Wonder Woman, Vol. 2: Love is a Battlefield

Wonder Woman (2016)

by G. Willow Wilson, Cary Nord (Illustrator), Steve Orlando

Wonder Woman survives her Vol. 1 Just War battle against young god Ares only to discover her mother and goddess of love, Aphrodite's son are missing!

Wonder Woman's mother is missing, and so is the goddess of love, Aphrodite's son! Together, they'll turn the world upside down to find them...but they must fight a pack of wayward Titans first and convince Diana's foe Dr. Doris Zuel, a.k.a. Giganta, to join the fight. After Steve Trevor joins to support Diana and Aphrodite, and they find Aphrodite's missing son, who might know the secret to reunite Wonder Woman with her long-lost family and home on Paradise Island...will Diana and her compatriots be able to survive the journey through the broken realm?

Collects Wonder Woman #66-#73

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Wonder Woman, Superheroes, Fiction, Fantasy

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2020

About the author

Hugo, World Fantasy and American Book Award-winning author of novels and comics, including THE BIRD KING, INVISIBLE KINGDOM, and ALIF THE UNSEEN. Co-creator of Ms Marvel. Honorary doctor of letters, Rutgers University. I accidentally started a dutch baby baking cult during quarantine. Not very active on here right now, but often found on Twitter.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Wonder Woman teams up with giganta to fight some Titans. The art by Cary Nord in these issues is very shoddy. Everytime I see his work it looks sloppier than the previous time. Then Wonder Woman and Aphrodite track down Aphrodite's child Lust, a non-binary god. They have corrupted a town by taking away their inhibitions. There's a moral lesson here. Yadda, yadda. The story is better in this volume, giving Diana a clear goal in finding the missing Olympians.

There are a ton of artists on this book and it shows. The quality of work varies from Cary Nord's slapdash pencils to Aaron Lopresti's classic superhero look.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was umm a fun read!

So it starts with Diana teaming up with Giganta and well going after Titans (the big rocky monstrous creatures) who seem to have been lossened on this world and how she fights them is the story and I like how it also showcases maybe the burgeoning friendship between the two and some subplots and like highlights some humanity in the villain so yeah a good short story!

Then something with Maggie and Aphrodite as they visit some small town where people are following their desires because of the presence of Aphrodite's child, Atlantiades and well we see what happens when people follow their desires and its not always the best and the consequences of that, Diana going through her thing with Steve and Maggie's journey to become something special as she gets a sword and her journey is fun until they battle a monster and go to Dimension Chi and we get the backstory to that and its fun and reveals a tale from Diana's past that leads to the big showdown in the next volume!

So overall a fun read and the writer does well to write multiple stories while keeping the larger story in mind and explore multiple characters POV and also highlights Love vs desire and maybe following it always at the cost of others is not a good thing and do well to acknowledge the continuity of the past and like refer to Diana and Steve's complicated love life and leading to the next arc, it can seem tedious and boring but its those small moments that redefine the story and the art throughout has been great though I would have liked the colors to pop a bit more to make it a bit more exciting but oh well still a good read and I'd definitely recommend it!

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting in issue #58 of the DC comic book series Wonder Woman in 2020, G. Willow Wilson (of Ms. Marvel fame) took over as head writer for the series, and it’s the best stuff I’ve read in the series since Brian Azzarello’s run.

Volume 2, “Love is a Battlefield”, finds Diana teaming up with—-of all people—-Giganta to battle what appears to be Titans that have appeared on Earth after the fall of Olympus. Maggie and her new friends (a satyr, a minotaur, and a pegasus) are wandering the forests when she discovers a sword at the bottom of a lake. A suburban town has been taken over by Aphrodite’s child, Atlantiades (who prefers the “they/them” pronoun), where every inhabitant succumbs to their greatest desire, at the sacrifice of their responsibilities (like work, marriage, childcare, etc.). Also, a gateway to some hellish dimension is found in a closet, where hordes of fish-people are waiting to cross over into our world, but they have to get through Diana, Maggie, and Atlantiades first, and they have a hankerin’ for sushi.

Wilson’s writing is fun, humorous, and exciting. She adds a breath of fresh air to a series that was getting a little stale.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonder Woman comics these days tend to feel drearily low-stakes. In Love Is a Battlefield, we find Wonder Woman fighting some rock creatures in the Rockies with Giganta. Meanwhile, the characters from Fables wander around the landscape, cracking jokes. Some rando human finds a sword in a lake and BANG we're off on the next quest.

Cary Nord's art for this first storyline is relatively atrocious. Fortunately, Xermanico takes over on the main story and is a dramatic improvement. Wonder Woman and crew arrive in a town where everyone's got the hots for each other because Aphrodite's child has decided to start a love cult. Like I said: low stakes. Ultimately, the plot ties into how all the gods were flung out of Olympus, but it takes forever to get there. We end with Wonder Woman on the Chi world, which is like...a mirror world? Ugh. I'm not excited for the next volume.

G. Willow Wilson is a decent writer, so this huge, eight-issue volume moves along at a crisp pace. It's never quite boring, but I never really care about what's coming next. I don't think I've cared since Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang's run, to be honest.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

On a quest to find the missing Greek gods following a mysterious cataclysm, Wonder Woman wanders off into the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains and then the Peyton Place wildness of the suburbs of Connecticut. None of it is very interesting or exciting, especially the villains and the supporting cast. Nonsense and filler.

I'm not sure I'll bother with the next volume.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Wonder Woman and company travel to find Aphrodite's missing child, and clean up a town given over to desire.

With literal gods walking the earth in modern day, shenanigans are bound to happen, and there are some fun moments in this arc. There's a fairly obvious lesson taught in the story about desire. Giving oneself to desire and ignoring responsibility leads to major problems. Of course, all responsibility and no.pleasure is also problematic. The art here was good, if occasionally inconsistent. I did like how Antlantiades was drawn most of the time. When they were drawn very non binary it worked very well, but often the artist went full femme with the character, which seemed off. The pacing worked, and there are some interesting discoveries that happen, leading our heroes further along their quest.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom, que essa fase da escritora islâmica G. Willow Wilson na Mulher-Maravilha não me agradou tanto como eu esperava, eu já tinha atestado aqui. Neste segundo arco a gente percebe que a coisa melhora um pouquinho, com ela tocando em alguns temas sociais que a celebrizaram nas história da Miss Marvel. Contudo dá pra perceber que as histórias da Mulher-Maravilha de G. Willow Wilson não tem o mesmo esmero e acabamento que as histórias da Miss Marvel por G. Willow Wilson. Seria um problema de fundo editorial, ou seja, de orientação, ou seria porque os públicos da Diana e da Kamala são de idades diferentes? os desenhos de Cary Nord continuam bastante desleixados, mas o seu arco dá um sentido de aventura bem mais interessante que o arco que Xermânico desenha, sendo uma espécie de romance suburbano com toadas mitológicas. De qualquer forma, ao que tudo indica, teremos mais mesmo só um outro arco da Mulher-Maravilha desenvolvido por G. Williow Wilson, o que significa que não deu muito certo a empreitada da DC Comics em chamar a escritora de Miss Marvel para escrever seu maior ícone feminino.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
G Willow Wilson seems perfect for this title.
Well written , smart dialogue and a sense of fun.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went too long between this and Vol 1 and like clearly some stuff happened in Vol 1 to reset the world and I was like.....what

Still it was a fun read. Leaning into the Greek mythology stuff which is appealing to a lot of readers, and I thought there were some lovely character moments in here too as Diana searches for her mother.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up.

G. Willow Wilson's second volume of Wonder Woman sees Diana face off against Titans, love gone wild, and an entire alternate dimension of warriors! Good thing she has some new friends to help her take them all on, right?

This trade is definitely a tale of two halves. We open with Giants War, a three part arc that mostly serves to solidify a supporting character from the previous volume; the main problem with this arc is that it looks awful, because Cary Nord tries to pencil all three issues and fails miserably.

Luckily, the actual Love Is A Battlefield story is much more impressive. With a non-binary god at her side, Diana tries to get to the bottom of why love is acting up in a small town, as well as seeking some help to return to Themyscira. This story feels much more in tune with Diana as a character, and the artwork from Xermanico and Jesus Merino is MUCH better than Nord.

Then the final issue of the volume is actually a semi-fill-in by Steve Orlando and Aaron Lopresti, which lays the groundwork for some of his stuff in the follow-up run, but is mostly just a one-and-done about Diana's past.

This volume's definitely an improvement on the first, and everything is trending upwards. With Cary Nord well and truly shed from the title by the end of this volume, the third one should be able to stick the landing nicely as Wilson makes her exit.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quests, destiny, and demigods, oh my! Starting strong with a traditional Suicide Squad villain team up, this book opens with Wonder Woman and Giganta fighting titans while the refuges from Olympus and their ordinary human friend encounter trouble on a camping trip. Thereafter we go to a small town where a great deal of trouble is being caused by Antlantiades, the child of Aphrodite and Hermes.

Antlantiades may be in the midst of a centuries long fight with their mother, Aphrodite, who has been helping Wonder Woman for several issues, but the team up comes quickly. I very much enjoyed the way Diana approached the mischief being caused by the demigod's cult and the personal conflict. Wisdom is a super power used too infrequently in comics.

This continues to be an extremely fun book. I highly recommend it for all readers.

[Yasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It shows that a lot of different artists worked on this story collection, as the artistry changed from one chapter to the next. Which was a bit dissatisfying as I didn't quite loved some of the artists work like others. But the story gives Diana a reason to travel around and find her Amazons (and the other gods and creatures from Olympia) with Giganta and Aphrodite. We also get introduced to Aphrodite's child, a non-binary demigod, which results in an interesting "rescue mission" of an entire city that has been overcome by Lust and Desire due to the demigod's influence. And we make our way into another dimension, where we'll hopefully finally come closer to the truth about why Themiscyra and Olympia collapsed and where everyone has gone!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love can be dangerous. Magic swords always want to be found.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Maja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply really fun, I enjoyed the Giganta team up a lot!

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 The Giganta story is too goofy. The character is treated as a lightweight basically following WW thru the Adventure for no reason. The second story with Atlantiades is a nonbinary dream, as we all know two spirited people are the best and should be followed without questioning.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a bit of time to get on track with this graphic novel. Apparently, there are a bunch of…beings who’ve been hurled out of Olympus into the modern world. A human woman named Maggie is helping a satyr, winged horse and a creature that looks like she’s descended from Hathor. They’re all searching for a sanctuary of peace with plenty of space to roam and no pesky, screaming humans about the place. I don’t know who these people are as they are clearly from an earlier volume. But I wrestled to put my confusion behind me and get on board with the story.

Supernatural hijinks are quick to make themselves known as the earth itself starts erupting. Enter Wonder Woman with a most unlikely ally.

The story isn’t just about the usual skirmishes but features psychological probing as well. Both Giganta and an erotic demigod called Atlantiades sense that Diana is closing off or ignoring certain parts of herself. Diana is reluctant to listen to these people but then realizes that running away from the truth never works. This also includes an intriguing side story involving Hippolyta’s digging into her own psyche by creating a dark, mirror world that explores choices and decisions she could have made but didn’t…including the lack of an actual daughter.

The subtext of self-discovery is deftly woven into a tale of old gods and new worlds. Even divine creatures are capable of growth and learning, as Aphrodite finds out when she tries to get in touch with her rebellious offspring, a hermaphrodite that tries—and fails—to bring her/his unique viewpoint to a small suburb of humans.

The graphic abounds in monsters, including rock giants, red-eyed fanged cherubim, a deadly minotaur and unidentified creatures that look like CHUDs. The action is fast paced, colorful and occasionally truly bizarre (read the aforementioned winged demon babies). The story doesn’t always make sense, either, as it takes quirky twists and turns in narrative. For instance, the mystery of the sword is swiftly solved but not why it fell into Maggie’s hands, why the rock monsters were guarding it or why they could be made to show subservience to it.

It’s a good Wonder Woman story but not a great one. Maybe if I read the preceding and successive stories, it would work better for me.

[Tyler Zamora · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I want to say I loved the artwork throughout this second volume. It was very colorful and fun. I will say the pencil work felt more detailed toward the latter end of the volume, but it was still pretty good overall. I loved the inclusion of Giganta at the beginning, but was sad to see her go right away. It would have been nice to see her stay as an ongoing character for a little bit longer. The frenemy relationship that her and Wonder Woman have is fun to play with and could’ve given the writers a lot to work with. This felt like a missed opportunity.

While I did like the appearance of Greek mythology, I still don’t understand the role that Aphrodite is playing in this volume, but maybe that will be revealed soon. She seems like a character that can give a lot of different possibilities. I liked the representation of a non binary God Antlantiades. It was nice to see them appear and interact with Diana in a positive way. I think they truly learned from one another. I did have a weird feeling from how Antlantiades was drawn though. They kept looking different from one issue to the next. I would’ve liked some more consistency on their look. I wonder if a non binary person was consulted for this character or not. And maybe I’m just reading too much into it, but you can’t tell me Antlantiades looks the same in Love Is A Battlefield Part 1 versus the finale. They’re drawn very differently throughout. Sometimes that was a bit jarring. I’m not sure if that was part of their God like power to shift their physical appearance, but it was never explained, so I wasn’t sure.

I loved the demon cupids. That was the coolest thing in the entire volume and it really left me wanting to see a life action version (although I know that will probably never happen). I also enjoyed the last issue with Hippolyta versus Hippolyta. That was a fun little one shot that left me wanting to know more about each world. Overall Love Is A Battlefield was a fun volume to read. I’d recommend it for all Wonder Woman fans, despite some of the flaws.

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"wondy, look!" - maggie

really loved maggie and cadmus' love story and giganta's philosophical tussle with wonder woman was great!

but my favorite part of this was antlantiades tempting diana into a love affair. i enjoy it immensely when wonder woman and steve are broken up or at least separated because....

🤓: superman has lois
😽:batwoman has catwoman
❤️‍🩹:poison ivy has harley quinn
😞: wonder woman...is stuck with steve. where is diana's great love affair?

on the surface yes, i get the pairing but wonder woman could be with so so many others. steve doesn't have to be the only damsel she's entangled with. it makes me wonder if she should even have a primary/monogamous relationship at all.... 👀💡: she could have so many lovers (alongside her many friends and frenemies) that either support her like lois does for clark or entice and frustrate her like selena does for bruce or heal her like poison ivy does for harley (i personally do not enjoy any of her pairings with superman or batman, they are reductive and senseless; alternate stories like injustice would be so much better if they didn't always aim for the low hanging fruit 😒)

there is nothing interesting about her being in love with a soldier, literally nothing. i am totally on antlantiades' side on this. and i deeply appreciate the flirtation in this arc. oh well maybe someday they will spice things up permanently on diana's romantic front. at this point i just need to go find some antlantiades x wonder woman fan fiction and indulge myself.

💥: the action scenes between wonder woman, antlantiades and maggie in no escape from the minotaur/issue #73 were beautifully rendered. that one panel of diana wielding her lasso was A+.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story continues for Diana (Wonder Woman), Aphrodite (goddess of love) and Maggie (random waitress) as they search for the people who went missing when Olympus cast them out. It was strange to see Giganta, Doris and Diana having some meaningful conversations. For once, Diana seems unsure of herself with her people lost (similar to Greg Rucka Rebirth run). Her hesitation is evident more than once in this volume. I was really annoyed with the argument she had with Steve and could not believe that he would be so fickle. Luckily it wasn't him.

It was quite risky to introduce Atlantiades as a gender fluid character. This could have been written in to show diversity. I was confused at first ar why everyone referred to her as "they" when visually, Atlantiades looked female. Also it was obvious that Atlantiades likes Diana.

I thought it was pretty cool that Maggie winds Antiope's sword after she pulls it from a lake. It felt abit weird to see Maggie and the satyr, Cadmus have obvious romantic interest for one another.

Did anyone freak out when the cupids turned out to be vicious, scary looking monsters?

I don't mind reading on. The art throughout the first few issues was not good, it was the same artist as the previous volume. I preferred the art in the second half of this volume.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book picks up from where Volume 1 ended. Staying with the story arc of displaced Olympian Gods Wonder Woman has to connect the dots. In doing so she encounters Titans. a Colossus, Aphrodites' non-binary child, and some killer Cupids. That's a busy day even for an Amazon Princess but she handles it all in her stride. I liked this book even if the story is a little lightweight and is dominated by dialogue and pseudo-psychology as everyone seems to question WW's motive, understanding of herself, and her reason for being. That has been done many times before and she has always overcome the negativity so I not expecting a major sea change in her universe. The artwork is unimpressive though there are some memorable scenes especially involving Giganta and the Titans and the citizens of Summergove but I was expecting better from Cary Nord after his brilliant Conan run. The three stories in this book all blend together nicely despite the different characters that are involved and the cliffhanger at the end has me eagerly awaiting the next volume and goes to prove that when the Amazon Princess is left without the interference of Justice Leagues or guest heroes she can turn out quality books.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonder Woman continues her search for the Gods' here in Volume 2, but this time her focus is on Aphrodite and her child.
First stop? The creatures from the first Volume are trying to settle in, but they've run across a battleground for forgotten Titans. Only with assistance from Giganta can she stop them.
Second stop? This time we come into a small town driven by lust itself, Aphrodite's child Antlantiades. The two love gods had a huge falling out hundreds of years ago. Antlantiades is causing all the turmoil by allowing the villagers to run free with their emotions, which we know is ultimately wrong, destroying responsibility, and eventually leads to emotional chaos.
Through it all, we have Diana's friend Maggie, who has recently acquired the Sword of Antiope, and her quest to be worthy of it...
The Volume ends with Diana, Maggie, and Antlantiades in Dimension Chi (am I supposed to know about this place already?) And their steps being closer and closer to finding the missing Amazons. Maybe next Volume?

Overall, a nice and thought-filled adventure into the concepts of love and friendship, with a lot of the typical Wonder Woman goodness.
Recommend.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this a little more than Vol. 1, but not quite enough to bump up to 4 stars. This is really two stories in one book that continue the over-arching premise of various gods and mythological creatures having mysteriously ended up on Earth while Olympus and Themyscira are cut off. In the first part it seems that the Greek Titans may have come back in the Rocky Mountains and Wonder Woman recruits Giganta to help battle them, only to discover they may not be Titans after all. In the second part Aphrodite's estranged (and gender-fluid) child has put a love (or is it lust?) spell over a suburban Connecticut town, and after helping putting things back to normal, Wonder Woman enters a portal within the temple that takes her to an alternate mirror dimension, but will this help her find out what happened to the rest of the gods and to her fellow Amazons? Good story with very good art, I'll definitely keep reading this series.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson continues to find her voice as Wonder Woman author in this collection of stories following up on the Greek gods and their creations being forced into our reality. The first part deals with Titans, and sees Diana teeming up with her nemesis Giganta, who is written rather well here, not compromising on what makes her a villain despite her heroic role in the story. The second part, in which we visit a town overcome by lust and impulse (hence the title of the collection) is even stronger, focussing more on characterisation and the morality of the situation than the fighting; Wilson is also particularly good with the one-liners, imparting a sense of fun to the whole thing. The final issue in the collection is by Steve Orlando, and while it’s a perfectly reasonable standalone story about an alternate reality, it suffers in comparison with Wilson’s work.

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to see how moral relativism is completely ruining comics, look no further than this piece of garbage. A town is overcome by lust due to the presence of a Greek demigod, and Wonder Woman is all, far be it from me to tell you what to do, and an epic hypocrite by pointing out that there are consequences for people leaving their spouses for the babysitter when they turn on the demigod. Comic books exist to teach concepts of right and wrong; good and evil; kindness and compassion over selfishness and cruelty. When you eliminate the superheroes from being moral compasses and paragons of virtue then you are left with nothing but a finished coloring book.

[Memphis Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great! I laughed a lot. Wilson's ear for dialogue and character-based comedy is spot on. The art is colorful and appropriately epic. Even the frames of the panels contribute subtle shades of meaning. The covers by Terry Dodson and all the variant covers are beautiful and add to the story.

And the stories! There are two complete, multi-issue stories, one about giants and other mythical people interacting with our human world and another about a demigod who allows unbridled desire to dramatically change a small town in Connecticut. They're even better and richer than that oversimplified description.

All comics collections should be so perfect. Bring on Volume 3!

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two arcs divulged in a Wonder Woman comic. The first is big rock baddies fight and WW has to get Giganta to help fight them because...I think she didn't want to kill them because she thought they were Titans but turns out they weren't so turns out WW didn't need G's help? Also art bad!

The second arc's main question was what if everyone did whatever they desired? But then the lesson is, "Sometimes you gotta do what you don't want to do!" And it's not delivered with anymore nuance than that!

Let's do more mythological stuff (besides the cute creatures hanging out) and maybe some lessons that could mean something to me? :D

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, Nord's art is horribly uneven, to the point that panels right next to each other look like they were drawn by totally different artists: one competent, one not so much. While there are some good things going on here, and Wilson has a good handle on the character of Wonder Woman, I'm not entirely sold on this whole storyline. For once with Wonder Woman, it isn't the way the Greek gods are handled. Surprisingly, those are fine. I actually can't quite put my finger on what isn't quite hitting for me, which I guess means it's a fine book but maybe not one I love.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a pleasing amount of through story. Without context, superhero comics are just meaningless strings of fights (with very little actual death).

There is clearly an over-arching thing going on here, but it's amount doesn't seem ominous. The smaller stories in this are intriguing enough on their own. And given how crap 'Agent of Peace' is (one-shot after one-shot), I'm motivated enough to jump right to the beginning. Which is to say, the 2016 run.

There's even actual character devolopment here. Oooo.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Wonder Woman stories tie in to Greek mythology the same way my favorite Thor stories flow out of Norse mythology. This volume is no exception and Wilson pulls greek characters and concepts into the modern world to overall success. I also really liked the Giganta team up that's featured in the first three issues. Historically, Giganta has been little more than someone Wonder Woman punches and it was fun to see her more fleshed out.