[Editor’s note: This review contains no spoilers.]
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artists: Liam Sharp and Laura Martin
Summary
Wonder Woman and Cheetah join forces while Steve Trevor continues his investigation.
The Positives
I really like the cover by Liam Sharp and Laura Martin. Cheetah is standing uncomfortably close to Diana; it’s unsettling and I like that. I also like the way the sun is setting in the background. Using that in her colors, Martin gives the cover a cool effect.
Sharp does the interior art as well with Martin on colors. And it’s really good. There’s a level of detail from Sharp that is really impressive on everything from rocks to facial expressions. Personally, I tend to be drawn towards the color in a book more than most and Martin is doing a great job. Her colors create a duality to the forest in which it is both beautiful and terrifying. The entire book looks amazing.
The forest in which Diana finds Cheetah is really cool. I don’t know if it’s from previous Wonder Woman lore because I’m not that familiar with her history but it’s fun. Cheetah has a legion of followers there but there is also a rival tribe there trying to kill Cheetah. The various beasts are well designed and I like this concept a lot.
Greg Rucka gives the reader context on Cheetah’s origin but doesn’t treat it like exposition. The way he writes it in feels natural and it benefits new readers without hindering old ones. People who have no clue who Cheetah is can figure it out easily from the dialogue but people who do know Cheetah’s history won’t feel like they have to read a bunch of stuff they already know.
I like how Diana interacts with Cheetah. She is incredibly kind and never confrontational even when Cheetah gets close to losing her temper. It was fun to see that back and forth between the two.
The Negatives
While I do love Sharp’s art, Diana has one facial expression throughout the issue and it’s eternal sadness. Some anger comes in during a fight but she isn’t very expressive. The emotion comes through and is very clear which is a huge credit to Sharp but I still would have liked to see at least a sad smile for some variation.
I didn’t think about this when I read Wonder Woman #1 but why does Diana need Cheetah’s help? I honestly have no idea how Cheetah is supposed to help. I imagine we will see in future issues but it seems like a strange choice for Diana and I don’t fully understand it.
While there is some cool stuff here, I was fairly bored throughout the issue. The ideas are interesting but nothing about the story is really engaging me fully while reading it. It has nothing to do with the technical abilities of anyone involved. They’re all doing a good job; I just don’t the find the story that interesting yet.
Verdict
Overall, I think this issue is okay. The art and colors are great, Diana is very well characterized and there’s some cool mythology worked in. However, I still find the issue to be boring. It works on a technical level but it doesn’t resonate with me that much. I would recommend waiting for the trade on this one.
