Wonder Woman is lost. Something doesn’t seem right in the world and she is looking for answers. How will she find them and why can’t she go home?
Overview
Contents
This book was a couple of firsts for me – my first Wonder Woman book and my first book where a female is the lead. Alt
hough I purchased Batgirl Rebirth #1 at the same time, this was the one I decided to read first. My assumptions for Wonder Woman beforehand rightly or wrongly was that it was going to be boring, over the top feminism or maybe even a character written specifically so that DC can say they are being balanced. I was dead wrong. Wonder Woman: The Lies is a fantastic book in its own right and Diana is a fantastically interesting, flawed and intriguing character.
- Rucka, Greg (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 176 Pages - 02/28/2017 (Publication Date) - DC Comics (Publisher)
Wonder Woman: The Lies Review
The book opens with the main character Wonder Woman (Diana) (as the Rebirth books often have) kicking some absolute ass which is always a good start, before retiring home. Diana is then confused and starts questioning the truth; at this point I was confused as well as I wasn’t sure what prompted the confusion in the first place…it just sort of happened.
Greg Rucka then gives the readers a flashback to Diana’s childhood back in Themyscira, I appreciated this and I assumed it was done to give people, like me, who began reading Wonder Woman with Rebirth. Although I had a fairly good idea of Wonder Woman, her originations and her past I still appreciated getting a recap. As a spoiler free review I won’t go into too much detail about her journey to discover the truth, she sets of on her way to find it and in doing so to find out who’s behind it all.
Still confused at this point I was still very much enjoying the book as I was being exposed to different a perspective in not only a woman but also a demigod. Alongside the new refreshing perspective was a different type of landscape in the rainforest of Banakane, which is a far cry of the gothic urban landscape of Gotham City. I enjoyed being exposed to the rich imagery of the forest with the greens, reds and browns and I felt the artwork really came alive.
The book introduced me to a fair few characters who clearly had a past with Wonder Woman including Steve and his crew
and Barbara Ann – the Cheetah. Did the book give me enough information to fill in the blanks? Yes, fairly quickly I was able to make assumptions of the context of these characters thanks to some great writing and subtle indicators of past events.
Halfway through I still found myself confused with what was going on and why Diana was unable to return to her home – as Diana herself was confused along with me I felt this was the desired effect by Greg Rucka, however a die hard Wonder Woman fan may tell me otherwise and perhaps someone who knows more about Wonder Woman would have figured out what was going on and that my confusion was because I don’t know the ins and outs of Wonder Woman’s past.
As the book began to draw to a close it began to have somewhat of a clandestine feel to it and perhaps Urzkartaga and Cadulo were only pawns in what was happening to Diana and her kicking some more arse was all part of the plan – not exactly an atypical plot line in a DC book but I was still sucked in and considered getting Volume 2 immediately.
T
he Lies was my first Wonder Woman book and I felt like I was welcomed in quite easily to a completely new environment which has different dynamics and relationships to what I have been used to. My fears about Wonder Woman being an empty vessel used by DC to check a box so that they were seen making books about females were banished as I found Diana to be an organic portrayal of a heroic, strong, independent but flawed demigod who is struggling to come to terms with herself and everything around her.
The artwork was gritty and real and the lush forest really came to life – however at times I found the portrayal of Wonder Woman herself to be inconsistent at times the point where she appears as someone slightly different between chapters. However, this is pretty much nitpicking at this point and I felt if I wasn’t going to give it 5 out of 5 it would need have a flaw somewhere.
- Rucka, Greg (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 176 Pages - 02/28/2017 (Publication Date) - DC Comics (Publisher)
Summary
A great first collection for Wonder Woman’s Rebirth series – plot line can be a bit confusing at times if you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of Wonder Woman’s universe but ultimately thanks to some very good art and plot line you’ll be just fine and may even be sucked in to the mystery like I did.
Score: 4/5
Last update on 2023-06-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
