Wonder Woman #22 is written by Tom King and published by DC. Artwork is by Caitlin Yarsky, colours by Alex Guimarães and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Daniel Sampere and Tomeu Morey.
Wonder Woman #22 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
As the stage is set for our next tale, Diana tells their daughter the story of one of their greatest adventures together. The maniacal Mouse Man debuts looking to prove himself against the Amazon Princess and severely under estimates how powerful she and her allies truly are. Could his humiliating defeat have repercussions for Diana in the future?
Review
Buckle up Wonder Woman fans. Tom King’s politically charged series is back in comic book stores today following on from its two-part detective story co-starring Batman. This new one-shot rom-com sets up the series next arc and begins to flesh out the intriguing future plot point about Trinity’s involvement with Mouse Man.
King’s dedication to the versatility of Wonder Woman’s storytelling continues to be one of its strengths. We’ve seen just how political the series can be as The Sovereign grapples for control of the US. We’ve seen how is can adapt to bring in guest stars like Superman and Batman. Now Wonder Woman #22 feels like something entirely different once again. King has written a breezy story which somehow manages to throw off all of the emotional weight of the last two years of storytelling. But without ever forgetting all of those key plot points.
So there’s a pang of guilt in seeing Steve Trevor alive, and in Diana’s bed, in the opening page. Having his moment acting as the lead in to a buddy-comedy style story for the two of them works incredibly well. Steve has always been a perfect human insight in to Diana’s world. But this is the first time King has pitched that to us from a romantic angle. The levity of that is then brilliantly amplified by the absurdity of seeing Diana tackling an army of giant mice which has descended on the US capital. Given the setting of the story as “Near the beginning” it works perfectly to have the story fell more youthful and energetic.
As is suggested by the synopsis for this issue, there are bigger consequences to come from Diana’s dalliance with Mouse Man. Here he’s simply a disposable villain perfectly implemented for some cool visual gags and social commentary. But in the final pages King, of course, twists the knife and reveals there’s more going on than we might think. It leads in nicely to what is coming next without standing at odds with the overall tone of the issue. It also takes what feels like a standalone story and allows it to function neatly as a part of the overall arc which reaches back to issue #1.
All of that youthful exuberance is also added to by Caitlin Yarsky’s brilliant artwork. Everything feels a little less complex and dialled back. I don’t want to call it cartoonish as that feels unfair. But there’s a simplicity to Yarsky’s style which syncs perfectly with this earlier period in the timeline. It doesn’t feel a million miles away from Daniel Sampere’s tone for Wonder Woman. But it does play in to the idea that Diana and Steve are carrying less weight on their shoulders at this point of the story.
The whole affair is rather charming. It’s great to see King writing something which feels so free and fun. Given everything Diana has been through in the past two years it shouldn’t be underestimated how much the reader needs to see her having a little more freedom to enjoy herself. Considering we know some of the direction of travel, or at least the potential end point, the anticipation is really building to see where King takes us next.
Verdict
Wonder Woman #22 is a fun and charming one-shot story which reminds us of happier times for Diana. Buoyed by Caitlin Yarsky’s spirited artwork, Tom King’s story is the perfect palate cleanser ahead of the next epic chapter in the story.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
