We’re jumping right into a new arc as Wonder Woman investigates the cause of a mysterious vision by a sister Amazon and runs into two past adversaries along the way in Wonder Woman #791 by Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan, art Marguerite Sauvage, and lettered by Pat Brosseau.
Clonan and Conrad continue their trend of hitting on beloved Villains of Wonder Woman’s previous eras, this time bringing Cheetah into the current run.
Death of a Mother
After all of the events of the crossover and having shut down Cizko’s sham milk company, Diana finally gets a moment alone with her mother’s memorial. Sauvage’s pale tones and delicate lines set a different, somber mood for Diana’s reflections and make Hippolyta’s new status reveal all the more enchanting. Diana’s range of emotions while dealing with the cause of her mother’s death and ascension to godhood are understandable. That she’s able to process them all so quickly, compassionately and succinctly is a testament to her character. I certainly would be flipping tables, pulling at my hair, and sobbing puddles if I’d found out my mom had lied about her manipulations, involved a friend in her assisted murder and then lived to tell the tale.
But that’s just me
But Diana realized it’s for a good cause and her mom’s on a mission, so she’s quick to forgive.
Visions of an Oracle
She doesn’t have long before she’s interrupted in her thoughts by Philipus and Anahi of the Esquecida. Anahi has had some pretty creepy visions and Diana cuts straight to them with the use of her lasso. Here we’ve got one of the most gorgeous pages in this issue. Sauvage masterfully weaves dainty lily flowers with skulls of death in tones of baby blue and pastoral pink blooming in the waterfalls of Brazil. Ending with haunting red eyes and a panel of a dead Wonder Woman floating face down in the water, Diana snaps out of the vision and into action.
It’s partly her nature, but I suspect Diana is glad to have something to keep her mind and body occupied after the load of information she just got about what really happened to Hippolyta. Off she goes with Anahi and the other Esquecida into the heart of Brazil.
Heart of the Matter
In Brazil, Diana scouts out the workers gathering flowers with the Esquecida while Steve and Etta gather intel back home. With a quick shot, they disable a worker and Diana takes their place, towing a boat full of petals into a hidden facility. Turns out the masks and bandanas the workers are wearing are doing nothing at preventing them from catching some sort of illness. The scientists aren’t immune from its effects and Diana quickly steals one’s identity to find out that not only is Veronica Cale behind this, but they’re running experiments on caged animals AND they’ve got Barbara a.k.a Cheetah!
This early in the game it’s hard to tell where C&C are going to lead us, but I can’t wait to find out what they have in store for Cheetah and Cale in this new arc!
Wonderful Whims
- Maybe in the next issue we’ll get a shot of Siggy’s new fits!
Cat Purcell is a Career Services Librarian, cosplayer, artist, and massive coffee consumer.
