Review: Wonder Woman Vol. 7- War-Torn

Quick Summary

Pros: Wonder Woman’s personal struggle is interesting. The political situation on Themyscira leads to a solid story with some entertaining conflict. The artwork is positive throughout the entire collection.

Cons: The Justice League’s inclusion creates some out-of-character moments for many heroes. The volume’s conclusion is poor and retroactively damages many of the earlier plotlines.

Overall: Average storytelling and awesome artwork make this a collection with mixed appeal. Though much of this volume succeeds in generating excitement and intrigue, much of this is undercut by some poor writing and a bad conclusion. However, the one constant is that the artwork looks good on every page. This volume will appeal to fans who don’t mind dealing with an average story as long as the artwork is good.

Story

Wonder Woman Vol. 7: War-Torn, by Meredith Finch, is a mostly average Wonder Woman story arc. It has some exciting action, some neat intrigue, and a satisfying twist concerning the arc’s main villain. In most places, it also works well as a glimpse into the intense personal crisis Wonder Woman is currently going through. However, there are also places where characters’ actions and feelings are exaggerated in noticeable ways. It also doesn’t help that the collection’s conclusion is very poor and undercuts earlier narrative progress. In the end, the positives and negatives in this story mostly even out and create a narrative that is just average.

(spoilers start here)

War-Torn starts by separating itself from its six predecessors. While those volumes were almost entirely focused on the politics of Greek gods and mostly ignored everything else in the DC Universe, this volume immediately brings in the Justice League and casually mentions other happenings from major DC stories.

However, this change is not exactly handled well. The members of the Justice League are depicted as logical heroes who don’t take the emotion of a situation into account, which is used as a contrast against Wonder Woman’s intense emotions. Yet, instead of working out well for all parties involved, this tactic just makes the League members seem uncharacteristically robotic and makes Wonder Woman seem over-the-top in her reactions. She even goes so far as to attack another hero without any reason and nearly kill an enemy she knew nothing about.

The non-Justice League portion of the narrative fairs a little better. It focuses on how Wonder Woman’s new titles have placed a strain on her position within Themyscira. Watching her try to keep her people together while still attempting to use her powers to create the most good possible is a testament to who Wonder Woman is as a character.

It also leads to a few solid story arcs. One details the creation of Donna Troy and her exciting clashes with Wonder Woman. The other details an ancient story of love and heartbreak, one which has a direct impact on current events.  There are even portions of this narrative that dive into frustrations present in real-world politics, such as the way in which tradition and close-mindedness can impede progress toward the future. All of these story arcs are intriguing, especially in the beginning.

Unfortunately, War-Torn significantly deteriorates near the book’s conclusion. The problems faced by the Justice League are immediately solved when Cyborg is able to assure a group of aliens that their spaceship can be repaired. Meanwhile, the unruly group of Amazons are suddenly pacified when Wonder Woman gives them a sharp condemnation, despite being fully committed to their cause, to the point of death, just a few pages prior. The ease with which all of these problems are solved undermines their severity and makes a good portion of the volume feel less meaningful than it could have been.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in War-Torn is one of the collection’s most consistently positive attributes. David Finch’s pencils look great on every page and really suit the tone of this story. They allow the landscapes and architecture of Themyscira to look as mystical as needed while allowing “Man’s World” to look more realistic. Finch’s work is also very creative and really helps in bringing this unique slice of the DC Universe to life, specifically in regards to the new characters introduced here. Plus, the page layouts are all well designed and ensure the action flows nicely. In general, the artwork here is a huge asset to this book as a whole.

Continuity

Wonder Woman Vol. 7: War-Torn continues the story from Wonder Woman Vol. 6: Bones (Review).

The story here continues in Wonder Woman Vol. 8: A Twist of Fate (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Wonder Woman’s mother was turned to stone back in Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood (Review)
• Wonder Woman became the god of war in Wonder Woman Vol. 4: War (Review)
• Wonder Woman and Superman started their relationship back in Justice League Vol. 2: The Villain’s Journey (Review).
• A few references are made to Superman’s recent struggles with the Doomsday virus. The struggles are detailed across Superman: Doomed (Review) (Reading Order).