Sirk TV Graphic Novel Review: WONDER WOMAN – EARTH ONE VOL. 2 [DC Comics]

The texture of Wonder Woman continues to evolve especially in the respective area of how she interacts with the general populace versus the political and military circles she traverses. With "Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 2" [Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette/DC/120pgs), the idea begins with a continued recollection to World War II as the Nazis try to attack the Amazonians' private island with a super female in the guise of Mala who has the power to take on Diana's mother Hera (though she does take a special romantic interest in Diana). Even though the attack is squashed, the inherent structure of psychological warfare takes an inherent underpinning throughout this volume. Diana becomes a rallying cry for women's rights in the current climate but the ideal becomes how militant does the movement become. The Amazonian ideal works in the texture of peaceful authority but the metaphor becomes the question of this movement as male submission. This is an interesting question, especially when the idea of the beauty myth comes into play. Some of the protesters speak that the image Diana/Wonder Woman portrays is not attainable for most women. Diana can attack and defend at will which makes her undeniably also a target for the military since they see her presence as a foreshadowing to invasion. Her relationship with Steve Trevor, a black military pilot for which she has always maintained a romantic interest, also comes to a head when her invisible jet takes the military's brand new psy-jet  on in a test run. Trevor is almost killed. While that weighs heavily on her shoulders, Diana also has to engage with Zeiko, a charming psy-ops leader in the Middle East when she liberates women there who are being subjugated. Zeiko's interaction with her and his ongoing psychological warfare protracted in discussions and sensitivity are most dangerous than any weapon since she is undeniably interested in him, even though he makes it clear he is married. The alpha female in her is undeniably drawn despite the dangers. A scene involving him shooting an automatic weapon at her at her request so she can show how quick she can reflect them is an inherent metaphor that is all too obvious. Take into account another attack from within on the Amazonian island by the supposedly reformed Mala and the motivations create an interesting dilemma between the aspect of being altruistic and domination. “Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 2” continues an interesting discussion impacted by both real world narratives, the recent blockbuster film and the inherent entertainment and character development this specific story progression provides.B

By Tim Wassberg