With all the ruckus over J. Michael Straczynski taking on the writing of both “Superman” and “Wonder Woman,” the best bet here is keep the quality up and remain consistently good, not just in the writing but it in the artwork too. The art in Wonder Woman #602 falls short way too many times that it is distracting and pulls you out of the story. Don Kramer takes the lead in #601 and it shows. But he shares art duties with a number of artists in this issue and it just feels like a busy mess. It’s certainly not the first time that this has happened in a comic. Not too long ago, Wonder Woman #44 suffered a bit from a clash in styles, although the art was superb throughout.
With #602, the problem might be chalked up to a rushed work schedule for the artists. Some of these compositions are simply ill-conceived. Only four pages in, and we get a filler montage of Wonder Woman taking on a army. Arms outstretched in a big portrait, apparently she’s using her bracelets to fend off bullets. Three smaller portraits have her running into the melee. One small portrait seems to be emerging from Wondy’s crotch. Is there deep meaning behind this? Wonder Woman giving birth to Wonder Woman? No, probably not.
As for the story, again, it’s not as intriguing as Wonder Woman giving birth to Wonder Woman. No, basically, you have it plodding along with the theme of WW, lost and trying to find her way. A fragment from WW’s Amazon past has lodged itself on Earth. It doesn’t belong on Earth and so it quickly becomes the target of military gunfire. Numerous fight scenes ensue, most of which find Wonder Woman plunging into the fray, arms outstretched. It feels more like a video game than a comic. There’s a drawn out scene of Wondy arguing with a huge bust of a fallen god that smells like filler. It is useless. It does not advance the story. It is filler. It does more to convince me that superhero stories daddle in back story at their own peril.
