It all becomes clear why this was being touted as a horror comic, and why you should all read it; awesome!
What They Say:
The Gods walk among us. To them, our lives are playthings. Only one woman would dare to protect humanity from the wrath of such strange and powerful forces. But is she one of us–or one of them? WONDER WOMAN begins anew under the creative team of Brain Azzarello and Cliff Chiang!
The Review:
Wonder Woman has had a lot of things leading up to this new #1 that really peaked my interest. I like Wonder Woman, always have, and what really got me excited about this new series was Brain Azzarello’s off-hand and vague comment that Wonder Woman was going to be a horror comic. WHAT? In subsequent interviews he attempted to answer how but just became even more vague. This became one of my absolutely must buy series because of this.
Now that I have read the finished product…yes, it is more akin to a horror comic than a superhero one. That doesn’t mean it’s has Vampires and Werewolves and stuff in it though. Instead we see a mysterious ‘peacock’ woman cut the heads off a couple of horses in some stable. That’s a violent touch. Then we see people climbing out of the horses neck! That is gruesome! All the while the issue is getting its horror on, the book has an ominous feel to it, a feeling that isn’t happy in the slightest but not dark like a Batman comic. This is entirely because of the artwork. If you see the cover of the issue and decide to pass because the art is too off-putting, too “not-Wonder Woman”…don’t! The actual artwork inside the book is more refined, very clean, and very attractive. I cannot put my finger on what the art reminds me of but it is perfect. Not just perfect art that I will continue to just read and stare at, but perfect for the tone and theme of this new Wonder Woman. The color palette is much more subtle than one would suspect of a WW comic, lots of grey shading and sepia tones, it’s just…oh god do I love the art in this book!!!
It turns out the storyline being set up involves the Greek Gods of myth, and that is why the horror-ish tones are present. Everything is very fitting, interesting, and perfectly Wonder Woman. We have gruesome looking centaurs and a bird man with the coldest, dead eyes ever! WW herself is drawn to absolute perfection, an image of beauty; and we get to see her in her costume and in action duking it out with some monsters. The book has everything I could have asked for! It is accessible, easy to get into without knowing who the heck Wonder Woman even is, and the start of something different. YES!
In Summary:
The only thing I can really say about the new Wonder Woman comic that isn’t praise and glowing fanboy-isms already stated, is that….the story, tone, and art Brain Azzarello and Cliff Chiang have created here is something unique and special, even among the new 52. It is so unique that quite honestly, I am not super looking forward to Wonder Woman being introduced in the Justice League comic. This is her comic and that’s the way I want it to stay!
Grade: A
