After the last round of Blackest Night tie-ins, I can honestly say I was excited for the next wave, which includes The Flash (read our review of Blackest Night: The Flash #1), JSA, and Wonder Woman. After our own Iann Robinson found The Flash to be mediocre at best, I had a slight hesitation in reading Blackest Night: Wonder Woman, but am happy to say that aside from the initial disappointment of the first issue taking place pre-Blackest Night #5 (I'm seething for some Black Lantern-ized Diana action), Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott deliver an entertaining, if not intellectually challenging, first issue.
I know many of you were ecstatic for Greg Rucka's return to writing Wonder Woman, albeit in a three issue mini-series, and he delivers, though there is not much time for anything resembling character development. As soon as this issue opens, we are off and running as Rucka pits Diana against the Black Lantern rendition of Max Lord, murderer and victim of Diana's own badassery, who is currently attempting to raise the dead in Washington, DC. This issue is an action scene from start to finish, accompanied by intermittent narration from Wonder Woman that provides mostly obligatory exposition background info. Dialog is sparse as well, with most of it consisting of the undead Max Lord's taunting of Diana and her Amazonian retort.
However, just because this installment is chock full of action doesn't make it any less appealing in terms of character appeal. Rucka adds some gravity by reminding us of Wonder Woman's notorious history with Maxwell Lord as well as her own brush with death. In addition, his unexpected inclusion of a certain "unknown" someone as a Black Lantern makes the otherwise standard "punch/kick/discuss" a little less form-fitting.
Since such a huge chunk of the issue is action-heavy, Secret Six artist Nicola Scott comes from and center with plenty over oversized panels and double page spreads. In comparison to her stellar work on Secret Six, Scott's work appears a bit disappointing here with inconsistencies abounding from page to page. Notice I said appears, as upon closer inspection of the credits page, you'll notice that this book has not one, not two, but four different inkers, which surely surmount to the jarring differences that sometimes occur from page to page. I'm not sure what happened there, but the effect is noticeable. In general though, Scott's pencils are as satisfying as ever, gloriously pacing the action and aggression of the characters, and she makes sure that every panel of movement feels kinetic.
Of course, we can't go without mentioning Greg Horn's photorealistic cover piece. Known for his pornstar-inspired female characters with tons of boobage, Horn instead uses his great talents to construct a terrifying rendition of the Black Lantern Maxwell Lord and a Wonder Woman in peril. Even more so than an Alex Ross painting, you'll catch yourself double checking this cover time and again to prove to yourself that it's only an illustration.
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1 is an aggressive start to the tie-in mini-series, though it could have easily excelled beyond above average had the artistic inconsistencies been nipped at the bud. Hopefully issue #2 will remedy this issue.
