Mothers and daughters….
Creative Staff:
Story: Renae De Liz
Art: Renae De Liz, Ray Dillon
Colors: Ray Dillon
What They Say:
Princess Diana is the only person who senses the trials facing her beloved home, but her mortality makes it difficult for the other Amazons to trust her intuition.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of The Legend of Wonder Woman was a bit of a history lesson overall without too much Diana, but that wasn’t a bad thing by any stretch. Providing a new interpretation of the past for those from Themyscira and how it all came about worked well and made Hippolyta a more fleshed out character in a way that you could empathize with than you normally get, especially in these kinds of limited runs. It also didn’t hurt that the team here put together a visually striking work with great colors that pop so well digitally that it’s very easy to get lost in the details and shades of it all. Diana’s entrance into the book along the way naturally shifted the focus and that’s what carries through here as it becomes her story, though with ties to her mother, of course.
Those ties are certainly interesting to watch as we see the curiosity of youth push against the fears, worries and pain of experience. Diana knows something is going on within the island as she can feel the darkness that is out there yet can’t quite put her finger on it. More frustrating for her is that nobody else seems to recognize it, leaving her as feeling even more different and isolated than she already is due to her creation and position as Hippolyta’s daughter. A difficult point certainly comes as we see how Diana is being groomed for leadership and immortality yet not taught the arts of war needed to defend the island. It’s something that she feels she must know in order to lead yet her mother is intent on her being like the other immortals, focused on studies and the lie. So when Diana lightly lashes out that she may not want to be immortal, there’s a lot of pain there considering what her mother had done in the past.
That Diana is interested in what’s needed to fight is no surprise, especially in the idea that the more you deny her the more interested she’ll become, and we see her watching others in training under Aclippe, who is the only immortal that deals in such things. You can guess how some of it will go in future installments, but I rather like that she just watches before going off to do her own thing. That thing is really intriguing though as she sneaks out over the wall that protects the city in order to see what more of the forbidden island is like. It has the adult view of innocence about it as she reaches through the landscape and discovers that the island is basically welcoming her. It does leave you wondering more of the true nature of things, since it’s diverging from the standard mainline fare the more it progresses, and that kind of intrigue is what definitely keeps you coming back.
In Summary:
Individually, the chapters here are quite enjoyable so far and are wholly worth the time and pennies it costs to read it digitally. At the same time I can see this being a really engaging single-session read when all is said and done, leaving me hopeful that this is a good bookstore title down the line. Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon continue to produce a visually stunning work here that delights from panel to panel, making me love the digital viewing experience of Guided View to soak up the individual pieces of it and the whole. Separating out various pieces along the way highlights not just the visuals but the words, giving it greater impact. I’m excited to see what’s next in this interpretation.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 19th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
