I have several bad feelings about this…

Wonder Woman #38
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Emanuela Lupacchino
Inks: Ray McCarthy
Colors:  Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Saida Temofonte
Covers: Paul Renard; Jenny Frison
Editor: Andrew Marino; Chris Conroy
Publisher: DC Comics
$2.99

We sort of pick up where we left off in the previous issue: Darkseid and Grail in the wind, Diana and Jason not dealing with their issues, and Diana herself back focusing on doing her job instead of taking the break she really should be, due to what’s happened before. In the midst of this she meets a young girl by the name of Vanessa and things get…weird.

This issue brings in a whole lot of problems to be resolved: obsessive behavior; stalking; abandonment and more…on top of the problems that were already there with Diana and Jason – separately and together. What makes this concerning is that, based on how the Children of the Gods arc ended, I’m not entirely confident in James Robinson’s ability to handle these threads deftly. As this issue shows, instead of dealing with the trauma that the characters have endured, we get another villain who goes from zero to murder with little in between. We are shown how they got there, but the foundations for their behavior are shaky at best; threadbare and insulting at worst.

Once again, however, the issue looks amazing with Emanuela Lupacchino,  Ray McCarthy Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Saida Temofonte bringing their A-game. The colors are lush, the characters are defined, body language and movement are realistic, and the letters on point. In fact, I feel like a special shout to Temofonte is due because, outside of Cave Carson, I’ve rarely seen a letterer whose work actually helps to tell the story as much as the words themselves.

Overall I’m cautiously here for this newest arc.

3 Nanites out of 5