Ricky Church reviews Wonder Woman #6…
“WONDER WOMAN YEAR ONE” part 3! Diana brings Steve back home, but the reception is not what either of them expected. Amid suspicion and a looming threat, the Patrons pay a visit, and new friendships are forged.
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of Wonder Woman #6 here
As Wonder Woman flashes back to the past in ‘Year One’, we get more traditional aspects of Diana’s first visit to man’s world even as Rucka builds the character’s relationships in interesting new ways.
This issue focuses a little less on Diana and more on Steve Trevor and the supporting characters taken in by Diana’s mysterious background. That’s actually not as much of a problem as one might expect since the ‘Year One’ issues have explored Diana’s personality, friendships and culture to such a large extent. Now that she’s in man’s world, it only makes sense to shift the focus onto the supporting characters. Steve and Etta Candy get the most time here and are presented in a stark juxtaposition to their older selves. Dr. Minerva also appears and it’s easy to see how Diana and the future Cheetah were able to strike a friendship. She even gets a funny Indiana Jones nod in her introduction.
Though the character interactions were great and elevated this issue, not much plot movement happened. As I already mentioned, Rucka uses some of the more traditional aspects of Wonder Woman’s origin here: she comes to man’s world, she’s questioned/quarantined, awed yet slightly feared. For anyone who read Grant Morrison’s Wonder Woman: Earth One earlier this year, some of the story beats are a bit similar to that graphic novel. Still, Rucka employs some clever storytelling methods, continuing to play with the language barrier Diana faces and giving a reason as to why she is so much stronger than the ordinary Amazon that lines up with their mythos.
It’s difficult to find new ways to praise the art, but it really is one of the highlights of this title. Between Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott, Rucka has quite a lot of talent helping him craft the story. Scott is able to capture Diana’s youth to great effect and displays the Amazon’s own fears of being in an unknown world quite well with Diana’s body language. Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s colours also pop off the page, adding to Scott’s vibrant artwork.
Wonder Woman #6 may have had little plot progression, but Rucka’s character work is enough for the story to flourish. Seeing how the characters came together is intriguing, especially when compared with the present timeline in the odd-numbered issues. Even if you don’t come for the story, Scott’s art is more than enough to get you into the book as her work continues to be gorgeous.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
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Originally published September 23, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
