WONDER WOMAN #612

Ghost Of The Gods

August 2011

Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Phil Hester

Pencils by Don Kramer

Inks by Wayne Faucher

Covers by Lee Garbett and Alex Garner

Synopsis

The Morrigan is attacking Diana of Themyscira, hoping to make her one of them.  She is saved by Artemis, who kills the Morrigan.  Artemis then dies.  Just then, the building explodes.  Diana awakens in the rubble to find the cat, Galenthias.  She gives Diana her lasso, which leads her to a door.  Before she can do anything, she is confronted by the Greek Gods and Goddesses, who explain they were driven to exile by Nemesis.  Diana was their window back to reality.  They gave her what power and guidance they could.  Now she must go through the door where two forces will meet in a final contest.  Diana wonders how she can prevail when Gods and Goddesses failed.  She is told that a human heart that has been loved, that Diana the woman is more powerful than any God.  Diana opens the door and enters.  Inside she encounters her loved ones, zombies, who are now coming after her.  She destroys them to find herself confronted by Nemesis, who looks exactly like her! 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This is the exposition issue (and I really should write up an explanation for an easy link).  Anyway, what it means is that this is the issue in which the writer devotes to explaining the plot through the use of dialogue and/or narration.  Usually it is in the form of the villain “monologuing” before we get to the fight at the end.  Sometimes it is the main character explaining to the reader what they have just learned within the story.  Or, sometimes, as we get here, it comes from a sidekick or partner or ally who always had the knowledge but never deigned to share it until now.  Regardless of the method, the exposition is designed to essentially recap the story, fill-in the blanks to the mysteries, and set-up what will become the finale.  Most of the time the exposition derails the momentum of an issue and sometimes even stops the story dead in its tracks. 

Sadly, the latter is what happens here, mostly because I am not really sure it needed any exposition at all, which makes its presence even more grating.  I think most of the concepts and ideas that the Gods tell Diana is stuff that has been explored (and explained) in previous issues.  Granted, we finally learn what Diana needed to learn about herself, why the Gods were considered to be dead, and who the ultimate villain is supposed to be, but everything is clunky and ungainly.  So much so that the best scene of the book, Diana’s walk through the dead loses some of its impact.  We spend so much time trying to explain what has happened to Diana, we kinda lose out on what is happening to Diana (if that makes sense).  What should’ve been a dark, foreboding moment just comes across flat.  I really like the art, the gray colors and washed out look, but after so much exposition, I just wanted to get to the end and the first image of Nemesis.  Which is sad, really.  At the very least, we now have reached the finale.

Nemesis (the Greek Goddess, not the character that became Diana’s boyfriend and potential source of seed) was the Goddess of retribution for those with hubris against the Gods.  Apparently, only the Gods get to be arrogant.  Nemesis was viewed as an avenging Goddess.  I suppose as a villain it makes sense, but it feels so random.  I get it that Straczynski was trying to tell a story about the idea of Wonder Woman, so I am sure the villain was an afterthought, I was just hoping it didn’t feel like it was an afterthought.  Hopefully the next issue will provide something more than just a big ‘ol slobber knocker fight.

PREVIOUS ISSUE	Main		Page	NEXT ISSUE