Wonder Woman #25 is written by Tom King and published by DC. Artwork is by Daniel Sampere with Jorge Fornés, colours are by Tomeu Morey and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Sampere and Morey.
Wonder Woman #25 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
After days of searching through a mouse-infested world, Wonder Woman finally locates the lost Etta Candy and fugitive Amazon Emilie. Little does she know, they are hiding a tiny harbinger of death who will change Diana’s fate forever! You won’t want to miss the first appearance of the Matriarch in this oversize anniversary issue that will set the stage for all Wonder stories to come!
Review
Tom King is up to his old tricks again this week in the pages of Wonder Woman #25. Not only are we returning to Mouse Man’s island for the next chapter in the “The Island of Mice and Men” story. But we’re also jumping twenty years in to the future to witness the emergence of a new lethal threat to the Justice League.
The book opens on some much discussed and stark imagery from guest artist Jorge Fornés. If I’m not mistaken Fornés tackles the flash forward scenes whilst Daniel Sampere continues to render the present day. Regardless the image of an older Bruce Wayne being hung from what appears to be an Amazonian rope is striking. King brilliantly presents the moment – and plenty more like it – without context throughout Wonder Woman #25, holding back his big reveal until the end.
Diana has more pressing matters to deal with in the present day though. Having taken down a pack of Mouse Man’s soldiers she has casualties in urgent need of medical help. Whilst her new pink-haired friend is still unable to break free from the constrains of “Mouse Man knows. Mice have ears” Diana finally meets a group of locals with a slightly broader vocabulary. The revelation that there is a small resistance on the island is humorously framed by pitching them as cats. Get it? Cat’s hate mice…
It’s a nice reminder from King that even amongst all of the chaos there’s still room for a little humour. Though moments like this are often contrasted against short jumps to the future for another burst of Justice League torture. Wonder Woman #25 strikes an interesting tonal balance. It can feel a little disjointed but that’s all part of the plan. In typical King style the story comes together at the end. Grasping at threads from the past, present and future the book ends on reveal that ties it all together neatly. Not only is it a full circle moment for the story. It also grounds “The Island of Mice and Men” more deeply in King’s wider arc with The Sovereign.
The mix of two artists works well. The change in visual style gives King and co. the opportunity to do more than just a simple turn of the page, enter a flash forward transition. There are moments when Diana in the present shares the page with one of her Justice League peers as they are brutally dispatched by The Matriarch. It adds an extra layer of unpredictability to a book which is already pretty dynamic in its storytelling. Fornés style fits well with the more grim tone of these moments and it affords them more clout to have them stand out more.
What remains to be seen is just how much of a long game King is playing with the introduction of The Matriarch. Right now the direction of travel is unclear but it also guarantees the Wonder Woman book an exciting future to come.
Verdict
Wonder Woman #25 plays with its two artists to setup an unpredictable and sometimes shocking story which pushes Diana’s present day storyline forwards whilst continuing to build towards an uncertain and bleak future.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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