DC COMICS
WRITER: Gail Simone
ARTISTS: Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson
COVER: Terry and Rachel Dodson/Michael Golden

A new era begins for Wonder Woman as she battles gorilla commandoes and super-Nazis. This is the first issue by much-anticipated writer Gail Simone and it showcases a more confident Wonder Woman while setting the stage for new menaces, new conflicts and new revelations into her past. It isn't quite the non-stop action tale people were expecting but it is entertaining enough, balancing peril, humour and mystery while introducing new cast members without discarding characters that have already been established. The creative team tries to balance the various aspects of Wonder Woman-- warrior, ambassador of peace, goddess of truth, and manages to pull it off, albeit not perfectly. The art is lush and well-illustrated but it does tend to lack a certain grit and sense of danger. Most of the characters-- even the hard-edged Sarge Steele, look rather cuddly. Maybe the coming issues, which appear to be more focused on conflict and action, will have more of an edge to them. Still, this issue gets four out of five stars.