Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Wonder Woman #25 Review and *SPOILERS*



Same As It Ever Was


Written By: Greg Rucka
Art By: Liam Sharp, Bilquis Evely, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Jodi Wynne
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 28, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The end of our Greg Rucka run on Wonder Woman is here and while it's been a ride that's consisted of a lot of ups and downs for me, overall I think it was a bit of fun.......... even if it didn't have the impact on the character that I originally believed it would.  Yeah, we've gone and cut out most of the New 52 continuity and left the doors wide open for something new to come out of Wonder Woman, but it didn't have the weight that I thought it would because in the end all we were left with is........ Yeah, those things were lies, you never returned home and were never the Goddess of War.   Hopefully, this final issue of Rucka's run will give us the gravitas we've been looking for, while keeping things at least easy for the new writers coming in and doing whatever they have planned for our hero.  Let's jump into this issue and see if Wonder Woman gets her lasso back and if there's any big surprises awaiting us now that we've gotten past Year One, learned all about the Lies and the Truth and have shutdown Godwatch.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with the Justice League taking on Shaggy Man and having a hell of a time doing it.  That is, until Wonder Woman shows up and single-handedly takes the monster down.  Our hero doesn't stick around long after that though, leaving the rest of the team to clean up the mess, but she stayed long enough for Batman to notice that she didn't have her Golden Perfect with her, leaving him to wonder if the reason that she seemed so angry is because it's gone or if since she always wears it, her anger is simply a symptom of what happens if it's not on her person at all times.  Really though, Wonder Woman's just pissed at the world for everything that's gone down lately, mostly because of Barbara Minerva becoming Cheetah again and pissed at her gods for lying to her all this time.


I bet Wonder Woman's anger issues are helped by the fact that it seems that Veronica Cale will just be able to go free for all the things she's done over the course of Greg Rucka's run, which seems weird because we know that Sasha Bordeaux was kidnapped by her and replaced with a cyber walker, but here it seems that because Sasha can't remember any of the ordeal, it doesn't mean dick as evidence.  So yeah, that's gotta be stuck in Diana's craw, but still, she tries to go to Veronica Cale for help in changing Barbara Minerva (who's broken out of custody from last issue) back from Cheetah and it seems that nothing is really coming up Milhouse for our hero during the first part of this extra-sized issue because Veronica Cale refuses because being Cheetah was Barbara's decision and frankly, Veronica just doesn't like Diana that much.  


In the end, Wonder Woman meets with Superman and Batman to discuss what's been going on with her and the loss of her lasso, but nothing is really explored here, except for our World's Finest team seeming like they give a damn and Wonder Woman goes off to confront her gods about why they lied to her for so long........ Which really just leads Diana to get her Golden Perfect back and leave feeling rejuvenated at the fact that the gods for all they've done to her, gave her a nice compliment.  Yeah, it's kind of lackluster, but we needed to get that lasso back for the next writers to use and we end this issue with Wonder Woman going back to Steve for some sweet, sweet loving.


That's it for this Anniversary issue of Wonder Woman and the end of Greg Rucka's run on the book and while it was a nice issue that showed how loving Wonder Woman is believed to be by everyone in the DCU, it didn't really do much but give us back a status quo for Wonder Woman that didn't really change anything.  Yeah, we know that her New 52 continuity is mainly lies now, but she's got her lasso back and will still be a warrior for peace and love that won't doubt her purpose and meaning going forward.  The art in this issue was as great as it always is and I love the fact that both Bilquis Evely and Liam Sharp got to work on this issue because it really feels like a finale to this creative team's run on the book and a proper send off........ at least in the art department.  Overall, like I said, this is a nice issue, but besides for getting her Golden Perfect back, there isn't much to really explore in this finale.  

Bits and Pieces:

Greg Rucka's run has come to a close and now that all the Lies and Truths have been told.......... there really isn't anything much different about our hero.  Everyone loves Wonder Woman and she'll keep fighting the good fight to ensure that peace and love prevail.  The art was amazing as always here, but besides for just being a "nice" issue, there isn't much going on here except not leaving a mess behind for the next creative team.  I still enjoyed reading and looking at it though.  

7/10

4 comments:

  1. I did like this issue, though I have been underwhelmed by Rucka's run overall. The whole lies scenario just seemed so poorly executed. His previous run on WW was so much better. I am looking forward to Robinson's run, but I wonder how/if the fact that Diana has never been home will impact the Jason story.

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    1. Yeah, it's weird now that Themyscira is off the table to have Jason finally show up. Maybe he's been lied to as well.

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  2. I probably would have given it a 7 as well. My favorite things that Rucka did were eliminate Diana's warrior-like nature, restore her compassion, rehabilitate the Amazons, and make Diana and her friends explicitly queer. I agree that the execution was not the best, but i am glad that we can hopefully move on to stories featuring a more gentle Diana than we were getting in the New 52 and DC YOU.

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  3. So, did Rucka undo the New52 origin of WW being daughter of Zeus? I really dislike that change. WW being made of clay, powered by a multitude of goddesses and gods, then given life by Gaea with her soul being Hippolyta's unborn child in her previous life IS the WW origin for me. Yup, the post Crisis version. As much as I liked the WW movie, I am disappointed the Zeus daughter origin became cannon for DCEU :(

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