At SDCC last weekend, JMS kept telling fans to wait until #601 and beyond to pass judgement on Wonder Woman. Well guess what, Straczynski? #601 just passed through my brain, and I’m now less convinced about the changes than I was last month with #600.
The “All-New” Wonder Woman #601 is essentially nothing but expository drivel; page after page explaining what happened to the Wonder Woman and Amazons we knew and loved. I admit that after mulling it over, the story of Diana fighting her way back to the original timeline could have proved interesting, but JMS instead makes the entire issue nearly unbearable to read.
Everything is so verbose and brought to such extremes that the “boiled down to her essence” Wonder Woman is merely a distraction to the reality-bending story JMS is intent on telling. The issue reads like a creator-owned series that could have essentially had an interchangeable leading lady, not a Wonder Woman story that stars one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time.
Despite my disgust at JMS’ handling of Wonder Woman, there are a few redeeming factors present in #601. The Oracle character that JMS creates is lovely; her quirks and taste for chewing gum breaks up the hum-drum of the rest of the issue, and he also successfully creates a bit of interest concerning the mystery of who else knows about the old timeline Diana comes from and has set out to find the “survivors” of the Amazon massacre. It’s not much, but at least it hints that JMS has some sort of plan up his sleeve that could - could - resolve some of the issues that he’s created.
The biggest plus of issue #601 is Don Kramer’s artwork. Though the costume is still crap, Kramer’s kinetic work shows why it makes sense. Diana is agile and quick, unable to fly but jumping from cars to planes with ease, looking like an intense female version of James Bond or Ethan Hunt. His facial expressions are spot on, delivering on the limited emotional cues that JMS provides. My only complaint about the art is that the flashbacks to “classic” Themyscira and the Amazons are so great looking that it pains me to think that Kramer has to waste his time drawing a revamped Wonder Woman for God knows how long.
There are pros and cons here to be sure, but unfortunately, Wonder Woman #601 brings us no closer to being convinced that revamping Wonder Woman was in any way necessary. JMS is a respected and talented writer, but his direction on Wonder Woman suggests that he’s bitten off more than he can chew. Could it be that the uber-scribe stumbled upon one character that he couldn’t write well, and so changed her to fit more firmly in his mold? Time will tell, but if issue #601 is any indication, signs point to yes.
