Review: WONDER WOMAN #71
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Xermanico
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Aphrodite’s son just might know the secret to reuniting Wonder Woman with her long-lost family and home on Paradise Island…but even if he does—and is willing to tell her—would she be able to survive the journey?
Positives
The interior art is fine. Some of my problems with how the previous issues looked are still there but I didn’t find them as distracting. Maybe I’m just getting used to the style. There are certain panels that look great. There is some nice art throughout.
While I think the book is too explicit in stating its themes, I still very much enjoy the central idea of Diana restricting herself for the sake of others. I like that as a conflict for her. She has desires that she has to repress. In the issue, she feels an attraction to Atlantiades but she refuses to act on it. The idea is whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
Negatives
I don’t love the cover. The faces look a little weird to me especially Aphrodite. It doesn’t look interesting to me at all as an image. This is not something that would get me to buy the issue.
I wish the thematic elements weren’t completely laid out in dialogue. I understand everything that Wilson was going for in the last issue. This one kind of beats you over the head with these ideas. Elements that were previously somewhat subtle are now overt. And it’s always awkward when character start talking in theme. They’re gods so the book can somewhat get away with it but I still found some of the dialogue to be unnatural.
Verdict
This issue is fine. I am overall enjoying the story. Wilson writes Diana well and that always shows through. My biggest gripe is that I wish the issue didn’t feel the need to over explain itself. It feels repetitive because it’s all the material that I understood based on the last issue stated in dialogue. But it’s still an enjoyable read.
