Story: Tim Seeley
Art: Christian Duce
Colors: Allen Passalaqua
Letters: Josh Reed
Covers: Paul Renaud, Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn
Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, H. G. Peter, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Olive Byrne.
This comic’s publication coincided to take advantage of the Wonder Woman film opening, so curious audience members could learn more about the character’s comic book incarnation. Apparently, that means reading more about Steve Trevor, who has been recently reinstated as Diana’s official beau. That will sound odd to most non-comics fans, but Steve hasn’t been romantically linked to her since the mid-eighties reboot authored by George Perez. But make no mistake, everything has now been set right by the powers that be. The comic even introduces the story within as “Wonder Woman's Boyfriend Steve Trevor” just in case there are any lingering doubts from skeptical comics fans who still remember that Superman and Wonder Woman were still an item until earlier this year. But given that in the film’s [Spoiler Alert] onscreen romance was kinda doomed, maybe DC is also hoping that film fans will be relieved to learn that the happy couple are still going strong within the pages of their own comics.
And yes, this is a Wonder Woman story even when Steve occupies most of its panels. Just as a Lois Lane story is actually about how Superman is seen through her eyes, or a story about James Gordon and the GCPD is ultimately about how Batman helps keeps Gotham safe from its resident lunatics. Steve is called away from Wonder Woman’s side to take part in a covert mission. But the mission itself, which involves rescuing a supernaturally enhanced individual from the clutches of nefarious forces, reminds Steve of his own complicated feelings towards Diana. Love is mixed with guilt over Steve being the person who contributed to Diana’s decision to leave her home in “paradise.” These emotions inevitably inform his actions on the mission.
This is an okay though unremarkable story drawn competently enough by Christian Duce. But the comic’s main purpose becomes apparent when Steve meets up with his usual team of crack operatives for the mission. They turn out to be the same trio of misfits from the film: The British sniper Charlie who suffers from PTSD, Moroccan aspiring actor and conman Sameer, and Native American tracker/smuggler “Chief.” Their comics appearance is remarkably quick compared to other characters introduced in other mediums making their way into the comic book pages. For now, Steve has kept his covert activities and his work with Diana far apart. But it’s safe to assume that at some point these two worlds will collide spectacularly as DC’s writers continue to flesh out this newly minted version of the Diana-Steve coupling. Corporate synergy, folks!
