WONDER WOMAN #4

Who Is Wonder Woman? Part 4

February 2007

Written by Allan Heinberg

Pencils by Terry Dodson

Inks by Rachel Dodson

Cover by Terry & Rachel Dodson

Synopsis

The witch Circe has taken the combined powers of Diana, Donna, and Cassie and has become the new Wonder Woman.  In her new role, she has helped woman, but she has killed many men.  Both Donna and Cassie want to attack Circe, but Diana decides on a different approach.  Along with Hercules, who also lost his power, Diana flies to Circe’s home, hoping to find a counterspell and restore their powers.  Circe is waiting for them.  However, Hercules betrays them both and attempts to get Circe to give him all of the power.  before she can do that, however, she must reverse the old one, thus restoring Diana’s powers.  Diana becomes Wonder Woman, but must now face not only Circe and Hercules, but also Giganta, Cheetah, and Doctor Psycho and other villains. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I am sure that if you browse through this internet thing for reviews of this issue, the main topic of conversation will be the lateness of this issue.  If so, it is a shame, because on its own and as part of the storyline, it is very good.  But the story only works in context of the first three parts.  Since it has been nearly three months since the last issue hit the newsstands (in late November; it is now late February), it is tough to recall the storyline.  To be fair, I can’t blame anyone for dropping this title or for being annoyed at the lateness, nor can I blame a review of its content to focus on its lateness.  In a serial format, being late can certainly impact how one view the larger storyline.  Despite that, I still think this is a very good issue and hopefully will be viewed in that way rather than the late book. 

In my review of the last issue, I complained a little bit about the inclusion of Hercules in the story.  Once more I have to say the same thing.  I don’t his character brings anything to the story and towards the end unnecessarily complicates matters.  The key to this story is that Diana must get her powers back and when she does, she is confronted by all of her villains.  It seems fairly straightforward and with her battle with Circe, exciting enough on its own.  But then toss in Hercules and the story gets bog down with exposition on how he was with Circe, but then she betrayed him, blah, blah, blah.  To me, it drags down the story at the end.  Personally, I would’ve liked to seen some of the Hercules stuff dumped and little more interaction from Donna and Cassie and Diana about their powers and how it feels to be suddenly powerless. 

There might be a continuity glitch in this issue.  At the beginning, Diana appears with Stargirl, Power Girl, and Dr. Mid-Nite as well as Liberty Belle.  The inclusion of Liberty Belle (whose first appearance is in the first issue of the new JSA) suggests that Diana is sitting with the reformed JSA.  Yet, the reformed JSA does not occur until after the JLA reforms, which hasn’t happened yet (and is even mentioned by Stargirl).  The JLA can’t reform until Diana decides she wants to be Wonder Woman.  That will happen at the end of this arc.  So, it could be a glitch.

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