The official DC solicit for Wonder Woman #4 states:
Paradise has been breached, Ares stirs, and the Amazons must answer with a champion of their own…one who is willing to sacrifice her home amongst her sisters to save a world she has never seen.
Is it good?
Wonder Woman #4 (DC Comics)
The Breakdown
The latest installment of Wonder Woman: Year One focuses on the Amazons’ reaction to Steve Trevor arriving on Themyscira and the champion they pick to go to man’s world. Greg Rucka combines portions of Diana’s origin/characterization from the 1940s and his own material in order to spin a definitive, modern update; it works well in Wonder Woman #4 as Rucka blends all of these story elements together with clout, crafting a very strong and to-the-point story for the issue.
Speaking of Rucka — he knocks it out of the park again writing-wise. The characterization remains excellent; this is the most real these characters have felt in a long time. Diana is showcased especially well throughout Wonder Woman #4 — most notably through her displays of both strength and compassion. The dialogue is efficient and nothing sounds clunky or unnatural; the mood, the storytelling, and the spins on old concepts are well executed; but the biggest praise I have to give Rucka is in the pacing department. It would be so easy for any writer these days to drag this story; this issue would just be the Amazons’ reacting to recent events and the next issue would be about the tournament — Rucka instead keeps things moving at the perfect pace.
Hey! That took a long time to make you jerk!
Nicola Scott’s artwork is just as fantastic here as it was in the previous issue. The characters are drawn very well and are full of expression; the layouts are expertly crafted and there’s a sense of motion and energy in a lot of the scenes, even with so little action in the book. There’s still an occasional hiccup with female faces looking too similar and white empty space, but not as much as in the last issue thankfully.
Is It Good?
Wonder Woman #4 is another excellent issue of the series and near perfect in terms of quality (some minor nitpicks popped up that kept this just barely away from another 10). The story and writing are fantastic and the artwork is simply gorgeous. Wonder Woman should be on plenty of pull lists with the consistent level of quality her title has offered since her Rebirth.
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