WONDER WOMAN #22

Ends Of The Earth, Part 3 of 4:  A Cooperation of Killers

September 2008

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Aaron Lopresti

Inks by Matt Ryan

Cover by Aaron Lopresti

Synopsis

Wonder Woman has visions of being an all-powerful Queen of the world, but realizes that it is just the waking dreams caused by the Stalker.  Along with Stalker, Beaowulf, and Claw, Wonder Woman sets out to find the Oracle, who tells them D’Grth is waiting for them.  In Washington DC, Nemesis enters Diana Princes apartment to deal with the Gorillas housed inside.  In the middle of the attack, Donna Troy appears and demands to know what is going on.  Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and company reach the Black Horizon, where they find D’Grth.  In the midst of battle, Stalker betrays the group, attempting to kill Wonder Woman.  Although Beowulf saves her, he dies.  Wonder Woman then attacks Stalker, but uses the attack to steal the piece of the Rock of Eternity.  With it she then brings D’Grth to the Earth to finish the fight.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

My head is spinning.  This is not a good thing.  I mentioned in the last review that Simone has clear idea of where she wants to go with this story and the themes she wants to explore, but the manner in which she is attacking the story is just not working.  It is confusing and uncertain, presenting ideas and scenes that don’t seem to add anything or go anywhere.  Sometimes, literally.  Last issue’s cliffhanger dealt with Hippolyta realizing the Alkyone is still alive.  Neither character appears anywhere in this issue.  We also saw last issue Diana’s hand turn into a red claw.  We don’t even see that claw until page 8 and even then I am not sure it is really explained what it is meant to signify.  Nor do we see her receive the red gauntlet, which plays an important role late in this issue.  In a way this might be stylistic choice since the Stalker has supposedly pulled Diana into some kind of dream-like state, which explains the opening sequence.  But Simone doesn’t really explain how or why these dreams are occurring.  They are supposed to be Diana’s manifestation of who she might be if she gave into her base desires, but they appear haphazardly to the point where you can be sure what is real or not.  Again, I think this might a conscious choice by Simone, but the execution does not make it clear what is going and as a result it hurts the story. 

I think the other problem with this storyline is the subplot featuring Nemesis.  Not so much because the Nemesis stuff is not good (actually the fight with the gorillas was quite good) but the fact that Diana is stuck in a dream world while Nemesis is in the real world, or more accurately the DC universe.  The two don’t quite mesh together.  In an odd way, the scenes with Nemesis tend to ground Diana’s scenes, making it more real than I think Simone wants.  Simone is attempting to create an otherworldly atmosphere, but the Nemesis parts are working against her.  If that makes any sense. 

Now we know for certain.  The barbarian in this story is not Conan, but rather Claw the Unconquered, who first appeared in DC Comics in 1975.  Claw’s first appearance occurred during what has been termed as the “DC Explosion” when a number of titles appeared during that year.  Other titles that year include Stalker and Beowulf.  All of these titles were canceled rather quickly in the “DC Implosion.”  I don’t know if it is important or not, but the Wonder Woman tv show’s first season was also in 1975.

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