In Wonder Woman #4 from DC Comics, written by Tom King with art by Daniel Sampere and Belén Ortega, Diana delivers a make-a-wish to a sick kid, with political ramifications.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Wonder Woman #4 Review:
While America picks up its rhetoric against Amazons, Wonder Woman is instead fulfilling a promise to a sick, dying boy to take him out for the day — and to Themyscria. And in the back-up, Wonder Woman’s daughter gets taken over by the Black Mercy.
Host Alex Zalben was generally impressed by the issue, and the tension between the parents of the kid wanting to give their child one last good day, but being uncomfortable with the political divide around the Amazons. “Love that whole thing,” Zalben said. However, he added, “I wish that was the whole issue. I wish they had focused on that. And that was the thing that was frustrating for me here because cutting to the greater action with The Sovereign defrayed a lot of the tension and power there.”
Zalben continued to explain that he wasn’t looking for something sappy, so much as surprised about the multiple focuses, given Tom King will often zero in on one arc of action for his comics. “Tom King, as an author, who very classically at this point is like, ‘I’m gonna do one issue about one thing, the end’ is like, ‘let’s follow multiple threads. Let’s see what’s going on with Steve Trevor. Let’s see what’s going on with The Sovereign instead.’ I want to see him focus on Wonder Woman.”
Justin Tyler understood Zalben’s point, but disagreed. “It’s only the fourth issue, he’s got a lot of plates spinning already,” Tyler said. Tyler added that he really enjoyed the scene where the kid says his one wish is to go to Paradise Island, leading to a moment of conflict for Diana.
“It’s an interesting situation to put Wonder Woman in,” Pete LePage said. “The fact that she does the right thing is awesome… I guess we could have stayed with the sick kid the whole time, but it’s nice to touch in and get other stuff that’s also going on.”
Added Tyler, “It’s hard to win with a story with such emotionality, it’s hard to jump out of it to some business and then jump back and have you feel the same way… So I think that’s where it’s a little bit disjunctive. And so that’s where a little bit more connective tissue would have would have [been beneficial], but I thought the beats really worked.”
And on a more positive note, Zalben loved the backup story. “These Supersons babysitting for Trinity stories are so much fun,” Zalben said. “It is such a palate cleanser from literally everything else that Tom King is doing… It is such a good time, I laughed out loud multiple times, reading the stories. Great, great stuff. Really, really good.”
Wonder Woman #4 Official Synopsis:
WILL DIANA LOSE HOPE IN A WORLD TURNED AGAINST HER? With the world losing trust in the Amazons, Wonder Woman takes a moment to grant the wish of a dying boy and gives him the perfect day. Meanwhile, the Sovereign constricts his grip on the government. Will Wonder Woman be able to hold out hope as the world around her grows darker? Plus, Trinity spends the night at the Fortress of Solitude with her babysitters, the Super Sons!
