WONDER WOMAN #32

Rise of the Olympian, Part 7: Compound Fracture

July 2009

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Aaron Lopresti

Inks by Matt Ryan

Cover by Aaron Lopresti and Francis Manapul

Synopsis

In Washington DC, Wonder Woman battles Genocide.  Overhead, Tom Tresser (aka Nemesis) targets Genocide with a bomb provided by Dr. Morrow.  It doesn’t work.  Genocide tosses a bus into Tresser’s helicopter.  Wonder Woman tries to help, but Genocide stops her.  Wonder Woman manages to break free.  She then saves the bus, allowing Tom to crash.  On the ground, Genocide grabs Tresser.  Genocide tells Wonder Woman to admit she doesn’t love Tresser or she will kill him.  Wonder Woman admits she doesn’t love him.  Wonder Woman then is able to free Tresser and attack Genocide.  As they battle, Wonder Woman manages to grab the lasso and literally rip it out of Genocide’s body.  Genocide then falls into the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, where Wonder Woman watches her fall.  For a moment Wonder Woman lets her go, then goes after her to save her.  On Thalarion, Ares confirms Genocide has return to him before he summons all the creatures of the seas to Themyscira and to Thalarion, to extinguish two cultures.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Is it just me or does Genocide have her eye plate ripped off in each of the last three issues.  You would think she would realize it is useless to put it back on; it is only going to yank off again. 

Anyway, while I think Lopresti and Simone do a competent, professional job with this issue, building a terrific fight with some great action and suspense, this all-fight issue comes far too late in the story to have any real type of impact or meaning.  It is, essentially, the last in a long series of fights between the two.  Moreover, at this point, we know that Genocide is only a stopgap villain, someone tossed in front of Wonder Woman while Zeus and Ares do their dirty work behind the scenes.  It is those machinations that are driving the story right now.  Reading this fight, you know the outcome doesn’t make much of a difference.  We’re getting ready for true battle coming up.  It is well done, but lacks any type of punch (if you pardon the pun). 

I do have a small problem with the ending.  It didn’t feel right when Wonder Woman went after Genocide to save her.  It makes Diana seem wishy-washy for her to dive in after Genocide after spending the previous 20 or so pages talking about killing her.  Maybe for another character it might work, but Wonder Woman has a history of a willingness to kill in the midst of a war.  Wonder Woman is a warrior and I think would accept the loss of the life of a combatant. 

In Greek mythology, Euphemus was the son of Poseidon who was given the power to walk on water and was the helmsman of the Argonauts. 

Interesting little cameo there by the Shield, one of the Red Circle characters that are set to appear in a mini-series later this year.  In Superman, issue #688 (released the same day as this issue), some of the red Circle appear on a phalanx of Monitors.  I am guessing that DC is including these characters here and there as way to generate some publicity or advertising, hoping readers are intrigued enough by these quick appearances to check out the books when they hit the shelves.  The fact that the Shield is never identified suggests that it might’ve even been a last minute art change.

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