Wonder Woman is to me what Batman is to many fans of the DC Universe. Brian Azzarello’s interpretation of Wonder Woman in the DCnU is extremely troubling. I was fine with some of his artistic license in the character’s backstory but this issue crosses a line and has me seriously considering dropping the book entirely. This book isn’t about Wonder Woman at all. Wonder Woman is just a background character to the political intrigue and machinations of the Gods of Olympus. If she wasn’t in the book at all, it wouldn’t matter, except for the fact that Azzarello wouldn’t have an excuse to make the Amazons seem like a horrible race of people. These books have sent me running back to the great treatments that Rucka and Simone have done recently.

And here I was looking forward to the reboot of JMS’s Odyssey reboot. I can’t believe I want that storyline back…

I understand that this is a whole new universe now but would such drastic changes in Batman’s backstory be tolerated? If the Waynes were still alive but just sent Bruce off to boarding school or to live with his aunt? Would that be lauded? Or if Clark Kent became a plumber and moved to Salina, KS? This treatment of Wonder Woman reminds me of David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune. Azzarello is clearly a talented writer and the book contains the shadow of good writing about by a character who is kind of inspired by Wonder Woman.

If Azzarello had made this story about a totally different character it would be a compelling read. I don’t know who he is writing about but this certainly isn’t Wonder Woman. I look forward to the next reboot.