This was one of the relaunch books I was most excited for.  Wonder Woman has so much potential.  But the character hasn’t had definitive runs like Batman or Superman.  When you think of great WW stories, nothing pops to mind.  There have been some really good stories, but nothing that defines the character.

I’m hoping that this will be the story that does it.  Azzarello has a lot of buzz as a writer, but in this issue I was more confused.  I dig the whole Greek mythology.  I think it is rich enough to get decades of stories.  But this was hard to follow.  There was a lot of set up before Zola grabbed the key and found WW, I don’t think it is a good idea to start off a new #1 issue and not have the title character show up until after halfway through her own comic.

I had to go back reread the comic to understand that the prophecy voice over was from the 3 chicks on the building.  It was so long back in the story, that it wasn’t obvious.  Wonder woman is much more action oriented.  They do a good job showing her combat skills and even show quite a bit of graphic carnage.  She sure acts more like an amazon.

The art needs some work.  Chiang does a great job when drawing WW, but everything else could use a lot more polish.  The scene where the Centaurs charge into the room look a bit amateurish.

I’m hoping it kicks into a better story, as we still have no idea what WW personality is in this book.    C    —  Don

Well, this is a good setup for a mystery of Greek Gods proportions. I have no idea what is going on and where it is going, but I am intrigued enough to want to keep reading. Wonder Woman is definitely an ‘Amazon’ in this book. Warrior Princess indeed.

I was also confused a bit by the voice-over dialogue during the fight scene with Diana and the Centaurs. I was like “who is talking? the Centaurs?” Then I noticed that the dialogue squares were green in color and remembered I’d seen that from the start of the book, and flipped back and checked — yep it was from the guy using the 3 girls as oracles. Thank goodness for color-coding.

But I wasn’t sure if  the 3 girls (oracles) were talking about the fight with Diana and the Centaurs (hey, doesn’t sound like a cool name for a band? hmmm) OR they were seeing something else. That was another confusing point about that. If not, which it seemed like it had nothing to do with that fight….then why do the voice-over there on those panels? It seems that they could have just had that dialogue with the panels at the end. So hope that that doesn’t continue.

And one more thing…..Hermes with chicken feet? Really?

B   ——-Kelly

Wonder Woman has always been a difficult book to keep in line with the character’s iconic status. There are some great Wonder Woman stories out there, but they’re not nearly as well-known or numerous as the classics from other characters. I thought I might have to wait for Grant Morrison’s upcoming take to get something that could change that, but I really enjoyed Brian Azzarello’s first issue.

I’m especially liking the way the gods are portrayed – they’re not the stereotypical human-looking guys that look like they belong as extras in Ben Hur. Instead, they’re… off. They’re humanoid, but kinda creepy and ethereal and alien. They look as far removed from the human race as they’re supposed to be – distantly related, but not at all creatures that could easily pass for people. Don’t be surprised if just being in the room with one makes your eyes start bleeding for no apparent reason or something. Spooky.

Wonder Woman takes a bit of a back-seat to the strangeness of the gods, but the story still establishes her as a well-known hero and shows us enough to get an idea about what she’s like as a character. I’m looking forward to more strangeness and more development in Wonder Woman’s background and motivations.

B+  — Ed