“None of you ever tell me anything real.”
Following the less-than-stellar crossover between Absolute Wonder Woman and Batman, we return to the vibrant Gateway City and our titular heroine in “Season of the Witch, Part One” as she struggles with a new situation: politics. I’ve praised creators Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman before for their introduction of Gateway City – it’s something that has always been missing from Wonder Woman’s character mythos, and truthfully, what screams “superhero” more than having your own city and your own problems? The idea has been solid up until today’s installment as Thompson gives readers a taste of the political climate and how government figures really feel about Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, it doesn’t land in the way Thompson was hoping.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Absolute Wonder Woman #16!
Steve Trevor goes to the senate to defend his actions for aiding the mysterious Wonder Woman during the first arc, a striking display and a brilliant way to showcase how this Steve Trevor operates compared to his mainline counterpart. The scene itself, however, is presented as a question of what Wonder Woman represents as an immigrant with Senator Whyte (not to be confused with the actual Republican representative, hilarious coincidence) debating the Colonel on his decision making. The subject is not done without heart but the framing itself is lackluster as we haven’t seen any type of civilian backlash towards the idea of Wonder Woman whatsoever.
DC
You cannot create the idea that your hero is judged for being an immigrant and protector when the only opposing force is the governmental bodies of America and not show how the government’s opinion of a subject effects the everyday person. The metaphor in Absolute Wonder Woman has always been about a woman reclaiming a missing culture and people; Diana wears the societal expectations of that journey on her shoulders. However, it loses all power if we don’t truly see how civilians look at her and her struggles. If we were to compare Diana to anything, it would be more under the guise of an indigenous person, someone trying to find herself and what she has left.
The framing doesn’t improve either as Thompson cuts to a ribbon cutting ceremony where everyone is cheering Diana on for just being Wonder Woman. It doesn’t add anything to the prior writing and only reminds the audience of the problem at hand. The sad fact is that unless you’re spiritually John Ostrander, it’s hard to have a modern superhero comic succeed at any politics. I am hoping the subject improves as this arc goes on because it is both limiting and vast to tell a chunk of a story in twenty or more pages. As of right now, I am not happy with the discussion.
Moving on from that, Thompson’s dialogue isn’t the best outside of the usual flashbacks. The dialogue between Diana and Artemis in the Wild Isle furthers the ongoing mystery of Diana’s purpose as a hero and overall show who she is emotionally which is a major factor in her character. After the charm and intrigue of the flashbacks, the biggest offender happens to be Zatanna. Her dialogue as she introduces the Absolute Suicide Squad comes across as amateur and lessens the seriousness of the team’s formation.
DC
Moving onto the art, Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire are still the powerhouse duo of the series and despite the awkwardness of the overall conversation the writing presents, Sherman and Bellaire have plenty of fun with the paneling and coloring. As mundane and short as it is, the scenes of Diana and company at the Natural History Museum expresses a strong side to the characters as we finally see them outside of the dire situations they’ve been thrown into.
It shows a strong sense of personal style to the cast-members and that has been needed for quite awhile. I doubt we will ever see Diana in regular everyday clothes, but the small semblance of fashion in a comic is more than what most superhero comics provide in this day and age. Additionally, the design work for Aphrodite is fantastic. Sherman finds a brilliant way to showcase the traditional eroticism of Aphrodite and chooses to hide her body in a sheet, almost as a subtle way to consistently tease. Not to mention, you can see a clear influence of the Hades game duology and that alone is charming.
Concluding this review, I am quite disappointed in the overall presentation of things. While the art and coloring continues to be a series staple, Thompson’s writing hasn’t hit the right marks as of late and I hope she gets the comeback she needs. The subject matter itself isn’t weak, it’s the presentation. Absolute Wonder Woman #16 is unfortunately the weakest issue thus far and not even the flirtatious nature of Zatanna can fix that.
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