Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #23 // Review
Diana is called to protect those who would hunt illegally from a cunning and powerful revenant predator in the final issue of Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace. Writer Christos Gage places Wonder Woman and Cheetah in an uneasy alliance in an installment brought to the page by artist Neil Edwards. The challenge between the two is explored in an eco-conscious issue that respects some of the poaching's complexity in impoverished nations. Though the issue has its moments, Gage and Edwards don't manage to add much to a long-running conflict between the two characters.
Things are getting extremely tense. The local government is losing its patience. Poachers have been reporting attacks by a humanoid cheetah woman. Diana knows all too well who it is. Steve Trevor is concerned. A.R.G.U.S. is ready to attack. If they don't, the local government will. Diana wants to avoid any potential death, but she will have to confront the Cheetah and get her to agree to trust the local government. It's not going to be easy with an angry protector of nature held closely in check against poachers with families to feed and very little to lose. Time is running out for everyone involved.
Gage gives both Diana and the Cheetah plenty of space to discuss questions of trust in the course of a tenuous attempt to keep endangered big cats alive. The two have two distinctly different approaches to conservation: holistic aid versus ecoterrorism. It's enjoyable to see the contrast between hero and villain as the two work together, but Gage doesn't have a whole lot of space to embellish the complexity of the contrast between the two characters. Wonder Woman's respect for the Cheetah and her abilities is a charming dynamic at the heart of the story, which could be explored to more satisfying effect over a longer story arc.
Edwards delivers some charm to the page as reflected in Wonder Woman and the Cheetah's faces, but the detail of the action feels stiff in places. Poses feel locked into place when they should be more fluid, which is odd because most of the actual action flies across the page quite dynamically. The flow of aggression from one panel to the next is beautiful at times, but the actual substance of what's being brought seems crude and inelegant all too often. The conflict between Wonder Woman and the Cheetah is firmly anchored to the page, but it fails to make a significant impact.
The prolific series comes to an end at the end of the year. Agent of Peace has seen so many artists and writers take turns with one of DC's best characters. 23 issues have delivered 23 different stories over the year. DC Digital First switches gears in 2021 with Sensational Wonder Woman...a different title with a different approach to the digital. It will be impressive if it can manage the same quality ratio that Agent of Peace had managed in 2020.
