Review – Absolute Wonder Woman #8: The Poisoned Tree
Absolute Wonder Woman #8 cover, via DC Comics.
Ray: The previous arc by Mattia De Iiuls was a masterstroke, taking us to the underworld for a brilliant flashback tale explaining how Diana got to Man's World. But now Hayden Sherman is back on art duties, and we're back to the main story – and there is a lot to get into without delay. For one thing, the first arc was brilliant, but it was missing one thing – Diana's iconic villains, for the most part. The Tetracide was a completely original threat, but this issue makes up for last time. We were already introduced to Barbara Minerva, and her…curiosity for ancient artifacts hints at a dark future for her. And then there's Veronica Cale, head of the mysterious Area 41 – and her prisoner, Dr. Poison. The WW2-era villain is now a living gas being, trapped in a hulking WW2-era bodysuit and desperate to get free. Brilliantly creepy character design, and the most threatening this character has been in ages. Communing. Via DC Comics.
This issue doesn't have a big threat at first, with the focus being on Diana and her team – Minerva, Steve Trevor, and Etta Candy and her partner – on the trail of something mysterious. We get to see Diana commune with nature, and it's great to see traces of the classic WW emerge more and more by the issue. When she performs a ritual to summon a mysterious building, it's one of the more impressive pages of Hayden Sherman's work so far in this issue. I'm perfectly happy just following these characters' dynamic for a while – Steve and Barbara are particularly funny playing off each other – but it's not long before a new threat emerges, in the form of an army of robotic spiders terrorizing the city and seemingly targeting Wonder Woman. Arachnophobes beware, but this is some brilliantly creepy visuals, with a great last-page cliffhanger setting up the next epic quest for Diana.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
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