DC COMICS
WRITER: Gail Simone
ARTISTS/COVER: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson

Wonder Woman fights to save Paradise Island from a Neo-Nazi invasion but a secret cult of Amazons is plotting something even more lethal for her.

This is a fun issue, interspersed with some very sombre moments. There is cartoon combat, mixed with invocations to the Gods and recitation of poetry in battle, allowing us to see both the martial and spiritual sides of Wonder Woman. We also see more of the dark side of "Paradise" with a look into the minds of the Amazon-fundamentalists who may be Wonder Woman's most relentless opponents yet-- even though she hasn't even met them.

However the Neo-Nazi bad guys however don't really put up much of a fight. At least we don't see Wonder Woman and her allies having much trouble handling them. Yet, inconsistently near the end, these same bad guys suddenly prove competent enough to take down one the Amazon's most powerful warriors. The lack of menace of the Nazis has been a weakness in this story-arch. It is like these mid-card attractions are just filling space until the Amazon cultists can make their big appearance as the real villains of the piece. But as it is, the Nazis don't feel like much of a threat to Wonder Woman. In fact, you even wonder how they ever conquered Poland.

The art also reflects this lack of menace. It is beautiful and some of the scenes of combat are quite exciting and even lyrical but again, Wonder Woman looks like she is hardly having trouble with the goosesteppers. However when it comes to the flashbacks to early Amazon history and the scenes depicting the fanatical Amazons, the tone of the art becomes more serious and threatening. It is like the entire creative team knows the Nazis aren't to be taken seriously. Maybe in the end, it will be revealed they were all just auditioning for a road production of "Springtime for Hitler." 

Perhaps it would have been best if the Nazi invasion and the Amazon fundamentalists were handled in separate stories, so page space in each issue would not have to be economized to accomodate both of these storylines. Of course, there is also the whole "COUNTDOWN" issue to be addressed as well. As a whole, this issue gets a decent three stars out of five.