Wonder Woman #800 // Review
Diana has been drifting through dream worlds. It’s been difficult for her to maintain her footing. Now, she finds herself falling into the dreams of a couple of her most prominent allies: Bruce and Clark. Before she can get to that, she’ll encounter danger with three of her younger counterparts in Wonder Woman #800. The writing team of Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad bids farewell to the warrior of truth. Their story is brought to the page by a large group of artists, including Joëlle Jones, Alitha Martinez, Mark Morales, Nick Robles, Todd Nauck, Skylar Patridge, Cully Hamner, and Jen Bartel. Color graces the page courtest of Jordie Bellaire, Jen Bartel, and Tamra Bonvillain. The issue also features a preview of writer Tom King’s new Wonder Woman series featuring art by Daniel Sampere.
Yara Flor has been tracking Diana for quite some time. Diana is well aware of this. She’s been waiting to engage the monster that stalks the jungle. Once she’s done that, she will encounter an entirely different Wonder Girl...Donna Troy. Before she can blink, Cassie Sandsmark pushes her into a conflict with Darkseid, but that’s just the beginning. The dream worlds tumble Diana into the nightmare that created Batman and a conversation of some depth with Superman. Elsewhere, there is an encounter on the shores of Paradise. A future daughter of Wonder Woman enters a cave with the sons of Superman and Batman in search of a story…
Cloonan and Conrad are saying goodbye to a character that they’ve done some pretty remarkable things with over the course of the recent past. The title “Whatever Happened to the Warrior of Truth?” may pay homage to an old Alan Moore tribute to Superman, but the final issue of Cloonan and Conrad’s run is all Diana. The two iconic moments with Bruce and Clark hold some emotional weight. It’s a deep and deeply satisfying look into the psyche of Wonder Woman with more than a bit of poetic philosophy. King’s introduction feels like a bit of a weak contrast. Though there is some degree of wit in King’s script, the legacy of the three major DC heroes has been explored pretty extensively over the years. King’s little intro doesn’t provide a whole lot of insight. Hopefully, his run with the upcoming Wonder Woman series is better.
The multi-layered dream adventure allows for a huge art team to work on the book in a way that feels natural. There may be a jarring move from one dream to the next, but the weird patchwork quality of the journey fits the overall format of the issue. There’s some impressive work in the issue. Jones’s encounter between Wonder Woman and Yara Flor is beautiful. Nauck’s Wonder Woman/Cassie Sandsmark pages are springy, irresistible fun. Martinez and Morales harness some of the most intense emotional warmth of a very warm and engaging issue.
There’s a recurring theme this month in nearly every appearance Wonder Woman has had--she’s always late. There are elements of that in King’s story and her appearance in this month’s World’s Finest...even her cameo appearance in The Flash movie that’s out this month. Kind of a weird coincidence and an odd detail to add in if they did it consciously. Conrad and Cloonan have a lot to focus on for their final issue. They might be going over old tropes, but they’re doing so in a way that feels very personal to both of them. From a certain point of view, it almost even looks like they’re making a cameo this issue as the entity that speaks to Diana...there’s some suggestion that it might be a stand-in for the two of them. Kind of a graceful and tasteful creator cameo if that’s what they’re intending.
