Blackest Night : Wonder Woman #1

In the Blackest Night series, DC decided to actually spotlight some heroes in their own mini-series.

Wonder Woman's is written by fan Favorite Greg Rucka and drawn by Nicola Scott.  I am not very familiar with Greg Rucka's past run on Wonder Woman so I went into these issues a new fan.  I fortunately was familiar with Nicola Scott.  She is my favorite artist that has taken on Diana.  Her Wonder Woman is strong, feminine, gorgeous and amazing. 

 Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1

I was really excited to get Wonder Woman's perspective on the Blackest Night events.  I felt that it was a great choice to bring in the villain that she murdered on national television, Max Lord.  I was not reading Wonder Woman when this event took place.  In Volume 2 of her comic, Max Lord had taken control of Superman's mind and was using him in his plot to take over the world and the only way to end his control was to kill him.  Diana felt that she needed to do this to help her friend and save the world.  So she wrapped her lasso around him and broke Max Lords neck.

In Blackest Night, Max Lord is given a Black Ring which raises him from the dead. He is driven to find the person that took his life. Wonder Woman.  In this first issue, he is calling Diana to him. Knowing that she will do anything to stop his madness.

This image shows how much Diana has lost and sacrificed in her choice to protect man's world.  In her many tales she has lost her mother, her friend Bruce Wayne, her sister Donna, her sister Amazons and still she chooses to fight for peace.  This is one of the many reasons that I love her.

Once again, without even a hint of regret, Wonder Woman makes the choice to kill Max Lord. Ending his control on the men guarding the cemetery. I love this image, not the beheading of Max Lord, but the beauty of Diana's face and how she is not even looking at him as she ends him. Her removal of emotion shows that she will do what needs to be done, despite how it may look to the outside world. She is a warrior and sometimes that means doing what others cannot do.  His demise is only short lived, since he is already dead he just heals himself back together and comes after Diana. She grabs the rope around his neck and takes him into the air.

Max Lord has her inside the cemetery in Washington DC with all the graves of the fallen soldiers. A place that I thought was very fitting. These men and woman left their homes and families to protect freedom and peace. A choice that Diana knows very well.  Max used his ability to control minds and he raised the soldiers making Diana fight the very people that she admires.

Like I mentioned, I am in love with Nicola Scott's portrayal of Wonder Woman.  She captures so much in Diana.  She makes the Amazon Princess regal, graceful and gives her a sense of quiet strength.  I love how she draws Wonder Woman's costume.  Many artists tend to make her costume more revealing then they need too.  From giving her a star spangled thong, to giving her barely enough coverage on her chest.  Nicola draws the costume exactly as it should look.  It is still traditional and iconic. She makes you believe that someone would actually wear it.  

I really enjoyed the writing in this issue. I felt that Greg Rucka really gave Diana a voice of passion, peace and duty.  He knew that she had a mission to stop Max and to make sure that he would not dishonor these soldiers. In this panel she uses her lasso and gives all these men and woman the needed peace that they deserved. I loved how she was able to defeat them, but still give them the honor they deserved.

This first issue definitely was a very strong lead into what I know will be a changing story for Wonder Woman.