Wonder Woman #15 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 Khary Randolph and colours by Alex Guimarães. Main cover art (left) is by Sampere and Morey.
Wonder Woman #15 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
It’s the beginning of the end for the Sovereign! After the loss of her great love and the birth of her child, Wonder Woman decides this is a job larger than just one hero. Who will assist her in her ultimate quest for justice? Find out as Diana gathers her army!
Review
Things haven’t been easy for Diana during Tom King’s run on Wonder Woman. During the past fourteen months she’s been exiled by the U.S. government, forced in to a nightmare realm in Knight Terrors and temporary lost her powers during the incredible Absolute Power event. But then Steve was taken away from her in last month’s pivotal issue #14 and now Diana is taking the fight back to The Sovereign…
Tom King has been crafting a really unique story for Wonder Woman. This entire run has felt like nothing else we’ve seen in the pages of this book in living memory. A politically-charged, deeply traumatising story for our Amazonian Princess. Something which has, at times, felt insurmountable, but which has also seismically shifted the character’s position in the DCU in multiple ways. With the birth of Trinity now revealed (see issue #14) it’s time for the book to focus in on Diana’s grief at losing Steve, her adjustment to becoming a mother and her fight against The Sovereign.
There’s a format shakeup for Wonder Woman now that Trinity’s origin story has been fully revealed. King’s backup story now focusses on Steve in the afterlife. It gives Wonder Woman the chance to focus its two characters towards each other, as if they are trying to reunite but are separated by the confines of their individual stories. But before we get to Steve’s story Diana has a baby to sooth.
For the entirety of this issue Diana is far away from the action. She’s looking after baby Trinity, singing her a lullaby of dancing princesses. But in typical King fashion there’s plenty of subtext and meaning which alludes to events taking place elsewhere in the world. The Sovereign continues to narrate Wonder Woman which presents an interesting angle. His tale of being brutally attacked by the Wonder Women is juxtaposed against images of Diana nursing her child and the others undertaking their various missions. Once again King makes great use of the Wonder Woman supporting cast, Cassie, Donna and Yara, to work with Diana. It also transpires that Steve had been working from within the belly of the beast to help Diana overthrow this scrupulous balance of power.
Though King approaches this first chapter of the “Fury” arc with a fairytale-like quality. There’s a more serious undertone which is really driven home in the final panel. King is cleverly drawing parallels between Diana and her adversary which circle us back to the beginning of this entire run of the book. Coming out of issue #15 I guess the question is: how far is Diana willing to go to take down The Sovereign?
Of course the art is fantastic. This is Daniel Sampere after all. The main story is setup almost like a plot-within-a-plot as between each scene of Diana we get an entirely self contained moment for one of the supporting cast. That means that Sampere has the chance to work with the entire cast of Wonder Woman showing off his incredible diversity as an artist. The moments with Diana and her child are the most straightforward with Sampere zoning in on the humanity in both these characters. Whilst the action-sequences with each of the remaining Wonder Women offer up their own unique scenarios for Sampere to play with. It’s a huge sandbox and he’s revelling in every second of it and so are we.
Verdict
Wonder Woman #15 is a brilliant full circle moment for the series. Whilst it might be the beginning of a new arc, Tom King wraps up this first chapter as a reflection of his first issue on the book. There’s joy in seeing Diana and her team striking back against The Sovereign. There’s even more joy when it’s witnessed through the incredible artwork of Daniel Sampere.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
