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Delays continued to plague this book and its release dates were constantly shifting. In fact, Heinberg was actually re-writing elements of the book as he went along, further adding to the time taken between one issue and the next!
Diana herself takes front and centre stage in issue three and the supposedly “New” Wonder Woman i.e. Donna, hardly makes an appearance! We also finally get to see who has been behind all the enhanced villains as Diana confronts her old enemy Circe.
As Heinberg continues to explore who Wonder Woman is as a character, we see some of the frustrations fans have held since “Infinite Crisis”, echoed by both the characters of Hercules and Circe. They both independently lecture the Amazon Princess on how she has seemingly abandoned everything she stands for and has become a self centered, shallow individual concerned only for her own private life. While this is an interesting exploration, the huge time frame between each issue makes the story flow cumbersome. After the deep, thought provoking and adult perspective given to the character by Greg Rucka, this version of Wonder Woman is all style but no real substance.
Following the initial hype of Heinberg’s arrival and what he would bring to the Wonder Woman book, there so far had been little to justify why he had been given so much leeway by DC with submission deadlines. There had certainly been nothing revolutionary or indeed revelatoryabout his version of “Wonder Woman” – apart from the novelty factor of her running around as “Agent Diana Prince”. In my own opinion, the book read pretty much like a “by the numbers” comic book.
The artwork of Terry and Rachel Dodson is very pretty but at times it is very hard to make out what is going on in each panel, due to there being so much going on. Still, there is no denying that Diana looks beautiful as drawn and coloured by them.
Synopsis
Hercules proceeds to deal with the villains as Diana leads the injured Nemesis out of harms way. Once he is safe, Diana rushes back to aid Hercules but he tells her in no uncertain terms that her help is not wanted. He brings Giganta crashing down, frees Donna and then deals with the attacking Cheetah. Diana checks on the dazed Donna who is somewhat surprised to see it is really Diana looking down at her.
Just then Doctor Psycho appears and tries to get into Diana’s mind but before he can even start. Hercules sends him flying with a powerful punch. He then pins the dwarf down with his sword raised, preparing to strike but Diana pulls the God off, allowing Psycho together with the other villains to disappear into thin air taking Cassie and Donna with them.
An enraged Hercules tells Diana that this is all her fault and proceeds to lecture her on how she has abandoned her mission and role. He explains that the Gods have now sent him to act as their champion on Earth. She tries to respond that she has not renounced her mission at all – just the means by which to carry it out. But Hercules replies that if she thinks simply pretending to be someone else is all it takes, then she is very much mistaken. He tells her she has walked away from those that need her, just when they needed her most. She has entrusted her duty to apprentices whose very lives are now in danger because of her actions. He tells her that he will sort out her mess and find her friends without her help.
As he walks off, Diana tells Nemesis that she has other ideas.
They then return to their HQ where Diana briefs Nemesis on Hercules. He decides that Hercules now falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Meta Human Affairs and needs to be investigated further.
A short while later she and Nemesis sneak into the Greek Embassy, which Hercules has now made his new residence. They enter just in time to see Hercules being zapped by powerful magical forces and watch as he is turned into a Minotaur. They are then themselves attacked by other Bestiamorphs and Nemesis is also turned into an animal. Diana finds herself alone and confronted by her arch enemy Circe!
Diana sees Cassie and Donna hanging in chains nearby and tells Circe to free them as she is the one the witch reallywants to punish. Circe replies that in fact she wants to help Diana. She continues to explain that if Diana does not want to be Wonder Woman anymore, she does not have to be.
As Diana fights her way through the Bestiamorphs to reach her friends, she tells the witch she does not need her God given powers and that in fact, she never even called herself “Wonder Woman” – that had just been the name the Press had given her. Circe responds that it was nevertheless a powerful symbol which she has duly wasted pursuing a personal agenda. As Diana tries to free her friends she is zapped by Circe’s magic and finds herself in chains too.
Circe reminds the captured Diana that she had traded her soul to gain the power of Hectate. She had then used these powers to become the immortal avenger of all wronged women. In that case, Diana asks, why does Circe not fight with her instead of against her. The witch replies that the only one Diana is fighting for anymore is herself. Thousands of women were being beaten, raped and murdered because they had nobody to fight for them – and all because Diana was too busy being a superhero to be their champion. And now Diana is not even a superhero anymore – she is just pretending to be human.
With that, Diana is blasted by Circe’s magic and is shocked to find she has been turned into a normal human being. “Well Guess what”, Circe smiles, “You don’t have to pretend anymore!”…
