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Five issues into the relaunch and Diana has barely thrown a punch! Brain Azzarello’s wordy and densely layered tome continued once again to focus almost exclusively on family intrigue and politics, versus any sense of adventure or action. Although sales appeared to be holding up well, some began to ask whether the book should simply be called “The Olympic Gods…..guest starring Wonder Woman.”

This issue features a fill in artists named Tony Atkins, whose style is reminiscent of Chiang’s unique approach and manages to deliver a reasonable level of artistic continuity, although his version of Diana is unable to compete with Chiang’s well crafted interpretation.

As expected, several of the “New 52” titles originally launched in September 2011 simply did not gain a following but perhaps surprisingly to many, the publisher announced their cancellation even before reaching a full twelve months into the launch. Long term fans who still mourned for the classic version of Diana however became excited by the announcement that new titles would be replacing them – and one in particular caught their eye. It was announced that a new “Justice Society of America” title would be launched, set on an “Earth Two”.

There was some raising of eyebrows that after the continuity problems that DC had got themselves into with all their multiple earths and that the whole purpose of the “New 52” was that it would wipe the slate clean and simplify matters, the publisher was already beginning to expand their new universe once again and – most pertinent to fans of Wonder Woman – create alternate versions of existing characters. Some fans hoped that perhaps this alternate earth would also feature the original (and best) version of Wonder Woman -wearing the classic costume and doing what she does best – fighting for justice and peace while protecting the innocent and showing us all that love and compassion can create a better world.