A review by cleheny
Wonder Woman: Paradise Found by Brandon Badeaux, José Marzán Jr., Marlo Alquiza, Travis Moore, Lary Stucker, Andy Lanning, Phil Jimenez, Kevin Conrad
2.0
Paradise Found is marred by the intrusion of Our Worlds at War crossover event, which is a bit strange to say, as what happens to Diana and her fellow Amazons is at the heart of this story. But the impact of those developments is a bit diluted because Jimenez has to continually recap what happened in other books so that the reader can place the events of WW’s book in context.
Outside of that event, Jimenez sets up a conflict between Diana, Circe, the new Cheetah (Sebastian Bellasteros), and the new Silver Swan, Vanessa Kapatelis, who was Diana’s young friend from Boston. Vanessa appears to have been captured, tortured, and psychically manipulated by Ballesteros, with help from Dr. Psycho. Jimenez picks up on volume 1 of John Byrne’s run, in which Vanessa is tortured by Dr. Psycho but frees herself from his manipulation without Diana’s assistance. She has obviously been abducted while at college. It’s a bit sad that Julia has no idea what’s been happening with her.
Jimenez explores what it must be like for Vanessa to watch from afar as Diana takes another young girl, Cassie, under her wing and shape her into a superhero. It is understandable that Vanessa would feel left out and that she was never important to Diana to begin with. Adding Dr. Psycho’s manipulation, Vanessa probably didn’t stand a chance of resisting.
Later in the TPB, Diana leads the DC female heroes in a fight against Circe, the Cheetah, the Silver Swan, and the DC female villains. Circe has taken over NYC, transformed men (including the male DC heroes) into animals, and set the villains hunting them. The story is okay (Circe is wearing a truly hideous outfit, which, in itself, constitutes a crime against humanity) but very confusing. So many obscure heroines and villainesses were involved that I couldn’t tell the difference between them, and many of the fight scenes were unintelligible.
The heart of the story is the consequences of Our Worlds at War. In the issue before the crossover starts, Diana and Hippolyta argue about the latter’s decision to remain in Patriarch’s World as Wonder Woman. My sympathies lay with Hippolyta in this scene; Diana didn’t listen to her and made it clear that she didn’t consider her mother a legitimate hero. During OWaW, Hippolyta sacrifices herself to save the world. Diana, in an attempt to save her mother, who does not have Diana’s gifts, tells Hippolyta to stop, as she is not Wonder Woman. These words, which are almost the last that Diana speaks to her mother, are particularly painful and will haunt her. Diana’s grief and guilt are later exploited by Circe.
Finally, in order to stop Brainiac 13 from destroying the Earth, and, thus the universe, the Amazons, so recently divided, unite to defend the planet, almost destroying Paradise Island in the process. And when that is not enough, they agree to redirect their faith to Darkseid, in order to give him the strength to help Superman defeat Imperiex. This decision should carry a lot of weight, but it wasn’t as poignant as it could have been because Byrne’s story of Darkseid’s invasion of Themiscyra was “meh.”
This volume ends by healing many of the injuries suffered by Diana and her fellow Amazons. The goddesses restore Themiscyra, and Diana and the Amazons choose to make it a place of welcome for all races and species (alien and not). Diana is given an opportunity for closure with her mother’s spirit, as she is visited by Hippolyta, Diana Trevor, and Antiope (Hippolyta’s long-deceased sister). And Trevor Barnes, who failed to reciprocate Diana’s interest in the last volume, reconsiders and wants to have dinner with her. The ending feels a bit facile, but it’s nice that Diana got a break from the misery.
Outside of that event, Jimenez sets up a conflict between Diana, Circe, the new Cheetah (Sebastian Bellasteros), and the new Silver Swan, Vanessa Kapatelis, who was Diana’s young friend from Boston. Vanessa appears to have been captured, tortured, and psychically manipulated by Ballesteros, with help from Dr. Psycho. Jimenez picks up on volume 1 of John Byrne’s run, in which Vanessa is tortured by Dr. Psycho but frees herself from his manipulation without Diana’s assistance. She has obviously been abducted while at college. It’s a bit sad that Julia has no idea what’s been happening with her.
Jimenez explores what it must be like for Vanessa to watch from afar as Diana takes another young girl, Cassie, under her wing and shape her into a superhero. It is understandable that Vanessa would feel left out and that she was never important to Diana to begin with. Adding Dr. Psycho’s manipulation, Vanessa probably didn’t stand a chance of resisting.
Later in the TPB, Diana leads the DC female heroes in a fight against Circe, the Cheetah, the Silver Swan, and the DC female villains. Circe has taken over NYC, transformed men (including the male DC heroes) into animals, and set the villains hunting them. The story is okay (Circe is wearing a truly hideous outfit, which, in itself, constitutes a crime against humanity) but very confusing. So many obscure heroines and villainesses were involved that I couldn’t tell the difference between them, and many of the fight scenes were unintelligible.
The heart of the story is the consequences of Our Worlds at War. In the issue before the crossover starts, Diana and Hippolyta argue about the latter’s decision to remain in Patriarch’s World as Wonder Woman. My sympathies lay with Hippolyta in this scene; Diana didn’t listen to her and made it clear that she didn’t consider her mother a legitimate hero. During OWaW, Hippolyta sacrifices herself to save the world. Diana, in an attempt to save her mother, who does not have Diana’s gifts, tells Hippolyta to stop, as she is not Wonder Woman. These words, which are almost the last that Diana speaks to her mother, are particularly painful and will haunt her. Diana’s grief and guilt are later exploited by Circe.
Finally, in order to stop Brainiac 13 from destroying the Earth, and, thus the universe, the Amazons, so recently divided, unite to defend the planet, almost destroying Paradise Island in the process. And when that is not enough, they agree to redirect their faith to Darkseid, in order to give him the strength to help Superman defeat Imperiex. This decision should carry a lot of weight, but it wasn’t as poignant as it could have been because Byrne’s story of Darkseid’s invasion of Themiscyra was “meh.”
This volume ends by healing many of the injuries suffered by Diana and her fellow Amazons. The goddesses restore Themiscyra, and Diana and the Amazons choose to make it a place of welcome for all races and species (alien and not). Diana is given an opportunity for closure with her mother’s spirit, as she is visited by Hippolyta, Diana Trevor, and Antiope (Hippolyta’s long-deceased sister). And Trevor Barnes, who failed to reciprocate Diana’s interest in the last volume, reconsiders and wants to have dinner with her. The ending feels a bit facile, but it’s nice that Diana got a break from the misery.