Wonder Woman - Evolution #5 // Review
Diana's mother has imprisoned her. She's going to cast her into the ocean to fight a ridiculously large sea monster in Poseidon's realm. It's okay, though: none of this is real. Diana might be beginning to forget this fact in Wonder Woman - Evolution #5. Writer Stephanie Phillips' eight-part mini-series continues into its second half with the art of Mike Hawthorne as inked by Adriano Di Benedetto. Color once again comes to the page courtesy of Jordie Bellaire. The mystery of Wonder Woman's current predicament makes a strange turn in an issue that might be more than a bit overshadowed by events going on for its title character under other covers this spring.
Wonder Woman. is chained to a wall in a dungeon in Themyscira. She has disgraced her family and all of the Amazons. Punishment is clearly due. It's not like she's going to have to face it alone, though. She's got a childhood version of herself who seems interested in cheering her up. The illusional Wonder Tot isn't exactly a help when it comes to the actual punishment, though: Wonder Woman is set to be plunged into the water to fight a massive sea beast in Poseidon's realm. If she can get out of THAT, she still has to face the wrath of the rest of the Amazons.
Phillips opens the issue with a bit of a mystery suggesting more might be going on than a simple judgment by aliens. While this has exciting implications, the rest of the issue is lacking much dramatic emotional impact. The connection between Wonder Woman and the hallucination of her childhood self is interesting, but there isn't enough time between the two Dianas to make much of an impact. Beyond that, the script of the fifth issue of the series is pleasantly forgettable. Phillips DOES seem to be hinting at a more interesting story right around the corner in the final few issues of the series. Still, Evolution #5 appears to be Phillips switching gears for the conflicts of the story's second half.
Hawthorne and the rest of the art team carry the dramatic moments of the issue far better than they had in the first four issues. There's a moody nuance to it all that makes it work quite well, which is a pity as it is the case that the vast majority of the issue is action. It's okay: Hawthorne and company handle the fight with the sea monster in a very powerful series of pages the shoot across the page with satisfying aesthetic percussion. Bellaire's colors bring depth to the atmosphere. The dungeon is bleak. The amber skies over Themyscira look gorgeous. The shadows in the forest gather mystery around the edges of the narrative.
The greater impact of this issue is blunted and mutated by the big Trial of the Amazons crossover that's going on in every other Wonder Woman title this spring. The shock of Wonder Woman's own mother casting her into certain death is compromised by her death in the crossover. Granted: this is clearly a completely different Wonder Woman from a completely different earth, but that doesn't change the fact that this particular series happens to be running through a major crossover for its mainstream DC Universe counterpart...and that series has really hammered into a major emotional impact that robs this series of some of its potential power.
