Tom King and Daniel Sampere have already introduced a number of major new additions to Wonder Woman’s world, including most notably The Sovereign and Diana’s daughter, Trinity, and now they are set to introduce their latest new creation to shake up Diana’s world. That shake-up truly begins in Wonder Woman #25, which feels like the series returning to its true overarching narrative after a slight detour, though those steps forward might be enough to overcome the book’s biggest drawbacks.
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That’s in part due to 80% of the issue still dealing with the conflict on the island, and while certain moments do resonate, so much of the issue feels underwhelming compared to what’s happening in the future and in the book’s final moments. It’s not that the critical parts of this story won’t be important, but between the redundancy of the dialogue and the lack of tangible connection to what’s happening later, those parts of the story just aren’t connecting like they should.
Rating: 3 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
| The Matriarch Instantly Captivates | Repetitive dialogue is grating |
| Sampere and Morey’s art stuns | Present story isn’t connecting |
| Flash Forwards are intriguing | Diana isn’t connecting either |
Of Mice and Men
Wonder Woman #25 is primarily taking place in two different time periods, with one occurring in the present and the other happening 20 years in the future. King, Sampere, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles begin with quite the visual, and it can’t help but hook you into that future timeline instantly. That continues to play out in small flash forwards that seal the fates of much of the Justice League while establishing that it will all come down to Wonder Woman once more, and that’s been a hallmark of this run from the very beginning.
The other big hammer drop is the first appearance of The Matriarch, which we already knew coming into the series due to previews, though it doesn’t make it any less effective of a debut. Those final pages set the stage for an immense collision down the road, and with what we know of Trinity’s future, there is an intriguing question regarding who exactly will face The Matriarch when that eventual collision finally happens.
This all sounds great, right? Well, it is, and that’s especially true of the brilliant work of Sampere, Jorge Fornes, and Morey, who with a few panels manage to deliver a significant impact that also opens up all sorts of compelling questions with little in the way of answers. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman’s present is far less captivating.
I Get It, Mouse Man Knows
Over the course of these three chapters in The Island of Mice and Men, one of the running issues has been Diana communicating with the people on the island, and that has led to the repetition of two key phrases. Those phrases are “Mouse Man Knows” and “Mice Have Ears”, and though this issue does implement a few other phrases, you will still read “Mouse Man Knows” and “Mice Have Ears” an almost absurdly impressive amount of times.
Obviously, there is a story being told in this concept, and we’ve seen part of that play out in chapter 2 as Diana starts to almost understand them in some unique way. There’s also a powerful moment tied to this by issue’s end, and that will likely pay off in some sort of meaningful way moving forward. This is mostly me giving the team the benefit of the doubt on this, because just reading two issues filled with the phrases “Mouse Man Knows” and “Mice Have Ears” was challenging, and reading three issues with this in play is starting to grate.
Now, while that element might not be landing, the artwork certainly is, and when we get to see Wonder Woman dealing with the threats at hand, the team always delivers. Whether Diana is fighting a giant rabid mouse in the water or deflecting a horde of bullets from her enemy’s followers, it always looks amazing, and the lettering during that latter sequence is truly fantastic.
Wonder Woman #25 showcases immense potential for this next chapter of the story, but the trappings of the story at hand and those narrative choices keep it from reaching that potential. The table is set though for a killer next chapter, so hopefully things take off once again from here.
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