It’s a new era for Wonder Woman as Tom King and Daniel Sampere take over as the new creative team. King and Sampere aren’t completely entering with a clean slate as the Wonder Woman franchise recently went through a big change. That change came in the form of the Amazons embracing being part of the rest of the world by having a traveling embassy in Themyscira. What direction will King and Sampere take Wonder Woman from here? Let’s find out with Wonder Woman #1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SOLICITATION RECAP
“THE AMAZON WARRIOR IS NOW A WANTED OUTLAW! A NEW ERA FOR THE AMAZON WARRIOR BEGINS, FROM THE SUPERSTAR TEAM OF TOM KING AND DANIEL SAMPERE! After a mysterious Amazonian is accused of mass murder, Congress passes the Amazon Safety Act, barring all Amazons from U.S. soil.
To carry out their plans, the government starts a task force, the Amazon Extradition Entity (A.X.E.), to remove those who don’t comply, by any means necessary. Now, in her search for the truth behind the killing, Wonder Woman finds herself an outlaw in the world she once swore to protect!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Tom King and Daniel Sampere certainly do not hold back making sure Wonder Woman #1 kicks off their run with a bang. There is a lot packed in here with the Amazons forced to deal with the right-wing extremist America xenophobia and bigotry. The approach in the political and social commentary does not always hit but the ending with the introduction of the big bad saves things.
When King is at his best with his superhero writing is when the plot is built off a simple idea. With Wonder Woman #1 it all comes down to an extremist group getting all reason to go all in on being openly xenophobic and racist. That is what happens here with a rogue Amazon killing many people in a random bar for an unknown reason. This is all that was needed for the villain group working under the mysterious Sovereign to go all in on taking out the Amazons.
While I certainly commend King for writing Wonder Woman #1 to have a complete story to kick off his run, he does rush the plot a bit too much. We go from 0 to 100 very quickly with Amazons openly being shot at in the suburbs by a militia group. Because King wanted to make the focus be on how bad things are for the Amazons there are key details missing for the militia group having such free reign.
This is something that could’ve easily been explained by the bigger stuff going on with the DC Universe. Namely Amanda Waller targeting all the superheroes in the DCU with the help of The Light. With Amanda Waller’s ties to the American government there could’ve been a quick scene of her helping give the militia group’s leader, The Sovereign, this type of power. It would’ve been a good way to use continuity without to further add credibility to what The Sovereign is doing.
That said, injecting this type of real-world element into Wonder Woman does work. It’s a shake up that the Wonder Woman franchise feel more part of the world. While recent Wonder Woman creative teams have made it a point to make the Amazons of Themyscira embrace the world more the stories that branched out didn’t. Even with the change in status quo we saw creative teams spend time telling superhero stories rather than testing this change to modern Wonder Woman comics.
Here, King and Sampere are taking the chance to test the strength of the Amazons status quo. Especially as they have just started to build relationships with other countries one of their own going rogue was the last thing they needed. We see that with how the 24 hour news cycle just eats up this development to shape a negative narrative around all of the Amazons. King does a good job at using this to show that while some, like young children, recognize Wonder Woman’s superhero efforts the loud extremist were waiting for this to happen to speak ill on all Amazons.
We also see that King does understand how to write Wonder Woman, both as a superhero and investigator. Diana has been around too long to not know that something more is going on. That is clear with how she goes about dealing with the militia that comes after her. She makes sure to knock out the entire group in an efficient manner. She then has a proper response to the one leading the attack when he tries to make her look responsible. The calm manner she does it all puts over Wonder Woman’s veteran status as a superhero.
Going to Steve Trevor after this further shows Diana’s awareness of something bigger going. Specifically, that how the Amazons got so quickly targeted has to do with the government. While she could’ve gone to Batman, Steve is a closer confidant when it comes to government dealings that she can trust to get answers from. Given how their scene goes it’ll be interesting to see what role Steve serves in this series. And we hopefully see Diana continued to use all her resources by trying to get Batman and others help as this would be a good way to integrate Justice League members as supporting cast members.
All this goes to getting over The Sovereign over as the big bad for the series moving forward. King does a good job at writing the inner monologue to have a build up to revealing The Sovereign is not the name of a group but the title of a King-like leader. The Lasso of Lies that we see The Sovereign wields is an intriguing one, as it leaves you wondering the deeper ties to Wonder Woman’s mythology. There is an Assassins Creed-like vibe to the presentation that leaves a lot of questions around the mythology around The Sovereign title.
Daniel Sampere’s art is absolutely incredible throughout Wonder Woman #1. There is a big event look thanks to Sampere’s artwork. This just looks and feels like one of DC Comics premiere titles. The action sequences show great variety from brutal to smooth depending on the scene and combatants. The scene with Diana and Steve walking around the Washington Monument makes great use of comic book panels with a splash shot look for the setting. The Sovereign on the final page oozes pure evil royalty as it intended to do.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tom King is in his bag with the political and social commentary in Wonder Woman #1. That may not be for everyone, but King clearly has big plans for his run-on Wonder Woman. As long as he can tighten up some of pacing issues with his writing, King has set the stage to tell an epic story. It helps that Daniel Sampere is on this title. Sampere artwork is spectacular throughout Wonder Woman #1, presenting the series as one of DC Comics premium titles.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10