Review: Wonder Woman #77
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artists: Jesus Merino & Vicente Cifuentes
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
The Greek god Hephaestus forged the mythological sword called the God Killer. With its eldritch energies, the sword’s wielder can lay waste to armies and, most notably, slay even the mightiest of immortals. Meet its new owner: Cheetah. And that spells bad news for Wonder Woman.
Positives
The cover by Jesus Merino and Romulo Fajardo Jr. looks great. It’s well drawn and effectively creepy.
The interior art is also great. Merino’s pencils are very detailed with expressive faces. The characters are grieving the death of Aphrodite and the weight of that death can really be felt through the art.
Negatives
My one complaint about the cover is that it is too gruesome. Selling a book using Wonder Woman lying in a pool of her own blood is strange. There’s no way to prevent kids from seeing that image; I think it’s off putting and unnecessary.
There’s a strange element towards the end of the book. With Aphrodite dead, it is made clear that love is dead. And with this realization, Diana begins to lose in her fight against Cheetah despite previously dominating the fight. I find that bizarre. For one, Wonder Woman being powered from the literal power of love is a bit much. Love and compassion are a strength but it’s weird that she can’t seem to do anything. And what’s stranger is that Diana is able to fight just fine until it is said out loud that Aprodite’s death could have other consequences. Obviously, that’s a choice made for the sake of drama but it took me out.
Steve feels a little selfish in this. An actual god was murdered in his house and when Diana wants to go after the killer, Steve whines wanting to know when he will be Diana’s first priority. Under different circumstances, I might be more sympathetic to Steve but this really is not the right time for his angst.
Verdict
This issue is fine for the most part. There is a compelling weight to Aphrodite’s death that comes from both solid writing and great art. However, the issue does kind of lose me towards the end. Diana being unable to fight due to Aphrodite’s death even though she was just able to fight literally a minute ago was weird. It’s an over-simplification of her powers and feels anti-climatic.
