Wonder Woman #755 - Review

The day of judgment has come.

Written by Steve Orlando, Pencils by Jesús Merino.

After taking a look at both Superman and Batman, I feel it's about time I take a look at the last member of the DC Trinity: Wonder Woman. When I first started reading comics, Wonder Woman was one of the first books I started reading. Not because I knew the character or anything like I did with Batman. It was more out of a practical reason: I had access to almost the entire New 52 Wonder Woman run. With that many comics just there for me to read, it was an opportunity to good not to take. I liked that New 52 run, for the most part, but I haven't read any Wonder Woman since then. I picked up a comic here and there, but they never managed to grab and/or hold my attention for long. It's not that I think that the issues I've read are bad or anything, it just that I never felt the need to pick up the next one even if they had a cliffhanger ending.

This particular issue, however, does have something going for it that might change all of that: Donna Troy. The (Teen) Titans, thanks in no small part to the Teen Titans & Young Justice TV shows and internet review show Atop the Fourth Wall, are somewhere in my top five of favourite comic book series. Maybe that Donna's inclusion will finally be enough for me to dive back into Wonder Woman? Well, yes and no. It's complicated.

 Let´s dive in. 

The issue opens with Donna saving a child from a burning building and getting confronted by a woman by the name of Devastation. She points out that Donna has suffered a lot because of Wonder Woman. That like her, she was created as a tool for her destruction. She offers her Donna to join her and be free from Diana once and for all, but she refuses.

Meanwhile, Diana is educating a group of young girls about her homeland, people and history. After class, she and her friend Nora talk about how Diana's teaching style and how Nora thinks that she is to direct, to truthful towards the children. She also notices how Diana has something on her mind, which Diana tells her is Helen Paul. Helen was a friend of Diana, one she saved from her supremacist parents, and had become an A.R.G.U.S. agent. She had gone missing after the events of Event Leviathan and worries about her. When Diana crushes a drone disguised as a Mosquito, she is teleported to Norway and confronted by, surprise, Helen Paul. She has a bone to pick with Diana and the two soon find themselves in a fight.

Wonder Woman #755 isn't a bad book, but it is a rather bland one. The writing, art, pacing etc. are all done well but lack personality. They don't have a really 'voice' of their own if you were. The issue also takes the predictable route when it comes to its story. Helen Paul, as the issue's villain and who get a lot of focus, also suffers from these problems. The former ally from the past who comes back in the present hating the hero for something he or she has done is nothing new. It's predictable, we've seen it before. The way it's done here doesn't offer anything new except for one thing that I'll get to soon. The issue heavily relies on her and the vendetta she has with Diana, but the issue fails to build up a connection between the two. Helen doesn't have much of a character other than "vengeful' and her introduction was too sudden and a bit jarring, which makes it difficult to get emotionally invested in their conflict.

What I quite like about the issue, and do like about the Diana and Helen fight, is that it touches something that we tend to forget: history is written by the victors. The version of the story that the Amazons have told Diana is that the Valkyries sailed to Themyscira for conquest and attacked the Amazons with no mercy, intend to take their island and all of its riches. Helen, on the other hand, has learned a version of the story that says that the Valkyries were explorers who were attacked and slaughtered by the Amazons in an unprovoked attack. Which version of the story is the correct one? Who knows at this point, but a bit of both is most likely. Helen gets Diana as far as to admit that her version of the story could be wrong and later issues will no doubt shed light on what happened during the Amazon/Valkyrie war. This is something, I feel, people should be made more aware of. That the version of history they know might not be the (full) truth and that it might be difficult to learn this accept what really happened. I'm happy to see the book address this and hope that readers will pick up on it.

Gasp! The character Wonder Woman just talked about is the villain? What a twist!!!

Lastly, while Donna Troy isn't in the issue for very long, only a handful of pages in between Diana's stuff, her appearance is nevertheless handled well. Donna has been through a lot the last couple of years. The book is respectful to those developments but smartly chooses to move Donna forward from these events. It shows her being a hero (because that's something she hasn't done in a while, the whole 'infected secret six' thing) and highlights her character. Nothing big, but well done and welcoming nonetheless.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, how's the issue? It's not bad, though it is a bit on the bland side. The art, writing etc. are all done rather nicely. There's some interesting stuff here like the focus on history is written by the victor's debate. Donna Troy ads some flavour to the book as well and it will be interesting to see where how the run will treat her further. If you're interested in the issue, I'd say go for it. For me personally? I don't know if I will keep on reading. I am interested in seeing more of Dona and where the history debate goes, but because this issue was rather bland, I once again don't personally feel that much of a need to do so.