This is Wonder Woman: Revenge of the Gods. It is the fourth and final volume of Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad’s Wonder Woman run. The Prime Illustrator for this book is Amancay Nahuelpan. Other Illustrators for this book are Alitha Martinez, Meghan Hetrick, Joëlle Jones, Terry Dodson, Cully Hammer, Paulina Ganucheau, Jen Bartel, Juan Ferreyra, Nick Robles, Todd Nauck, and Skylar Patridge. Usually with comic book art, the Inking is also done by the Illustrator, But for Terry Dodson’s art, Rachel Dodson is responsible for the Inking. The Prime Colorist for this book is Tamra Bonvillain, Other Colorists for this book are Terry Dodson, Jordie Bellaire, Jen Bartel, and Juan Ferreyra. The Letterering for this book is done by Pat Brosseau. The variant cover used above is Illustrated by Rahzzah. This book follows Wonder Woman, as she tries to defend Earth against the gods themselves. Hera, the Greek Queen of Gods, is conducting an invasion on Earth, alongside the other Gods of Olympus. It is up to Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, Cheetah, Sigurðr, Wonder Girl (Yara Flor), Mary Marvel, and Shazam to stop Hera’s invasion and take her down. Will they succeed or are they no match to the power of the Gods?
This book was alright. I have been thoroughly enjoying Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad’s run on Wonder Woman but this is probably my least favorite volume of it. But it really isn’t Cloonan and Conrad’s fault. This volume is specifically interconnected with the event Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods. There is one problem with this, the event has not released in trade format yet and I am not planning on reading it anyway. While the issues connected with this event were very good, they are seperated by sections of something that I am not planning on reading. It’s kind of frustrating that there isn’t an explanation on what happens in between issues so I know what occured. It got quite confusing at times. Overall, kind of dissapointed with this story specifcally.
Spoiler Alert: There is one thing with this story that was really cool. Near the end of the story, Wonder Woman is injured by Hera. To help Wonder Woman, Mary Marvel transfers the power of Shazam to her. I never thought that Wonder Woman could look anymore badass, but she looks epic with the power of Shazam. It got me really pumped for what came next, but it never happened. Due to the fact that the final issue isn’t in the Wonder Woman series, it’s not included in this trade. I have to admit, that annoyed me immensely. It left me on a sour note to this story.
But that isn’t the end of this book. There is a two-issue story named Whatever Happened to the Warrior of Truth which closes off the run. I absolutely adore this story. It give focus to not just Wonder Woman, but also her supporting cast. Wonder Woman has such a wonderful supporting cast and I wish more creative teams used them more. Their use is a big strength for this story and the run in general. This story does a great job of celebrating the different eras of Wonder Woman. Each sequence has a different artist to exemplify the different periods and it is really effective. But at the end of the day, these final two issues are a big celebration of Wonder Woman. Which makes it the perfect ending to this run.
The art on this book is fantastic. Amancay Nahuelpan is the Prime Illustrator and he does a great job showing how powerful each character is. Since the book deals with gods, then I think it is necessary for great power to be shown. And I think Nahuelpan does it beatifully. Then for the other Illustrators, each one of them does an amazing job showing the different styles to the sequences. My favorite artists in this book are Joëlle Jones, Jen Bartel, Terry Dodson, and Paulina Ganucheau.
Overall, this book was good. It consists of both one of the lowest and highest points of this run. The showcase of different aspects of Wonder Woman are fantastic but it is sadly bogged down by an event. But those two final issues are a real treat and pays the price of admission alone.
Now for my thought to Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad’s run on Wonder Woman in its entirety. I really enjoyed this run. It is the first Wonder Woman run that I finished from beginning to end. The run’s biggest strength is the use of Wonder Woman’s supporting cast. Etta Candy and Steve Trevor are always great. But the villains are what really shine. Cheetah was a really nice addition and her chemistry with the rest of the cast is fun. Doctor Psycho was so interesting and a great parody of right wing commentators. Overall, this run is great. The next creative team has a huge shoes to fill. Lets see if Writer Tom King and Illustrator Daniel Sampere are up to the challenge.