Wonder Woman #15 Review

Since we’re jumping straight into Wonder Woman #15, I’ll sum up where we are at this point.

• Apollo is the new king of the Gods. He has been told by three oracles that one of Zeus’s children would kill him.
• A woman named Zola is the most recent mortal to have given birth to one of Zeus’s bastards. After the child’s birth, Hermes (one of Wonder Woman’s companions) betrayed her and kidnapped the child. Diana is looking for the whereabouts of Hermes and Zola’s child.
• An excavation team has uncovered a titan of a man calling himself “The First Born”. And last, but certainly not least, on a list of things that Wonder Woman doesn’t need in her life right now, the New God Orion has been sent to earth by the “high father” to prevent the end of time.

Now lets jump into issue #15.

The image of Orion picking up his helmet came at the end of issue #12 and since then I’ve been waiting – very impatiently – for the inevitable conflict between the New God and Wonder Woman to occur. The issue is a fun read but not for the reasons I was expecting. The relationship between Hera and Zola is hilarious and it’s funny to see Wonder Woman try and deal with their childish behavior.

The issue reads very smoothly but the pace of the plot moves inch-by-inch. It’s a result of the multiple plot threads Azarello, very successfully, is interweaving to lead to a culmination of New Gods vs. the Old Gods. This is a very fun and interesting concept, considering the Gods have been dealing mainly with mortals and demi-gods, thinking themselves untouchable. I have no doubt that Orion will open their eyes.

As far as the fight between Orion and Wonder Woman that I’ve been waiting for, it comes at the end of the issue and the pages run out before any real fighting starts, leaving the bulk of the battle up to the next issue. This also means that I have  to wait with even more anticipation for the fight to continue next month. *sigh*

Cliff Chiang returns after a two month absence and it’s an absolute pleasure to have him back drawing Princess Diana. While the issue lacks in the action department, Chiang doesn’t skimp on the details. He does a great job pinning facial expressions that match the situations the characters face.

This issue continues the success of the series and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the fight I’ve been waiting for actually pays off next month.