A thing of wonder!
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Marcel DiChiara
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
In the shadow of their foes, and with their friends at their backs—we have the rise of the Wonder Girls!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Bombshells: United closes out its first arc with this installment and it’s one that’s left me more ambivalent about this project than I thought I would have. There are things I like simply because Marguerite Bennett is taking chances and trying to do new things here while working within familiar realms. And we get some decent artwork from Marcel DiChiara that I don’t think is quite up to the usual Bombshells standards but has some good scenes and honest emotion out of its characters. But at the same time something just simply feels off even as I know it’s best to not compare it to what came before as this series is trying to change things up from the previous Bombshells run. But it’s just not firing on all cylinders for me.
Taking place a few weeks after what went down with the General and the fight to save people, most of the Wonder Girls have gone their separate ways in the same area of Los Angeles, such as working on bringing supplies to Magnus Metal Collection where you know something’s being seeded to others working at Caerulea Polytechnica where their skills will lead them in new directions. The main thrust is on Donna, however, as she struggles with the loss of Diana. The consoling that Dawnstar provides does fit in a kind of otherworldly way that makes sense and comes with a bond that the two share here after recent events. But it’s Dawnstar that makes it clear that the story is not done, and there are stories on other worlds where this did not end as it did here. For Donna, it’s to learn that for the most part she has to chart her own course and move forward, to make of life what she can by her own dreams and desires.
That has Donna visiting the statute that was put up for Wonder Woman where the emotion is certainly in the air. But it’s here that things just feel a little weird for me as lightning strikes and transforms the statue back into Diana, where she says Donna created her, like a twin (just a taller one?). There’s some nice emotion to the return but it appears that it’s now something where Donna can call her into existence rather than an actual return? It feels like a weird out to take when you could instead use this timeline that’s isolated to just do its own thing and take more chances. But this just comes across as odd and I’m unsure of what they’re going to do with it. After the path that Diana took with so many in the previous Bombshells series this one just feels like it’s disconnected in a way that’s leaving me feeling just as disconnected from the title.
In Summary:
The end of the opening arc for Bombshells: United leaves me somewhat unsettled as to what this series wants to do. The previous run had arcs I didn’t care for too much but United just hasn’t clicked as a whole for this opening arc, leaving me hopeful that things shift in a way that I find more engaging in the next arc. Bennett delivers some good things here with what we get from Dawnstar and Donna and DiChiara has some decent moments throughout with the artwork even if I don’t think it fits well overall. I’m definitely just glad to be done with this arc to see if the series is going to work for me with what comes next.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 27th, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
