A little more background with a twist.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Laura Braga
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Wonder Woman is back…and with a vengeance! As she crash-lands directly in the middle of a battle between armored mega-mech Paula Von Gunther and the Bombshells, we also find out how Wonder Woman found Batwoman in Zambesi!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Providing us with a little recent backstory the last time around that focused on some of the events after the Battle of Berlin, Bombshells helped to show how Kara was coping with everything, which is something I wanted to see and to see more of. Pairing her with Diana and sending her back to Themyscira was definitely a welcome choice since the two of them have something to connect with through it with their past experiences. With this issue, we get a little more of that and it’s definitely a plus simply because I love how Laura Braga brings Diana and Kara to life. There’s such a great sense of placement and power that they convey even when they’re at their weakest and struggling with what’s gone on and how it has impacted them.
While we do get a touch more of that here as we see Diana sending Kara off with Steve as she prepares her own journey, and we get a little more of that Zambesi arc toward the end, the bulk of it is focused on something different. Which is very much welcome because watching the Baroness and her transformer mechanical god suit that’s designed like a futuristic fighter jet that’s far too reminiscent of a Gundam mobile suit just takes me out of the story too much. At this stage, as much as I love the characters that have been introduced, I really want to move away from the Zambesi arc and into something else. We’re getting closer to that stage to be sure with what’s going on now that Diana has joined the fight and keeping these tools out of the hands of the darkness of the world is in play, but it’s proving to be a bit more of a slog than I expected.
Where the bulk of this issue focuses is in an area that will leave you wondering what the real deal is as Diana heads off from the island only to run into an invisible jet, which reminds her of recent events to be sure. It’s here that she gets to deal with Alexander Luthor for the first time as he’s essentially looking to use her as a tool and a weapon with his fear of what’s out there in the world from the stars. By giving her kryptonite, you know it’s going to work in some unexpected ways eventually and cause new problems, but it’s the dance the two engage in with the dialogue that’s just delightful. We’ve had few men in the series overall in key positions but Luthor has the potential to move into a prime slot, especially as he’s so humble here and she sees right through it. But he does have information that rubs her the wrong way, such as with Kate, and the fact that he speaks true simply makes her all the more wary. I’m really curious to see if there is a big game plan for Luthor in the long run because it could be a really great shift in the dynamic.
In Summary:
The current Bombshells arc is playing out in interesting ways as the main event fight is sidelined a fair bit and it’s been focused on some catch-up character material. Which is more than fine as it’s well done and interesting to see how Diana and Kara work through all that’s happened. But at the same time I’m ready to move on from Zambesi and it feels like we’re just delaying it a little bit too long! This issue has some very fun stuff with the artwork as Laura Braga gets to handle a range of characters but also a lot of scenes with the invisible jet, which makes for some weird looking scenes as one would expect. I’m definitely looking forward to what comes next and to seeing what the next major arc will be with how I’m feeling at the moment.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 4th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
