Wonder Woman: Bitter Rivals
When Darrel Keyes, head of the anti-Wonder Woman group “Protect Our Children,” was murdered on the steps of the Themysciran Embassy, the ensuing riot was just one of a torrent of crises facing Diana. Now, with the changes that befell her island home drastically altering her responsibilities in the DCU, Diana doesn’t have the time necessary to focus on the murder. Wonder Woman needs help… and who better to solve a mystery than the Dark Knight Detective? Batman quickly discovers the connection between Keyes’s death and another murder, one orchestrated by well-respected businesswoman Veronica Cale. Is Wonder Woman finally going to learn that the Texas billionaire is the villain behind so many of her recent troubles? Or will another deception muddy the waters even further?
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars It is slow, but give it a chance…
Bitter Rivals is the follow up to Down to Earth the first Wonder Woman volume written by Greg Rucka. Reading Down to Earth is not mandatory to understand this volume, but it helps a LOT. As Bitter Rivals starts we find Wonder Woman under attack from multiple fronts.
Wonder Woman has come under attack by the Silver Swan, she is being attacked in the press and she finds a murder at her doorstep. She has made a powerful enemy who is aranging the pieces on the board against her, even if, as we see with Dr Psycho, they are not always entirely controlable. Her enemy does come across as a female Lex Luthor, which struck me as rather peculiar, but I was able to move past it.
Meanwhile, as they say, things are not at all well in the world of the gods as Paradise Island has suffered a cataclysmic event and a newly freed Circe helps resurect an ancient threat.
Rucka builds his story slowly, very slowly. He first shows us Wonder Woman in her element, as more than just a superhero, but also a crusader and an ambasador. We get to see the forces that gather against her build and then strike, and we see Wonder Woman fight back and call on her allies for assistance. Rucka is pushing Diana towards a breaking point we will see later in the build up to Infinite Crisis and IC itself. Rucka s run on Wonder Woman is he road to IC.
Bitter Rivals is a middle chapter in his Wonder Woman saga and thats why it has some issues standing on its own. Its why I cannot give it five stars. It is great, but should be read as a part of the greater whole.
Filed under: Top Wonder Woman Comics