Wonder Woman #1 Review
Man's World Pushes Back
Writer: Tom King
Art: Daniel Sampere
Colors: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Daniel Sampere & Tomeu Morey
Variant Covers: Julian Totino Tedesco; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau; Mikel Janin; Matteo Scallera & Moreno Dinisio; Chris Bachalo & Jaime Mendoza
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: 4.99
Release Date: September 19th, 2023
Familiar Ideas
Princess Diana spent years bringing the Amazons’ message of peace to Man’s World. As Wonder Woman, she fought for truth and justice. But Man’s World has had enough. Wonder Woman #1 kicks off this radical new direction in a must-read issue.
Wonder Woman #1 opens with a bar fight. A pushy male patron tries to get too familiar with an Amazon, and the encounter has deadly results. The fight leads to a downhill snowballing of public response where Amazons become unpopular, distrusted, and eventually feared to the point that the United States government bans them from the country. Amazons that won’t go quietly are killed. And finally, there is only one left.
Wonder Woman #1 is a comic with a clear destination that is trying to get there as fast as possible. The opening pages provide the inciting incident and then the issue races through the aftermath. The issue establishes that a month passes before U.S. forces try to remove Wonder Woman. It’s a very short, difficult to take seriously, span of time for such extreme behavior to happen. King is obviously trying to get to his new status quo by the end of the issue, and he’s playing on the emotions that stem from current events to bring the reader along for the ride. It’s an understandable choice, but it makes the journey feel forced.
King plays on two main themes to arrive at a place where Amazons are unwelcome in this country. The most obvious plays off concerns expressed by some men in the real world about the changing nature of how men and women relate to each other, and also concerns expressed by some whites about the expansion of equality for other races and ethnicities. This is best seen in an interview with a seemingly ordinary man. The interview at first starts with a complaint about Amazons acting superior to everyone in the country before morphing into a specific concern about Amazons wanting to push men down in society. King also touches on the belief that hate is taught by juxtaposing each panel of the interview with a panel of the man’s daughter being excited by all things Wonder Woman.
The other theme King touches on as the story advances is bigotry toward “the other” to the point of near xenophobia. This could be seen as a commentary on immigration policy or even an attempt to predict future actions a hostile government might take. But older readers will likely find it reminiscent of post 9/11 America when intolerance toward Arabs in general and Muslims in particular was commonplace. It was such a concern that Americans eagerly gave up a measure of their civil rights in the name of security–and especially if it meant targeting Arabs and Muslims specifically.
Ultimately, it’s these real world parallels that make the issue work. While the story takes the American response to the Amazons to an extreme, those who remember 9/11 or are familiar with the history of Japanese internment will understand the historical precedent for where it could come from. King is wildly successful in laying the groundwork for the series’ new direction.
As a basic story, Wonder Woman #1 is fast paced. It’s dialogue heavy at times, but these sequences are balanced with visceral and emotional moments of Amazons being removed from the country. King’s choice to hold back Wonder Woman’s appearance ratchets tension up throughout the issue, ultimately leading to feelings of release and anticipation when she finally does appear. King juxtaposes a number of panels throughout the issue to contrast conflicting emotions, or emotions and reality.
Powerful and Heroic
There are a couple pages of talking heads in the form of news reports that help move the story along. The characters are set back a bit, sitting behind desks. It’s hard to add a lot of facial detail under those circumstances, but Sampere is able to do just enough with eyes, mouths, and body language to convey their growing feelings of disapproval for the Amazon criminal’s behavior.
Sampere is able to apply significantly more detail with character close-ups. With most characters, especially the Amazons and other non aggressive characters, Sampere relies on shading and very soft lines to gently contour their faces–even in moments of aggression. The less sympathetic characters as well as the main villain feel harsher with more and darker lines on their faces as opposed to that soft shading. This right away creates a more antagonistic feeling. Even when the villain smiles it feels off. These are subtle differences, but an effective way to differentiate the innocent.
When Wonder Woman finally appears, Sampere gives her an excellent full page hero shot. She looks both strong and agile.
Morey’s colors, even for the assorted Amazons, are never as bright as they are for Wonder Woman. The red, blue, and gold of her costume are more vivid than anything else in the comic. In her sole scene she stands in significant contrast both to the setting, a gray and snowy graveyard, and the attacking troops who are faceless in black outfits. That contrast adds energy and power all on its own and paired with Sampere’s art Wonder Woman is immediately heroic and powerful. Certainly Wonder Woman is the titular character, but Morey makes her into something really special.
Cowles’s choice to make the Sovereign’s narration white text on a blue field pays off nicely in how it matches the Soveriegn’s robes when the character is revealed. Cowles doesn’t go too big with the sound effects except during the initial assault in the opening pages. As the Amazon smashes a man’s head into a pool table, the CRAASH is massive and emphasizes the power behind the attack.
Final Thoughts
Despite the opening criticism about the speed with which the story advances, this is an outstanding first issue. Wonder Woman #1 demands the reader’s attention long before the titular character ever appears. It’s a complex, no holds barred issue that should be picked up by the character’s fans and non fans alike.
Substack Exclusive.
What is good, everybody?
Thanks for reading!
If you’ve enjoyed this and other articles and reviews, please consider sharing, commenting, and subscribing!
You can also find shorter form content on Twitter.
If you like my comic content and are into video games, I do walkthroughs with detailed story analysis at Theron Plays Games.
Find my content all over the internet.