My opinions on Tom King's Wonder Woman run
Hello everyone, I’m back from my sabbatical break to finally share my thoughts on Tom King’s Wonder Woman run.
Now, this post is going to include some controversial opinions that not everyone may agree with (which is totally fair, and honestly, if you disagree, please leave a comment), and I want to clarify that I don’t claim to hold the absolute truth (I can be wrong).
With that said, I don’t like this Wonder Woman run. Don’t get me wrong—it has its good aspects (like everything in life), but in my opinion, the bad outweighs the good.
Things I like:
The supporting cast is solid. I love that King included the Wonder Girls—I honestly only read it for them. And yes, I’m including Steve here too because I adore him (even if he was wasted).
The art is fantastic.
Things I don’t like:
The way they handled Steve and how badly he was wasted. I mean, the man was the U.S. ambassador to the Amazons, a military officer (a general, if I remember correctly), and he was involved with the Suicide Squad (trying to minimize the threat they posed). Let’s not forget he knew a lot about the government. Killing him off ruined what could’ve been an interesting political storyline—especially considering this came after the Absolute Power event.
Diana’s storyline, while it has potential, is slow, stagnant, and poorly written. The villains (both the one who kills Steve and the one who’s likely trying to manipulate Lizzie—I strongly believe that’s coming) are just… meh.
Lizzie, as a concept, is interesting. And as a Wondertrev fan, I love that they have a daughter. But sadly, this character was clearly created just because King wanted to write the Super Sons taking care of a little girl. That’s cute, I won’t deny it—but beyond that, she doesn’t fit. She lacks charisma, and I especially don’t like her adult version when she’s with Diana (she’s so rude). I feel like she only works when she’s with Damian and Jon (she was written and created to serve their story, not to be her own character who contributes to the Amazons—or even to Diana and Steve’s legacy).
I think she could’ve worked better if they had explored the angle of her being a girl who never knew her father (heck, she didn’t even know if she had a father), who grew up hearing about her mom’s protégées (who she’s constantly compared to, especially Cassie), and who spent her life listening to Donna and Cassie talk fondly about some guy named Steve—only to later discover that the Steve they spoke of with so much affection was actually her father.
In my view, that would’ve made adult Lizzie’s coldness toward Diana more understandable. It would have added depth to her character by giving her internal conflict and would’ve tied nicely into her solo comic, where she seems to be trying to bring Steve back.
They could’ve also shown flashbacks of Steve interacting with the Amazons and the Wonder Girls (Donna and Cassie), because I find it hard to believe that, over all those years, they never met or interacted at all.
PS1: You have no idea how hard it was to get through this run. I’d read one issue and need all my willpower to even open the next. I hated feeling that way because I usually enjoy binge-reading.
PS2: If you thought I have an agenda to make Steve closer to the other Amazons and not just Diana, let me tell you—you’re absolutely right. I have WonderFam headcanons, and Steve shows up in several of them.
