|
WONDER WOMAN #181
Neutral (3/10)
|
DC Comics
"Land of the Lost, Part Four: Warrior's Heart"
Writer: Phil Jimenez
Pencils: Gabriel Rearte
Inks: Ray Snyder & Marlo Alquiza
Colors: Trish Mulvihill & Wildstorm FX
"Postcards From the Edge, Part Four: Charmed"
Writer/Pencils: Phil Jimenez
Inks: Andy Lanning
Colors: Trish Mulvihill
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Land of the Lost: It's been several months since I checked in with Phil Jimenez and DC's Amazon Princess, and I was surprised to discover how much the title has changed. The main story boasts some thoroughly weak art and a less-than-inspired plot. To Jimenez's credit, though, it wasn't difficult to pick up on what's going on.
Wonder Woman organizes the various tribes of Skataris together in order to mount an armed opposition to the takeover attempt by Villainy Inc., a group of female super-villains. Dissention among the ranks threatens the rebellion's chances at success, though. Meanwhile, Wonder Girl visits Mount Olympus, determined to discover the identity of her father.
Rearte's name is a new one to me, and I assume it's because he's relatively new to mainstream comics. The basis for my assumption? His art needs some refinement, some development. Anatomy and perspective are not strong suits here, and it's thoroughly distracting. At best, Rearte's work reminds me of Eric Battle's style, and I'm not a big fan of Battle's past efforts.
The main plot is rather cliched and uninteresting, and the villains' motivation seems to be to simply act villainous. Fortunately, the subplot that opens this issue -- Cassie's confrontation with Zeus -- is thoroughly entertaining, and I found I wanted to read a lot of more that storyline.
Postcards: This backup story is fairly accessible as well, and while the plot seems to be standard super-hero fare, it's offset by the fact that Jimenez's detailed and impressive art is on display. I'd much rather have read this story in the main slot as well.
Donna Troy, AKA Troia, is on the trail of a mythic Fury that's been lost,m and its power seems to be contained in an artifact on display at an Italian museum. As she suspected, someone makes a move to steal the ancient piece of clay, and she springs into action to stop the thief. Unfortunately, he's armed with a weapon that seems to warp space, making for a difficult arrest.
Though the plot is fairly basic, reminding of the simplicity of Silver Age stories, the script manages to imbue the villain of the piece with a lot of personality. He's a rogue with a sense of style, and he makes for fun reading. The real strength of this backup feature, though, is Jimenez's art. His Perez-esque level of detail is impressive, as always, but what really catches my eye is his experimentation with perspective. The action sequences boasts an Escher-like, topsy-turvy look that's inventive and basically a lot of fun to take in.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
