A powerful force is coming to invade the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. That force is looking to apprehend a few people. Right now, those people are playing Go Fish. In a few moments they will be fighting for their lives in Wonder Woman #11. Writer Tom King gets his hands on the latest big Summer crossover with the aid of artist Tony S. Daniel and olorist Tomeu Morey. The intricate conflict finds a remarkable amount of depth for an issue-length combat sequence. King delivers one of the most profoundly articulate entries into this summers Absolute Power event. It’s deeply entertaining--over long before it should be.
The law enforcement unit in question has no idea what it’s up against. The heroes playing Go Fish in the Watergate are the Earth’s manifestations of some of the greatest powers in the DC Universe. What could one android do against Madame Xanadu, John Constantine, Shazam, Mary Marvel, the Specter AND Wonder Woman? The android in question IS an Amazo unit, which could level the playing field considerably. Wonder Woman is able to work out what’s going on rather quickly, but will it be quickly enough to keep everyone safe?
King does a brilliant job of characterization with a very diverse group of heroes. He’s clearly got a great amount of respect for all of them in different ways...and manages to give each and every character the spotlight in his or her own unique moment on the page. Throw-in the fact that the Anazo unit in question happens to be quoting Dickens for the entire length of the battle and it becomes one of the more memorable mainstream superhero issues to come out thus far this year. There is SO MUCH to love about King’s script for this issue.
Daniel has quite a range of different angles to tackle in a story that features everything from massive, explosive action scenes to tight, tense dramatic close-ups. Catastrophic damage to the Eiffel Tower is given every bit as much force as a sudden realization shooting across Diana’s face. The sophisticated emotion in the faces of humans, a robot and a primate (yeah: Detective Chimp is hanging out as well) all feel cleverly expressive.) The overall sense of perspective is maintained beautifully throughout the issue and the title character’s heroism comes across with scintillatingly impressive power.
King has a simple task: get Wonder Woman believably captured by Amazo in order to serve the larger narrative of Absolute Power. This is really, really difficult as Wonder Woman is unquestionably powerful. It’s always so difficult to bring that sort of thing across believably, but King manages it with great fluency and flair in an issue that once again shows Wonder Woman’s greatest, most universally consistent power: her empathy. She may be one small part in a larger crossover featuring a HELL of a lot of other characters, but King manages to keep Wonder Woman deep in the heart of another satisfying issue.
