THIS is how you reboot
By the time I wrote this review I had only bought one issue of Glory, a Christmas special which had a story about her by Liefeld, and a Youngbloods story Todd Nauck did the artwork on. At least, I think it was the Youngbloods. I've been trying to get issues of the Avatar run, but I haven't seen all the covers.
This reworking of Glory...
Ross Campbell doesn't draw a waif thin, back caving in on itself porn star knock-off of Wonder Woman. Glory is beautiful, but it's not in the cleavage. She doesn't show off cleavage. This woman is a body builder. The first page of her in action has her simultaneously ripping a Nazi's arm off as she's throwing a tank. She has a discussion with Supreme, who has also received a redesign which we don't fully see. He's talking about how there are other super heroes popping up, but, he doesn't trust them or Glory. Because in his words she's second only to him in terms of power, reckless, lacking respect in higher authority, and that, her behavior is "unacceptable".
This is her response.
Glory: Unacceptable? By whose standards? Yours?
She then talks about her upbringing, a union between two warring nations which united her mother's people and her father's people, and how since she was born they trained her either to rule those two races or destroy one if they broke the peace. And how, despite that, she left and took her training to the human world because she saw their potential to be great.
Glory: Let's talk about all this and really think if I give a damn about what you command. You want to determine my role? I'll tell you my role. I'm here to stay and make this world a better one. Despite everything. Especially you.
Supreme: ...
Glory: Right. That's what I thought. In a way, I appreciate it. You care about the greater good. Despite somehow having narcissistic motives. If anything, you amused me. Finding something to laugh about is rare during wartime. For that I thank you, but I've got work to do. You should do the same. Be good.
Supreme: Hm.
I admit it, I love this woman.
This whole issue brings the reader up to speed on Glory and her life, through the eyes of Riley Barnes, a young woman who has been dreaming about Glory all her life and has started to search for her. Her journey leads her to a small French town, where she meets American Gloria West. For anyone who'll remember, Gloria West was Glory's alter-ego in Alan Moore's run. Joe Keatinge blends together Glory's original run with a touch of revamp and reboot, connecting it with Alan Moore's short lived run and adding in a satire of Wonder Woman's comic book history. Joe has taken Gloria and transformed her from Glory's secret identity to being a human woman who shared her consciousness with Glory. Glory and Gloria had fused because Glory wanted to truly know what it was like to be a human being. Glory existed in Gloria's subconscious without stealing her life from her, and Gloria came to embrace the fusion and the excitement of Glory's life. Then one day, she stopped becoming Glory. This issue shows what happened to Glory after all of these years, and I won't reveal what.
The highlight is Ross Campbell's artwork. His redesign of Glory, her people, and his ability at body types and giving people distinctive features is amazing. I was expecting something along his fascination with Big Beautiful Women, ala "Water Baby" and "The Abandoned". I was wrong.
Glory was conceived as an anti-hero Wonder Woman. With one issue they've taken her beyond that. There is no cheesecake in this book. There is violence, but it's not quite over the top 90s violence. Glory does not snarl or rant about how much of a bad ass she is, but she is confident and strong with hope for humanity, beautiful, and refuses to bow before the so-called authority of people like Supreme without threatening to disembowel him.
