Comic Book Review: Wonder Woman #34

Written By: Gail Simone
Art By: Aaron Lopresti

Plot: After the events one of the best issues I have ever read in Wonder Woman #33, Issue # 34 has Wonder Woman contemplating her actions. She has renounced herself as an Amazon and left Paradise Island, and refused to adhere to the rule of Achilles and Zues while her own people accept it without question.

Wonder Woman travels back to the world of men only to learn that one of Wonder Woman’s deadliest foes is not actually dead, only held by Dr. Psycho in a small town in Tokyo. Wonder Woman, with the help of Black Canary, travel to Tokyo to an underground wrestling arena that resembles the likeness of Mexican Wrestling.

Under their wrestling team name (The Orphans) and in new disguises, Black Canary and Wonder Woman fight two exceptionally formidable foes in an attempt to find Genocide’s body and destroy it. As Wonder Woman and Black Canary ultimately win the match, we are brought to the office of the arena’s manager watching the fight on his television with a mysterious female behind him who claims to be the goddess of violence.

The issue ends with the violence goddess asking for a match with Wonder Woman out of revenge for killing her father.

My Thoughts: Gail Simone has officially become one of my favorite writers in comics right now. We have too many comics these days that take only minutes to read because of lack of dialogue and are more concerned with hitting, kicking and punching the enemy. Gail Simone gives her readers a lot of dialogue and material to read, while still allowing Lopresti to give us incredible artwork.

The story is very solid and quite humorous through the middle of it. The conversation that Black Canary has with Wonder Woman was Simone’s attempt to show that Black Canary, being as tough as she is, still has that gitty, girlish side to her. The best part was calling Wonder Woman’s breasts the “second most famous bosom, after power Girl.” I would dare say that this issue will appeal to any male who enjoys listening to women talk about their bodies. And who knew Wonder Woman was so clueless as to how “desired” she is by fans.

I wasn’t sure what I thought about the “Mexican Wrestling” theme, if indeed that’s what the writer and artist were going for. It would have been fine if they hadn’t gone overboard on the costume changes. It had become a little too silly for me, but it wasn’t so bad I didn’t enjoy the issue. I suspect Simone and Lopresti had a lot of fun coming up with the idea for these costumes.

Overall, the issue was great! Wonder Woman is my favorite title right now. It’s creative, inventive, original, thought-provoking, and just perfect in every way. I hope Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti continue to do this title for a long time. They have DEFINED Wonder Woman and I can’t see anyone outdoing what they have established.

5 out of 5 Stars