Diana has been challenged to combat by a knight. She’s going to face him, but before she can do so, she’s going to face a whole bunch of duplicates of herself and the man controlling them in Wonder Woman #784. Writers Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan close out Diana’s final adventure before next month’s Trial of the Amazons multi-title crossover in an issue deftly rendered for the page by artist Marcio Takara and colorist Tamra Bonvillain. The issue ends with the dramatic finale of Vita Ayala’s “What Lies Beneath” prelude to the crossover, which lays out some pretty heavy future conflict for Artemis of the Bana-Mighdall with heavy tones by artist Skylar Patridge. 

Diana and Shining Knight face a shattering army of Wonder Woman duplicates far above an amusement park. The knight still wants a showdown with Diana. Still, he fights alongside her as she disappears into the house of mirrors that serves as the lair of the Image Maker--a villain seeking to pull Wonder Woman out of the world and into a fantasy illusion where her heroism is no longer needed. Reality shatters against illusion as Diana faces two threats. Elsewhere at issue’s end, the precise loyalties of Artemis are placed on uneven ground as she is in a position to unite all Amazons under one nation on the edge of The Trial of the Amazons. 

Cloonan and Conrad carefully juggle a few different plot elements between the two main villains. Wonder Woman continues a robust and heroic momentum as she deals with villains who clearly pose no real threat. Cloonan and Conrad find clever ways to keep the story engaging as it causes Diana to see herself from a few different angles on her way to the end of the issue. Ayala’s prelude to crossover at issue’s end cleverly manages a much more appealing and intricate Artemis than the character is often allowed. The complexity of what Artemis is being given to deal with draws considerable gravity to the upcoming crossover.

Takara continues remarkably graceful visuals for Diana and her world. It can be really difficult for any artist to manage the right mixture of grace, beauty, aggression, and conflict that gives Diana her unique presence in an action sequence, but Takara nails it with heartfelt precision. Bonvillain’s color adds passion and intensity to the conflict without overpowering the visuals. The range of emotion that Takara brings to the page is, once again, really, really impressive. Subtle and overpowering shifts in emotion assert themselves with a very clean line economy. Takara can bring across what some artists can’t manage with ten in a single line. Patridge follows Ayala’s focus on Artemis. The artist grants Artemis a wide dynamic range, from swift flits across the panel to slow moments of deep reflection. 

Things come crashing together at the end of the issue in advance of the big Spring crossover that starts in March. Diana’s as graceful as ever with endearing appeal thanks to some very sharp characterization in and out of action by Conrad, Cloonan, and Takara. Wonder Woman has reached a really nice momentum. With any luck, she’ll tumble through the Trial of the Amazons with the same grace.

Grade: A