Wonder Woman has traveled the “Afterworlds” now in Part 7 she is the world of the fairy! It features art by Jill Thompson who had previously worked on the George Perez run on Wonder Woman, several issues of Sandman, and her own Scary Godmother. The story is by the team of Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan, Cloonan also provides art for the story, and the variant cover with Diana as a fairy princess. The cover by Travis Moore has Diana in a field of flowers with faeries flying around her as one says, “She’ll never escape!” I miss dialogue and captions on comic books. Diana had entered The Well had find herself swimming upside down and entering this afterworld with Ratatosk finally breathing air. The painted art by Thompson is so beautiful reminding me of Scary Godmother, and the Sandman spin-off Little Endless Storybook, this is a must buy issue. Diana is in a red dress, stag horn crown, and of course her lasso. Ratatosk finds the smells so enchanting he scampers away.
Ratatosk has reached a table filled with desserts, but Diana warns him, didn’t he see Pan’s Labyrinth? They had just come from Satyr’s Grove. Diana is distracting by something and Ratatosk bites into a tart and is transformed! He has turned into something “hideous”, a boy with his forehead horn, this reminds me of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ratatosk starts brawling and Diana tries to cheer him up. Three winged fairies are amazed at their presence, Diana grabs one to ask where they are, the duo has reached Elfhame, the land of fairies! The fairy, Odsbodikins, has stabbed Diana in the hand with a tooth dagger. His name is a spin on an old expression about surprise. A noble fairy, King Gwyn, with a crown and spear accuses Diana of regicide and puts her to sleep to be confined to the tower. Ratatosk wakes up in a cave, there are three children in the prison, and he wonders about their home. At the Tower, it is at the edge of a cliff, Diana wakes up and feels terrible. She calls out for Ratatosk and he is in the floor below her. Deadman contacts Diana through a puddle. She is accused of killing the fairy queen and Deadman suspects Janus.
Suddenly, the pool shifts to a demonic Janus!, Diana waves her of after destroying Janus on Olympus. This Janus revels in destroying the gods and Diana updates her that she returned the gods. Janus says she will destroy them again with the God Scraper until she reaches the Earth, the Infinite Frontier, we saw Diana fall into the Afterworlds in Infinite Frontier #0. Diana splashes the pool with her Wonder Woman boot. The ceiling shatters with the fall of Siegfried! She had said goodbyes to Siegfried in Wonder Woman #773. This time he has a suit, pants, and a scarf, but still has his usual smile. Siegfried was told by a bird, a cardinal, he can speak with birds, that Diana was in danger. Odin told him to find a Golden Needle in a haystack which instantly transported him to Elfhame! The two shatter the floor and start on adventures through the fairy land! They move through a field of flowers, these must poppies, like in Wizard of Oz. The three fairies return, but Diana puts them to sleep with the poppy petals. Next, they meet a fairy woman on a toad.
Siegfried talks to a barn owl, reminds me of Jareth in Labyrinth, which leads them to King Gwyn and an army of fairy inhabitants next to fairy hill. Diana only wants the return of Ratatosk. Diana confronts the fairy king with her sword, Gram, given to her by Siegfried. He had taken the crown from the queen. King Gwyn explains that he had taken the children to replace with fairies, changelings. He leaps up with his flight of tiny fairies. Siegfried takes the time to introduce himself, Gwyn tries to poppy sleep technique, but Diana slams her sword down scattering them. The fairy king smirks that he was just waiting for his brother. The fairy brother, Glyndwar, leaps and strikes Siegfried with a mace. Diana lassos his leg and brings him down. He holds Gram to the Glyndwar’s throat, the iron burns the fairy’s throat. They have reached the end of their fairy land adventures with some developments, but Diana with Siegfried and Ratatosk need to head to Earth to find Janus! The story of Young Diana by Jordie Bellaire and Paulina Ganucheau continues with “Family Ties.” Diana has to deal with the truth found in the pages that she discovered. Clio, the librarian, is recovering from being possessed by Circe. A brilliant Wonder Woman issue with incredible art by Thompson, Cloonan, and Ganucheau plus two fantastic stories!
Five Lassos of Truth out of Five!
#WonderWoman, #JillThompson, #Elfhame, #KingGwyn, #Siegfried
Great! Looking forward to the next one!
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