This is one of my favorite depictions of Wonder Woman in comics. It is a JLA story but Diana is it's heart and soul and spine in this tale. She is focused on heavily, as not only a hero, but as her role of friend and princess. You get to see Diana's whole way of operating and there are the themes that define Wonder Woman as Wonder Woman...love, peace, hope and friendship even while it explores betrayal, isolation, pride, fear, and death. An Oracle prophesies the death of the Justice League when an ancient bane of the world, the last Dragon Queen, re-awakens and wreaks havoc and destruction. To prevent the death of her friends Diana decides to take on this threat herself.
Moeller establishes to the readers who Diana is as a person. He shows us Diana's relationships with her allies and how she views herself. She has the respect and trust of her friends and she loves her home. She is a princess and hero who at times feels the world is on her shoulders. But she still has a sense of playfulness and fun.
One of the most poignant panels is when Diana wraps herself in the magic lasso and faces her inner self. She does not have the luxury of self deception. She must deal with the truth and what frightens her most is that she would one day turn from the path of the warrior who fights for peace to the one that destroys.
Diana uses her intelligence, and training to individually take down the individual members of the League to get them out of the way so she can face the dragon, Drakul Karfang, on her own. She believes that the League is an ideal than can be represented by one Justice League member therefore she can defy the prophecy by sparing her friends from death.
The way Diana takes out all the various League members was clever and even as she takes them down and feels terrible inside for deceiving them, she does it with skill and determination. But it is her confrontation with Superman that is the most difficult and painful for her.
Moeller shows us that Superman and Wonder Woman have a different kind of relationship than she does with the others. There is clearly a deeper understanding, respect and tenderness for each other. It is seen in how their battle starts and ends. It can be contrasted for example with how Batman mocks Diana and her heritage even though he worked out what was bothering her. He used anger as a motivation for Diana to ask for help. Kal, however, knew something was wrong the moment she attacked him. He wants to find out what it is and he wants to help her. He never mocks or derides her. In the end he does what she knew he would do. She knows him so well too.
Drakul Karfang has a ton load of personality and is arrogant and cunning and Moeller’s art work is so beautiful. There is real character and presence in the dragon’s expressions and body language.
Diana is physically rendered perfect to me. But she is smart and compassionate and powerful. She is seen as perfection and purity; yet in some ways this story also shows she is not so perfect and not so pure. The warrior spirit makes her pragmatic and she will do what she has to even if it means she sacrifices what is dearest to her: the good opinion and trust of her allies.
Without spoiling too much Diana defeats the dragon but she does so by putting her life on the line. She actually fulfills the prophecy. But perhaps the Fates did not account for someone with the powers of a demi-god to reach Diana before her soul departs the world. Superman’s expression speaks volumes as he pleads with Diana to fight.
The following images are just the icing on the cake for us Superman Wonder Woman fans because we get to see how much these two care for each other. The other characters seem to fade into the background as Superman confronts Wonder Woman over her betrayal.
In the end, the pair sees that while they may or may not do things differently in their fight to keep the world safe, they do care for the same things. Love, family, friendship…the things that make life worth living. Special shout out to the lovely nymphs, Althea and Zoe, and the gnome, Elmen. Would not mind seeing them again in the Wonder Woman mythos. Hats off to Christopher Moeller. I wish I could upload every panel, they are so lush and lovely and full of emotion. I wish DC would let him write her again.
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