First time reading any 'Wonder Woman' stories by Greg Rucka, and I can see why he's considered to be one of the more successful writers in the great DC superheroine's run.
I've recently been stuck in a rut when it comes to comic books. Whether it's slogging through the convoluted and complicated 'Monstress', or concluding that works like Rucka's other comic, 'Black Magick', range from "okay" to just barely above-average, I kept being met with disappointment. And with all the disastrous DC-based films - cinematic and straight-to-DVD - coming out this year, my hopes for the comic company haven't been high lately.
However, when returning to the classics with 'Wonder Woman', I found I enjoyed this volume overall, my low expectations soaring from the first page.
'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' is the least action-packed of the 'Wonder Woman' comics I've read. It's politically-charged, with lots of characters playing multiple parts throughout in the spiderweb of a plot structure. But Greg Rucka definitely knows who Wonder Woman is and what her ethics - and the godlike pedestal the patriarch's world places her as a superhero - are all about. He explores who she is as an icon, an idol, a princess, a feminist, a hero, a person, and an ally to the world of everyday superheroics.
In this volume we see Diana of Themyscira as an ambassador living in New York, started in 2004. We see her friendships, her business schedules and meetings with hundreds of people - including her Justice League friends, and enemies - and we see how her Greek pantheon/Amazonian origins affect her life both at home and in the patriarch's society. How they shape her as a superheroine, a champion of Athena, an ex-goddess and princess, and as a businesswoman. All this and more of her beliefs Diana explains in her book, 'Reflections', which brews fiery controversy upon its release. It's even gotten the attention of the Greek gods.
Diana deals with everything in a passionate, level-headed and reasonable demeanor. She always strives to do what is right for everyone, for the earth. She keeps her cool when confronted with so many problems from all aspects of her life. Many - mortal and immortal - are out to discredit her. To make her appear naive, weak and ineffectual, despite all the good she clearly does. But Diana never buckles under the massive pressure - as a superhero, an ambassador, an Amazon, a symbol of truth and feminist teachings.
This is what makes her Wonder Woman. She is able to balance all this - the external and personal disasters - plus face all the vile sexist criticism she receives - from social and public circles - and remain her loving, calm and intelligent self.
Worthy of note: Amid all of Diana's problems and difficulties, not one of them is of a romantic nature. No current heterosexual pairing is ever implied.
Yeah, this is the Wonder Woman I love. This Wonder Woman has a Minotaur chef named Ferdinand, speaks for the trees, and talks to birds too.
The characters are well-rounded and developed. Danielle Wellys, who plays a major role in the first issue, 'The Hiketeia', is such a tragic figure. Doctor Veronica Cale may be my favourite Wonder Woman villain, because of how diabolical she is. Her methods of destroying Wondy's name through her "controversial" book are painfully realistic representations of how any woman who dares to speak her mind is treated by the social media and public industries. Yet Cale is tragically unable to see how much alike she is to the Amazon she despises so ruthlessly. Cale, a successful woman herself, should be a friend to Diana, not a detractor. I hope the two women do manage to speak to each other more in future issues. Cale's best friend (who may potentially be in love with her) Leslie Anderson is more positive towards Wonder Woman, and becomes her ally at the end. The Amazons in Themyscira, such as Artemis and Io, are also rich in personality and are dynamic key players in their friend Diana's story. Even the other DC characters - Batman, Superman, Cassandra Sandsmark and the Flash being only a handful I've named who appear here - act as they should and are as fleshed out as Wonder Woman herself.
Kudos to Batman for telling Alfred that a man and a woman can be friends without anything sexual going on between them, by the way.
The artwork is consistently brilliant throughout, and I barely noticed any changes of artists as I read the whole volume. Though the last issue does have a tendency to, ahem, draw more attention to women with very loose clothing on than in the previous issues. At least Wonder Woman herself is powerful, no matter how she's depicted in the art. Her beauty lies in how strong she is, and this is shown to an awesome degree in this volume, even when she isn't fighting crime but is just talking to people she cares about.
There are flaws: The high assortment of characters to keep track of, and the fact that the volume has no real conclusion and we are left hanging with Wonder Woman dealing with lots and lots of baddies who are out to get her. The later issues have the Amazons practically betray Diana when she needs them the most, after everything she's done for them, for reasons that are understandable story-wise, but come across as narrow-minded and petty. I hate female friendship betrayals like this, because it gives the impression that women are by nature petty, and they easily turn against each other. Wondy has complicated relationships with every woman in this comic, and even the negative ones are given great time to develop, at least.
In conclusion, 'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' shows the heroine at her most peaceful and less action-orientated. But it's still interesting, and shows her at her smartest - where her strengths lie as one of DC's Holy Trinity of superheroes. Beautiful artwork (the covers are absolutely gorgeous) and strong characters mixed up in complicated but clever plotting, the early ambassador days of Diana the Amazonian princess and champion are worth a read.
I grow into a bigger fan of Wonder Woman with each comic I read about her. Please, PLEASE PLEASE let her first blockbuster movie next year be good! It's vital we get further positive female heroes in film, at any rate.
Final Score: 4/5
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