3 out of 5

Rebirth: the current DC event during which they hope to re-reinvent everything, and re-promise that it will be like before.  People are excited about this one, though we’ve been excited about previous attempts at the same, and lest we forget that it was a certain “like before”-ness they maybe prompted the first of many attempted reboots or reshufflings along the way.  And sure, Marvel is guilty of their version of the same thing, so who cares.  The Big Two will always be tumultuous environments in which to write.

Regardless, a new event and new #1s (or new renumbering, or whatever) means it’s time for a new writer to step in and show off their new (-ish) direction.  The Rebirth one-shots are exactly that: torch passings from pre-event to now, and Wonder Woman has an even more thrilling claim to the “like before” throne, as Greg Rucka – writer of one of the more well-regarded Wonder Woman runs – is coming back to the title, after a bit of a break from the headline DC books.  And as with the Tom King Batman entry – and as per my description above – there’s not really enough here to say yea or nay yet for what’s to come, as it’s more getting the pieces into place.  While I’m not familiar with what’s been going on in WW’s world up to this point, Greg seems to be tackling the old/new debate fairly meta-ly, by having his lead recall (I’m supposing) events from the different takes on her origin from her past – drawn by two different artists, Matthew Clark and Liam Sharp – and, in the present, having Diana perplexed by these memories, as “the story keeps changing.”  And instead of using this as a short-hand method to chuck away whatever pieces won’t fit in Greg’s plan, Rebirth’s shuffling between the artists / events will extend into an issue-by-issue split, meaning that one issue by Clark will follow one timeline, while the next one by Sharp will follow the other.  This will, probably, eventually result in that chucking, but it’s an appreciated way of fully weaving the past into the wherever the story goes without just tossing it aside.

Greg’s narration is a bit heavy-handed, which is sort of his style, but it fits well with Diana’s somber and stately mentality.  Clark’s pencils are a bit too of the big and bold Jim Lee vein for me (and none of his characters have very prominent irises, which is weird looking), but his compositions and framing are solid and Greg has worked with him before, so I’m sure the partnership will be fine.  Liam Sharp’s take – a bit more sketchy, darker, and battle-worn looking – I’m excited for.

Again, this one-shot isn’t enough to go nuts for or to be outright disappointed by.  It’s a respectful, well-paced transition point, and does give us enough indicators to suss out how Greg might be writing things going forward, which is certainly intriguing enough to want to buy the new new #1 when it drops.