in her war on the Sovereign, and unleashing them for a rematch that’s really more of a curb-stomp and a slaughterhouse. This issue does the very difficult job of making us feel sorry for some of these villains, and feel complete dread for what’s to come. Diana’s biggest test is still coming, it seems, but we’ve got a two-issue breather arc by Stephanie Williams before King returns to traumatize us again.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
