Review: Wonder Woman #76
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Cheetah returns to these pages with a vengeance! Lex Luthor has given his fellow Legionnaire of Doom everything she needs to slake her thirst with Diana’s blood, once and for all!
Positives
I love the cover by Jesus Merino and Romulo Fajardo Jr. Cheetah’s hand smashing through the Wonder Woman logo is so cool. And it looks great.
Lee Garbett’s interior art is also great. It has a very charming style. The characters are expressive and it fits well with Fajardo Jr.’s colors.
There’s a nice vibe about this issue. It’s about mothers and daughters reuniting and G. Willow Wilson doesn’t feel the need to complicate it more than that. The issue focuses on these nice beats between the characters. Obviously, it also plays into the issue presumably being the calm before the storm given how the issue ends. But that’s necessary for the pacing of this run which has been a little shaky. I think Wilson has found momentum and I’m really involved in how this story will play out.
One of my favorite aspects of Greg Rucka’s Rebirth run was Diana’s complicated relationship with Veronica Cale. That’s represented well here. I love the dialogue between the two; Wilson nails that dynamic. And it’s great that Diana is so determined to help Cale even after everything. That compassion is a big part of the character’s appeal.
The ending is great. It goes back to pacing. Wilson makes the scene slow to the point of unease; there’s a great amount of suspense. The second the scene starts, the reader knows how the scene will play out and it’s incredibly effective.
I appreciate how little this feels like a tie in. This is a natural continuation of everything that has happened in the Wonder Woman book since Rebirth started. The only element that feels like a tie to something else is how Cheetah got the Godkiller sword. But that detail doesn’t really matter. This story hasn’t stopped dead in its tracks to serve something else going on in the DC universe.
Negatives
There are no negatives worth mentioning.
Verdict
I loved this issue. There’s a personal nature to it that’s really appealing. It’s nice to have the missing Themyscira story resolved and that Diana can travel between both worlds again. It’s solid development and it effectively allows the reader to catch his breath before this big conflict with Cheetah. The art is great and I really enjoyed reading it.
