Hera’s plans for Wonder Woman finally start to become clear in Wonder Woman #794 written by Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan, penciled by Emanuela Lupacchino, inked by Wade Von Grawbadger, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Pat Brosseau.

Will this be the start of all of the threads of this arc weaving together to form some sort of comprehensible tapestry? We’ve had Dr. Cizko mind-controlling folks through mysterious milk. We’ve seen Cheetah rescued from a lab in Brazil where flowers were being combined with the milk and animals experimented on. We’ve even seen Hera up to no good as she manipulated the Amazon Trials that led to Hippolyta’s death. How will all of these threads add up? I hope we are able to start making sense of these loose ends, because it’s starting to feel a little tangled.

Not So Stealthy

Poor Steve is stuck at the base of operations with a broken leg while he and Etta monitor what is supposed to be a stealthy mission to the MIlk Factory. Turns out the guardsmen saw Siggy and Cheetah coming and a giant explosion starts guns blazing with Brousseau’s expressive lettering. Minerva is over playing nice and roughs up the guards. They don’t get the chance to question him before he mentions Hera and a couple of armored twins bubble up out of the vat of milk. Phobos and Deimos morph together to form a gross multi-handed warrior. Siggy and Cheetah are unsure of what to do and Steve and Etta can’t get a good read on them.

Not for Consumption

Diana knows exactly what to do with the milk monster. She comes crashing through the wall like the Kool-aid man.She thinks she knows what’s going on, but the conjoined twins assure her she doesn’t know the half of it as their multiple arms swing in an all out fight. After finding out it’s Hera behind this instead of Ares, the three fighters dive back into the milk vat to finish off the avatar of these gods. After slaying the milk monster they are on their way.

Last issue I’d asked for more Siggy, Steve and Etta, and the creative team delivered!

Not to be Trusted

Before they can get to the Hall of Justice, a massive floating temple appears in the sky. Siggy, Steve, Etta and Cheetah all sing their praise as she infiltrates the temple. Eros is there in Hera’s temple and is elusive about why Hera would be causing all of this chaos. It sounds like the gods blame Diana a bit for their escape from death when she took on Janus. Outside, throngs of people are chanting Hera’s name. Wonder Woman is ready to send a message back to Hera when Wonder-Girl makes a smashing entrance of her own!

I think I can start to see some of these pieces working together now, and I’m surprised it was Yara that started to tie things up for me. I had nearly forgotten the ways the various women from the branches of Amazon had to work together after Hippolyta’s death. If that’s the case here, I look forward to it! It made me think back to Hippolyta’s issue as well. I am intrigued by the many gods and goddesses willing to be toyed with by Hera. Are they jealous of Diana’s escape from death, though she freed them with her? Hera, the goddess of marriage and protector of women in childbirth, spent most of her time jealous of whoever Zeus was sleeping with next. Could it be the nature of Hera to have infected so many others on Olympus with her jealousy? Why else should these deities be concerned with the men and women of Earth?

These recent issues hark back to many of the Greek myths themselves, so I won’t be surprised if cunning Hippolyta makes an appearance again.

Wonderful Whims

Phobos and Deimos being lopsided and malleable milk monsters amused me as the moons of Mars that are named after them are also misshapen and off-center.
I don’t fully trust Cheetah, but seeing her fight next to Siggy was fun!