Wonder Woman #765 // Review
Maxwell Lord’s dangerous tech has been stolen. Now it’s being disbursed on the worldwide black market. Diana and Max have to track it down. Their latest lead finds them traveling to Zandia: Vegas for DC supervillains. The Lasso of Hestia should make finding the tech pretty easy as long as the two of them can keep a low profile as writer Mariko Tamaki continues her adventures with Diana and Max in Wonder Woman #765. Artist Steve Pugh renders the wretched hive of scum and villainy and the heroes that enter it. Depth comes to the visuals courtesy of colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr.
“Clark. No.” Wonder Woman refuses to allow Superman to come along and help. She has her reasons. Part of it has something to do with fear of facing-off against a Superman who might end up under the influence of mind control tech. Some of it might have something to do with the fact that she’s going to a place where he’s stand out even in a pair of Clark Kent glasses. She and Maxwell Lord are going to the next of evil known as Zandia. Lord covers for Wonder Woman. His powers make her look nondescript, but he’s not doing the same for himself and it turns out that there’s a bounty on his head. Things are going to get complicated for the two of them.
Tamaki’s pacing and plot structure are particularly good this time around. There’s a lot going on in the issue that ISN’T the title character, but Tamaki reflects everything quite beautifully through her. The author gives Wonder Woman quite a bit of natural authority here. She’s in charge of the whole investigation, which makes for a deeply satisfying adventure in her own comic. She’s on the hunt for something. She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows where to find it. As powerful as she is, her superhuman confidence is what drives the action this issue. That confidence is shattered at issue’s end.
Pugh does a really good job of laying out the action this issue. Early on, there’s a beautiful establishing shot of Zandia that serves as the title splash page. The composition of that one page renders the setting quite well, allowing Pugh to tunnel his way through the filth with Wonder Woman walking confidently through it all and engaging in combat where necessary. The action hits the page as heavily as the atmosphere does. Romulo Fajardo Jr. adds to the density of the atmosphere with coloring that adds swagger and personality into every corner of the background.
The impact of the last couple of pages serves as a stark contrast to the heroic march with which Wonder Woman strides through most of the issue. Prelude is given to that end in the first couple of pages of the issue. It’s a really well-balanced chapter in the life of Wonder Woman that stands as one of Tamaki’s best issues so far. The cliffhanger ending is a nice touch. The next couple of weeks are going to be that much more tense waiting for Wonder Woman 766.
