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by **Punchy** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:25 pm

Brian Azzarello’s run on Wonder Woman has been a slow burn, each issue is good, but it’s all building towards something bigger, and in this issue, we reached a crescendo point, as the battle between Wonder Woman and the First Born really kicked into gear and shit got fucked up and this title made some serious changes.

This issue was basically just one big fight between Diana’s motley group, and the First Born’s army of Jackal Men, and it was great, as everyone got a chance to shine, Orion and First Born had an awesome fight, War summoned an army of ghost soldiers, Hera got to demonstrate some actual character growth, and most importantly of all, Wonder Woman cut loose and took the fight to someone in a really hardcore manner. Has it been established before that Wonder Woman taking off her gauntlets means she gets more powerful? It rings a bell, but maybe it’s new.

Cliff Chiang draws this entire epic fight, and man, it looks amazing, he’s been so consistently great on this title since the beginning, but this action-heavy piece may be the best yet, because he’s being asked to do more. In the end, just as the First Born is about to kill War and take his Godhood, Wonder Woman stabs both of them, killing War and leaving the First Born gravely wounded. This means that… Wonder Woman is the new God Of War, which is, wow, a pretty crazy development. Azzarello has not been shy about shaking up this character, first he completely changed her origin, and now this. I can’t wait to see what becoming an actual God will do to Diana, and how this will change the story going forwards.

In many ways, this feels like the ending of the first act of Azzarello’s story. Central characters like Lennox and War are now dead, and it looks like Apollo is stepping up his game and has something planned for First Born. Next month’s break for Villain’s month really does make this an ending, but I can’t wait for the new beginning. This is one of the best issues so far of one of DC’s best titles, and I never thought I’d be saying that about a Wonder Woman book. The God Of War is dead, long live the God Of War!