The surreal nature of humanity.
Creative Staff:
Story: Renae De Liz
Art: Renae De Liz, Ray Dillon
Colors: Ray Dillon
What They Say:
A new friend bolsters Diana’s confidence, but throughout the early days of her adventure, strange dreams of violence plague her nights.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Diana’s entry into the world of man was done in a way that certainly eased her into it to a degree, having just the elderly couple to deal with at first. When she opted to make tracks and find her way to a ship that could get her back to Themyscira, you knew that she’d end up seeing a lot more before she finally does find her way back. The last issue delighted in that discovery, coming through the woods and seeing Etta Candy and the Holliday Girls kicking it for all those dancing away to enjoy. Etta’s a character rooted in her time to be sure, but bringing her into the present mindset of story and illustration was something I was definitely curious to see how it would be presented. Visually, the team here once again utterly nails it, making it a real treat.
It’s not quite a treat for Diana, however, as everything that she takes in is just overwhelming. She has nearly no dialogue at all in this installment – again – and not even much in the way of narration. But seeing this bright, colorful, and mostly happy world unfolding before her is overwhelming in its own way. Taking it in through the context of her eyes is critical here as we just see a simple dance, but for her it’s just so surreal – especially with all the men around – that she’s really just stunned to silence. When we do see her leaping into action when someone falls off of a balcony we get a good taste of who Diana is, always ready to spring into action and do what’s needed. It’s when she feels alive here, though that’s not to discount what she sees and feels elsewhere. It simply comes across as too much to process for her, and rightly so.
What I do like is that the bulk of the issue is all about Etta as she kind of rescues Diana from everything. She can sense that she’s not from campus, obviously, and works to get her out of a sticky situation so they Diana doesn’t get overwhelmed. She’s highly talkative and very fun and interesting to be around, though I imagine some may not care for the extended time spent with “Pammy” and some of the usual drama aspects there. It’s a bit college-y in its own way, but it works to really establish Etta as a person and a character within the place she resides with all the little things. Again, it’s all done in a compact way because they don’t have a dozen issues of Etta lined up, but it works surprisingly well and really fleshed her out in some basic ways very quickly.
In Summary:
I’ve always liked Etta, though I haven’t seen what they’ve done with the character in the mainstream books since the 90’s. This interpretation here goes back old school in the right way and just delivers us a great little piece that gives us a fully realized character with a world of expansion ahead of her. Solidly rich in personality and style, fun dialogue, and great visuals, it all works to bring another piece of Diana’s world into focus and it leaves me wanting a whole lot more. I’ve had very little to find issue with in this series to date and that streak really does continue in this installment. Great stuff and definitely a big plus in its being separate and on its own.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 21st, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
