ComicBook Showdown

This is the issue where it all comes together. I've been following the Odyssey since the first installment back in issue 600, and as the story progressed, the questions in my mind have been accumulating. Who is this Diana, and how does she fit into Wonder Woman continuity? Why is her memory a blank slate, and why is she younger than the Diana we know and love? When does the story take place? This issue is the pulse-pounding payoff, intrepid comic fans. It starts with a confrontation between a mature Wonder Woman in traditional garb and young Diana, but almost from the outset, the stellar creative team shows us that something's a bit off about the older version. There's a great panel at the bottom of page two that shows mature Wonder Woman smiling—and oh, what an evil smile it is. The panel set off alarm bells in my head. Everything I know about Diana tells me that something is horribly dark about this manifestation of Wonder Woman. As the battle progresses, it becomes clear that older Wonder Woman intends to kill young Diana. Young Diana finds herself surrounded by ghosts of her dead loved ones, harvested by Nemesis. That's when the penny dropped for me, and young Diana has a vision of the past that confirms my suspicion—Nemesis has possessed Wonder Woman! I also have to confess that Jim Lee's gorgeously passionate cover image provided a clue about the identity of the entity possessing our heroic Amazon. The cover art totally gobsmacked me. I can't stop looking at it. There's a reason Jim Lee is a legend in the industry, and powerful images like this one that mesmerize us with their beauty add to his stature. But I digress. Prior to her possession, Wonder Woman had learned from the Morrigans that Nemesis planned to destroy humanity, and confronted Nemesis, only to learn to late that the Morrigans had set her up. Nemesis had set a trap, and Wonder Woman fell to her sword. The blade did not bring Wonder Woman's death; instead her life, her form and her power were transferred to Nemesis. But the Fates broke off a sliver of Diana's essence and cast that sliver in a new life, with a new history. That sliver is young Diana, and for Nemesis to achieve her goal of ending humanity by bringing its greatest warrior to heel, she needs to young Diana. Initially Nemesis thought she could turn Diana against humanity by exposing her to their world and killing everyone she loved, but the strategy backfired, binding Diana to her human brothers and sisters. Nemesis decides she must kill Diana, and as Nemesis plunges her blade through young Diana, it looks like she's achieved her goal. But looks can be deceiving. As Nemesis steps close to deliver the killing blow, Diana reveals that she's allowed Nemesis to get the best of her so she can lure her close. Diana binds her wrists to those of Nemesis with the lasso of truth, and says "Let's be one again. Let's be Wonder Woman." Nemesis assumes her true form and young Diana takes back Wonder Woman's form, her power, and her life. But Nemesis isn't done yet—in the last splash, she threatens to kill Diana. Great Hera, what a ride!!! There were times when I wondered how or if this story was going to come together. There were so many disparate parts, and at times I couldn't figure out how they all went together. But the pieces of the puzzle have been assembled into a fierce and beautiful whole this issue, and the result makes want to go back and re-read the individual issues so I can enjoy them again.

Review: Wonder Woman 613, Arc: The Odyssey, part 13: Nemesis (DC), written by J. Michael Straczynski and Phil Hester, pencils by Don Kramer and Travis Moore, Inks by Wayne Faucher, Walden Wong and Drew Geraci, Colors by Pete Pantazis