Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #15 // Review
Diana goes to Las Vegas in pursuit of the Themyscirian villain known as Devastation. Concerned about the prospect of facing a villain as powerful as she is in a major tourist destination filled with innocents, Diana enlists the aid of Zatanna in a showdown with the villain on the Vegas strip in Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace #15. Writer Danny Lore tells a story that mixes action with deeper philosophy and interpersonal drama that is brought to the page by artist Maria Laura Sanapo. The art articulates between action, magic, motion, and emotion in an enjoyable 16-pager that weighs aggressive action against more nuanced interpersonal matters between two superheroes. This is a well-balanced single-issue story.
Diana has arrived in Las Vegas just in time to catch a performance by Zatanna. Wonder Woman is a major celebrity, so it’s only natural that Zatanna would work her into the act. Afterward, Zatanna and Diana hang out in her dressing room. Wonder Woman tells the magician that Devastation is coming and she needs her help. After a quick misunderstanding, Diana and Zatanna face the powerful villain who looks to claim Vegas for herself. The champion of the stage and the champion of Themyscira team-up to face the living embodiment of destruction itself.
Though the story manages to balance itself quite well in drama and action, it lacks the depth that it might have had in a longer treatment. A multi-issue foray into Las Vegas with an extended Zatanna/Diana team-up could have given Devastation more of a powerful presence on the page as well. As it is, she’s only engaging in a slugfest here. A villain with the tactical genius of Devastation really SHOULD have a more sophisticated combat technique than the simple slugfest she’s engaging in between Zatanna and Wonder Woman. It’s satisfying to see Lorre delve a bit deeper into Diana’s perspective on a place like Las Vegas. that exists in the margins of the story. All too often, she’s too. wrapped-up in being Wonder Woman to think much beyond the immediacy of the moment.
Sanapo has a strong, kinetic style of art in battle. This works as well in straightforward fisticuffs as it does in the more magical end of the art. She does a really good job of bringing across the visual of a thrown midsize sedan turning into playing cards before it has a chance to hit Wonder Woman. No one’s auto insurance is going to cover that, but Sanapo brings it across with energy without over-rendering it in a way that detracts from the action. Sanapo also brings across more emotionally complex moments with heart and nuance.
Agent of Peace #15 is one of those rare issues of any superhero series that manages to be a pretty equal look at all angles of the character’s personality in more or less equal quantities. Wonder Woman comes across as the hero she is not just because she’s capable of standing up to the villain, but because she’s a very sensitive person who understands others. Lore and Sanapo navigate Diana and Zatanna through a really fun crossover.
