In volume one of Rucka’s newest Wonder Woman run, something is very wrong. Our protagonist doesn’t trust her memory – everything from her birth onward is shrouded in mystery. Was she created by clay and a prayer? Is Zeus her father? How did she come to leave her home and enter our world? Is she the god of war? Wonder Woman doesn’t know. Rucka’s decision to make the powerful protagonist such an unreliable narrator is a good one. If Wonder Woman isn’t in control of herself, who is, and what are the consequences?
Wonder Woman’s desire to find the truth sends her on a mission into what seems to be a tropical rainforest from a 1980s fantasy book (2000 AD’s Liam Sharp illustrated the book). She tracks down Cheetah for help. Along the way, she has to fight a bunch of werewolf-looking bad guys. Steve also shows up in the book at some point. He is quippy and says things like, “You’ve got some toxic ideas about masculinity, dude!”
I won’t give the rest of the plot away because I can’t – I didn’t understand it. Most of the central characters were new to me. I didn’t understand their relation to or history with Wonder Woman. This was frustrating to me since the book says things like “Rebirth” and “Volume 1” on the cover. I assumed I would be able to jump right in. I’m as confused as Wonder Woman herself about what is going on.
While I’m generally a Rucka fan, I did not enjoy this book. Sharp’s fantasy art was awesome for villains and machinery, and less awesome for humans. There’s a certain aesthetic to the books that looks more like 1990s comics than the gorgeous art we’re more used to from most Image and Marvel titles.
I don’t recommend this book. Pre-order the movie instead.