Wonder Woman – Volume 5 – 22


Wonder Woman – Volume 5 – 22

General Info

Issue No:
22 (688)
On Sale Date:
May 2017
Cover Date:
July 2017
Era:
Rebirth
Story Title:
Godwatch - Part Four

Creative Team

Cover Artist:
Bilquis Everly, Romulo Farjardo Jr.
Jenny Frison (variant)
Writer:
Greg Rucka
Penciller:
Mirka Andolfo
Inker:
Mirka Andolfo
Letterer:
Jodi Wynne
Colourist:
Romulo Farjardo Jr.
Editor:
Rebecca Taylor (Associate), Mark Doyle

Characters

Main:
Wonder Woman (Princess Diana)
Heroes:
N/A
Villains:
Veronica Cale, Adrianna Anderson (Doctor Cyber), Colonel Maru (Doctor Poison)
Olympians:
N/A
Amazons:
N/A
Other:
Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne
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Synopsis

In Las Vegas a charity auction is being held for the Amnesty Trust and is being attended by some of the wealthiest individuals in the country. Various celebrities have offered to go on dates with the highest bidders and the highlight of the evening is Diana, who has also agreed to participate.

As Diana steps out on stage wearing an regal Amazon gown there is a flurry of feverish bidding by the male millionaires in the room, including Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne. The amount of the bids steadily climbs and it becomes a two horse race between the two of them. As the figure reaches a staggering seven and a half million dollars and the auctioneer is about to call the bid closed Veronica Cale steps forward and bids fifteen million.

The auctioneer declares hers the winning bid and Cale is lead backstage while Bruce is left to lick his wounds. As the paperwork is sorted she is thanked for her generosity and replies that it was the least she could do and it also spared Diana the indignity of having to spend time with either Luthor or Wayne.

Just then Diana approaches and greets Cale. She tells Veronica she has never done anything like this before and does not what they are supposed to do next. She supposes they should set a time and date but Cale replies that as they are both busy people and it will no doubt be a nightmare to try and find suitable slots in each others diaries, how about they go on their date tonight? Diana agrees and they arrange to meet outside the front of the hotel in twenty minutes.

A short while later Cale steps out onto the side walk and is disappointed to see no sing of Diana. But just as she assumes the Amazon Princess has gotten cold feet she notices a small crowd and sees they are surrounding a now casually dressed Diana who is signing autographs.

Cale suggests they grab a bite to eat and over the dinner Diana asks her why she had bid? She knows the scientist already donates sums to the charity so had no need to bid for her to justify giving more money. Cale replies that she is flattered the Amazon Princess knows that about her. Diana continues that she knows quite a bit about her actually. That she is a generous donor both privately and through he business empire, supporting programs from social welfare and education to providing research grants. And she also champion’s and fights for gender and sexual equality. Plus she knows that Colonel Maru and her private security team are not for show, which means Cale has been threatened by someone.

Veronica replies that fifteen months ago, as Diana well knows, she had instructed Maru and her team to take out a group of human traffickers. They in turn had not reacted kindly to her interference. Diana says that all the women had been rescued and the men responsible had been killed in the raid. Cale checks her phone nodding and replies that she had not lost a wink of sleep over doing it either.

As they leave the restaurant Diana asks Cale is she is annoyed that she and her Justice League team mates live by a code of non-lethal interference. Veronica says she is not angry at her and the victories that the Justice League achieves helps make the other fights possible. It is the authorities that she is angry at for allowing it to persist.

She then suggests they grab a cab and get out of the city for some peace and quiet. Several minutes later they have driven out into the desert and Diana looks out of the rear window to see a set of headlights following them. Cale realises that the Amazon Princess is beginning to guess what is coming next and says to her that out here there will be less collateral damage. It is not Maru and her team following as a protection escort but instead associates of the human traffickers who are out for Cale’s blood.

As they pull up Diana asks why she is not relying on Maru and Team Poison to do this for her and Cale replies that she wants her attackers to be take alive whereas Maru’s squad would shot to kill. As they get out of the vehicle Diana instructs Cale to remain behind her as the second car pulls up and armed men disembark.

The men confront the two women and tell then that Cale has always known this day was coming. As they then open fire Diana uses her bracelets to protect Veronica who secretly sends a message to Adrianna. She watches as the Amazon unfurls her golden lasso and uses it to quickly take down and subdue the gang. Meanwhile Adrianna responds to Cale on her phone screen that a resonance from the lasso has been detected and logged as planned.

As the police arrive accompanied by Maru and her squad Cale thanks Diana for her help and that the men being taken into custody will hopefully be open to doing a deal and help them locate more human traffic sites – which is why she had wanted them taken alive. Diana gives a surprised Cale a peck on the cheek and thanks her for an interesting evening…

A few days later back in Cale’s Washington DC HQ Adrianna reports that Wonder Woman’s lasso emits a subtle energy signature – a Godwave – and referencing it with a global the survey it matches with only a handful of locations on Earth. But that is the problem. None of the locations makes any sense. There is literally nothing there. Which means they must be dealing with inter dimensional spaces. The reason why they cannot find Themyscira and the prison where Ares is being held is because it is in another dimension, like Olympus does. What they are seeing are not possible locations of  Themyscira but the gateways or portals that will allow them to travel there.

Just then Adriana’s voice trails off and she says it is probably best she disappears now and for Veronica to turn around and look out of her window. Cale does and sees Wonder Woman hovering outside.  Cale opens the window and says that Diana does not have an appointment, but the Amazon Princess replies that this will not take long before then asking if Cale had got everything she had wanted from their date? The scientist replies that had got her money’s worth, yes.

Wonder Woman floats nearer and tells Cale that she knows more about the scientist than she had admitted. As she holds out her hand to place something in Cale’s palm she adds that although she does not know what Veronica had wanted from her out in the desert that night, but she does know of her connection to her friend Barbara Minerva.

As Cale sees that Wonder Woman has placed the broken watch she had found when trying to find Barbara in the jungle the Amazon Princess adds “..or perhaps you call her The Cheetah.”

As Wonder Woman flies away she warns Cale ominously “I will be watching you.”

 

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