Customer Reviews

Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympian

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gail Simone's first twelve issues on "Wonder Woman" followed a specific formula: a four-issue arc of major significance, followed by a two-issue arc telling smaller stories. With two such cycles completed, she now dives into the biggest and most ambitious arc she has yet attempted on the title. "Rise of the Olympian" spans eight issues, twice the length of any previous story, and aims to tackle aspects of the Wonder Woman mythos that were severely mauled by the previous writers of the franchise in "Amazons Attack!". This story was also marketed heavily as an entry point for readers, alongside such works as Grant Morrison's "Batman RIP". It would be nice to say that Simone achieves an unqualified success here, but that is not the case. "Rise of the Olympian" has flaws fit for its ambitions. Spoilers follow.

Befitting its size, there is quite a lot going on here. Too much, in many ways. For most of the story, there are two separate strands at work that really don't seem to have much in common beyond their occurring at the same time. In one, which occupied Diana's time for most of the story, she confronts the new villain Genocide, a creation of the latest iteration of the Secret Society of Supervillains. This strand features, for the first time in the run, a couple of pre-existing major Wondy villains, the Cheetah (Barbara Minerva) and Dr. Psycho. They are mostly well-used, though what seems like an opportunity to rebuild the Cheetah into the scheming mastermind she was initially characterized as before rot set in is ultimately not to be. The big flaw in this story, and it's a fairly major one, is Genocide herself. Simply, the character doesn't work. She's built up as a Doomsday-level threat, but the story never really conveys this by her actions. Instead, characters talk about how threatened they feel...a lot. It gets extremely annoying, as Simone tells rather than shows.

The second strand, and by far the better of the two, features the return from "Amazons Attack!"-induced idiocy of the Greek Gods and the Amazons, Diana's people. It's perhaps not ideal that Diana herself is not featured in the most interesting plot thread until the very end of the story. The stage here is given over to Zeus, Queen Hippolyta, various other gods, and the newly-created Olympians, led by the demigod Achilles (not the mythical figure, seemingly). More than anyone, this is Zeus's show. Entrusted with ushering in a new era of peace and protecting the Amazons, he quickly ends up on a warpath of good intentions that leads where such things usually do. Diana's pact with Kane Miohai in "The Circle" finally comes home to roost. The titular Olympian (Achilles) and his people really don't do much in this story; mostly, foundation is laid for the future.

The climax, where these two threads merge due to the designs of Ares (showing a bit more planning skill than he has in the past) is a mixed bag. Ares "dies" in a way that is obvious to the reader that he isn't dead, but the characters all accept that he is far too easily, which defies all logic. And the ending status quo, with Diana renouncing the gods and the Amazons, is frankly a bit wearying. After four years of this (since "Infinite Crisis"), the prospect of Diana returning to her proper place being dangled and then jerked away is not at all appealing. On the plus side, Simone finally makes some moves towards sweeping away the worst parts of the Heinberg reboot, such as the annoying Nemesis relationship (in a way rather unflattering to Diana). The art from Aaron Lopresti is lovely throughout (I particularly like his armour designs for Donna and Cassie), though a bit lacking in the brutal edge some parts of this story seem to be hinting at, which probably plays into its diminished effectiveness.

An important story in Diana's life, but a middling one.

The writer makes the character. I have read mixed reviews on this graphic novel. Most support Gail Simone yet feel disappointed following her tales The Circle and Ends of the Earth, both novels I have yet to read -- but I will!

What of this tale?

Well, Diana Prince in this story is a pretty tough woman, giving commands and demands as they prepare for battle. Not exactly a mild-mannered Clark Kent character.

Zeus looks over Wonder Woman's exploits and feels that though she's done some good, that saving the world is a man's job, not a woman's. Ooh, the gods are sexist! What's next?

This new villain Genocide has taken WW's lasso and she gets her a** handed to her -- quite bloody and intense. The art is professionally done, hard to look at at times. Simone weaves a tapestry of honor and battle that's nice to read.

When WW lets the blood lust take her, watch out! The battle scenes with Genocide are intense. The cowardice of the bad guys is sobering. All in all, just what I want in a WW tale!

The story also lets us in on the Olympian gods and their intentions and purposes are really human ones. When they arrive to their home and see how Darkseid has defaced Olympus, it's quite a shock!

Overall, great story. Excuse me now while I go and gather more graphic novels by Simone.

Other Simone Stuff:

Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth (Wonder Woman (Graphic Novels))
Wonder Woman: Circle
Wonder Woman: Warkiller

Following off Gail's opening arc, The Circle, Simone continues her run with style. Now, I'll mention that the complexity of the story mentioned in a prior review is true, there's a lot going on here and some may have trouble with that, and there are some parts like the Society of Supervillains and Cheetah who'd have benefited from more screen time, but I feel it more than earns it's wings with it's epicness, well written characters, and most importantly, doing what perhaps no writer since Rucka has done: Truly get Wonder Woman.

There are three main threats in this volume. The Society of Supervillains, the villain Genocide, and Achilles and the Olympians under Zeus. The Society as I mentioned could've stood to have more time on their own, but are primarily there to set up Genocide. They have some mook villains, but it might as well just be Cheetah, Professor TO Morrow, and Felix Faust for most intents and purposes, of whom Cheetah gets the most time and even then it's not a ton. Genocide on the other hand, despite her fairly 2d sounding name, is a truly threatening anti-Diana who is the key point of the story. More gets unveiled as she attacks Diana on both a physical and moral level, and the pay off of both the reveal of her origins and the final fight through Washington DC are more than pay off enough for her storyline.

Finally, there's Achilles, who'll I'll spend the most time on.

The idea of a male character being sent to fill Diana's role is one that's been done before, far too often, but Achilles is different than any of his predecessors in one important way: His deep and abiding respect for Diana. If he had a say in the matter, he'd love to just back Wonder Woman up as long as the job gets done, but Zeus has thrust him into the role. He's an interesting conflicted character who's more compassionate than his creator probably planned. Gail utterly subverted my expectations with him, and I'm glad she did.


Throughout it all, Aaron Lopresti provides beautiful art so your eyes won't get bored for one minute.

If I could give half stars, this'd be a 4.5, all the stories are a bit cluttered, but all-in-all it does enough right to round up to a '5'.

Compared to her other two Wonder Woman books, "Ends of the Earth" and "The Circle", which I both highly recommend, this was a bit of a letdown. I'm tentative to grouch about a lot of it, because I've found that many things I've taken to be loose ends get tied up in later issues, but I though that the introduction of the gods to Olympus, when Athena remarks, "Is this our home?" struck me as just plain ODD. Why does Zeus, upon seeing Mercury, ask him his NAME? Are the gods experiencing sudden amnesia or something? That, coupled with the space ship and the pathetically weeping Athena, who was before found to be a strong, calculating character by Rucka, was confusing and irksome. All these, found in just one or two pages, almost made me put the book down.

I was happy that, for a brief moment, Simone again brought up the Ichor, as it seems we will be getting to see them in the future. It means that that, at least, will not be left off as a useless, non-plot advancing creation, from when they were introduced in "The Circle". The re-introduction of the devoted Alykone and the rest of the Queen's Guard was something that could have been much better written. The surprise that Diana should have felt at her sudden appearance was completely left out, which made not sense, seeing as how she had been presumed dead, and the contempt for Diana that Alykone felt was only evident at the end, not in their interactions with each other.

The behavior of Donna after fighting with Genocide did not match up to that of the other heroes, as no one else behaved particularly angry, etc. after their encounters with it, and Donna's prompt exit, although probably going to be revisited in the future, was abrupt and bore none of the polish or subtle foreshadowing of Simone's usual writing. Most of the other confusing actions of Genocide, as well as effects, such as Etta's psychological breakdown, are also probably going to be explained in the next few books, so I won't bother to burn out over those.

The jealousy and rage of Zeus, demonstrated in the fight with Kane Miohai, was well conducted and understandable, but Zeus's creation of the Olympians, and the betrayal of Ares, was too crammed into the last half of the book to make much sense, and could have been much more well written and planned out. Another thing that may be better cleared up in the next volume, however.

Overall, not as bad as it could be, as I felt that as confusing as the story was, Diana stayed true to her character, and retained her fierce and compassionate spirit throughout most of it. Her loyalty to justice did not make it seem strange to me for her to revoke her gods and her Amazonian heritage, even though I felt that also could have been better written. For the many loose ends and confusion, I am hoping they will be explained and tied up in the next arc, as Simone has done well with that in the past. Really not a horrible read. If you're looking for a REAL example of bad writing, read Jodi Piccoult's take on WW, "Love and Murder." It's truly horrible, with Diana and Nemesis bantering like immature teenagers, and lead right into the disastrous "Amazons Attack" arc.

I think Gail Simone is a really smart writer. I like Aaron Lopresti and really like Bernard Chang. I am a big nerd for all things Wonder Woman, and I think it is past time for her to receive a big, defining story a la Batman: R.I.P. or Green Lantern: Rebirth.

But this isn't it.

As others have pointed out, this is a good looking book that has a number of intriguing story beats (in particular Diana's relationship with Nemesis and the light that Simone has shone on the debate amongst the Amazons surrounding Diana's birth). But too many others are poorly thought out or just too many (most of the Genocide stuff, including the effect she has on Donna Troy, or whatever the business about future Diana is, the presence of Cheetah and Dr Psycho). I'd like to see a return to the tighter plotting that Simone uses in her other work, and that she showed in "The Circle" to start her Wonder Woman run. I don't find the big, metaphysical mythology stuff to be her strong suit, and would love to see Diana move away from it for a while (it's important to her character, yes, but it's been done and done again lately). Here's hoping that the conclusion of this story is a step towards exactly that for Simone and the character.

This is not my favorite Wonder Woman story but it is still very enjoyable. Gail Simone introduces a new villian that isn't as scary as she should be. The backstory is kinda hard to follow (and hard to believe). I think this will read much better once the next story arc (Warkiller) is finished, as it ends with many unanswered questions.

Def worth a read as it will play a big part of Diana's future.

I love Wonder Woman and Gail Simone really does her justice! This book is a must!

Thank you for reading this review, be aware there are SPOILERS....






Pizza if made right can taste yummy as we eat each crusty bite. However this story, like a tempting pizza that we were all salivating to read with our eyes, a story which had all the makings of a wonderful story....well it fell a bit flat.

We see our Diana of Themiscyra come across a Doomsday level foe, aptly named Genocide. However Gail Simone's own story mechanics and continuity within her own 8 issue arc fall flat and the story suffers for it.

What is Genocide? Does it breathe or not? How strong is Genocide? First Genocide is in the narrator's own words, "stronger than anything" and "a god," but then other pieces are revealed that are not twists and turns so much as just over hyped strands trying to fit together into a hole, not a whole.

Genocide as a verb as an action, is a horrible calculated concept. It is not born of chaos but a rigid hatred enacted in an orderly mechanical manner. However this monster acts in a systemic manner just to toy with Wonder Woman and the things she has, the people in her like, rather than acting on an imperative to literally kill the world or a specific sect of humanity?

The Lopresti art and Mr.Chang's art make the Olympian story really shine though. If there was a 3.5 button I would give it to this for art but with the story as shoddy as it is I selected 2 stars for a reason.

Ms. Simone might want to invest in flash cards, or an outline or something so she can keep her internal continuity straight.

Why does a corpse need to breathe air?

Why does the Greek hero Achilles the finest warrior of his time get choked out by electric wire? I mean come on that is pretty unimpressive for someone on Wonder Woman's level.

Is Genocide a god or not?

Is Diana a god or not?

The ending has been done over and over and seems pedantic and borderline on Diana's part.

If she can't have her way she just "won't be an amazon or have gods."

Conveniently she doesn't renounce her powers? Or that rope? Or that tiara that slices through Superman. Or those Bracelets that can deflect the entire power of the pantheon back at someone stronger than it was originally. Those bracelets that made Superman bleed and cry during one of their fights?

And now who is buttering bread on both ends?

2 stars.

Everything good about Wonder Woman/Diana has been murdered in Vol.3. G.Simone didn't come on board until after the "Amazons Attack!" disaster, but she also hasn't improved the title. In fact, she's only driven Wonder Woman further away from her fans, alienating her from her roots and having her behave cold, distant and hostile in nearly every panel.

G.Simone has had over two years to improve this title and sales have only gone down thanks to her storylines that have wrecked one of DC's most significant characters. Greg Rucka (the last writer of WW Vol.2) gave us a compassionate warrior who was loyal to her family, her gods and her mission. Vol.3 and G.Simone in particular have done all in their power to ruin WW. If DC ever had any respect for this character, they would get rid of Simone and bring in someone who actually understood WW.