Review – Wonder Woman #35

by Myke Havoc
3 comments

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Last week, Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang gave us the beginning of their story in Secret Origins. Now, after three years of epic story-telling that redefined the most recognizable female character in all of comics, they deliver to us the finale of their tale with this week’s Wonder Woman #35.

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After an agonizing wait from delays and the interruption of Futures End month, we were finally treated to the first issue of the two-part ending earlier this month. We pick up here right where we left off, with Poseidon rising to take the vacant throne.
Diana, Hermes and a possessed Zola (by whom was hinted at in Secret Origins) must protect baby Zeke from his wrath.

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Zola quickly dispatches of Poseidon and struggles to understand her new heightened sense of power. The dreaded First Born rises from the blood pit, ready to finish what he set out to do. The players begin their brutal, final battle, trading blow for blow and blood for blood. I won’t spoil anymore than is shown in the preview pages posted here.

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Positives

The incredible art and storytelling that has been there since issue one is still on full display. The scale, the laugh out loud humor, the poignancy. This has been, more than anything, a story about a dysfunctional family. The love, the hate, the betrayal. Like Superman, the best Wonder Woman stories are the ones we can relate to, and this certainly hits home. It’s hyperbolic and literal, showing us things we understand by putting them in a visual medium that reflects how grand they feel to us mere mortals.

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Negatives

Honestly? I just wish there was more. Things wrap up a bit quickly, with a fair amount of dangling threads, but that’s likely more to give the next team coming to the book some things to pick up and run with if they so choose. But I can’t lie: I’d have loved another ten or twenty pages to touch on a few more of the character relationships. Where does everyone stands with one another after what has taken place?

Verdict

Wonder Woman #35 is a fantastic conclusion to a run that will likely go down as one of, if not THE best the character has ever had. While short, it is still sweet, hitting all the right beats and giving fans the perfect cap to this mammoth tale. The Finches have a hell of a task ahead, having to follow this up. Best of luck to them.

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