- Title: Wonder Woman #5
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Tom King
- Artist: Daniel Sampere
Wonder Woman #5 offers trials for all flavors of Wonder Women as Sargent Steel recruits new allies in his fight against Wonder Woman. As has been the template for the comic, the focus shifts between the two different stories. For his choices, Steel chooses various nemeses of Diana over the years such as Giganta, Circe, Doctor Psycho, Angle Man, Grail, and Silver Swan.
As for Wonder Woman, she finds herself in duels against the various Wonder Girls each of whom refuses to let Diana fight her war alone. But to prove their worth, they will need to best Diana in a challenge of their choice. This is easier said than done. First, she bests Yara in archery. Next she beats Cassie in arm wrestling followed by besting Donna Troy in a contest her former sidekick expected to win: a video game. Each contest features fun banter between Diana and the others, and a few allusions to other aspects of the DCU as well, but despite being defeated by the mentor the Wonder Girls aren’t giving up that easily.
There’s not much to the Steel story other than setting up anticipation for the fight that is to come. The joy of the issue comes from Diana, with love in her heart, besting the younger women in an attempt to shield them from what is to come. I would have loved for the entire comic to be focused on this storyline without cutting back to Steel’s various recruitments. The respect and love between Diana and each of the Wonder Girls comes through with the final panel confirming that no matter what Diana wants or expects from them, all three refuse to let her stand alone.
[DC, $4.99]