Reading Comics 151 "Wonder Woman"

via DC Comics

It continues to be a very good time to be a fan of Wonder Woman.

In the pages of Superman/Wonder Woman, Peter Tomasi is acknowledging that the Amazon was indeed a crucial element of Kingdom Come, which can sometimes be overlooked.  You may have heard that Magog, who was once called Mark Waid and Alex Ross's answer to Marvel's Cable, has made his New 52 debut.

Tomasi has introduced a revelation concerning the character.  Even if he started as Cable, he always had the potential, equally, to be that character who bridges the gap between Superman and Wonder Woman.  That was always in the design, too.  Perhaps now, that's all you'll see?

via DC Comics

The commentators I've read have been less than impressed with Tomasi and Doug Mahnke's run so far, and they were even less impressed with seeing Magog enter the picture.  For me, both continue to excel.  Tomasi borrows elements of the classic Magog origin as Waid outlined it in The Kingdom but updates it for the all-important starting point of the New 52, the opening arc of Justice League.  Skeptics wonder why the young David Reid would fixate on Superman and Wonder Woman when clearly there were many other future Leaguers involved, but Superman is always the most prominent hero, and Wonder Woman in this continuity was making her spectacular debut in Man's World.

So much for that.

In Wonder Woman, the Finches have been receiving an equally dubious response, for the most part, but the critics are warming a little.

It probably doesn't hurt that they're starting to make it their own, and joining the company-wide re-introduction of long-absent characters.  In this instance, Donna Troy.  The former Wonder Girl has been brought in to replace Diana as ruler of the Amazons.  Diana, meanwhile, is struggling with the idea of being the God of War, the biggest ripple of the Azzarello years.  It was noted early on that Meredith Finch didn't seem completely familiar with how the outgoing writer ended things, but as brilliant as Brian Azzarello was, he also stuck Wonder Woman into a pocket.  Finch and husband David Finch are expanding it.  Batman and Superman appear in the issue just as if this were right alongside Justice League and Superman/Wonder Woman, which of course it is.  David Finch as always does excellent work, the opposite in style of outgoing Cliff Chiang.  Meredith, new to the game, proves surprisingly adept.

All this and Gal Gadot as the first film version of Wonder Woman, coming up next year...