Wonder Woman: Azzarello's take

With Meredith Finch going on a rather questionable run on the book (people are essentially longing for the day when she steps down) I started looking back on Azzarello's run on the book.  To be honest my interactions with her were primarily through incarnations of the Justice League animated series before I started reading comics and when I got my iPad and started reading comics I purchased the first volume. I enjoyed the story though the art did take some time to grow on me and it didn't seem to comply with the supposed origin story she was rumored to get. It was straightforward, interesting with a look into Diana's own mythology. I think Wonder Woman is hurt at times by all the different takes and directions with her over the years. She's and the Amazons have been diplomats, warriors, scientists (Grant Morrison says he will show that in her Earth One book), and because of that, I think it's hard to really flesh her out. Both Justice League, Justice League: Unlimited, and the animated movies and comics puts focus on her as just a warrior and what few stories she had rarely fleshed her out so much as it did Batman or other characters. What is Wonder Woman at her core? What motivates her? Does her Rogues gallery reflect that? These questions are never really answered by Azzerllo, who instead gives us a young Wonder Woman (23) and having her learn about herself from an origin and personal standpoint.

Azzarello did one big story to provide a sort of retelling of her own origin. No longer was she made from clay but is instead the illegitimate child of Zues and Hippolyta, and the story about her being made of clay was told to keep Diana safe from Hera's wrath. This is only the icing on the cake as Diana finds herself battling and dealing with an entire pantheon of Greek Mythology as she protext Zola, a woman carrying the last child of Zues while Apollo declares himself king of Olympus. Diana journeys to hell and back, clashing with the gods of New Genesis and even encountering the first child of Zeus and Hera that was sealed away and now declares himself the rightful ruler.

The idea of Wonder Woman finding out that she is the daughter of Zeus is interesting as we get a bit of glimpse into her own history. That when she was little, the other girls would call her "Clay" because of how she was made. When she finds out who she is she is furious with her mother and throws away the name Clay and Diana, only being Wonder Woman. The idea of who Wonder Woman is and who she wants to be is brought up a couple of times, and even in Finch's run she is still trying to find a sort of balance in her new duties (though they are never 100% clear on what they are). It's clear that throughout the run as she teams up and loses people, turning enemies like Hera into allies and learns truths about her own world she does become Wonder Woman. With a bit of tweaking this could have been her origin story, with her learning about who she is and on this journey becomes Wonder Woman.

The gods themselves are  possibly the best part of this book. It reminds me a bit of the Percy Jackson book series by Rick Riordan, less perfect and more flawed which is how I think they should be. It's interesting seeing gods like Apollo, Hades, and Poseidon still kind of in love with themselves but characters like Ares and Hephastus are really nuanced here. War (Ares) comes off as a tired god, and Hephastus seems to be a product of his years, humbled and aware of how little importance they are now. This is also shown in Hera who went from a character set on taking her rage at her husbands infidelity on his bastards to someone going all out to protect his last child. We see a new side to her  when Apollo takes away her godhood. Strife (Eros) is rather mysterious as we never know exactly what she is doing or why if for no other reason than to cause trouble but it should be noted that only she and Hephastus seem to just be doing their job, which Hephastus likens to "tinkering" which he says is all gods do. These interactions all have an affect on Diana which is good because they are more active than Diana in the story, which I find to be the only real weak point. 

Azzarello really felt like he was trying to do some sort of godly political intrigue thing here, a sort of Game of Thrones meets Clash of the Titans which makes sense with Greek Mythology. Everyone has their own desires and goals with the theme of family largely over their heads. Diana and the Firstborn play off this with Diana drawing her strength from family and the Firstborn destroying that family to achieve strength. It's clear who wants to be king of Mt. Olympus and we have people who are trying to help or hinder those people with Diana just wanting to protect her friend and get her fellow Amazons back. You never really get what everyone is going to do and the end is such a surprise but it does make sense.

The story itself isn't perfect. It seems Azzarello put a lot more work into the story than Diana. He seems set that she is a compassionate warrior who is coming to terms with the greater truth of her own world and with that knowledge tries to look out and protect everyone. This isn't a problem that he has a set and consistent style for her and I like her here more than in Finch's book but this does feel at times like her origin story. Diana has already met Steve Trevor years before this and in this book she is 23 (apparently two years older than Barbara Gordon). While I appreciate Azzarello doing this, it becomes clear that the story itself was in some way supposed to be an origin story so it should have been that. Some of the covers also don't really convey the story well and Orion of New Genesis is wasted, despite his best efforts. I kind of feel that he was supposed to be Diana's love interest and was dropped when DC announced she would have a relationship with Superman (ugh). The same could also be for some of the other gods who don't have the same impact as others despite best efforts. I would have also liked to have seen more from other mortals like Zola for Diana to interact with because some things, like why Diana likes London so much is never mentioned. Despite this, Azzarello's book is well written, fun, and the artwork (very little fan servicing full of great backgrounds) is rather beautiful, especially the characters and their interaction with one another ranging from comical to emotional.


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