Wonder Woman #8 is written by Tom King and published by DC. Artwork is by Daniel Sampere, colours by Tomeu Morey and letters by Clayton Cowles. The backup story features artwork by Belen Ortega and colours by Alejandro Sanchez. Main cover art (left) is by Sampere and Morey.
Wonder Woman #8 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Wonder Woman vs. The Sovereign! After being captured by a team of villains, Diana finds herself at the mercy of the scariest of them all. Unbe¬knownst to our hero, the Sovereign has been pulling her strings since the very beginning of our tale, and now it’s time for her to see the world his way as she falls under the influence of the Lasso of Lies! Plus, Trinity visits the past and unexpectedly changes the future!
Review
Now this is why you bring in Tom King to writer a character like Wonder Woman. After months of setting up a conflict between Diana and The Sovereign, King is beginning to pay it off with the first chapter in the ominously titled “Sacrifice” arc. King’s penchant for politically charged, heavily nuanced character writing is firing on all cylinders alongside a creative team who is all putting their A-game in to the series.
The issue opens with an unfamiliar image. Diana, a happy homemaker and dedicated wife, preparing dinner in her lush, 1960s inspired kitchen. The kitschy design work looks beautiful thanks to the pairing of Sampere and Morey. It’s jarring enough to give the reader a moment to adjust but when you take a step back the visuals are stunning. We’re quickly brought down to Earth as Diana’a husband, Steve Trevor, smothers and controls her with some truly toxic behaviour.
King puts some truly deplorable language in Trevor’s mouth as he berates his wife for her cooking and housekeeping skills. All whilst neither character is seemingly troubled to be in this position. The sense of ambiguity is unnerving but it’s secondary to the pain of seeing Diana treated this way. The language (and the anguish it causes) is a brilliant counterpoint to the idyllic image of this perfect family home. There’s also plenty of oppressive chauvinism on show through the narrative boxes, soon revealed to be the commentary on The Sovereign. The overarching villain of the series is holding Diana prisoner using the Lasso of Lies with brief moments of lucidity allowing Diana (and us) to see what’s really going on.
The subtext is incredible. King is able to as we much between the lines as he is using them. The Sovereign and his attitude towards Diana is shockingly caustic. But I defy anyone reading it not to think it’s dangerously close to plenty of attitudes encountered on both social media and in real life. What’s perhaps the most disturbing is that Sovereign is doing this to Diana simply because he can and because her ideologies stand at odds with his. King’s ability to bring that level of context in to the superhero world is unparalleled. Speaking as someone who has followed his DC work for a number of years this is some of his finest work to-date.
Cutting through some of that tension is the backup story. King is able to exorcise a bit more levity through another chapter in the story of Lizzie, Damian and Jon. Whilst the story is inherently more positive, it’s lifted further thanks to the weightlessness and joy of Belen Ortega’s artwork. This chapter finds Damian allowing Lizzie to travel back through time to help with a school project. There’s obviously disastrous consequences that are absolutely hilarious to watch play out on the page and which play in to Ortega’s whimsical imagery.
Verdict
Simply put. Breathtaking.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
