Wonder Woman: Earth One vol. 2

The first volume of this series was hamstrung by the fact that it felt like setup for the stories that Grant Morrison really wanted to tell with the character.  With that out of the way, vol. 2 should be a fantastic read. Right? Well it certainly has its charms with the inventive art of Yanick Paquette chief among them.  Paquette’s layouts are never less than eye-catching while his design sense — witness the Wonder Burqa — is as impeccable as ever. Supporting characters Etta Cady and Steve Trevor bring a welcome sense of fun and a needed outsider perspective, respectively, to the proceedings as well.  There’s also no denying that seeing the Amazonians take on a Nazi invasion in the volume’s opening pages is a genuine thrill as well. It doesn’t last for long, but Morrison and Paquette work to make it an exciting action sequence that ultimately ties into the book’s larger themes of love and submission as well.

Yet the most clever thing here is the reinvention of Dr. Leon Zeiko (a.k.a. Dr. Psycho) as a pick-up artist who is hired by the Army to get inside Wonder Woman’s head.  It’s a take on the character that makes perfect sense and provides a credible threat to the title character as he represents a psychological rather than physical threat.  While his methods are cringingly effective to watch, the actual execution of his plan feels rushed with his takedown feeling like it was dictated by the plot rather than Wonder Woman’s actions.  That same rushed feeling is also present in the late-volume re-emergence of a prior threat that rocks Diana’s world and that of Amazonia to their cores. It all leads to an ending that by all means should feel empowering for the character, yet actually rings hollow since it doesn’t feel like she’s earned that position.  Maybe this is part of Morrison’s plan and it’ll be addressed in the third (and concluding) volume? Let’s hope so because after two volumes “Wonder Woman: Earth One” is starting to feel like another misfire from this usually reliable writer.