Diana of Themyscira fights a dangerous beast alongside the daughter of the daughter of Charlemagne in issue #753 of Wonder Woman. The two warriors are kindred spirits, but are they enough to defeat a massive fire-breathing monster without collateral damage and the loss of innocent life? Writer Steve Orlando concludes Diana’s two-part adventure with Valda The Iron Maiden in an issue drawn by Max Raynor. A story that could have been a bit of a hackneyed encounter with a noble warrior from another time is rendered in a refreshing bit of complexity that draws Diana further along in her new adventures in Boston. 

Wonder Woman and Valda have left Boston for a little excursion in Vermont. They are there to defeat The Chromium Beast: a giant, gleaming fire-breathing minotaur-like beast from Valda’s time. Two warriors of their caliber shouldn’t have much difficulty overcoming it. There are a couple of complications, though. If they can manage to clear the area of innocent bystanders, they still have to deal with a creature with a hide of quantum metal. Break open its skin, and they’ll find themselves sucked into an entirely different dimension. Do so without precision, and there’s no telling where they’ll end up. 

Two warriors face a powerful beast. It could have easily been yawn-inducing. Orlando finds some sharp ways to keep it fresh. The quantum hide adds a level of danger that even demigods would have trouble with. Diana’s challenge to Valda to adapt to the world she has been thrust into develops into a competition to see who can save the most lives in the process of defeating the creature, which gives the slugfest an interesting added angle of interest. The philosophical argument in the aftermath of the battle between Diana and the Boston Police Detective Nunes adds an additional level of depth that provides insight into the mind of Wonder Woman while advancing relations between hero and detective. It’s all very cleverly-constructed stuff.

Raynor’s style comes to fit the action a bit better this time around than it did a couple of weeks ago. There’s a palpable amount of power in the massive, overwhelming Chromium Beast. The dramatic angles in action amplify the size difference between the massive monster and relatively tiny heroes. Close-ups alternate appealingly with wide shots of the action in a way that amplifies the intensity of the action. The conversation between Wonder Woman and Detective Nunes near issue’s end plays-out in a series of taut, impressively expressive close-ups delivered after a very atmospheric establishing shot.  

Wonder Woman settles just a bit more into Boston as an appealing member of her supporting cast gets a few key moments with the hero. It’s an issue with action, drama, and the lead-in to further tensions to come that terminates in a hyper-dramatic moment at Diana’s place, which launches #753 directly into #754. It’s a smartly-constructed issue that Orlando and Raynor have put together. 

Grade: A