The Afterworlds saga continues with Wonder Woman returning to Olympus and finding it burning and cracked stairs. “Afterworlds Part 5” is by Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan. The new artist is by Andy McDonald. He co-created the series NYC Mech and working on adapting James Patterson’s Zoo into a graphic novel. It starts with a splash page showing the destruction of Olympus and Wonder Woman standing with Ratatosk below her. Very funny, she says, “Odin’t Beard”, instead of her usual Greek gods expressions. Ratatosk has sensed the blood of gods. He has heard on the wind from Hermes, we see the stone caduceus, the winged staff that is also a medical symbol, above them. Ratatosk jokes he came for the olives!, funny!, and may have used a favor to get Diana to Olympus.
Diana is upset that she could have gone to Olympus, but Ratatosk diverted her. The squirrel says she couldn’t go to Olympus since someone took her place! They enter a ruined building and see a bearded and bald man, a god that Diana doesn’t recognize?, she lifts the column off of him. She has Ratatosk watch over the man and flies away. Ratatosk is suspicious about the man. Some of the lines by McDonald makes me think of Jim Calafiore’s art. Diana breaks into the temple of Hermes and finds his caduceus and flies with it. The snake widing around the staff both glow green, Diana says it is the Rod of Asklepios, that can heal. She points the staff at the man and the snake reaches out and bites his neck! The snake winds back on the staff and the man’s back split open starts to heal. He says his name is Janus, he is the god usually with two faces, the first month is named after him.
Janus mentions that the gods are all dead and we see that they were killed by Diana’s dark reflection seen in Wonder Woman #772. The statue of a man and woman looking to the future whom he calls Janus split apart and it was this Dark Wonder Woman who took Diana’s place in Olympus! Her weapon, the God Scraper, is a curved blade scythe. He submits to Diana’s lasso and again repeats his story, a very funny expression of a suspecious Ratatosk crossing his furry arms. She binds the Janus man wiht all of her lasso and again has Ratatosk watch over him. Diana flies over to use Athena’s Reflecting Pool, how her mother, Hippolyta, contacting Olympus. She uses it to contact Boston Brand, Deadman, he doesn’t seem to hear her. Instead, he continues with a card game against his teammate, Madame Xanadu. Diana tries to get Deadman’s advice, Xanadu can’t hear Diana’s part of the conversation, he agrees to help her and take her to the Graveyard of the Gods.
She unties her lasso from the male Janus and takes Ratatosk to the graveyard. On the way, the duo agree to work as a team. They are going to Tartarus, the afterworld for punishing titans and gods. She pulls a lever and kinda worries about meeting some of the Tartarus residents that she sent there. It’s her Arkham Asylum. A golden lift rises up, this reminds me a little of the elevator seen in What Dreams May Come (1998). The lift descends and we a splash page of the hellscape with chained victims lashed in chains around a cavern. One of the titans calls out to Diana, Cronus, ruler of the titans and of time. Deadman sees Jason sentenced to guard the Olympians. The massive door opens and the trio enter Tartarus! Young Diana’s adventures continue in “Hero Worship” by Jordie Bellaire and Paulina Ganucheau. She has found the missing pages of a book revealing Amazon history. Diana breaks down after a visit by Magala about a warrior who helps the children of his allies and enemies. She sees his compassion as the same as the Amazons. Wonder Woman #774 features a destroyed Olympus, Diana’s dark half responsible for it!, and journey to Tartarus to find the answers!
Three Lassos of Truth out of Five!
#WonderWoman, #AfterworldsPart5”, #Janus, #GodScraper
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