David and Meredith Finch got their run on Wonder Woman off to a solid start last month (if you can forget the whole "vegetative injustice" line), with Diana struggling to juggle her many responsibilities and taking out her rage on Swamp Thing.
This issue continues on with that theme as the Amazons debate whether or not having Wonder Woman as their queen is such a great idea. After all, she is rarely around, always traveling the world with the Justice League or fulfilling her duties as the new god of war. That leaves little time to actually deal with the problems of her people, a fact Diana and other Amazons are painfully aware of.
One of those problems, for example, is massive mechanical eagles that have been attacking the Amazons, and apparently are pets of the old Ares. Battles with these beasts make up the bulk of the action in the issue, but serve more as a reminder of Diana's neglected duties than an actual threat.
Strangely, not much is said about the dramatic reveal at the end of issue #36. Diana's mother had previously been turned into clay, and while not technically alive, Wonder Woman hoped to be able to bring her mother back one day. Those hopes were dashed when a still unknown culprit smashed Wonder Woman's clay mother into tiny pieces at the end of last month's issue.
But you wouldn't really know it here. Aside from Wonder Woman taking out her frustrations on Superman during a brief sparring session, no progress is made in this regard. Diana doesn't seem to be upset about the loss. She says she doesn't have time to grief, and that is at least understandable. What is more confusing is that she doesn't seem too concerned with tracking down her mother's killer or at least trying to find out what happened.
Adding to the disconnected feel of the issue is that, once again, a threat from the previous issue is barely touched upon. Where as issue #36 hinted at a new villain using the weather as a weapon and had the Justice League investigating, no further progress is made in finding out who, or what, it is. It looks like issue #38 will have Diana joining up with the Justice League to find out, but it would have been nice to see some pieces of that storyline moving forward in this issue.
Sprinkled throughout this month's Wonder Woman are also scenes of a magical ritual requiring a human sacrifice. It isn't clear exactly what is going on or why until the end of the issue. The reveal that serves as the issue's cliffhanger is an intriguing one, but it remains to be seen how well it will handled in future issues.
The actual dialogue in this issue works better than last, even if the story overall feels disjointed. Thankfully David Finch continues to deliver some top-notch art that is sure to please Wonder Woman fans. Wonder Woman #37 stumbles, but it's strong art and promises of things to come make it worth picking up for fans of the character.
Story
★★★☆☆
Art
★★★★☆
Overall
★★★☆☆
