Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #7 // Review
Diana once again steps lightly aside to allow a major supporting character, the center of the page in Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #7. Writer Andrea Shea allows Etta Candy the center of an action story in an issue beautifully rendered by artist Meghan Hetrick. Color is vividly brought to the page courtesy of Arif Prianto. Shea and Hetrick mix intricate subtlety of human emotion into a fast-paced espionage story that allows Etta to be strong and vulnerable while looking distinctly unlike the traditional action heroine.
Etta Candy is on a mission for A.R.G.U.S. There's an illegal sale of powerful E.M.P. technology set to take place in Moscow. Etta has to stop the sale from taking place. She's got Wonder Woman helping her with the heavy lifting. Wonder Woman does her part by engaging the super-powered Russian assassin KGBeast (who has also had a recent run-in with Batgirl this month.) Etta's going to have a bit more of a challenge as she is captured by a couple of people. One of them can't wait to kill her. The other one is someone Etta is trying to turn into an asset for A.R.G.U.S.
On a basic level, it's a really quite cloak-and-dagger action story. Shea delves considerably deeper than the traditional punch-and-grab cloak and dagger action story. There's deep interpersonal stuff going on here about self-worth and the very human concerns at the heart of political decisions, which could affect many people's lives. With a cleverly natural and minimalist approach, Shea constructs a very complicated emotional center to Candy that is mirrored in the personality of the Russian agent she's trying to cultivate as a potential agent for A.R.G.U.S. Wonder Woman serves as an entry and exit point for a very engaging story.
Hetrick's action hits with some stunning impact. This is particularly impressive for artwork that feels so static. Everything feels so still even in explosive moments of action. Still, Hetrick manages to make those moments feel powerful anyway with punches, blasts, and battle postures, maximizing the intensity of it all. Emotion slides into view with cleverly balanced subtlety that Prianto amplifies with depth drawn across the page in cleverly deft color. Hetrick and Prianto's most significant accomplishment with the issue lies in their rendering of Etta herself. An overweight action hero would be the natural domain of comedy. Hetrick and Prianto bring Candy's obesity to the page with respect for its distinctly formidable beauty without attempting to soften it.
When she was introduced nearly 80 years ago, Etta Candy was often featured as a courageous girl who Wonder Woman would call-in to help her out somewhere around the end of an adventure. This issue respectfully turns the tables as Wonder Woman is the peripheral action aid to Etta's central experience. It's an enjoyable turnabout that delicately plays with cloak and dagger action tropes while giving the genre all the respect that it is due.
