Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Wonder Woman Annual #1

By Zak Edwards
June 5, 2017 - 12:58

In Wonder Woman (which is wonderful and highly, highly recommended), there are a few characters that reiterate to Diana that the world doesn't deserve her. If the film proves anything, besides that female-driven superhero films are in extremely short supply, it is this fact. Diana, standing as a pinnacle of human capability, is something that our world, and her world, often prove to not deserve. We are truly lucky and blessed, to perhaps use the wrong term, to have a character like her, and this annual collects some short snippets that prove Diana, Princess of Themyscira, is something to cherish and celebrate.

Cover of Wonder Woman Annual #1, art by Nicola Scott.

All four stories in Wonder Woman Annual #1 essentially tell the same story: a scenario is set, Diana appears, the characters act in wonder, and she takes the high road. They are little moments of beauty (especially when artists Nicola Scott and Stephanie Hans take over the art), each a celebration more than an investigation, and it leaves you with a feeling of gratitude for their very existence.

That said, some stories in the collection are better than others. The first is a clear winner, put together by current Wonder Woman team Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott. A funny little story mostly reliant on a far-too-witty Superman and a typically-uninteresting Batman for its jokes, it offers laughs more than anything else. Diana herself shows up for but a moment but her presence is felt throughout. And Scott’s art, as always, is an absolute delight from start to finish.

From there, the stories offer diminishing returns, peaking at Michael Moreci’s and Stephanie Hans’ “The Curse and the Honour.” Set in Japan, the story’s themes of honour and sacrifice lend a different take on the story they all tell. It, more than any of the others, understands its space restrictions, managing to tell a personal story within a few short pages. Here, unlike perhaps the other two non-Rucka/Scott stories, the focus is on character relationships more than a saviour Diana. The final story, for example, rams sympathy into a crammed flashback which, while benefitting from David Lafuente’s bouncy, cartoonish style, tries to go too big (quite literally, it’s a kaiju), only to end the anthology off feeling repetitive.

Wonder Woman Annual #1 interior art by Stephanie Hans.

Overall, I imagine the biweekly schedule of Wonder Woman limited Rucka & Scott's abilities to provide a typical annual, but the anthology offers a casual and uplifting chance to witness Diana at her best and her most celebrated. As someone who only recently delved into the character, I found it a heartwarming approach that brought laughs and contemplation in equal measure, even if the quality across is the exact opposite.

tl;dr review: The Wonder Woman Annual offers four tales that essentially say the same thing. The collection of talent mostly pays off, but the tales are unfortunately quite uneven.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12