I’ll admit, my opinion is pretty divided regarding this book, and I have a feeling that’s going to be the opinion of a lot of readers. It’s not just the direction of the story that gives me mixed feelings, but the art too (and seeing as how much I adore Jill Thompson’s art, that’s a bold statement.) See below for a spoiler-free review of Wonder Woman: The True Amazon.
The first thing that gives me pause is that this is another Wonder Woman origin story. And I feel just by saying that, some people are going to be turned off. We’ve had an awful lot of them. I know that’s not unusual (honestly, how many times have we heard the story of Bruce falling into the cave with the bats, or watched Supes’ father place him in the rocket?) but it feels like we’ve had a lot of these in a short period of time. The Wonder Woman: Earth One hardcover came out last April, the gorgeous Legend of Wonder Woman #1 came out last January, and it hasn’t been THAT long since Azzarello’s New 52 Wonder Woman origin story – well okay, that was 2011, but still. Haven’t we heard all we need to hear?
Apparently not, because this story actually took Wonder Woman in a direction I haven’t seen before. (Notice I didn’t say “a direction that hasn’t been taken before.” I got back into comics in 2012, so there’s a lot I’ve probably missed. Anyway.)
In this book we see an uglier side of Wonder Woman, and it addresses something that probably should’ve been obvious: if Diana was one of the only children on the island, and the daughter of the Queen, and gifted with special powers…wouldn’t she also run the risk of being a ridiculously spoiled brat?
That’s where Thompson’s taken this story. Diana is not the embodiment of truth and sacrifice, originally she was an entitled, manipulative rug rat, who grew into a self-centered adolescent and then a smug, overbearing young woman.
That’s what readers may have a hard time looking at. She is not likeable, not even a little bit. But that makes things interesting later on.
The other thing that’s hard to absorb is the art. I love Thompson’s art (Sandman, Beasts of Burden, they’re all wonderful) but she has a habit of making faces very human when they’re upset or angry. It borders on the grotesque, and considering how selfish Diana is, sometimes that comes out in her face. It’s hard to look at.
The colors are gorgeous, the figures are perfect, there’s tons of motion and detail that are lovely and impressive. But the faces were the hardest thing for me to accept. I’ve seen Diana as everything from a muscular fighter to a waifish heroine (the former being more realistic than the latter) but I’ve never seen her face look quite this angular and distorted.
However, it’s probably more realistic than any depiction we’ve seen. Nobody is glamorously gorgeous every second of the day, particularly not someone who believes that everyone worships the ground she walks on.
Also, it made the sweeter, quieter moments even nicer to look at.
There’s also the fact that the story comes across almost as a younger-readers book sometimes. The straightforward style and exaggerated proclamations are less sophisticated than you’d expect in an adult book. However, some horrific things happen to people, things that you would definitely not want in a book for younger readers, so there’s a divide there too.
What I liked the most, though, was Diana’s motivation. She isn’t going to go out and be a hero just because she’s filled with goodness and light, or because she’s some kind of perfect hero who just has to go out and save people. No, she does it out of love (but not the kind of love you expect) and because of a horrible, selfish, unimaginable mistake. You watch the mistake happening and your heart just sinks, because it’s that awful, that irredeemable.
It adds a whole new side to Diana, and seeing as how many origin stories we’ve had, that’s quite an accomplishment.