WONDER WOMAN #11

Hubris, Part 1 of 2

September 2007

Written by J. Torres

Pencils by Paco Diaz

Inks by Paco Diaz

Cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson

Synopsis

Princess Diana (aka Wonder Woman) stands before her mother, Queen Hippolyta, and tells her she will have to kill her daughter if she wants the Amazons to win the war.  Before Hippolyta can act, Superman arrives to take Diana away.  He tells her that she has more pressing needs.  Tom Tresser (aka Nemesis) is dying and Diana is the only one who can get the antidote, which is located in Themyscira.  Diana asks Athena to take her back home and she finds herself on Paradise Island.  Meanwhile, Mr. Terrific, Black Canary, and Wildcat attempt to stop the missile currently aimed at Themyscira, but with Circe’s magic powering the launch codes, they fail.  On Themyscira, Diana sees the missile and tries to stop it, but she can’t.  She pleads to Athena for help.  When Athena appears, Diana demands to know why she has let the Amazons wage war on America.  Athena tells Diana is not up to Diana to tell a Goddess how to act. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

A slight, but interesting read.  I say slight because half the issue either features a summarization of scenes played out elsewhere (the first three pages recap issue #4 of Amazons Attack) or don’t actually feature Wonder Woman (6 pages of Mr. Terrific and others).  So that leaves very little Diana.  Even when she does appear we get wordless, drawn out sequences such as the attempt to stop the missile or the two pages to describe Paradise Island.  So, all in all, this feels like a lot of decompression. The last couple of pages, with Diana and Athena were the meat of the issue (and presumably the next issue as well) while the rest of it was included just to fill out the requisite 22 pages.  It feels like Torres had one issue written, but was told it needed to be two so he added more to stretch it out.  That is not to say that this issue wasn’t bad, because it wasn’t bad.  There some good moments, like Diana’s reaction when Athena failed to take her back to Nemesis and Athena’s first appearance.  It just made me wonder why we were getting non-Diana moments in Wonder Woman.

For anyone reading the Amazons Attack mini-series and following the story in all of the various tie-in issues, right here is the dues ex machina that could end the war without anyone actually winning the war.  With a wave of her might wand, Athena could end the fight and repair the destruction.  And just like that, it is over. 

Out of curiosity, why has the abbreviation for Department of Methuman Affairs been changed from DMA to DOMA?  And why does the explanation of the abbreviation appear on page 6 when it is first used on page 4? 

It is an odd choice to seen Black Canary, a member and leader of the Justice League, on a mission with Mr. Terrific and Wildcat, members of the Justice Society.  I realize the teams are working together, but wouldn’t you think Power Girl could go with them or something. 

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