Wonder Woman #30 – Stephanie Williams, Writer; Jeff Spokes, Artist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Stephanie Williams and Jeff Spokes are taking us to Themyscira before Tom King’s run resumes next issue, and while fill-in stories often felt irrelevant in the past, this one turns out to have some vital context for what’s to come. Diana, still struggling with her grief over the loss of Steve Trevor and trying to be her best self for her daughter, comes to Themyscira to meditate. She leaves her daughter in the temporary custody of her most trusted allies – her Amazon sisters Nubia, Philippus, Bia, and Clio; and the Wonder Girls, Donna, Cassie, and Yara. They should be able to handle babysitting duty – except that soon after they begin a training session, they start to turn on each other, each attacking the other’s deepest insecurities. It turns out that this is the work of Eris, the goddess of strife, and she’s turning the Amazons against each other for her own purposes – and to enjoy the show.
The tension between the Amazons is interesting, as some of the dialogue points to issues that they’ve been dealing with for a long time. Particularly, Cassie’s internal fear of her own Godly blood, and whether it makes her a danger to the other Amazons, is more characterization than she’s gotten in some time. Eventually, Diana returns from the woods, just as things have escalated – once the Amazons are able to get their personal demons under control, they’re made flesh in the form of shadow effigies. This is some really nice, creepy visuals from Jeff Spokes, who absolutely deserves a regular DC gig after his last one ran into…unexpected trouble. There are some really interesting twists regarding Eris’ actual motivations as the issue ends, because the Wonder War is right around the corner. I feel like King’s arc is so intense and plot-driven that this kind of story slotting in between arcs was a great idea.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
