Review: WONDER WOMAN #4

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WONDER WOMAN #4
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Nicola Scott and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: August 10, 2016

Man has come to Paradise, and one woman will never be the same again. Who will be the champion sent out into the world to defend it from an ancient evil? And how will her mother feel about it? Witness: The Contest.

Origins are tricky in comic books. Generally, they will vary over time, and certainly, Wonder Woman’s has taken some fine trips up and down the coasts of Themyscira over the course of 75 years. Every writer devoting more than a quick vignette to the endeavor will want to make their mark, draw a new line in the sand in one way or another. Add that quintessential difference that they hope stands the test of time and becomes hard canon in the next twenty-five tellings.

Greg Rucka doesn’t seem to be doing that here with Wonder Woman Year One, however. It’s too… contemplative an endeavor, this story he’s telling alongside artist Nicola Scott, to feel that crass an attempt at even soft iconoclasm.

No, Rucka isn’t reimagining. He’s not rejecting. He’s not carving out new space at all.

He and Scott are illuminating. So, it’s no wonder that the touching heart of this story shines so brightly off the page.

The details Rucka has rendered here are magnificent — so much so it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture story he’s telling. I almost missed the not-so subtle declaration of the common enemy Diana and Steve Trevor would ultimately face (if Castalia is to be believed) in the midst of so many beautiful touches that don’t feel revolutionary so much as revelatory.

Hippolyta and Philippus confirmed as lovers and partners, as so many writers have been wont to make explicit.

A Hippolyta who rejects selfishness in favor of knowing the true valiant nature of her daughter’s participation in the Contest.

A Diana who never has to hide her face to compete because she lives in a society where truth is the ultimate value.

Amazons who are as racially and bodily diverse as one would imagine an affirming culture of healthy women would have to be.

A language that has long ago left behind words like “brother” because they simply don’t apply — in a culture that doesn’t define women in any binary with men.

The pride that comes with finding that woman who is best among them, who will then go out into the world and sacrifice herself to the greater good.

This society Rucka uncovers is one that evolves in isolation, yes, but not in stagnation. It is full of love and kinship and intellectual curiosity. One based on mutual trust and personal challenge and respect for honor and tradition. One that doesn’t automatically react to the appearance of man with fear or hatred, but rational caution and compassion.

And every bit of that is reflected in Scott’s magnificently soft finishing. You can feel the tear run down Hippolyta’s face. You can imagine so effortlessly the touch of Diana’s forehead against her mother’s. I feel the literal vibration of the shot when Areto fires Trevor’s handgun.

There’s such a volume to Scott’s work, but without the weight of gravity bearing down on the figures or the backgrounds. The result is a lightness to the surroundings — a tranquility both without and within the characters — that holds up even in the most serious moments of issue #4.

You can tell this is a peaceful society by the posture the artist gives every inhabitant, from queen to clerk. It’s a classic example of “show, don’t tell” but taken to the most intricate extreme and still matched with the beauty of dialogue that Rucka provides to delineate these women and their vision of the world.

Every aspect of Wonder Woman #4 — from its rigorous unveiling of Amazon culture we should have known was there all along to the framing of Diana as a young woman ready to take on the world — is handled with the kind of precision and care that shows you what true love is when poured out onto the page. Rucka and Scott love Diana and give us a Diana that simply loves, from a culture that could not have produced anyone but. It’s warming and reassuring, fascinating and affirming. It’s golden perfection.

The Verdict: 10/10

 

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