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A review by haunted_air
Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympian by Gail Simone
3.0
I love how Gail Simone writers Diana, her inner monologue and characterization is top-notch. Unfortunately, it's basically the positive I can say about this volume. Well, ok I also liked the art and it was nice to see Donna and Cassie.
The story was hard to follow and felt disjointed. Conflicts and sub-plots pop out of nowhere, often with little to no set-up or explanation. The individuals issues didn't flow well as if there were issues missing from the collection (I suspect some kind of crossover, but it happened too often). Usually, I prefer when comics go easy on the exposition, but there was simply too much going on for me to follow. I read all the previous volumes since the post Final Crisis restart so lack of backstory isn't the issue.
Part of the problem is that I really, really don't care about Diana's love interest or the whole secret agency business. To be fair, the plot doesn't seem to either, we barely spend any time there. Diana gets to set up her own team but it barely lasts more than a couple issues because all the stuff with the gods starts happening. Which was also confusing? Suddenly, Olympus is is destroyed, Athena is dying, Zeus creates amazon rip-offs, somehow Ares is involved. Later, villains from the previous volumes join the party too.
There's also the big bad I could not take entirely seriously, despite the horrible things they left in their wake. Naming a villain Genocide with a goofy costume will do that. I think the concept here is strong just not the execution. It's also one of those cases when the baddie is ridiculously overpowered to show stakes. To be honest, the whole story tried too hard to to that and be epic. The moral dilemma Diana has to face was interesting, although I don't love the "Wonder Woman shouldn't kill" rhetoric. She's a warrior, sometimes she does. In this volume, the issue was more about not giving into vengeance, which is much better, but I'm still angry about how the Maxwell Lord situation was treated.
Rise of the Olympian is definitely worth rearing though. There are standout moments for sure, sadly it just never came together.
Random complaint: while it was great to see Donna and Cassie get their versions of the Eagle armour, why on Earth does Cassie's show her stomach? I get the horrid 2000s crop top is her thing and for whatever reason her costume but you're putting her in armour. What's the point if she can literally be stabbed in the stomach? Who allowed this.
The story was hard to follow and felt disjointed. Conflicts and sub-plots pop out of nowhere, often with little to no set-up or explanation. The individuals issues didn't flow well as if there were issues missing from the collection (I suspect some kind of crossover, but it happened too often). Usually, I prefer when comics go easy on the exposition, but there was simply too much going on for me to follow. I read all the previous volumes since the post Final Crisis restart so lack of backstory isn't the issue.
Part of the problem is that I really, really don't care about Diana's love interest or the whole secret agency business. To be fair, the plot doesn't seem to either, we barely spend any time there. Diana gets to set up her own team but it barely lasts more than a couple issues because all the stuff with the gods starts happening. Which was also confusing? Suddenly, Olympus is is destroyed, Athena is dying
Spoiler
although I did like the later reveal that she faked itThere's also the big bad I could not take entirely seriously, despite the horrible things they left in their wake. Naming a villain Genocide with a goofy costume will do that. I think the concept here is strong just not the execution. It's also one of those cases when the baddie is ridiculously overpowered to show stakes. To be honest, the whole story tried too hard to to that and be epic. The moral dilemma Diana has to face was interesting, although I don't love the "Wonder Woman shouldn't kill" rhetoric. She's a warrior, sometimes she does. In this volume, the issue was more about not giving into vengeance, which is much better, but I'm still angry about how the Maxwell Lord situation was treated.
Rise of the Olympian is definitely worth rearing though. There are standout moments for sure, sadly it just never came together.
Random complaint: while it was great to see Donna and Cassie get their versions of the Eagle armour, why on Earth does Cassie's show her stomach? I get the horrid 2000s crop top is her thing and for whatever reason her costume but you're putting her in armour. What's the point if she can literally be stabbed in the stomach? Who allowed this.