Comic Info
Comic Name: Wonder Woman (Volume 4)/Secret Origins (Volume 3)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang/Goran Sudzuka
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2015
Wonder Woman (4) #31
Reprints Wonder Woman (4) #30-35 and Secret Origins (3) #6 (June 2014-December 2014). The First Born now rules Olympus, and the gods are in fear of their fates. On Paradise Island, Wonder Woman finds herself tasked with uniting and restoring the Amazons to power which could mean big changes for her people. As the battle for Olympus nears its conclusion, the truth will be revealed!
Written by Brian Azzarello, Wonder Woman Volume 6: Bones is part of the New 52 relaunch of the series. Following Wonder Woman Volume 5: Flesh, the series features art by Cliff Chiang and Goran Sudzuka. The issues were also collected in Absolute Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang—Volume 2.
I was surprised by Wonder Woman. I wasn’t a big fan of Brian Azzarello’s claim to fame 100 Bullets (I thought he plotted ok, but I didn’t like the writing). Wonder Woman however turned into a rather high point of the New 52 by diving into Wonder Woman’s mythological god roots.
This collection marks the culmination of the story. While I felt that Wonder Woman 3: Iron kind of felt like a peak, Azzarello ramped up the story again by introducing the First Born and the war for the throne of Olympus. The story smartly wraps back to other stories including Wonder Woman #0 which had Wonder Woman’s first encounter with the Minotaur. It concludes a bit fast, but it still was a fun ride.
Wonder Woman (4) #33
The whole series has been aided by Cliff Chiang and his style. The story and the art of Chiang is both wholesome comic book art but also reflexive by playing with the comic book art. He stylizes the art to give it a rather Grecian or Roman style that fits the story as opposed to someone like Mike Allred who emulates a style closer to Kirby. The visuals help the story.
This ends Chiang and Azzarello’s run on the series which is a bit of a shame. The series was unique and different…it felt bigger than some of the other comic books DC was releasing. I enjoyed the run, and though part of the New 52’s original goal was to “unify” the DC Universe by streamlining stories, the relaunched Wonder Woman never fit in well with the other New 52 titles in feeling and style…it felt above many of them. Meredith Finch and David Finch take over Wonder Woman following Wonder Woman 6: Bones with Wonder Woman 7: War-Torn.
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