Wonder Woman - Evolution #8 // Review
Diana faces an old friend as an opponent once more. She's defeated the Silver Swan before, but this time it's different. This time the Silver Swan has something coursing through her which could prove to be a greater threat than any simple combat as Wonder Woman - Evolution draws to a close in its eighth issue. Writer Stephanie Phillips concludes a dramatic story brought to the page by the art team of Mike Hawthorne on pencils and Adriano Di Benedetto on inks with the depth and resonance of colors of Jordie Bellaire. In its completion, the story takes a nuanced psycho-emotional look at Wonder Woman and what she is willing to do.
They're fighting in a place that was designed to suffer countless nuclear detonations. So they don't exactly have to worry about innocent civilians. It's just Wonder Woman, Silver Swan, and some guy in a suit. The guy in question wants to help humanity survive the challenges it will face in the near future, and he wants to do so with the aid of some of the best human DNA he can find. He's also fed nan0 tech into Silver Swan and launched her at Wonder Woman. In order to defeat Silver Swan, she's also going to have to save her. That's going to mean sacrifice.
Phillips sets up the close of a hero's journey with admirably intricate socio-emotional drama. The action that opens the issue feels more than justified. The precise solution to the situation may not feel perfectly framed by Phillips' dialogue, but the heart and soul of the story that she's delivering is clear, concise, and well-paced. Precisely why Diana had to do what she did, and the precise fate of the villain in question is left in a fog that is far from satisfying. Still, Phillips' story DOES allow for impressive clarity with respect to Wonder Woman and her psyche. That much is satisfying on a level few writers manage with Diana.
The art team works a kind of magic with the script. They sell the intensity of Wonder Woman's emotional journey even at those moments where it might not feel entirely justified in the script. Action moments feel impressively kinetic, but the moments of drama still hit with a more significant impact. Hawthorne frames the drama with tender minimalism that is embellished with emotionally adroit precision by Di Benedetto. Bellaire casts it all in glow and shadow that's awe-inspiring in places. (The subtle intricacy of the colors on the final page is absolutely gorgeous.)
Wonder Woman has been in thousands of stories. It's really, really difficult to come up with something new that she hasn't quite run into without borrowing heavily from nearly a century of superhero drama that's played out with other characters. Phillips and company have found a distinctive and cleverly unique take on Wonder Woman that could prove to be much more satisfying in the long run if it was allowed a little bit more room to run. A sequel series could provide added depth to an already satisfying 8-issue mini-series
