16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simone's run gains speed., March 21, 2009
This review is from: Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth (Hardcover)
The resurrection of Wonder Woman from the dire depths of 2006 and 2007 continues in this, the second collection of Gail Simone's run on the title. While it is still flawed in terms of the status quo that the title has been saddled with, the two stories here (issues 20-25) are both fine Wonder Woman stories that mostly avoid the things to do with the status quo that are so irritating. Simone is joined for this arc by new regular artist Aaron Lopresti (#20-23) and returning fill-in artist Bernard Chang (#24-25).
Mimicking the structure of the first six-issue trade ("The Circle"), this trade consists of one four-issue primary story which lends its title to the collection as a whole, and a two-issue fill-in story by Chang. While "The Circle" was the clear highlight of the trade of the same name, I would say in this case that the final two-parter outshines the preceding four-parter.
The primary story, "Ends of the Earth", dips into DC's collection of 1970s sword-and-sandal adventurer comics and sends Diana on a mythic quest. She is recruited rather forcibly by the Stalker (an extremely obscure character, though created by DC's current president, Paul Levitz, so that probably scored Simone points with the higher-ups) to help him in his quest to finally defeat the devil of his world. Raiding across dimensions for the four blades destined to slay him, they recruit Beowulf (DC's version) and Claw the Unconquered (a ripoff of "Conan the Barbarian"), giving Diana license to wear a range of cool story-specific outfits (my favourite being the first, Norse-inspired one), all the while her soul is slowly blackened by the Stalker's magic in order to make her sufficiently ruthless, and someone on the team is a traitor. For those like me who know little to nothing about these characters you won't receive the nostalgic charge I'm sure some did, but it's still well-done, with fun details such as the transdimensional oracle who always seems to be missing her legs. The internal drama of Diana's struggle for her compassion often strays into the tell-not-show territory, but it has a powerful finale. The villain of the piece feels somewhat perfunctory (again, a lot of telling).
There's a subplot about Nemesis investigating "Diana Prince" and having an enounter with Diana's sister Donna Troy, which is mainly notable for featuring a really well-written Donna, rare enough. Nemesis is tolerable, but still the weak point of the book.
With that story wrapped up, Diana goes to Hollywood (well, for there's some extended interaction between Tom and Hippolyta, of all people, which grates on my nerves more than anything else in the story; I'd much rather have a scene with her and Diana) to deal with a "Wonder Woman" movie that they're planning to make. This is obviously a greater fiction than the talking apes, as Hollywood will never make a Wonder Woman movie, between the WB's inability to make anything other than Batman and Superman (barely, in the latter's case) and the dislike of female leads. Anyway, Simone brings in the Queen of Fables to face Diana one-on-one, which has been long overdue. Simone indulges in some very entertaining parody of what movie hacks would probably make of Wondy's mythos (and have, in the past, with some story elements right out of Bruce Timm's awful take on her mythos in JLU). It ends rather abruptly, but it's a gem nonetheless.
Overall, I would rank "Ends of the Earth" as a 4/5 and the Hollywood arc as a 5/5, which, combined and rounded, works out to a 5.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid well paced wonder adventure, October 18, 2009
This review is from: Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth (Hardcover)
This was a great read. Gail is really hitting her peak on Wonder Woman. This arc takes us into a world where Wonder Woman confronts a piece of her shadow self. We see the princess of power deal with characterlogical stresses and not necessarily in the holier than thou way these things tend to be spun for our top lady.
Diana has anger, she has a few flaws that come out and she is challenged to overcome them to do right. But she comes out of this stuff with some fantastic warrior skill demonstration lovely Bernard Chang art and Aaron Lopresti, the new WW artist gives us pure eye candy in a world of snow and wolves.
Great job everyone!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent!, August 22, 2010
This is another magnificent story from Gail Simone. After some pretty stinky releases from other writers (i.e., Mission's End and Amazons Attack) in which the entire Wonder Woman lore is basically tossed out the window and rewritten, it is wonderful that the Wonder Woman series is now in the hands of a writer that really seems to understand the characters- not just Princess Diana bit also the supporting cast. In Simone's capable hands, Wonder Woman is once again a compassionate but powerful warrior, loving but brave, and a sometimes vulnerable heroine that is able to find solutions to problems that do not always involve her beating the snot out of someone.
That said, there is plenty of action in this tale. Most of the story takes place on other worlds and has a Conan type of feel to it. The artwork is inconsistent (different artists equals noticeably different styles) but always good. There is lots of humor, especially when it comes to Diana's love interest, and the ending is surprising (and also quite satisfying).
A second, briefer story is included in this volume. It is also very good, though the villain seems far less powerful than she has in past appearances (she once nearly defeated the entire JLA) and is beaten rather easily. Still, I enjoyed the second story a great deal and wished that it was a bit longer.
I got both "Ends of the Earth" and "The Circle" at the same time and recommend them both. Great stuff!
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