Wonder Woman #752 // Review
Princess Diana runs into a noble warrior from another time. It’s not the easiest meeting. The warrior in question is making a mess of a cozy, little bar in Boston. With so many innocent lives so close to the warrior’s blade, Diana’s battle prowess AND compassion if she’s going to be able to defuse the situation in Wonder Woman #752. Writer Steve Orlando brings a straightforward adventure to the page, with the aid of artist Max Raynor. Colors come to the page courtesy of Romulo Fajardo Jr. The noble displaced warrior story has been done quite a lot over the years. Orlando allows Wonder Woman’s unique personality to save this particular treatment of a familiar adventure fantasy theme.
Boston can be a nice place under the right circumstances. The right circumstances aren’t going to involve being thrust out of the ancient past and into some dive bar in Back Bay. Noble warrior Valda--the Iron Maiden finds herself in a confusing space in a confusing place, and the only one who seems to make any sense at all is the Amazon Warrior known as Wonder Woman. It’s not going to be easy to settle Valda down, but Wonder Woman has dealt with displaced warriors before. Elsewhere, Baroness Von Gunther reveals a little bit more about her past with Wonder Woman and the Amazons.
Orlando drops the conflict directly onto the page from the very first panel. Valda is clearly a powerful warrior. Thankfully, Wonder Woman is ready to confront her. The action launches straightaway from there and rolls into a pretty predictable direction as enemies become friends and then head off to face a monster from some other dimension that is perfectly set-up to wrap-up the next issue. The historical aside with Von Gunther interrupts the momentum of the issue. Still, the background DOES give some contrast to the action going on between Valda and Wonder Woman that opens and closes the issue.
Raynor gives the action a very powerful visual reality. There’s a delicate balance between drama, detail, and action that makes for a strikingly simple conflict. Exploits glide across the page with clean lines and forceful movement. The trip through history with Von Gunther is every bit as striking. Orlando and company aren’t doing anything new here, but what they ARE doing has a clarity about it that is hugely appealing. Fajardo Jr. adds stylish depth to the conflict. Fajardo Jr’s work on the evening encounter in Boston lends the opening of the issue an immersive, atmospheric quality.
Wonder Woman’s return to Boston hits another snag as she encounters danger the likes of which the town rarely contends with. Wonder Woman’s first adventures in Boston back in the late ‘80s George Perez era weren’t nearly as tied to the region as they might have been. Orlando has an opportunity to rectify that as Wonder Woman returns to the town in a chapter of Diana’s life, which shows considerable promise early on. Orlando has firmly established an appealing opening. With any luck, he’ll be able to move it in an appealing direction from here.
