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Wonder Woman #1 is written by Tom King and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Daniel Sampere and coloured by Tomeu Morey. Letters are by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Sampere and Morey.
Wonder Woman #1 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
After a mysterious Amazonian is accused of mass murder, Congress passes the Amazon Safety Act, barring all Amazons from U.S. soil. To carry out their plans, the government starts a task force, the Amazon Extradition Entity (A.X.E.), to remove those who don’t comply, by any means necessary. Now, in her search for the truth behind the killing, Wonder Woman finds herself an outlaw in the world she once swore to protect!
Review
Get ready for a bold new era of Wonder Woman storytelling. Today Tom Kin, the legend behind some of DC’s best arcs of the past decade, shifts his attention from Gotham to Themyscira. The outcome of this brand new story was teased in the recent Wonder Woman #800. But now we go back to the beginning to learn how Diana will come to have a daughter.
I wasn’t sure what kind of story King would bring to Wonder Woman. Particularly after the introduction of Trinity, Diana’s red headed daughter. So it was with some trepidation and much excitement that I cracked open Wonder Woman #1. What I found was a story with deep socio-political roots. A story which takes aim at gender bias and toxic masculinity but without ever taking an eye of Diana and who she is at her core, an Amazon.
King’s framing of the story is typically exquisite. We open in a Montana bar where two unseen characters engage in a game of pool. The first words in King’s run “this is the story of how she defeated us” begin a narration which is our only insight in to the unfolding events. A sense of bewilderment ensures as what is sure to be a complex story begins to lay out its foundations. The narrator tells us this story will touch upon “power, loyalty, betrayal, men, family, love, loss”. The game of pool quickly turns sour and the mass murder of 19 men ensues. An act which nobody would expect from an Amazonian, something with King is well aware of and uses perfectly to incite a genuinely thought provoking and original Wonder Woman story.
The reaction to the brutal killings ignites a wave of anti-Amazonian sentiments among the American people. The xenophobia is brilliantly depicted through TV news snippets which allow the story to continue at pace as sweeping political statements are made. King shows an awareness of racial and gender tensions but also skilfully moves the story along without becoming bogged down in exposition.
The actions of the US government, creating the Amazon Extradition Entity (A.X.E.) group, feels desperate and yet disturbingly accurate. The consequences of which parallel the experience of many minority groups of have found themselves on the wrong side of foreign policies. The story feels only steps away from our own experience in the UK where refugees are left to live in limbo on prison barges. Indeed ones own political persuasions will absolutely inform reactions to the story. Plenty will write off King’s story as virtue signalling. I am not one of those people. This is political comic book storytelling at its very best.
King even challenges the idea of American ownership of Wonder Woman who, true to her nature sides with her Amazonian sisters. It speaks to DC’s attempt to embrace its global audience and feels like a natural progression from Superman losing “the American way” from his classic slogan. Again, there will be those who argue that King is compromising 82 years of comic book history. But I would argue he’s simply expanding on what makes the character great, her heart and strong moral code.
There’s a strong sense of re-writing the Wonder Woman playbook with this issue. After months of stories featuring familiar villains, King is taking the book in to new and exciting territory. Along for the ride is artist Daniel Sampere who brings an entirely new aesthetic. Wonder Woman is a book which can lean in heavily to fantasy elements with art which typically follows suit. Here Sampere brings a much more grounded a character-driven style that emphasises the emotional impact of King’s story. The scale may be lower but the emotional stakes are higher and that’s brilliantly communicated through the art style.
Verdict
A brand new era begins with an incredible first issue. King and Sampere have reinvented the title with a rich new story and a dynamic visual style. It might be a sad day for Amazon-US relations but it’s a bold new start for Wonder Woman.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
