Review: Wonder Woman #752
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Max Raynor
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Wonder Woman must stop Valda, a time-displaced knight from causing chaos in Boston. But the real question is: Is Valda friend or foe?!
Positives
The cover is okay. I certainly like the color contrast between Diana and Valda. But it’s an awkward pose and I think the characters themselves look a little weird.
The interior art is great. Max Raynor’s pencils work well with Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s colors. It’s slightly stylized and allows for a lot of expression. The book looks great.
I always love when Steve Orlando writes Diana. There’s a consistent compassion her brings to her. She will use violence if she feels there is no other option but she would rather reach the person. I appreciate that she’s able to reason with Valda.
Negatives
I’m still not super keen on Warmaster. I enjoyed her friendship with Diana in that annual but her turn to darkness felt sudden and strange in that. Orlando tries to justify it a little more in this but it’s not quite working for me. Part of it is that it’s too familiar to the Silver Swan story. Both were friends of Diana who feel betrayed. I also generally don’t like secrets or lies being a main source of conflict. It’s so boring and overdone. Justifying murder and other horrible actions because someone kept a secret is a weak motivation.
I’m sure Valda will play a part in Warmaster’s plan, as well as Donna Troy who keeps getting mentioned, but here, everything feels so separate. It’s one of the downsides of reviewing individual pieces of a story. I’m not completely satisfied with this. It could potentially play well as part of the greater whole but, as a single issue, it’s a little dull and fragmented for me.
Verdict
This is an okay issue. Most of it is taken up by the fight between Diana and Valda which is fun. The dialogue is solid and I like how Diana resolves the fight. Orlando knows how to write this character. But that story being part of Warmaster’s machinations takes it down. I don’t find her to be a compelling villain due to a lame and over used motivation. I’m curious to see where some of this goes such as how Donna fits in but this issue wasn’t super enjoyable for me.
