Sensational Wonder Woman #8 // Review
Diana enters a battle with an old enemy in the frozen wastes on the far side of the world in Sensational Wonder Woman #8. Writer Corinna Bechko wraps-up a two-part story with the dreamy visuals of artist Dani. The story may lack sophistication, but combat that is essentially the full length of the eighth issue is brought to the page with an admirable amount of style by artist and writer alike. There really isn't much to the story, but the action feels unique and distinct. A visually interesting angle on the action is added to Wonder Woman's 80-year history's vast and winding tapestry.
Diana is on the trail of the Blue Snowman. The villain may have escaped, but Diana knows where to find her in a journey that takes her all the way to the arctic to face both the villain and the source of her funds in an enjoyable conclusion to a story that opened with a bit of a weak start in the prior issue. Wonder Woman travels through the snow to face villains in an action sequence that closes-out the two-part story. To defeat the villain, she must use savvy as well as muscle if everything is to turn out alright.
There isn't a whole lot going on here. The deeper end of Bechko's story is sparse. Concerns of technology in hands that it shouldn't be and the money that is putting it there are largely in the story's background as Wonder Woman faces Blue Snowman. A rarely-used villain is given a bit of weight in a fun, little bit of action that closes-out the two-part series. Bechko knows how much story can fit on the page in a two-parter and refrains from trying to make too much of a big deal about it. It's simple. There's nothing wrong with that.
Dani's art style may not have seemed all that well-suited to the sense of action that Bechko is asking her to bring to the page, but her minimalist art style is well-suited to a battle in the blinding arctic. Hero and villains have little background against which to contrast, which is precisely as it should be in the arctic. Dani's sense of action gains a bit of momentum in the climax of the two-part story. The artist's grasp of expressive posture feels particularly impressive as the story rounds the corner for its big conclusion.
Blue Snowman is one of those characters created by William Moulton Marston back in the Golden Age that feels a bit too silly for modern tastes, but Bechko and Dani give the villain a weight and power that feels formidable. It's not the type of story that feels substantial enough to linger in the mind after the last panel. Still, it's a solidly enjoyable addition to a series that has been gaining quite a bit of momentum since it began at the beginning of Wonder Woman's 80th anniversary year.
