Wonder Woman #33 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Cliff Chiang (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Among other things, Diana is queen of rejection.

The Review: Just a word of warning that there’ll be delays in reviews this week. It’s Bar Exam times in California, so at least you’ll know that I’m not shirking my semi-duties for the fun of it. Believe me when I tell you that I would much rather be spending my day discussing Wonder Woman with you guys. But since that can’t be, we’ll just have to content ourselves with this passing, though potentially enlightening, review.

I don’t much like monsters for villains, except in cartoons. They’re easy to hate and kill, but that’s not a very interesting use of a character. Needless to say, I’ve had my issues with the First Born as the main antagonist for this series. When his ultimate goal is simply to destroy everything—not for any particular reason other than just to make sure everything’s destroyed—there’s not much more you can do with him except hope his defeat comes sooner rather than later.

Recent issues have tried to complicate him a bit, but the closest he comes to having anything resembling human feeling is his newfound desire to have Diana by his side. So that’s what Strife was aiming for with all her talk last issue of having someone to sing his praises to him after all the destruction’s done. Most of his overtures to Diana, as you can imagine, are hardly romantic, being more of the take-me-or-all-your-loved-ones-die variety. But there’s one moment in which he finally tries a bit of flattery, calling her god of war, queen of Amazons, Wonder Woman, all of which she rejects. “My name is Diana. Those other words are just descriptions, not names.”

“I… Join me.” That’s the first time we’ve seen the First Born hesitate, and we all know hesitation often means more than a whole speech of words. Diana’s insistence on having him call her by her name is an invitation for him to know her beyond status or title as simply herself, the sincerest and most personal response he’s ever had. His reply is remarkably gentle and, you should note, obedient. “Diana…take my hand.”

She refuses, of course, and he reverts with perhaps a bit of regret to being horrible again, but there’s a crack in that monstrous guise now. Not that you can see it from the merciless rampage he wreaks upon Paradise Island. Despite the unity between Amazon women and men and the assistance of several gods, things look very bleak for the good guys by the end of the issue, and even the cheer-worthy moment when a still statuesque Hippolyta rises to inspire the troops doesn’t get them out of hot water.

The Amazons’ courage is admirable, but the violence is tragic and hollow, and it’s this dichotomy of war that inspires Hermes and Dio’s philosophical discussion of mortality. Dio is disgusted, even aghast, by the rush to death when being alive is “the absolute thing they can be[.]” Hermes’ response is obtuse so as to be nearly nonsensical, but you can pick notes of pity and admiration in his voice. “We don’t fight against death, because we have no need. And we never confuse the battle against death…with the end of life.” In short, the gods aren’t in the habit of fighting to preserve life because life is an entitlement for them. That’s probably why now, when their lives actually are at stake, it’s the mortals who take charge.

Chiang brings such dignity to everything he does, such that even the ferocity and chaos of war seems to take on a kind of profoundness. In every panel on Paradise Island, you can see characters in the background and foreground in action, with a great deal of clarity. Someone is always tussling or stabbing or aiming at someone else, and someone is always falling. Chiang makes you appreciate the needless horror of conflict in a way you often lose sight of in most superhero comics. And can I just say that I love the way Wilson colors blood? Instead of being gaudy or cheap, it looks dark and almost sacred, which allows you to appreciate the violence of the issue even more.

Conclusion: The plot is simple, but there are some rich layers beneath the surface, and you can’t beat Chiang’s art.

Grade: A-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Figures that the moment I start liking Aleka, she dies. But having seen her pop up on future covers, I expect she’ll have a second chance at life—if only to have her begrudging acceptance of her Amazonian brothers rubbed in her face.