WONDER WOMAN #35

Birds Of Paradise, Part Two:  Cradle In Grave

October 2009

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Aaron Lopresti

Inks by Matt Ryan

Cover by Aaron Lopresti and Bernard Chang

Synopsis

In Tokyo, Wonder Woman and Black Canary are in disguise as arena fighters in an attempt to find Dr. Psycho and rescue Sarge Steel.  They have learned Dr. Psycho has switched bodies.  That night, Wonder Woman uses the lasso on Dr. Pyscho’s body to awaken the mind of Sarge Steel trapped inside.  In the arena, the duo prepare to battle.  Their opponent is Pele, the daughter of Kane Milohai, the God to whom Diana had offered fealty.  Now, Pele wants revenge for the death of her father at the hands of Zeus.  Pele literally removes Wonder Woman from the arena.  Pele blames Wonder Woman for her father’s death.  Wonder Woman realizes this and decides to make amends.  She kneels to Pele.  All of her vows to her father are now passed to Pele.  Later, Wonder Woman returns to the arena in time to save Sarge Steel and capture Dr. Psycho.  Back home, Tom Tresser decides to end his relationship with Wonder Woman.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I was enjoying this issue, especially the interaction between Diana and Dinah, until the confrontation with Pele.  While I liked the fact that Simone is following up previous events in this title and is making the book a flowing narrative rather the disconnected story arcs, the entire scene didn’t feel right to me.  Maybe it is the fact that Pele seemed out of place in the story to capture Dr. Psycho and rescue Sarge Steel.  It is like Simone started in one direction and went in another.  Plus, I am also a little disappointed that Dr. Psycho as caught so quickly (and relatively easily).  Despite these qualms, I liked the issue and I hope that Dinah sticks around a little bit longer (or maybe Simone took over the Green Arrow/Black Canary title since this is the most I have enjoyed her character in a while). 

So, what happened with Pele after Wonder Woman made her offer?  We can assume, by the fact that Diana is still alive, that Pele took her up on the offer.  Why?  After beating Diana close to death, why would Pele suddenly change her mind.  Or did she not have a choice in the matter.  I would have liked to have read the scene with that acceptance and the reasons why.  Is it that difficult to add a panel or two where Pele makes her decision?  Why the sudden cut to the next scene and the lack of answer?  Simone builds this issue up to that moment and then, poof, we are onto the ending that isn’t connected to anything in the main plot. 

On the final page, Diana looks surprised.  She shouldn’t.  She told Tom, while under the influence of the lasso, that she didn’t love him and only want to breed with him.  So, when he breaks up with her, she shouldn’t be stunned at the news.  Heartbroken and sad, perhaps, but not surprised, which is the look that Lopresti has given her on the last page.

Besides the Wonder Woman statue on pages 2 and 3, there are ones for Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Superman, unknown (Lobo?) riding a motorcycle, Captain Carrot, what looks to be Brother Blood, and a sword-wielding woman that I can’t quite make out.  The mask on the bottom of the Wonder Woman statue kinda looks like a Transformer. 

The combatants who fight Black Canary include Bolt (who was killed in this issue of Terror Titans), Killer Frost, King Shark (who was killed in this issue), and others I don’t recognize.  One appears to the be the opposite of Mr. Terrific, but I don’t recall his name.  It is interesting to note that Simone used Bolt in an issue of Secret Six a little while ago.  There must be something about the character that she likes.

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