Broken Frontier

Diana may have been away for a year, but Wonder Woman never left.

It’s been a year since Diana walked away, and in that time her sister, Donna Troy, has assumed the Wonder Woman mantle. But no matter how admirably she may have performed, a gang of terrorists want the real Wonder Woman, who has yet to answer for the murder of Max Lord, and are holding Steve Trevor as their hostage and bargaining chip. But instead of a rabble of terrorist thugs, as she steps into the situation Donna finds Cheetah and Giganta. And when the fight breaks out, she finds one more adversary—Wonder Woman herself. Or is it?

If it isn’t there already, Greg Rucka’s run on the previous volume of Wonder Woman is sure to take its rightful place in the canon. In a great bit of showmanship, the title went out on a critical upswing, leaving readers wanting more and raising the bar for whoever would pick up where Rucka left off. Enter Allan Heinberg, whose big challenge with this first issue is to show why the title had to start over. He already comes with a great pedigree, having instantly turned Young Avengers from a goofy, derivative concept before the first issue dropped into one of Marvel’s most promising new titles. And if the powers that be at the House of Ideas ever read the offerings of the Distinguished Competition, they’ll finish Wonder Woman #1 kicking themselves for not moving Heaven and Hell to sign him to an exclusive contract.

As it should, perhaps as it has to, Wonder Woman #1 comes out swinging. Given previous events, there’s no way that Diana could continue being Wonder Woman without compromising her mission. And though we know very little about Donna’s time as Wonder Woman, the change (that many suspected) is both natural and well-played. Donna’s recap sums up events nicely without dragging the story for those who already know it. It also solidifies the sense that Wonder Woman is an ideal that the world needs (whether it knows it or not) as much as she’s flesh and blood and often challenged more than the other two members of DC’s Trinity to live up to her higher calling. Heinberg spins this into some dead-on characterization, portraying Donna with a high comfort level in her new role but still feeling the newness of it. But where he shines most is in the new status quo introduced in this issue. An all-new Cheetah. Denizens of Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery ganging up like a Society of Villains tactical assault team, now ferocious and bold enough to get their hands on her gear and fight Donna to a standstill. And it all leads up to a last page that comes special delivery from left field, after which more questions will surround issue #2 than #1.

And as to why this series needed a new start, Heinberg begins to answer that from the first page by reminding us of Wonder Woman’s mission—"to be willing to die for my mission, but never to kill." That theme is at the heart of this issue, and with it Heinberg finds drama inside the Pandora’s Box that’s opened when heroes cross the line. Thus, the real question isn’t really about who is Wonder Woman, but rather, can anyone live up to what it means to be Wonder Woman?

Terry and Rachel Dodson provide marvelous pencils and inks for this issue. Their trademark style—soft lines and full figures—make for a striking character design for the new Wonder Woman. Much the same can be said for the new Cheetah, whose previous look I never took seriously despite her psychotic ferocity. A great sense of framing and panel construction keeps the story flowing, the splash pages have real narrative impact, and the artists deepen the writer’s already strong characterizations with a gamut of deftly rendered facial expressions. There have been many artists tackling Wonder Woman lately, most of them admirably, but few with the Dodsons’ potential to solidify an iconic look for her.

Whoever Wonder Woman turns out to be, the creators at the helm of her re-launch have taken a strong first step towards redefining her for a world and a legion of fans that can’t do without her.