Wonder Woman by Tom King vol. 1: Outlaw

He’s had a lengthy run on “Batman.”  He’s also done a really good “Superman” miniseries.  Now writer Tom King completes his DC Trinity trifecta with his and artist Daniel Sampere’s first volume of the ongoing “Wonder Woman” series.  It’s also off to a great start too as the creators have found a worthy adversary to pit against the Amazing Amazon:  The United States of America, ruled by its secret king who holds the Lasso of Lies.

After a prologue to introduce us to Elizabeth Marston, heir to the title of Wonder Woman, and establish that this is going to be a story told in flashback, the action quickly shifts to the present day where the government has just passed a resolution outlawing Amazons from U.S. soil.  Why?  All because one Amazon is suspected of brutally murdering nineteen men in a bar fight that no one knows anything about.  The government isn’t kidding around with this new resolution as their ultimatum to any Themysciran citizens living here is to either get out or die.  Which really, REALLY doesn’t sit well with their ambassador.

From the jump, this series has a good hook for an immediate cause of action for Diana to push back against, while also serving  up a decent mystery as well.  Both of these things are steadily advanced over the six issues of the ongoing series collected here in a smart way that speaks to King’s understanding of the serialized comics form.  That’s me saying that he does a good job of making sure each issue functions as its own story while also serving the overall narrative.  Which is a) harder to do than it looks, and b) something of a lost art in serialized comics writing (specifically, that of the mainstream superhero variety) these days.

Better still is that even though this run starts off with the cards stacked against its protagonist we get to see her kick a significant amount of ass in her fight against our government and the secretive power behind it.  From covert-ops hit squads, to trained building security, to the army itself, Diana consistently and convincingly shows that she’s a force to be reckoned with – without her invisible jet (except for that one time).  She also gets to throw down against some supervillains as well in a knock-down, drag-out fight in our nation’s capital that closes out the volume.  Which means that while the bad guys have a sinister plan that they’re working real hard to see that it succeeds, there’s a good amount of struggle here on their part with the hero not being diminished as a result.

Now’s probably a good time to mention that all of the action here is rendered really well by Sampere.  He’s been on the rise at DC for a while now, working on “Justice League,” the “Dark Crisis” event series, and the first leg of “Superman:  The Warworld Saga.”  While I can’t say that his work here feels like he’s taken things to the next level, it does feel more polished and assured than anything I’ve seen from him before.  The conversation scenes have genuine emotion and tension to them, while the action he delivers rocks the house.  Whether Diana is fighting for her life in a colosseum, hurling a tank at opposing forces, or throwing hands with the Daughter of Darkseid it looks great and I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us in vol. 2.

With all this stuff going for it, is there anything holding back this first volume of “Wonder Woman” from being a great read for everyone?  Well, if you’re not keen on superhero books that are writing about Our World As It Currently Is then you might have an issue here.  Seeing the U.S. xenophobic attitude towards the Amazons isn’t a good look, but it’s one that feels frighteningly credible here.  Also, while the idea of a secret king ruling over the U.S. with his Lasso of Lies seems to be an outlandish idea on its face, I can tell you that there’s at least one prominent political figure who reminds me of this character.  Even if this take on him is a lot more restrained and articulate.

There’s also the matter of the character’s history and how it’s not really touched upon here. I’m really speaking about her supporting cast and how if you’re not already familiar with them then it’s likely you’re going to be confused by their presence here.  I mean, I know Steve Trevor is Diana’s friend in the United States Government, and even if you didn’t know that before, it won’t be hard to grasp here.  I’m a little less sure on the presence of Donna Troy, Cassie Sandsnark, and Yara Flor beyond the fact that they’re all former sidekicks, and not anything beyond that.  I also recognized most of the villains here, though Silver Swan and Grail were new to me.

All of that was stuff I knew before reading this volume and it helped to keep me from getting confused by all of their appearances.  If you didn’t have that kind of knowledge going into vol. 1 then I suppose it’s possible you can just assume their importance to Diana and the story at large.  King writes them in a way that does get their basic personalities across, which certainly makes that possible.  Still, there’s that nagging feeling you’re going to be missing out on something by not knowing exactly who these characters are.

Even so, this still a really entertaining start to Wonder Woman’s latest ongoing series and it has me really looking forward to where King and Sampere take her story next.  She may be up against the combined might of the United States and its Secret King, but the storytelling here makes it clear that she’s more than up for this challenge.  There’s also the mystery of just why that Amazon killed those nineteen men (if that was even her at all), and the secret she’s carrying that could rock Themysciran society.  It’s top-tier work here and vol. 2 can’t come soon enough for me.