Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2 // Review
Eris coaxes Eros to pull his heart out of his chest. All love is lost, and Diana does the only thing she can do. These tales and many others breathe through the pages of Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2. The six-issue anthology of standalone flash fiction stories with a volume of 5 tales written by Mariko Tamaki, Che Grayson, Tillie Walden, Stephanie Williams, and Rachel Smythe. Artists rendering these stories include Jamie McKelvie, Corin Howell, and Ashley A. Woods. Packed with appealing bite-sized stories, the black-and-white-and-gold anthology format still shows a great deal of life in its second issue.
Gods, demigods, and mortals tread the light and shadows of black and white and gold in a second installment of the anthology. Tales of a pandemic of lost love and the darkness of a god with no name open an impressively poetic anthology issue. An adult Wonder Woman feels the nightmare of a young Diana as the chapter proceeds into lighter territory. A Themysciran game of “capture the flag” involves a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors between Diana and Nubia. Wonder Woman confronts Circe in the issue’s final story as Diana looks to retrieve something of great value from the dark sorceress.
Mariko Tamaki’s tale of Diana, Eris, and Eros opens the issue on a strong note. The epic-level conflict firmly establishes the action element of an anthology that gradually moves more and more in the direction of lighter comedic material, including Rachel Smythe’s cleverly brief encounter between Dina and Circe. Stephanie Williams’ contest between three different wonder women is kind of a fun premise as well. The flash fiction format of the stories can feel a bit weighty on text-based narratives in places. The issue is best enjoyed in snippets over time. A more visually dependent set of stories would be better for a brisk read.
The black and white and gold color scheme continues to impress. “Without Love” uses the format to somewhat dazzling emotional effect. The deeper darkness of more serious action is present on the page in deeper blacks at the beginning of the issue. The lighter, more comedic tales at issue’s end are accompanied by the lightness of more negative space on the page. Talented colorist Jordie Bellaire is allowed to work her own kind of magic with the limited palette in writer/artist Tillie Walden’s dreamy “Homecoming.”
With two issues completed, it’s a bit of a disappointment that there are only four more left to go in what has proven to be a really, really appealing anthology. The variety of art and story styles open up a really refreshing spectrum of different perspectives on Diana and her life and struggles. Wonder Woman is celebrating 80 years on the comics page. With well over 1000 stories already on the page for the hero, it’s nice to see that there are still so many possibilities for a character created by Marston and Peter so long ago.
