Wonder Twins #8 // Review
How do we handle regret? Do we let it consume us, taking away hope for the future? Or do we confront it head-on and try to make amends so that we can move forward? These are the questions at the center of Wonder Twins #8.
This issue primarily concerns itself with the Wonder Twins’ management of their school’s 30th high school reunion, a situation fraught with peril because of the lovelorn principal’s feelings for the school librarian. The case makes Jayna reconsider what she owes her friend Polly Math, who spends the issue plotting a prison break.
Writer Mark Russell is at his best in this issue, with deep character beats and sharp comedy alike. The overwrought drama of the principal is quite funny, and a recurring gag of Zan running the reunion’s casino is hysterical. Jayna’s next steps are logical, in character, and a satisfying turn.
This issue has a guest artist in Mike Norton, who does a great job maintaining continuity with the style and tone of regular series artist Stephen Byrne’s usual style. Much of the credit here can be shared with colorist Chris Peters and letterer Dave Sharpe, who maintain the specific style the series has developed over the past seven issues.
Wonder Twins #8 is a great return to form. Even better, it manages to be a stand-out issue without including any of the Justice League or the Legion of Doom--it keeps the stakes high and the jokes flowing by sticking entirely to the setting of Zan and Jayna’s high school. There is one major flaw, however: No Gleek.
