Things come to a head… in a bar, as Wonder Woman, Lennox and Orion return and confront Zola, Hera (now a mortal), Strife, Dionysus and Ares.  Strife is always entertaining, but things get tense when Zola attacks Ares only for the god of war to turn the tables.  However, Ares and Diana come to a tense and possibly fake agreement.  We also get more interludes featuring the first of Zeus’ bastard children, who I had previously thought was Heracles, but now, I think is nameless.

The art is by Tony Akins with Amilcar Pinna who seem to be doing their best to emulate the style of Cliff Chiang, this series’ regular artist, but of course they fall short.  Anyone would!  I think I would prefer that they try and develop their own styles rather than copying his.  At least then it would be unique and not a failed imitation.

Sigh, I’ve been criticized for being too fangirl on DC Comics, but… I guess that ends here.  This issue wasn’t awful (The first page featured the first glimmer of Wonder Woman showing ANY sign of a personality… of course that quickly went away), but I’m so tired of this series in general.  It’s boring.  It’s overly drawn out.  It’s really mediocre.  The art is usually good, but looking back, the series has been peppered with moments designed to shock (Diana wasn’t molded from clay, she is another of Zeus’ love children; the Amazons rape and kill sailors, then sell their male offspring to Hephaestus in exchange for weapons; Hippolyta was turned to stone and the Amazons were turned into snakes), but this is the longest, most meandering story line I can recall reading in any comic.  I am so dissatisfied with this series right now!  Other books can be a bit drawn out, like The Walking Dead, but they always deliver a catharsis within a few issues.  We’re closing in on two years of The New 52 and this book has delivered nothing close to satisfaction.

I love Wonder Woman the character!  But I will admit her series isn’t always great.  Brian Azzarello is a great comic writer, but I’m starting to suspect he took on this series with a handful of “Holy $#!@” moments and not much else.  I don’t know where this series is going, and at this point, I’m not sure I care.  Sorry to get all jaded… this wasn’t the worst issue I’ve ever read, but I really can’t endorse it.

WONDER WOMAN #17
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Tony Akins with Amilcar Pinna
Cover by Cliff Chiang