The Good
This is the first issue that really verbalizes Wonder Woman as a compassionate character and focuses on that quality of her personality in a very specific way. In the scene where she is arguing with Orion and her brother, she clearly feels for Milan. She senses that her brother is in pain and her entire demeanor turns to compassion. It's a great scene. The banter between Orion and Diana is also very clever, and I think that Azzarello does a fantastic job capturing Orion's unique, cocky personality.
The moments that follow are a series of really well illustrated pages. Milan takes on the eyes of a fly and embarks on a search for Zola's missing child. The way that Cliff Chiang lays out these panels in the following scenes is absolutely brilliant. The layout looks like you are seeing things from the perspective of a fly. It's cleverly done, aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow and understand.
Once again, some of the best moments in this issue are shared between Hera and Zola when the two women head to a bar in Manhattan to try to relax. The dialogue in this scene is incredibly lively and entertaining and the dialogue between these two starkly different women is very funny. The moment between them is broken by the resurgence of another character who we saw had a very close relationship to Wonder Woman in the past. Azzarello leaves fans hanging in this scene, not knowing what to expect. It will definitely be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming issue.
The Bad
This issue jumps around a lot and the scenes that take place in Antarctica don't really make very much sense in this issue. It's true, we've been seeing flashes of things that have been happening in Antarctica for several issues, but the pacing of those scenes has been vastly slower from the pacing of the rest of the story, so seeing them play out here feels awkward and a bit jarring. These moments are interjected into this story and it doesn't feel very organic. Most of the action in this issue takes place in Antarctica, and I think that the set-up for those moments could have been better.
The Verdict
Overall, there were plenty of moments that I definitely enjoyed in this issue. I liked the banter between the different characters and the way that Azzarello set up a lot of what we will see later on in the series. And although the majority of the interactions between these characters is lively, entertaining and interesting; the moments in Antarctica feel a little bit out of place. I don't think Azzarello explained the situation in Antarctica clearly enough in previous issues which may be why reading those scenes felt so jarring.
The story ends on a definite cliff hanger, and this issue is definitely not accessible to new readers. It is a story that is traced to the series' very first issue. Still, I recommend it if it's a series you want to get into. It's well written with dialogue, gorgeous art and character interactions that are interesting and entertaining and will likely leave you looking forward to whatever happens next.