After their previous three character studies of DC’s most famous superheroes, featuring Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel, it was only natural that the fourth and final profile in the series created by Paul Dini and Alex Ross should focus on Wonder Woman. Created in 1941 unbelievably (seriously!) single-handedly by William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman is undoubtedly the most famous female superhero ever created. With her Superman-like powers and Lasso of Truth, which forces the entrapped to reveal all their villainous secrets, Wonder Woman is the hero of truth. Although Dini and Ross’s story is written after their Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman is part of DC’s unbreakable trio, standing tall alongside Superman
and Batman. This unique feature on her character wasn’t a surprise, but how will her story differ from the other godly superpowered beings, most notably Superman and Captain Marvel?
Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth was published in 2001 as a prestige format graphic novel. It was written by Paul Dini and Alex Ross, with the latter providing painted artwork. I’ve read the story in the Justice League: The World’s Greatest Heroes trade paperback.
So far, the three stories focusing on Superman, Batman, and then Captain Marvel have all basically been entry-level snapshots of the heroes. All three stories aim to deliver a message to readers about what each of the heroes stand for. While Batman’s focus was on his war on crime, Superman’s mission was to achieve peace, and Captain Marvel’s to retain hope. The problem with the series so far has been that, with the exception of Batman, both Superman and Captain Marvel were very similar characters. Their stories and aims were virtually the same and both lacked much originality. With Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, you’d think that due to the star character’s immeasurable strength, that there isn’t much else to explore in the world of superpowered heroes. As usual with all of these stories, there is a short two-page introduction which features the hero’s origin. Basically, a female race known as the Amazons escaped to the reclusive Paradise Island after years of bloodshed against men. Queen Hippolyta, leader of the Amazons, was granted a child created of clay from the gods. The child was Wonder Woman and she was sent out into the world to fight for women. The feminism angle plays strongly in this story as it was always going to. She has an obvious edge over other characters such as Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel when it comes to this. Effectively however, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth begins like every other story in the series, as the star hero fights for justice and saves innocents from danger. She heads home to visit Hippolyta, who remains sceptical that Wonder Woman can change man’s world and become the symbol of truth for the whole world. And when Wonder Woman heads back to “the troubled moral world,” acting as Paradise Island’s Ambassador to the United Nations, she is simply scorned by politicians in charge of corrupt anti-democratic governments. Wonder Woman may find the time to save a civilian from certain death in countries where protests are illegal and forbade against by authoritarianism, but
diplomatic progress is nil. That, along with civilians on the ground running from and even attacking Wonder Woman is enough send the hero in search of help, specifically from Superman. I mentioned earlier that because of Wonder Woman’s powers, it was bound that this story was going to have similarities to that of the Superman one. In some ways, the challenges they face in the stories are the same. Wonder Woman is hated by the powerful and powerless; she is a symbol of strength. The powerful want her gone because of the constant reminder that she can easily take them out with her powers (even though, like Superman, she refuses to use her powers for violence), and the powerless just see her as another elitist who survives by trampling over the unfortunate. Of course the irony is that Wonder Woman and Superman can’t do anything, in spite of their powers. Morally, they would never forgive themselves for abusing their powers. Either way, the meeting between Superman and Wonder Woman is a very nice moment and it provides some consistency. For example, Superman recounts the lessons he learnt in Superman: Peace on Earth and how it’s often best to become one of the people and be with them in their situation. This moment does impact upon the direction of Wonder Woman’s story, but I feel that it would have been much-better placed if it were included in Superman: Peace on Earth. I complained with that story that Clark Kent serves little purpose, and it would have been nice to see how Superman uses Clark’s more human approach to achieve good. This is something Dini and Ross did excellently in Shazam!: Power of Hope. I guess it does add some variety to Wonder Woman: Power of Truth which does often lack originality in the same way as the other stories do. Taking Clark’s advice, Wonder Woman heads to the streets of protesting cities and disguises herself among the people. She continues to do good and use her powers to save people, but not while wearing that imposing costume and flying over the people as if she was their better. Wonder Woman even ends up treating the ill in hospitals in war-torn countries and does a Princess Diana by helping out with mine clearance. However, this façade cannot hold for long. Wonder Woman hides among burka-covered women as an armed militaristic regime forced them into a death camp. Wonder Woman has no choice as she notices the soldiers preparing to fire at the civilian. “Well, if a human shield is what’s needed… then I gladly volunteer.” Although she takes off the robe and stands tall in her Wonder Woman costume, she is representing the women who are seconds away from death. Naturally, the soldiers fire; Wonder Woman blocks the bullets using her bracelets and the soldiers flee terrified. Before she flies into the blue sky, Wonder Woman releases the captured women. Finally, she thanks Superman for his advice and her life among humanity continues. The conclusion to Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth is empowering, but I’m not exactly sure it fulfils the story’s prime purpose. Earlier in the story, Hippolyta said that Wonder Woman’s journey must result in her being seen as truth’s envoy on Earth. By the end, she doesn’t so much represent the truth, more so equality and strength. If anything, what this story does is take the same message conveyed in Superman: Peace on Earth and applies it better using Wonder Woman. Gender is a theme throughout the story and Wonder Woman is the best character to use in a story such as this one. The story, particularly the second half where she absorbs herself into the real world, works at its best then and reflects Wonder Woman’s goal to help disadvantaged people. As for the first half, (continued)
it really could be a Superman story. For example, her saving people from anti-democratic governments is all well and good, but it’s nothing unique. At the end of the day, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth begins as if it’s a standard Superman story and ends by reinforcing the message of Superman: Peace on Earth with a bit of a feminist spin. I suppose it was inevitable that Wonder Woman’s story was going to be extremely similar to the tales featuring Superman and Captain Marvel, but there were many opportunities here where it could have taken a different direction. For example, Hippolyta and the Amazons barely feature in this story. Dini and Ross could have explored their purpose and influence on Wonder Woman as the story progressed, but they aren’t used again. Instead, Hippolyta features early on in a role very similar to Shazam’s in Shazam!: Power of Hope, acting more like a guide than a mother. The real highlight here is the short scene with Superman. It’s nice to see previous Dini and Ross stories becoming relevant again. Overall though, the problem with Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth is that it aims to convey one message but ends saying another. It does the job of Superman’s story probably better than the Man of Steel’s one at times. Pretty much like the previous three stories in the series, it tells a basic story and is honestly unmemorable. I suppose it’s a decent introduction to the world of Wonder Woman, but the story offers little else.
Although over the past few weeks I’ve said all I can about Alex Ross’s artwork, it still never fails to amaze. As ever, Ross captures the tone of this story, and his use of colour is exceptional. Some scenes reflect the bright and dreamy image of Paradise Island, while the scenes of protest in the streets appear grey, desolate, and hopeless. Ross also captures Wonder Woman heroically as she stands out from the crowd even when she hides among humanity. Overall, Ross’s unique storytelling and beautiful visuals give life to this story which, without the art, it would sorely lack.
VERDICT
Overall, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth is a good enough read for a beginner. It delivers Wonder Woman a decent story for a change and takes her character in a slightly different direction. However, the story often feels both shallow and narrow in its ideas. It copies heavily from the messages conveyed by Superman: Peace on Earth and lacks originality. That said, Alex Ross’s art is excellent and certainly gives a pretty forgettable story a great image.
As for the four stories in the Dini/Ross series (yes, I know there is JLA one, but these focus just on one character each), I would recommend them to new fans of DC Comics. They provide some of the basics for DC’s core heroes and, for the most part, deliver decent and occasional messages which contribute to the hero’s character. However, more seasoned fans like myself expect a lot more. And I mean a lot more. Most of these ideas have been done before and when the stories begin to borrow from each other, you realise that originality is something desperately lacking in these four tales. Once again, it’s great if you want excellent artwork and basic outlines for DC’s greatest superheroes, but there was so much potential for more.
Story: 6.5/10
Art: 10/10
Next Week: Green Arrow: Quiver (Green Arrow (vol 3) 1-10). Written by Kevin Smith with art by Phil Hester and Ande Parks.
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