A secret mission to Apokalips doesn’t stay secret for long.
Creative Staff:
Story: Corinna Sara Bechko, Gabriel Hardman
Art: Gabriel Hardman
What They Say:
“Dig for Fire” part 1 of 3! Wonder Woman accepts a covert mission from Queen Hippolyta: infiltrate Apokolips, find a group of Amazons imprisoned there by Darkseid, and bring them home alive.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The start of a new arc, Sensation Comics brings on board the team of Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman to handle the writing together with Hardman handling the artwork. This storyline is one that’s set for three issues and is a bit more traditional in a way with its design and narrative, which as we’ve noted with previous dips into this style in the series, is not a bad thing. While I tend to like the books that shake things up in style and approach more, there’s something to be said for going with the action storyline with a potential twist along the way. And with this one throwing Diana to Apokalips, that will make for some solid action right there.
The impetus to things here is having Hippolyta send Diana off to Apokalips in order to track down two Amazons that were sent there recently on a secret fact finding mission. While it’s a whole other world, there have been so many incursions by Darkseid over the years that even Paradise Island must know what’s going on in order to ensure their survival. What complicates things here for Diana is that when she goes, knowing that the two other warriors are likely dead, is that she has to find out what happened without causing a further incident that could lead to a massive, sprawling war and even more chaos. That’s a heavy task no matter how capable the persons because so many variables are involved.
Diana’s arrival on Apokalips moves quickly, as you would expect with a Boom Tube, and with a quick costume change, she’s making her way to her contact to find out what happened. Nobody can be trusted on Apokalips though and we see quickly just how bad things can go and what kind of quick to violence types there are around, which event feels like it throws Diana off some with how she handles it. There’s a good couple of fight sequences along the way as she deals with the riff raff first before getting thrown into a pit of fire herself and those work well in terms of choreography and general design with the artwork. Because it moves so quickly though, from arrival to betrayal to fight, we don’t really get to know those involved, nor those who pulled the final trick in the last couple of pages. It’s fun to watch but it’s hard to get invested in it at this point.
In Summary:
With this just being the first of three parts, it’s hard to judge it much because it’s the opening act. As an opening act, we’re thrown into events quickly with a decent enough setup and an idea of what’s to come, though a twist comes along the way that Hippolyta may have another secret plan going on here. The story moves quickly, though a few more names of characters would have been nice, and it’s paced decently even though a few spots feel rushed, which I wouldn’t have expected as much with three full issues to work with. Hardman’s artwork is definitely the big draw here though as we get a good sense of Diana’s strength and ability and we get a pretty fiery view of Apokalips that’s done well, especially with the color design that really makes it feel like a lived in place of awfulness.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 27th, 2014
MSRP: $0.99
