Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: The Just War (2019)
Written By: G. Willow Wilson
Illustrated By: Cary Nord, Xermanico, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jesús Merino
Genre: Superhero
Pages: 192 pages (Trade Paperback)
Publisher: DC Comics
Why I Chose It: I’m a big fan of Wonder Woman, but haven’t really connected to her main comic in years. Fortunately, I am also a huge fan of G. Willow Wilson and her run on Ms. Marvel. When I heard that she was the new writer for Wonder Woman, it seemed like a perfect time to jump back into the character.
The premise:
Far below Themyscira, Ares, the God of War, has been imprisoned for generations, repenting his past sins. But his new cellmate Grail may have an unexpected effect on him…and the plan they’ve come up with threatens to change Themyscira — and the world — forever!
When Wonder Woman rushes to eastern Europe to rescue Steve Trevor from a mission gone wrong, she’ll find herself face to face with a very new, very different God of War. It’s true, Ares has been reborn on Earth — but has he changed for the better? Of all the role models in the world, he seems to have chosen…Wonder Woman?! Diana and Steve Trevor better watch their backs, because Ares isn’t the only creature of myth to find his way to Man’s World…and he’s not the only resurrected Olympian either.
This review has no major spoilers
Discussion: To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up The Just War. I love G. Willow Wilson’s work on Ms. Marvel, but the youthful and very American Kamala Khan is such a different character than Diana, with her roots in Greek Mythology. Still, the results are not that big of a departure. While the comic certainly feels less quirky than her outings with Kamala, in The Just War, Wilson continues to use super heroics to tackle important current day issues relevant to the protagonist. In Wonder Woman’s case, this includes both war and refugees.
The graphic novel contains three storylines, with the main arc (also called “The Just War”) playing out over five issues. Here, Diana finds herself pulled into a war-torn country where she encounters Ares, resurrected and changed. This time, the war-god has decided that he will base his personality off Wonder Woman and her quest, which he sees as her tendency to punish the wicked. But in a modern war, where there are innocents on each side, Diana is horrified at what her own actions have inspired.
There’s a lot that I like about this storyline as it digs into one of the things that has always fascinated me about Wonder Woman, the fact that she can appear, to the outsider, like a contradiction. Thanks to her Themysciran upbringing, Diana is both a solider of war and a messenger of peace. Unfortunately, the fact Ares can only see half the equation shows how deadly it is to overemphasize the war-like part of her character.
At the same time, “The Just War” arc does have flaws. While I liked the initial interaction between Diana and Steve, I felt like he was kind of wasted, mainly serving as a vessel to introduce other important characters, when he had the potential to be so much more. In addition, some of the side characters (not the gods/established DC characters, but the regular people caught up in the war) ended up feeling a tad underdeveloped.
Despite these issues, I mostly felt positive about this first arc, and the same can be said about the one-shot that follows it. Wilson wisely gives us a breather from the more serious, action-oriented storyline to focus on a fun one shot starring some of the side characters introduced in the first arc. Despite the more lighthearted air, this-one shot also manages touch on the complications that come from being a refugee, at least form the perspective of a merry band of mythical beasts that find themselves stranded in the human world.
After that, there’s a two issue mini arc involving Nemesis that feels like the weakest storyline in the bunch. While I appreciate the characters from Greg Rucka’s initial run on Wonder Woman (a personal favorite of mine), I was unimpressed by the storyline, which just seemed to be rehashing old plot points. In addition, while this graphic novel features some really nice art overall (done by multiple artists), it seems to take a plunge here.
In conclusion: G. Willow Wilson’s maiden voyage with Wonder Woman is a rocky one, but I feel like it still showed promise. The storyline with Ares was really interesting, and I enjoy how Wilson is able to insert real life elements into her writing. It makes sense that after writing Kamala for Marvel for so many years, it would take her a little time to fully settle into writing a new character in a new universe. I am more than happy to see where she takes Diana and company in future volumes.
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