Wonder Woman #20 Is a Mystery Fit for the Gods (Review)

Tom King’s Wonder Woman has its critics, but for other fans its peak Wonder Woman storytelling. Wonder Woman‘s first major storyline ended with issue #19, teasing the death of Wonder Woman in the future Wonder War. Instead of picking up where that issue left off, Wonder Woman #20, by King and artist Guillem March, goes in a different direction, kicking off a new story that takes Wonder Woman and Batman to Olympus to investigate the death of Ares. The murderer is both the first — and last — person anyone would expect: Hippolyta. It’s an exciting little yarn, one that ends on a perfect cliffhanger.

King is best known for psychological storytelling, but his time writing Batman and Batman: Gotham City: Year One showed that he also has a nose for noir and detective stories. Wonder Woman #20 is basically Olympus noir, but it also plays into one of the major complaints with King’s run — bringing in Superman and Batman and focusing on them instead of Wonder Woman. While Batman isn’t completely the focus of the issue, if you’re annoyed by Batman, you’re not going to be in love with this story. There’s enough Batman-isms to it — Zeus himself says, “There are men, there are Gods, and then there’s Batman,” which made even this King fan groan — to annoy anyone who already doesn’t like the book. However, I would say that King’s use of Wonder Woman and Batman is pretty balanced throughout the book.

King does a great job with both characters, and moves the plot along well. He even plays with reader perception a little bit, with Wonder Woman acting as the bad cop and Batman as the god cop during an interrogation of Dionysus. It’s an interesting inversion of the common Wonder Woman/Batman team-up. There’s also a moment between the two of them towards the end of the issue, where Batman tells Wonder Woman that he started believing in the divine because of her, that plays up the kind of relationship that Batman and Wonder Woman have. They have an understanding and King does an adroit job of laying it out. King takes the story through some interesting twists and turns, playing into the epic scale of investigating a death of a god. From Wonder Woman’s annoyance with the rules of the gods to Batman offering himself up as a sacrifice to be allowed to investigate the murder, there are all kind of fun little additions to the plot that remind readers what the stakes of this mystery really are.

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March uses a nine panel grid for the story and it’s perfect. Detective stories work beat by beat, and using the nine panel grid allows the creators to control that. March’s panel are sensational. There are lots of close-ups, revealing the great character acting that March imbues his panels with, and a lot of two shots, giving this story a nice intimate feel. The art brings the reader into the story wonderfully, giving the impression that we’re a part of this investigation. This is a wonderfully plotted and laid out issue, and March’s art choices are the key to making all of that possible.

Most artists will break the nine panel grid for larger images, but March keeps it going the whole time for all but one page, where Batman is struck by Zeus’s lightning. Elsewhere in the book, March will expand the image into the next horizontal panel, like when Batman and Wonder are walking around the Batmobile, then while they are in it. It’s a neat little trick that I haven’t often seen in comics that use the nine panel grid and it works beautifully. March is doing banner work at DC lately, and this issue is yet another example of just how great an artist March can be.

Wonder Woman #20 is basically a jumping on point. The first phase of the Sovereign story is over, and this newest tale is a nice little pause. Wonder Woman is getting a lot of attention, so throwing in a quick little mystery story is the perfect way to give new readers a taste of what the book is like. This issue definitely isn’t going to convince anyone who doesn’t like King’s run that it’s gotten better, but it’s still a rather entertaining issue with some cool moments. March’s use of the nine panel grid is outstanding. It gives the story beats the right kind of rhythm, and pulls the reader along. March seriously makes this story read like a million bucks. Art is always important to a comic, but this would have been an entirely different story without March’s work; it would have still been good, but it never would have been this good.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Published by DC Comics

Released on April 16, 2025

Written by Tom King

Art by Guillem March

Letters by Clayton Cowles