Wonder Woman Issues #41-43

DC

Sep 02, 2015 DC Comics By Cody Ray Shafer

Wonder Woman’s relaunch with the New 52 was one of the more celebrated series, however, the retooling of her origin at the hands of her current creative team late last year was certainly not above criticism, and Wonder Woman has been trudging along since. With another major shakeup in the DC Universe, Meredith and David Finch have yet another chance to push the Amazonian goddess in a new direction.

Issue 41 kicks off a new arc with Diana seeking balance between her many roles, which is a promising direction for the new relaunch if executed well. To accompany this shift, she dons a whole new costume, the major selling point of this issue. The costume itself does offer a more comfortable portrayal of Wonder Woman, but raises more questions than it does resolve criticisms of female portrayal in comics. By contrast, in this month’s Sensation Comics #13 Diana defends her traditional costume choice as a “celebration and a delight, not a shield,” a curious rebuttal to the recent change. Wonder Woman may be seeking a balance between her roles as superheroine and feminist idol, but her creators appear conflicted over what balance is most comfortable.

Wonder Woman’s inner quest is quickly sidelined by her mission, which even three issues into an arch is vague and scattered. Someone is trying to lure and kill Wonder Woman, and also Donna Troy has escaped her prison on Themyscira. She embarks on a search for Donna, while running into various supernatural entities leaving clues to her whereabouts. The larger plot is disconnected from the character growth hinted at back in issue 41, but perhaps it’s asking too much to expect a nuanced approach to such a complicated and important character.

DC is determined to somehow bring Wonder Woman into a whole new paradigm, but Meredith and David Finch’s approach does not exactly inspire confidence. It’s a shame that for such a bold start with her New 52 relaunch, Wonder Woman now barely triumphs over mediocrity. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 5.5/10

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Average reader rating: 10/10

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Michael
September 2nd 2015
1:26pm

Hear, hear! While I don’t hate this run I’m kind of sick of WW always questioning herself about who she is and where she fits into the world. The Finch’s are hardly the first to explore that with Diana and you’d think after 70+ years of Wonder Woman’s publication she would’ve figured that out by now. And that new outfit - Good GOD!! - what were they thinking?? I don’t have much of an objection in changing WW’s look while keeping her basic visuals familiar, but this is just a train wreck. It’s like David Finch said, “How can I incorporate EVERY aspect of Diana into one flashy costume” and then he puked out this eyesore. It’s way too busy, it’s dated and, seriously? - Thigh high boots?? Let’s take the sex out of WW (which is ironic since her whole creation was based on sex) and give her hooker boots.

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