And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN 18

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

This comic has been a strange one, and it’s getting stranger. We have a tug-of-war of sorts over a baby, a son of Zeus and a mortal woman, but it’s not as if it’s the first, there are several half-god children of Zeus in the story. For some reason this one has everyone grabbing for it, and Diana trailing along always one step behind. Then we have Orion from The New Gods helping Diana, but apparently also after the baby. He has lines like, “You’re kinda cute when you get mad.” Neither Orion nor Diana are anything like other versions of them I’ve seen, including the current Diana in JUSTICE LEAGUE. The Greek gods are also nothing like any previous versions. This seemed like an interesting direction for a while, but they’ve become just another group of argumentative, double-dealing entities with powers they hardly use. There’s no resonance here with the original Greek mythology. Nor is there anything noble or uplifting, except perhaps Diana’s naive attempts to fight the right battles. Her efforts turn out to be wasted at the end of this issue, as I read it.

The art is by several hands, the best being those of Cliff Chiang on the last three pages. The rest is okay but nothing particularly special as I see it. I’m beginning to think about dropping this title, as it no longer entertains me very much.