Art by: Emi Lenox, Adriana Melo, Sweeney Boo, Ben Dewey
Colors by: Jordie Bellaire
Letters by: Pat Brosseau
Cover art by: Joëlle Jones
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: August 30, 2022
Wonder Girl 2022 Annual #1 follows Yara Flor as she attends a festival for a little fun on the town. When she bumps into her old flame, João, Yara soon realizes she's stumbled upon a plot to destroy Akahim.
Is It Good?
No, this is not good. You might as well rename this comic to "random ideas thrown together: the comic" because that's all this Annual is - random plot points mushed together as an excuse for a conflict.A few months have passed since Yara Flor's solo title was unceremoniously canceled (rightfully so), and this Annual is an opportunity to tie up all the loose threads left over from the series, such as...
Why was Yara Flor's memory wiped after leaving Brazil?
Why did Yara's return set off a worldwide alert among all the Amazonian tribes and super teams?
How or why did Yara's return to Brazil represent a cataclysmic threat?
How have the Esquecida remained a lost/hidden offshoot of the Amazons for so long when they've operated within Brazil for years, and the magical leaders of the world were aware of whatever threat Yara's return posed?
These are all big questions that should lead to big answers. Instead, Jones opts to address none of them in favor of an oversized story dealing with magical monsters from South American legendry and a short story surrounding the origins of Jerry the Pegasus that doesn't play out well and has nothing to do with the main story.
What you do get is a very bizarre story about Yara Flor attending a nighttime concert where she bumps into her old flame from the main series, João. Unfortunately, João is under the mind control of a monstrous witch called Cuca. At the same time, Cuca mind controls a Mapinguari to attack the Esquecida's underground home.
Why is Cuca doing any of this? Unknown. It's never explained.
How did Cuca know about Yara's past relationship with João? Did she know about Yara's past relationship with João? Or is their meeting all just a random coincidence? Unknown
Why is Cuca attacking the Esquecida? Unknown. It's never explained.
There are more questions beyond this meager list, but the result is the same. Jones collected ideas and plot points with no effort to string them together into a complete story. You get the impression the pitch meeting went something like this: "Yara encounters a supernatural creature and has a reason to beat it up. We'll work out the details later." Later, apparently, never comes.
You could excuse the weakness of the story if the art was up to Jones's typical standards. It is not. As you can see from the credits, there's a small squad of artists in this book, and the inconsistency in styles and quality is glaring. The art team tries to bury each style by transitioning between time frames and locations, but the transitions are not smooth, especially when characters move from one location to the next. It's like reading a comic on your tablet through a cartoon filter where the filter randomly changes over and over.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Wonder Girl 2022 Annual #1 is a mess. Wildly inconsistent art and random plot points that don't link together plague this book from page one. Rather than taking this opportunity to tie up loose ends from her canceled solo title, Jones simply makes Yara's story even worse.
4/10
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