Starting With A Bang!
As a Batman fan, a character like Wonder Woman has very little appeal. I'll confess that Lynda Carter got me through middle school, just as much as Yvonne Craig and Tina Louise got me through grade school and Stephanie Zimbalist got me through high school.
Now that I have a daughter, I see Princess Diana quite differently. I see female characters as a whole differently. Does a woman in a story serve as an accessory to the male hero?
Gail Simone is brilliant. Her story, Gothamazon, opens with the rogues gallery blowing up the Batmobile. Oracle, Barbara Gordon, is looking for someone to meet this challenge. After passing over The Flash, Green Lantern and Superman, Barbara selects the right soldier for the battle. Wonder Woman faces The Dark Knight's prime rogues gallery under the orchestration of The Joker.
My daughter, Bella, is from Ukraine. We sat down, and I read this issue to her. Diana has always come across as a combination of Superman and Captain Marvel. Diana has had some great moments in Wonder Woman - Spirit of Truth, JLA: Liberty and Justice, the twelve issue Justice series and DC: The New Frontier #1 - Vol. 1. She's aware of her own abilities and yet she carries and idealism. I want to say naiveté, but somehow that doesn't seem right. Simone's script almost seems jaded, in that Batman has used fear so long it no longer works. Wonder Woman confronts his rogues gallery with truth.
There are a few quibbles with this. As good a writer as Simone is, she should know that two or more villains just doesn't work. That's true here. Man-Bat, The Penguin and The Riddler get short shrift. Mister Freeze is simply a tool. Two-Face feels like a cypher. It's hard to notice that Poison Ivy is a part of the story until she reacts to Harley Quinn.
The conceit of Simone's story is that, for the moment, all these very distinct personalities have come together for a common goal. All of their hands on the plunger to blow up The Dark Knight. Gothamazon feels like a story of convenience. It feels like Birds of Prey, spotlighting Wonder Woman. I've read Birds of Prey for the Barbara Gordon, Catwoman and Black Canary. Here, Diana recruits Catwoman and Harley Quinn and together they lead the charge against the rogues - including Poison Ivy and The Joker. This story just feels cramped and confined. Hush was given twelve issues to unfold, this story unfolds over just a few, scant pages. Catwoman and Harley Quinn are done a disservice in that they immediately become lackeys, deputized by Diana.
This is by no means intended to be scathing. As a Batman fan it is very cool to see Wonder Woman's approach to The Dark Knight's rogues. Compared to the second story, Diana facing Circe, Gothamazon feels out of place. Sensation Comics is not Detective Comics or Action Comics. It would seem more appropriate to launch Sensation Comics with Diana facing The Cheetah, or one of her other own signature villains. Apparently, the thought is start with a bang; and what bigger bang than having Wonder Woman face Batman's rogues gallery, and beat them all!
The real question is, who reads Wonder Woman and Sensation Comics? Women or girls that read comic books? Super-hero comic book fans? Is Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman aimed at young ladies like my daughter? That would make a huge difference in the kinds of stories that Simone or other Wonder Woman writers and artists tell.
I want to read and enjoy Sensation Comics with my daughter. Hopefully, there will be more there there in future issues.
I give Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman 1 three out of five stars.