Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson

 Wonder Woman: The True Amazon 

by Jill Thompson


I had always heard about this graphic novel retelling the Themyscira young adult origins of Wonder Woman that was supposed to be very friendly to new readers. I was in a Wonder Woman mood after reading Absolute Wonder Woman, so I took a chance.

The positives are the art. Jill Thompson is a very good painter and all of the illustrations are fantastic and reall give this comic more of a storybook quality. The redesigns of Wonder Woman and the rest of the Amazons are great and really unique.

Unfortunately, thats where the positives end because this story by Jill Thompson leaves something to be desired. The twist is that this Diana grew up to be spoiled and then becoming Wonder Woman is how she learns to be better by saving and helping humanity. I don't really have a problem with that story arc, but the problem is with how its presented.Diana is so unlikeable and her ego results in some very bad things happening to her fellow Amazons. The idea that the compassionate Wonder Woman of today only doing that because she maimed and paralyzed her fellow amazons by accident is a really tough thing to swallow. Plus the book doesn't end with Wonder Woman having learned her lesson so all of the cruelty seems unnecessary and leaves the reader with a bad taste in their mouths. 

All in all, I am fine with characters being giving slightly tweaked origins that show growth over time, but its all in the execution. If anyone is looking for this type of character arc done better then just watch the 20ll Thor movie where the arc gets to be completed. Unfornately, I don't think that this comic is going to create any new Wonder Woman fans or attract current Wonder Woman fans, but the art is gorgeous. 

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