At last, a 'Wonder Woman' graphic novel rated five stars by me, happy and utterly satisfied.
Even with my still-partial reading experience of the seventy-five years of 'Wonder Woman' comics, I can say, in my humble opinion, that 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon' is the best re-imagining of the character and her origin.
I can finally get the taste of Brian Azzarello's trite, regressive, misogynistic New 52 retcon of the famous superheroine's unique origin (where she's just another of Zeus's bastard children, and the Amazons are man-hating rapists) out of my mouth for good. J. Michael Straczynski's alternate universe take on her - 'Odyssey' - isn't bad, just confusing and unable to stand as its own thing. I don't need to read Grant Morrison's 'Earth One' origin of Wonder Woman; the negative reviews and the pages I've seen are enough to make me avoid it like the plague. And I've yet to read Greg Rucka's run in her 'Rebirth' title, and Renae De Liz's 'The Legend of Wonder Woman', so no comment there.
Jill Thompson's 'The True Amazon' is exactly what I've been looking for in terms of a truly unique, modern twist on Wonder Woman's origin, whilst staying respectful to her history and what she stands for: As an icon, a princess, an Amazon warrior, a sister to her fellow Amazons. Mostly, it's about Diana as a hero, and how she got there.
In 'The True Amazon', we see young Diana, princess of the Amazons, as we're not used to seeing her. As Queen Hippolyta's gift from the gods (their tears, specifically, brought on by the queen singing a lullaby to her sand baby by the sea), Diana has been spoilt by everyone on Themyscira her whole life. With no one to challenge her and tell her no, she grows up to be vain, selfish, cruel, and more than a little aggressive, impulsive and violent.
This origin is about how Diana made a terrible mistake - dooming her illustrious homeland and possibly the entire world, due to her own selfishness and competitiveness. Her path to becoming Wonder Woman is one of redemption. She will prove that she cares for her Amazonian sisters more than anything, by setting out to be truly worthy of them, and she will spread their message of kindness and compassion, and also her love - born from a dark place - throughout man's world.
That is her motive. There is no Steve Trevor here. For that matter there are zero men present (except in the prologue explaining how the Amazons came to live on Themyscira, and built their culture of peace). Only how Princess Diana came to honour and respect the values she is famously known for in the first place. She once took everything for granted; thought she could get away with whatever she wanted. Wonder Woman was FLAWED, deeply so, in understandable circumstances; and she rises from the bottom - from her self-made suffering - towards the top. In the meantime she can never return to her beloved Paradise Island until she has made up for all the tragedy she has caused in her recklessness.
She will learn and grow, like a true hero. A true Amazon.
In this graphic novel, this tale, this labour of love and work of art, there is a great focus on Diana and her relationships with the other Amazons; not just with her mother Hippolyta, which is incredibly touching and wrought with symbolism, but also Alethea, the only Amazonian who isn't besotted with Diana. She ignores her, which confuses and frustrates the ever-so "charming" and adventurous Diana (she found her bracelets and lasso of truth in the island's depths, guarded by monsters, adding to her arrogance), but also intrigues her. Alethea the seemingly-simple stable hand values compassion and honesty, and believes that respect and trust - vital for a mutual friendship - must be earned, not bought, or come from a place of privilege.
Diana becomes obsessed with wanting Alethea's favour, and makes it her goal to be the stable woman's champion, no matter the cost...
Alethea ends up being the true Amazon whom the future Wonder Woman will model herself after. Their relationship is important and complex, heavily implying that Diana's feelings for her indifferent Amazonian sister go beyond merely platonic. Thus supporting Wonder Woman's long-debated queerness, with, again, no man in sight!
Female bonds are spotlighted in this comic, with nearly every single page passing the Bechdel test. And I cheered at the end when, out of all the other bereaved Amazons, who want revenge on Diana for all the damage she's caused, the "simple-minded" Lucia, also an oracle, shouts for mercy on the princess's part, arguing that even more violence will solve nothing. Wonder Woman's messages, coming from her status as a feminist icon and hero, are sprinkled throughout 'The True Amazon', and I love it.
Penned, drawn and painted by Jill Thompson herself, the hard work gone into creating every aspect of this comic - this story - shows on all its panels. The humans and their facial expressions - all their muscles - come to life. I don't think it looks ugly, for these are meant to be real women.
While the book isn't perfect - the slightly-garish stylistic choice of artwork probably isn't what a lot of comic readers are used to from DC, and Diana knew she could fly since childhood but this god-given gift is not brought up again in adulthood when it could have been useful, plus what's a crystal dagger doing here? - 'The True Amazon' is a treat I would recommend to any Wonder Woman fan.
A "re-imagining" done right, and I didn't think that was possible before.
Final Score: 5/5
EDIT: I finally read Renae De Liz's 'The Legend of Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Origins', and it is great. Review here: http://artemiscrescent-fantasyfeminist.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/graphic-novel-review-legend-of-wonder.html
EDIT 2: Also read Greg Rucka's 'Wonder Woman: Rebirth' title, the first volume. It's also good. Review here: http://artemiscrescent-fantasyfeminist.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/graphic-novel-review-wonder-woman.html
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