Another dynamic duo highlights this week’s Sensation Comics as the Amazon Princess is working with mighty Big Barda. Barda lends a hand to Wonder Woman against some rather obscure villains who initiate a bizarre museum heist.
I was terribly unimpressed with this week’s issue as a whole from both the story and the artwork. When I heard through the grapevine that Big Barda was teaming up with Wonder Woman I was so ready to see some epic action from the both of them but instead it was more cheesy talking than fighting. Adam P. Knave was the scripting behind the issue and honestly he dropped the ball. Not only did the entire issue make no sense whatsoever, it also lacked any real wit to the dialogue. He seemed to dumb down both women in not only their fighting styles but language as well. I know they were fighting apes but he didn’t have to make the woman talk and act like them too. Having read a lot of Big Barda I was disappointed in Knaves’ rendition of her and definitely didn’t get that epic god-like feeling that I thought was coming from her appearance.
Matthew Dow Smith also missed his mark with the artwork, not only making it look crude and sketchy but losing a lot of the all-around detail in the issue. Though well-spaced in his panel work, I felt that the beauty Wonder Woman usually emanates was drowned out by heavy black contours and loosely formed features. It was also disappointing for Rex Loxus whose has been doing amazing work in Injustice; we now see his colouration really fall flat in Sensation Comics. I would have expected a lot more pop from his coloration Platte and a better choice of hues for the environments around the two ladies.
Positives
Having the old school Fury come back for this one short story was a pleasant surprise for regular readers. I love seeing some of more forgotten characters that disappeared when the 52 reboot happened, reappear in short stories like these. Wonder Woman and Big Barda are a really great team and I was also happy to see that Knave kept with the original design of the Fury’s outfit.
Negatives
Unfortunately this was not issue I had been expecting; from the weakly written script to the scratchy art style I was completely lost. The banter between the ladies was not as clever as I had hoped nor was it cheeky in any form despite Knave trying to be. The entire plot was forced, falling flat with more talking and acted fight scenes then actual citizen saving in the end. I wanted to see an epic mythical battle between two fiery women who really could have been quite an unstoppable team. Also the villains were incredibly washed out. Gorillas made even less sense as we saw the real brains behind the operation. And despite being an actual Brain, he had very little actual brain power even before he devised his plan. Sadly it was just another bump in the road for Wonder Woman who really could have handled the situation on her own.
Verdict
So with another adventure over and done with, Wonder Woman proves she’s always ready to tackle any situation in Sensation Comics. Teammates at the ready and more than welcome to help out, stay tuned to see what Wonder Woman is facing next.
Rating
