Review: WONDER WOMAN #6

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WONDER WOMAN #6
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Nicola Scott and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: September 14, 2016

It’s Diana’s first night on the American shore, after having returned Steve Trevor to the US Government even healthier than when he left. But instead of seeing the sights, all she’s going to see is the inside of a jail cell. That is, until a group of visitors come surreptitiously in the night to grant her powers like she could never have imagined. It’s part three of “Year One.”

There’s something happening with this series that I’ve never quite seen handled as well before that only struck me now that we’ve seen the full cast emerge in Nicola Scott’s half of the ongoing series. And it’s damn fascinating.

Rucka, Sharp, and Scott are using age and the passage of time in a really visceral way that’s starting to blow my mind. It takes the conceit of running two different stories in alternating issues — something more than one pundit was cautious about early on (but, like, who are we kidding? It’s all so good, it doesn’t matter if it’s a jumble) — and really makes the most of what I can only presume was a tactical, not narrative decision, initially.

But no matter the creative team’s initial intention, what’s arisen is this contrast between the two worlds Scott and Sharp are depicting that says so much about its inhabitants without them having to say it themselves. Yes, Diana is an immortal, but Scott imbues a palpable sense of lightness and innocence about her that doesn’t come off as infantilizing or naïve, just plainly “good.” She’s intelligent, even though in this particular issue at a distinct cultural disadvantage. Her patience isn’t smug, but her trust is that of someone who was never taught that the world of man destroys everything it touches.

This is a distinct departure from previous iterations of the Wonder Woman legend, and while subtle, it distinguishes Rucka’s perspective pretty clearly from those who came before him.

It’s a distinct contrast to the more world-weary (although still majestic. Immortal, right?) Diana we experience under Sharp’s pen in the odd-numbered issues. And Wonder Woman is the least of the transitions, although its subtlety doesn’t betray its significance. But with the arrival of Etta Candy at a much earlier point in her career, we start to be able to compare the aging of human flesh, as well as the weight these characters hold on their shoulders later in life that we don’t get here under Scott’s pen. This is no accident, of course, as not only are we getting an exploration of each character at different points of their lives, but we get the story between the panels, untold except in our heads and in the wrinkles and posture of Sharp’s renditions.

Like issue #5, part three of our look into Wonder Woman’s origin is a low tide for action, although carrying with it critical moments in Diana’s development. The arrival of the Olympian Gods, the Amazons’ so-called patrons, is curious and opens up a lot of questions for me in terms of age and perception as well.

In Rucka’s earlier run on the Amazon Princess, the Olympian Gods presented as modern human-like beings, even when not observed by their worshippers. To see them now present as small animals to Diana, readily granting her the powers we all know her to possess — another interesting divergence from Perez’s endowment at birth — is endearing, but curious nonetheless. What provokes this difference if not Diana’s perception of the world and the stages at which Rucka is transcribing her experiences?

An older, more naturalized citizen of the outside world, Diana might naturally conform her experience of the Gods to that which she encounters every day. But at this point in her development, just having left the only paradise she’s ever known, her perceptions are much more rooted in the natural world. It makes me wonder more fully — what form will the Gods take when facing Diana in Sharp’s “Lies” storyline? We’ve already seen Urzkartaga in his most creepy, visceral glory. Can we expect any less from the Olympians?

Scott’s full page delivery of their arrival in Wonder Woman #6, by the way, left me speechless. Every issue we’ve been granted a knock-down, no-holds-barred beauty of a full page, and it’s stunning to me that after seven issues — and seven reviews — I can still be so in awe of what this creative team is churning out. It’s astonishing really, a stunning achievement for any modern creative team, and I hope I hope I hope it never ceases to amaze.

The Verdict: 9.5/10

 

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