WONDER WOMAN #15

The Circle, Part Two of Four:  Dead Heat

February 2008

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Terry Dodson

Inks by Rachel Dodson

Cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson

Synopsis

Then...Queen Hippolyta’s royal guards fiercely protect their charge while at the same time protecting Themyscira.  When an Amazon takes a doll and pretends it is her own daughter, the leader of the royal guard orders her death, to avoid the madness spreading throughout the island.  Now...Agent Diana Prince is fighting against Captain Nazi, who claims his brethren is at that moment invading Themyscira.  Diana is able to subdue him and learn of his plans to wipe out the Amazons.  On Themyscira, Hippolyta prepares to fight against the invading Nazis.  Meanwhile, Diana visits various Gods to beseech their help.  Kane Miohai, God of the Sky and Heavens, offers to help.  On Themyscira, the invading Nazis encounter one of the Queen’s royal guards, locked in a prison.  The guard offers to help the Nazis kill Hippolyta. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

To borrow a phrase from the upcoming tag on the DC Nation page at the end:  MORE goodness from Simone and company.  MORE great characterization of Wonder Woman, as we see her warrior mentality even when she did not have her powers and we also see her compassion after the lasso pulls out the truth from Captain Nazi.  MORE great artwork from the Dodsons, especially the first appearance of the Wonder Women as all we see are the tiara and bracelets against the dark background.  I also liked the visual representation of the lasso’s power.  Plus, MORE gorillas!  At this point, Simone and the Dodsons are doing a fantastic job in rebuilding Wonder Woman in terms of the character and the book and I want MORE. 

The opening sequence was scary and not because of what the royal guard did to the deluded Amazon, although that was pretty brutal.  No, what scared me were the “whittle babies,” not so much for what they represented, but also because it was a heartbreaking thing at the same time.  Simone is approaching Diana’s arrival (her birth, if you will) from an angle that I am surprised no one has thought of before.  When you have an island full of women living what one would call an immortal life, it is not surprising that many would feel the urge to have babies.  And it would also not be surprising that other women would find pregnancy an abomination.  I am curious to see where Simone takes this and what she does with it. 

I wonder where Simone is going with the scenes involving Diana going to the various Gods for help.  For whatever reason, the editors decided to remove the Greek Gods from the DC universe.  Simone may be trying to find a way around this by giving her a new set of mythology Gods to interact with in the future.  Or perhaps this is just a way to get to the next storyline, which will feature Kane Miohai in some way. 

One of the Gods that Diana visits is Shazam, the wizard living in the Rock Of Eternity, as seen on the middle panel of Page 20.  Unfortunately, Shazam was killed during the Day of Vengeance mini-series and the current resident of the Rock of Eternity is Billy Baston, the former Captain Marvel, who looks nothing like the person depicted in this issue.  It is goofs like this one that make me wonder who in editorial is looking at each issue before it goes to print.  It is not like Shazam’s death is new; his death occurred over 2 years ago!

Comic Connection

According to the editor’s box on the title page, this issue takes place before Countdown #30.  In that issue, released nearly two months ago, Holly Robinson and other women have come to Paradise Island under the guidance of “Athena.” 

PREVIOUS ISSUE	Main		Page	NEXT ISSUE