Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Wonder Woman #36 Review and *SPOILERS*



Daddy's Home


Written By: James Robinson
Art By: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Sean Parsons, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Saida Temofonte
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 13, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I don't know why it's taken me so long to realize this, but it seems that James Robinson is trying to pull off what Greg Rucka was doing with his run on Wonder Woman in Rebirth and giving us a present story and a past story ever other issue and where it seemed to work a bit for Rucka, here it just comes off infuriating because it just puts the breaks on the momentum of the story, not to mention it seems that we just get to see what was talked about in the issue that came before it, which feels like a bit of a waste.  So yeah, this style of writing isn't working so well and in the previous issue we saw Jason's upbringing to the point where he was about to fight some fish men called the Deep Six.......... none of that matters here though so let's get back to the main story where Jason has betrayed Wonder Woman to Grail.  Let's check it out.


Explain It!:

Where I'd like to say that Jason has some really good reasons that come to light this issue for betraying his sister, really, what we get is just more of the same that we had two issues ago, while Wonder Woman stands shackled trying to reach some sanity within her brother, while Grail punches her from time to time.  So yeah, not a lot new in this opening section.


On the flip side, Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller are expanding the story a bit, where they discover from Giganta that she was collecting artifacts from all over the world because she was working for Darkseid, who's setting up something.  Yeah, we don't get a clear cut idea of what that is here, but it at least lets me know that we have more going on here than Darkseid just sucking on Demi-Gods until he feels like an adult again.  Also, it seems that we're going with a bit of the Justice League movie backstory here too where Wonder Woman is being kept at a location where apparently the forces of Apokolips once took over thousands of years ago.  So yeah, there's something going on here.


In the end, Wonder Woman breaks free of her restraints, fights Jason and Grail a bit before getting ambushed by Darkseid himself, who looks to be a bit older than when we previously saw him, but that's not where the fun of the story really is.  It's when Diana's lawyer Mr. Hooper shows up and reveals himself to be Zeus that I get excited because it looks like in two more issues..........since we have to spend the next issue with Jason fighting the Deep Six in the past, that we'll get and Old God vs. a New God and that sounds pretty damn interesting....... it's just too bad that this setup for it isn't.


That's it for this issue of Wonder Woman and where I've been kind of down on this story for not really doing much except for keep telling us who Jason is and what is backstory is, this issue actually moves the story further a bit in giving us a master plan of Darkseid somewhere in the background and the fact that Zeus is going to fight Darkseid.  I like that bit and even though I wasn't a fan of Jason being a villain from the get go in this story, his out of nowhere reversal of this actually comes off weaker and makes me care less about the character.  The art in this issue is fantastic and everything looks great, I just wish that the story came off better, even with its bit of interesting progression here.

Bits and Pieces:

We're back in the present in this issue and even though we have to reiterate things we learned two issues ago here, this issue is at least better than what we've gotten........ or any issue that takes place in the past for this run.  Yeah, we have a cool setup going on with excellent art all the way through, but still the majority of the issue was a bit boring when actually dealing with our title character and that's a shame.

6/10

6 comments:

  1. Now that I'm aware that Wonder Woman is going back to Rucka style past and present every other issue thing, I feel a bit better in regards to the pacing, but only a bit. All in all, this book had a bunch of highs and a bunch of lows. I like Wondy going around kicking ass, but it gets cut off by the Giganta bits. I like seeing Jason go through some turmoil over Diana, but I felt that the fact that his naivety about Grail and her siblings makes him look dumb plus the fact that he comes across as a bit of a whiner. Zeus popping up was pretty cool, but I still pretty confused about Zeus is relationship with Diana and her lore. Was he ever a baby? What parts of Azzalro's run is still canon?
    Sigh..., I still enjoyed this issue but I think Eric's review is on point. We've been doing setup in one way or another since the start of Rebirth at this point. I just want some straight answers and for Wonder Woman to do stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i want answers too!!! Its so strange that Diana feels like a guest star in her own book half the time

      Delete
  2. I'm getting increasingly frustrated with DC trying to supplant Zeus as somehow important to Diana's character. He's not. He never will be. If DC wants more family interaction with Diana--have her have her own family. She's got friends, she has sisters, she has a mom, she has a boyfriend (granted maybe not for long considering they are really really trying to make Wonderbat happen for no other reason than...I guess Wondy needs an Alpha Male?). There are literally hundreds of options to go instead of "hey your dad is important too! Despite not doing jack in raising you or being in any part of your upbringing or character". He's not. He just isn't.

    And honestly, Azzarello making Zeus and other male dieties more important to her than the woman who raised her and her friends is the biggest insult to Wonder Woman fans, and Robinson is doing his best to destroy any semblance of what Wonder Woman was about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you have to blame Rucka just as much for taking away Themyscara and the Amazons

      Delete
    2. The only way this series could get any better is if we get those pesky boots off Wonder Woman and get her into the kitchen...

      Delete
  3. This was my favorite issue of Wonder Woman in 36 issues to 've honest. I still hate the every other issue prequel pacing though so may skip next issue

    ReplyDelete