Brian Azzarello: writer
Cliff Chiang: artist & cover
The Solicitation
Remember the myth of Orpheus? Wonder Woman certainly does. And we hope she's learned its lessons well, because someone she dearly loves is in Hell's clutches – and she's the only one who can mount a rescue mission! But Hades has no mercy, even for his own family – in fact, especially for his own family – and he doesn't intend to let her walk out of his domain without paying a terrible price!
Preview
The Story
Um, OK. Obviously I need to catch up on my mythology. I'm pretty sure that if I did then a lot of the actions of these characters would make sense.
We devote the first couple of pages to introducing Eros, who has some ability to grant wishes and is the nephew of Hermes. Eros is able to help the team travel to meet The Smith. The Smith forges the weapons of the gods and he is the one who created Wonder Woman's lasso.
The Smith has some help with all the weapon making. Turns out that they are real live humans, or half humans if you think about it. Azzarello once again makes a change that I am sure will anger fans of classic Wonder Woman stories, but makes sense in this story.
Turns out that the Amazons being only women on the island isn't some miracle. Every now and then they travel out, have sex with a bunch of men, kill them, and then near their children. All the woman get to grow up on paradise island, and all the men get to work for The Smith.
Diana thinks that they are all being help against their will by The Smith. So Wonder Woman ties up the Smith , and then declares to her brothers that they are all free. They look at her and ask why, much like how I did. They didn't look too enslaved to me. And that's what the men tell her, that they chose to be there because the Smith gave them reason and purpose when they would have had none.
No, seriously, why did the story jump to that point? To point out that Wonder Woman thinks everyone needs saving? Or to point out that she acts like a god thinking that she knows what is best for all? There was something lacking in the story to give me a clear indication of what the point of it was. I am glad that this story seemed like a one off issue in a way, but it feels like there was something there that could have been developed more.
The Art
I am liking Cliff Chiang on art again. It feels more complete now in some way. I enjoyed the fire/dog/monster thing.
I didn't enjoy the opening sequence, though. It seemed like there was going to be this big thing to reveal this mystery character of Eros, but neither the words nor the art made it feel much like a reveal type of moment. When the switch made from meeting with the Smith to Diana walking down a corridor to tie him up, there was such a jarring moment because it felt like I missed a page somewhere. There was no indication really in the art or in words that showed me that there was a change. Ugh.
The Cover
Wonder Woman: Blacksmith. Now this was a cover that worked pretty well. I don't know why the light source isn't affecting the arm that much, but i like how it lights up Dianna. This cover makes her look strong. Although with the explosion behind her, I would almost want to see the hammer brought down on the sword instead of swung back.
Grades
Words: 7/10
Pictures: 7/10
Recommend: Nice little one off issue of sorts, but you need some background in mythology to follow along and enjoy this more. If you don't have any background in it, then you need to read some wikipedia articles or something.
Buy Next Issue: Yea. And I'm saying that with a bout 70% confidence level in the book. That's down from the 100% confidence level I had when the book first started.
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