Tom King and Daniel Sampere have crafted an intense thriller with Wonder Woman. Not only that, they’re slowly introducing a new arch-nemesis while pitting the entire U.S. government against her. In Wonder Woman #3, we get much more information about the new enemy while the story continues to build toward an enemy that manipulates the truth. Who is that enemy? Fragile men who fear for their masculinity.
Wonder Woman #3 opens with the exterior of a skyscraper. Inside is Wonder Woman’s target. She hopes to have a conversation with the boss knowing full well she’s their number one enemy. While she defeats guards and soldiers without breaking a sweat, King continues to develop the villain via captions. Through these captions we understand their falsehoods, how they manipulate people to get what they want, and why Wonder Woman is an incredible threat to them.
The juxtaposition between the captions and the action works perfectly. Sampere’s handle of pace and framing is exceptional. At opportune times we don’t even see the enemies Wonder Woman is beating, early on thanks to her tiara doing a lot of the work, which adds up to showing how outmatched she is against these human threats. Similar to the last issue, Sampere shows Wonder Woman is incredibly powerful and so far she’s cut through threats like they were butter.
Always cheery and polite.
Credit: DC Comics
As we see her abilities in full force, however, King appears to be building up the threat of lies and false information. While Wonder Woman is incredibly confident walking right up to enemies without fear, the enemy builds a case against Wonder Woman she likely won’t see coming. It’s a compelling idea, to have a superhero incredibly powerful easily thwarting physical threats while the threat of false perception and lies grows ever-present.
I’m not sure Wonder Woman has been depicted as this badass and powerful before. That’s thanks to some clever visual ideas, like a closeup of the room number Wonder Woman is looking for, only to pull out to reveal damage to the door, pulling out again to show it’s resting on the floor, and further still pulling out to show men laying all around it. Visual ideas like this help make the issue feel cinematic and layered in how it tells its story.
All the while, there are some interesting ideas at work about power, truth, and lies. King is commenting on some rather big issues in a day and age where fake news is more prevalent than ever. In this way, the series is elevating the superhero genre for the modern day and age with a clear and present danger.
I will say, though, the captions can feel a little too verbose. There are a few pages where there are interesting ideas at work, but feels like they could have been paired down a bit to get to the same conclusions and points.
This issue also has a fun backup by King with art by Belen Ortega featuring Wonder Woman’s daughter. Set a few years in the future, the story focuses on Damian and Jon Kent taking care of the little one while their parents are away. King plays around with the dynamic between Damian and Jon, and how Damian is always pressing Jon’s buttons about being too perfect and “Superman.” There are also some relatable elements like how Damian swears in front of Lizzie and she immediately picks it up. Fans won’t want to miss this one for Wonder-Robin, either!
Wonder Woman #3 continues to show this series is one of the best superhero comics on the shelf. It does everything a modern superhero fan wants, from incredible art, to ties to modern-day threats, to an ongoing story that brings something new to the character. Wonder Woman is can’t-miss superhero comics.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.