Wonder Woman #751 // Review
Diana finds herself back in Boston. At gunpoint. The gun belongs to Detective Nora Nunes. She’s concerned about the hero’s decision to make Boston her home. Diana is going to have to prove herself to the authorities in Wonder Woman #751. Writer Steve Orlando writes the story of Detective Nunes’ day with Wonder Woman. Artist Jan Duursema brings the story to the page accompanied by the work of colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr. The story is a fairly even mix of earthbound life helping out during a natural disaster and the magic of something much bigger and more menacing at the heart of that natural disaster. The duality of the natural and the supernatural feels very vivid in a nice establishing issue in Wonder Woman’s new adventures in Boston.
Detective Nora Nunes is concerned about the city of Boston. They don’t get a whole lot of superhero traffic. Bring a figure as powerful as Wonder Woman into the city and she’s bound to bring some big problems with her. Wonder Woman welcomes Detective Nunes for a day of observation. The day starts with a lightning storm in the middle of winter. There’s a heavy downpour and some very severe weather. Sinister magic lurks in the heart of that storm. Detective Nunes’ day of observation isn’t going to be easy.
Orlando gives Wonder Woman a strong sense of direction that glides the story through two different encounters on two different levels. In the middle of the storm, there’s looting going on. Wonder Woman and Nunes deal with that before a sudden strike of lightning prompts Wonder Woman to follow the energy back to its source for a much more mystical encounter. It’s a well-paced story that launches a new threat in Diana’s direction while firmly establishing the foundation of resolution for the issue’s immediate conflicts. It’s a very satisfying script overall.
Duursema gives Diana a very poised and confident look throughout the issue. She also casts a great deal of compassion and understanding into Diana’s visage. Duursema establishes a very atmospheric look to the earthbound end of the action in a rain-soaked Boston. Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s colors amplify the rainy atmosphere of the issue. The storm is punctuated with powerful bits of illumination that get suitably fantastic when Wonder Woman confronts those beings responsible for the storm. The journey from one end of a rainy day to another feels inspiring and engaging thanks to Duursema and Fajardo.
When Wonder Woman first moved to Boston it was in another life back at the beginning of George Perez’s iconic run on the title. That run featured a rich, engaging ensemble of characters that had a tendency to push Wonder Woman to the corners of her own book. Orlando is opening THIS Boston chapter in Diana’s life with a bit of a more tempered approach to the title which looks like it’s going to allow Wonder Woman to remain in the center of the panel. This is a promising direction for Wonder Woman.
