Steve Orlando has been quickly building his Wonder Woman around the rise of the new Four Horsewomen that Warmaster is assembling. Given all that Wonder Woman is involved in this is not the best thing that could happen for her. Especially as she is trying to build a life in Boston, where the police have already put a short leash on her. If that wasn’t enough Wonder Woman now possibly has a new protege to train in the form of Iron Maiden, who made her presence known in a loud way a few issues ago. How will things shape up for Wonder Woman next? Let’s find out with Wonder Woman #753.
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Max Raynor
Colorist: Romuld Fajardo Jr.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Wonder Woman and Iron Maiden battle a large bull mech attacking the city.
Wonder Woman calls Dotsia to get some analysis on the beast mech. Dotsia quickly figures out the mech is made out of Dilustel, the same Quantum Metal that Captain Atom’s skin is made out of. Dotsia says that only the correct strike can send Iron Maiden and the beast mech back to their time period.
One hour later, Nora Nunes is pissed Wonder Woman let Iron Maiden go free after the chaos she caused. Wonder Woman defends her decision by saying she chose to teach Iron Maiden her lesson through action and honor.
Somewhere in the Northwest Territories, Canada, Warmaster is attacked by the third Armageddon. Armageddon is quick to deduce Warmaster’s Nazi ties. Warmaster tells Armageddon she can help her get revenge on Wonder Woman, who battled the current Armageddon’s father and grandfather in the past, by teaming up.
Back in Vermont, with none of their attacks working Wonder Woman does a team attack with Iron Maiden by launching Iron Maiden at the mech beast using her lasso. As she does this Wonder Woman reminds Iron Maiden to be careful about not breaking the mech beast’s skin with the wrong strike.
Feeling Iron Maiden’s strike the mech beast knocks Iron Maiden out its tail. Wonder Woman flies at the mech beast but her attacks don’t damage it at all.
As the mech beast is slamming Wonder Woman around with its tail Iron Maiden regains consciousness. Iron Maiden swears to protect everyone and charges at the mech beast. The mech beast hears this and throws Wonder Woman to the side. It does this too late as Iron Maiden is able to land a piercing strike with her sword on the mech beast’s forehead.
The area begins filling with energy from the mech beast until there is a bright flash.
When Wonder Woman recovers all she finds left is Iron Maiden’s sword on the ground. Wonder Woman remembers the last conversation she had with Iron Maiden. She then calls her Invisible Jet to her.
One hour later Nora is still pissed about Iron Maiden disappearance and not being made to answer for her crime. Wonder Woman wraps her lasso around her wrists to answer Nora honestly. She then says that Iron Maiden sacrificed herself by ending the conflict with the mech beast in a way that made her become lost.
One of the guys who is beyond the police barricade yells at Wonder Woman for protecting Iron Maiden. Nora says while the guy is drunk and footage shows that Iron Maiden actions were out of self-defense the courts should’ve decided her punishment. Wonder Woman says she made a choice that ensured Boston would return to the peace it had before and it is the same decision she would make again.
Somewhere in Norway, Armageddon is not sure about Devastation being recruited into Warmaster’s Horsewomen given her youth. Devastation says that she has lived a God’s lifetime and faced a childhood of neglect to be Wonder Woman’s opposite. Armageddon quickly understands where Devastation is coming from
They suddenly hear Warmaster hear that it is time and rush into the cave they were guarding.
Inside Warmaster welcomes Devastation and Armageddon into her War Room. Warmaster reveals that one of the remaining Horsewomen they need to recruit comes from Wonder Woman’s side while the other is guarded by the undead. She goes on to say this final Horsewomen will be their weapon of mass destruction and will be known as Genocide.
At her home in Boston, Diana finishes moving in. Diana then reflects on how she wants to be more of an active presence in the lives of those she has been close with in the past.
There is a sudden loud noise in Diana’s kitchen. Diana rushes in and is surprised to find Princess Maxima injured on the floor. Princess Maxima says she had nowhere else to turn. End of issue.
The Good: Steve Orlando uses this post Wonder Woman #750 to build a solid narrative that will drive the rest of his run on this series. The build around where Wonder Woman is and how the Four Horsewoman are being created in the shadows has been equally interesting. This all helps in build a world where Wonder Woman is the core of it.
What I’ve enjoyed most about Orlando’s portrayal of Wonder Woman thus far is how Diana is unapologetically heroic. Diana fully understands that things are crazy right now and people are just trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in a world filled with Gods and monsters. As we see in Wonder Woman #750, Diana is able to choose the right words when interacting with Iron Maiden and Nora Nunes that displays great empathy for both characters.
The dynamic with Nora Nunes in particular stood out as being something that established how Diana has adjusted to the modern setting. At no point does Diana try to make it seem she is not taking Nora’s concerns as a cop into account with her actions. It’s because she understands what Nora’s intentions are that Diana made sure to keep a close eye on Iron Maiden’s actions during their team-up.
To Orlando’s credit he did a solid job not making Nora come out looking like the bad person in the discussion with Diana. Nora was clear that while she knows Wonder Woman did what she did because she is a superhero that it does not undo Iron Maiden’s actions. The way Nora spoke further drove home how she brings a different, valuable perspective that Wonder Woman needs to be accounting for.
Iron Maiden’s involvement in Wonder Woman #753 was much better executed then in her introduction in the previous issue. Orlando tapped more into the superheroic aspect of Iron Maiden’s character. That is important given how Iron Maiden is a new character who many readers don’t know about.
Going with this direction of Iron Maiden teaming with Wonder Woman showed two different types of warriors in action. While Wonder Woman is one of the most powerful heroes in the DC Universe she does fight with a strategy in mind that best uses all of her training. On the other hand, Iron Maiden is much more of a tank when it comes to her fighting style. These two different approaches in fighting made the way they did their combo attack be much better visual.
With Iron Maiden disappearing after her strike on the mech beast it’ll be interesting to see if she ever factors into Orlando’s bigger storyline. Orlando spent a lot of time developing Wonder Woman and Iron Maiden’s dynamic and it would be a shame that we don’t see more with them. Especially with the Four Horsewomen assembling Wonder Woman could likely use an ally like Iron Maiden to help her.
Speaking of the Four Horsewomen, Wonder Woman #753 did a very good job establishing Warmaster’s mission for her team to be all about destroying Wonder Woman. While gaining more power is part of the plan having Warmaster’s Four Horsewomen completely focused on Wonder Woman is a refreshing change of pace. This puts a greater emphasis on how each member Warmaster recruits is with the specific purpose of taking Wonder Woman out. Having this singular goal aimed at the hero makes Warmaster standout as a villain.
Orlando also did a solid job building out Armageddon’s character. As the latest version of Armageddon, Orlando gives us a full context of her origin and why she is being recruited to defeat Wonder Woman. Getting this out of the way allows the moment Wonder Woman clashes with the Four Horsewomen to be more personal than a normal superhero vs supervillain fight.
With all this going on the sub-plot I’m most interested in seeing how Orlando continues to develop is Wonder Woman’s relationship with her supporting cast. We once again see how Diana reflects on wanting to do a better job having a close relationship with Donna Troy, Cassandra Sandsmark and others. Hopefully we see Orlando actually show Diana working towards strengthening these relationships rather than just constantly thinking she should do this. It would make Wonder Woman a stronger series if we saw this type of development.
Max Raynor artwork had a classic superhero look to it. The action was loud and landed on the power being shown by Wonder Woman, Iron Maiden and the mech beast. Raynor also did a solid job with getting over the how characters felt during the talking heavy scenes. That helped strengthen Orlando’s dialogue for each character.
The Bad: The one spot that Wonder Woman #753 stumbles with the mech beast that Wonder Woman and Iron Maiden fight. The mech beast was nothing more than another monster of the week type villain. It was such a throwaway opponent that we don’t even get a name for it. That is a big miss opportunity to have a Wonder Woman villain fill this role.
Overall: Wonder Woman #753 was another solid issue in Steve Orlando’s run on this series. Orlando continues to build a strong foundation to make the eventual clashes between Wonder Woman and Four Horsewomen something to look forward to.
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