Wonder Woman: Lords & Liars

Wonder Woman (2016)

by Mariko Tamaki, Steve Pugh (Illustrator), Carlo Barberi (Illustrator)

It’s a brand-new day for Wonder Woman! As Diana starts to pick up the pieces of her life following her battle with the Four Horsewomen and her run-in with the Phantom Stranger, Man’s World has become more complicated to navigate than ever before. It seems everyone has a take on who Wonder Woman should
be-some who look on her heroics with admiration, and some who lie in wait to seek revenge. A familiar threat is watching Diana’s every move, and now is the perfect time to strike…

Collects Wonder Woman #759-769.

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

264 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2021

About the author

Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice (Women's Press). Mariko's third book, FAKE ID, is due out in spring 2005.

Mariko Tamaki has performed her work across Canada and through the States, recently appearing at the Calgary Folkfest 2004, Vancouver Writer's Festival 2003, Spatial III, and the Perpetual Motion/Girls Bite Back Tour, which circled though Ottawa, Montreal, Brooklyn and Chicago. She has appeared widely on radio and television including First Person Singular on CBC radio and Imprint on TVO. Mariko Tamaki is currently attending York University working a master's degree in women's studies.

[MacMIllan Books]

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unevenly written volume of 11 issues revolving around Maxwell Lord. Tamaki doesn't really get Lord's character, making him a smarmy, wall street type who messes with people's minds for the sheer joy of it. All of the good Lord character work in the lead up to Infinite Crisis is gone with just a reference to what Wonder Woman did to him and that he wants revenge. In the middle of this, Wonder Woman and Maxwell Lord team up for a mission like it's a buddy cop movie. It's bad.

Mikel Janin is marketed as the artist on this even though he bails after 2 issues. Then Carlo Barberi comes in to draw an awful Wonder Woman with a long spindly neck for 3 issues. He's followed by Steve Pugh for 3 issues. Then Rafa Sandoval for a couple before Steve Pugh returns. I'm assuming Tamaki bailed to write Detective Comics and I Am Not Starfire and I'm OK with her departure.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, an overly decompressed and unevenly written volume of Wonder Woman.

The focus on Maxwell Lord is good, especially since it's OK again to refer to Diana killing him (albeit in a different part of the multiverse, apparently). That creates nice continuity and tension.

But, oh, this goes on forever and ever, bouncing back and forth between two villains, one of whom was supposed to be a surprise but overly obvious from the first issue.

And then we get this bizarre sequence in the middle which is a buddy cop-movie between Diana and Max. It is so weirdly inappropriate that it feels like the writer has no idea what Wonder Woman stands for.

Did I mention it all goes on and on forever?

There's some good stuff here and there. An interesting new character, some funny bits here and there, Diana really coming of her own in the last issue. If the writer stuck around, it might be that she has the hang of the character by the end.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lords & Liars is the mega-collection of Mariko Tamaki's run on Wonder Woman. Picking up where G. Willow Wilson and Steve Orlando left off, she throws Wonder Woman into a collection of adventures hinged around the return of Maxwell Lord, a long-time foe for Diana who comes with enough baggage to fill his own reclaim carousel at the airport.

Tamaki digs into Diana and Max's relationship well enough, although I do think they're a tad too chummy for two people who have tried to kill each other on numerous occassions, even for Wonder Woman. The through-line of Liar Liar and her identity isn't exactly anything we haven't seen before though, which weakens the overall impact of the storyline.

The most fun parts are the middle stories actually, with Wonder Woman and Max heading to a villain casino and then on to Vlatava. These are less bogged down with Liar Liar and have a bit more of a breezy feel to them which was a nice change.

The art's more of a hodge podge than the story. We start strong with Mikel Janin, who was touted as the artist for Tamaki's run, but he's only around for two issues before disappearing in favour of a rotating stable of Carlo Barberi, Steve Pugh, and Rafael Sandoval - no one to sniff at of course, but it's still a shame to see Janin's name plastered around and then only have him draw two issues of the eleven.

Lords & Liars is fine, I guess. I had high hopes, so maybe that's my fault. There's nothing overly wrong with it, but it's not a run that I'll remember particularly fondly, or perhaps at all.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

She's a demi-godess of truth and justice. He's a manipulative, mind-controlling liar. Together, they're detectives!

So, yeah, Wonder Woman teams up with Maxwell Lord for ten issues. It's funny, y'see, because WW killed Max once. um. ha?

To make it even worse, the story delivers a previously unknown relative for a major character -- one of my least favorite tropes.

The Mikel Janín art for the opening two chapters and the Joshua Middleton variant covers at the back of the book might be the only reasons this isn't a one-star review.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this comic. So many of the new ones I've picked up haven't been doing it for me. (Mostly because they feel like they're just trying too hard to... do or be something other than just a cool comic story.) But this... was just that. A really engaging collection of Wonder Woman stories that had me turning the pages and wanting to know what would happen next. Good action. Some nice themes. And a really interesting Maxwell Lord story. If you like books that dive into what makes particular villains tick, then that will be an added bonus into what is, all together, a really well-rounded comic. (All of that, plus, I just really liked the art style in this, particularly how Wonder Woman was drawn.)

[Alex Gunsean · Rating 2 out of 5]

3.8/10

Wonder Woman:Lords and Liars by Mariko Tamaki is a 11-issue collection focusing on Wonder Woman and Max Lord. The story itself is very mediocre. Max Lord wasn’t really written as Max Lord is normally portrayed as being like. The story also introduces Emma Lord, who is an extremely boring teenage character, obviously designed to ‘appeal to the younger generation’ but she is very one dimensional and basically just a copy of her father but a whole lot less interesting. Very few parts of the book were actually fun to read, with most of it just being a compete drag to get through. The book was also far too Long for what it is, it could’ve been put into 5 issues. The art is very basic, and switches a couple of times, none of them better than the other. Wonder Woman herself is not too bad, maybe a little basic, but probably the best written character in the book. It is obvious that Tamaki’s writing does not fit with Wonder Woman, and it is probably a good thing she left early. Overall, a very uninspiring and below mediocre book by a below mediocre writer, do not buy if you want to read Wonder Woman.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking right up where we left off, Diana is helping her fellow Amazons into housing as some of them are now ambassadors to the world. It is here she meets Emma, a girl with who she quickly makes friends. Diana is investigating crimes where people appear to be mind controlled, and immediately thinks it is Maxwell Lord. He does prove himself to be able to be trust (for the most part) and this leads to the discovery that "Emma", is Emma Lord, Maxwell's daughter, and having had inherited his powers, calls herself Liar Liar. The majority of the rest of the Volume deals with fighting her, which is just as bad as fighting him, with the using of innocent people to fight Diana.
While the story doesn't fully end, I'll be interested to see where this continues after so much of Wonder Woman changes at the end of Death Metal.
Though longer than usual, this Volume was still a quick read.
Recommend.

[Christopher M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a diverting if linear story in which ordinary people suddenly cause disasters and Diana suspects returning villain Maxwell Lord. He seems to be returning from being Pedro Pascal in the movie as his character has changed, and he strangely recalls Wonder Woman killing him even though that story has been retconned and he's feeling much better. As a whole, it's too decompressed, meaning each chapter can be flicked through quickly without much to read.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good volume. definitely better than the previous one. more focused. max lord is always an interesting villain. he's either used well or terribly. he was used pretty well here, the revenge issues especially.

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is good and all but there is something off about the story. The Maxwell Lord character doesn't feel quite right and WW herself seems to vacillate between our WW and a Disney princess.

[Jose Covarrubias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book need a part 2

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

In another comic, Max Lord’s ability to control minds had been used on Superman. He mentally forced the Man of Steel on a destructive rampage that only ceased when Wonder Woman grabbed Lord and snapped his neck, killing him instantly.

But this Max Lord is alive and well. He’s also Diana’s only recourse when people start randomly hallucinating around the city. Diana has seen Lord’s abilities firsthand and doesn’t trust him. However, under the influence of Wonder Woman’s lasso, Lord reveals that he manipulated Superman because he feared the alien’s power made him dangerous and the only way to stop that threat was to make Superman so violent someone would be forced to kill him. (Well, that plot backfired, didn’t it?)

Lord points out just how dangerous supers are, how cavalier they are with their powers, their lofty morals and the immense danger they pose towards the general populace. Getting rid of them wasn’t about dominance for Lord but a sense of civic duty. This has a kind of logic, the kind of brutal thinking that points out the inherent flaws of individuals gifted with or possessing immense uncontrollable power.

Max Lord is one of those devious, highly intelligent supervillains and Diana is right to be wary of him. She only manages to deal with him by reminding herself repeatedly that he operates out of fear and self-interest. No matter what he says under the influence of her Lasso of Truth, self-centeredness lies under the bottom of it.

So Lord and Wonder Woman team up—reluctantly—to stop whomever is using Lord’s hallucinogenic technology to drive human beings around the city into life-endangering accidents or rebellions. The answer is unexpected yet something straight out of a soap opera plot.

The story takes us through the twists and turns of their interaction even as Diana falls prey to treachery from another quarter. It’s a terrific story, filled with other humans just trying to live their lives in a world populated by unpredictable supers. For everybody who has ever craved superpowers, here’s the bleak side of what it means to live alongside such unruly individuals.

Yet…we have the Diana of old, the one who prefers to talk her way out of problems. Deathstroke, gleefully wielding God Killer blades, is puzzled and disgruntled when Diana attempts to convince him his latest assassination is wrongheaded. “This is how you fight your battles now?” Where has he been? This is how she’s fought for years and this is why her fans adore her.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read a Superhero comic so I decided to return to one of my favorite Meta-humans. This book continues with one of her best incarnations - i.e. Wonder Woman as an Amazonian warrior princess with just a hint of the matronly touch that separates her from her DC counterparts. It also puts a shield and sword in her hand and casts off the swimsuit that made her look like a Miss World contestant. That was all for the good but the book was a bit of a letdown. It was uneven and jumped around too much and included side stories that didn't really enhance anything. There were also too many d-list villains that contribute nothing to the main story and the flashbacks all seemed forced. The Max Lord character also didn't pan out for me. The conflict of whether he is good or bad was never fully realized and left me feeling blah as to his intentions and motives. Also, he came off as too self-centered and creepy to ever earn the trust of the Amazonian Princess. Wonder Woman should have put this swarmy creep to rest long before she did. The artwork uses a few artists during this series and some leave something to be desired. The end of the book stays with one artist and that helps but, as a whole, it was uninspired. But I'm rarely disappointed by her adventures and Wonder Woman always has her moments and the same can be said for this book. Not one of the great WW stories but still a good read.

[Tyler Zamora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suffering Sappho! How do I even begin to review this volume? Ok, so I’ll start with the positives. I loved the artwork. There were a few different styles throughout, but I thought they were all very fluid and gorgeous. I liked seeing Maxwell Lord make a comeback, but I question if he’s being used correctly. I also liked that Diana and Etta had a little side mission together throughout this whole volume. We need more of that! I love Etta.

With that being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the story in this volume. Maxwell Lord’s appearance was exciting at first, but he was basically up to his same antics and they added another super villain with the exact same powers, so it was all a bit redundant. And her name is Liar Liar? Uh no no. That’s one of the worst names I’ve seen in a comic in a while. I reread it a couple times because I didn’t even realize that was the name because it sounded so stupid. I do like the idea of a young impressionable villain for Wonder Woman to take on, but this just wasn’t done right in my opinion.

I did enjoy Deathstroke’s appearance, but that felt like a gimmick since he was only there for four panels or so. The bunny sidekick for Liar Liar was interesting, but the duo together felt weird. Overall it was a fun ride for the artwork, but don’t expect much story wise.

[Tom Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mariko Tamaki writes readable, entertaining, emotionally literate comics and has a solid handle on Wonder Woman herself, emphasising the slightly aloof, fish-out-of-water side as well as the warrior/problem-solver angle on Diana. And Mikal Janin's art is gorgeous... on the two issues he actually draws. (Naughty DC marketing department, putting his name on the cover).

But this is an 11 issue storyline which could have been half that length, and while there's an interesting theme about trauma and redemption in there, with new villain Liar Liar presented first as an irredeemable sociopath then later as a fucked-up kid, the contrast between the portrayals is extreme enough that it was hard for me to completely follow where the story wanted to take me. The art evens out, but the contrast between Janin and some of the follow-up artists is really painful.

And there's no getting around the fact that this is a Max Lord story, and outright villain Max Lord is just not as interesting or faceted a character as his 80s incarnation. Some of the best material here looks to be moving him back to something along those lines, but it doesn't stick. I guess only in modern superhero comics can you have a character's motivation being "I'm angry you killed me in a previous iteration of the universe", though.

[Ian Raffaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was solid and hit on points I look for in Wonder Woman comics; namely Diana's willingness to work with adversaries in service to a greater goal and using diplomacy instead of fighting as an effective means to resolve conflict. Also, it will never not be funny to me whenever Diana brings either a friend or villain to Themyscira, either temporarily or indefinitely, to the absolute chagrin of Cheetah. It's all Dr. Barbara Minerva wanted since the Rebirth series started. Diana brought Maggie, a waitress who got wrapped up in a previous plotline, to live on Paradise Island with the Amazons. Isadore Cale lives on the island too, though she's still cursed and unable to leave. I feel like Wonder Woman could solve a lot of problems if she concentrated on finding a way to get Isadore off Themyscira and let Minerva in. Heck, I bet Cheetah would allow Circe to change her back to human if it meant living on Themyscira. But anyway, I've gotten away from myself. The comic was fine and kept my interest. It was nice seeing Maxwell Lord and meeting his messed up daughter. I hope she is able to reform and get the help she needs.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Wonder Woman is teamed up with Max Lord to deal with a new threat.

It's pretty rare that a trade has such a singularly consistent story arc in it with no real digressions. That was refreshing. I love Lord as a Villain, and Liar Liar is equally disturbing. The story was well done, with good pacing. Honestly, one of the things that tickled me most was Diana getting to use her out overlooked ability to speak to animals.

I do have one large complaint, though. There were several artists who worked on this book, and most of them cannot draw Diana consistently. There were some REALLY jacked up panels in here. Her fave was squishy, or had an inexplicably giant forehead, or looked like she had an actual, f-ing child's face at one point. Seriously. D-fricking-C comics can afford better talent than this. WW is a major character, and this is a major title. Find better artists. UGH.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good, complete Wonder Woman story that utilizes a villain that will be familiar to those who have read Wonder Woman or Justice League comics in the past, but also presents him in a way that it's not necessary to know his entire history for the story to make sense. The art can be a bit iffy from issue to issue. Sometimes Diana looks like her face is entirely too small for the length of her neck, but once I got used to the kewpie doll style of one of the main artists, it stopped bothering me.

This story also introduces a second villain, whose abilities and personal issues are really well tied together. Diana tries to meet this villain where they are, in their headspace, which felt very Wonder Woman to me. She tries to defeat hate and anger with understanding and kindness. It's all together a good example of a Wonder Woman story that doesn't get bogged down in mythology.

[Joseph Morin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maxwell Lord is a fun character, who maintains an intriguing and entertaining dynamic with Wonder Woman-- especially in this story, where she's forced to protect him from an assassin. His banter with Diana is the book's highlight.

I was, unfortunately, of mixed opinion on the rest. Liar Liar is an annoying antagonist. And, while she's got some sympathy points and a crazy power-set, I didn't care for her. Though I appreciate Tamakai's attempt to create an original villain, with potential for growth and staying power.

The book's pencils appealed, but its colouring wasn't to my preference. The style is too blended, and dreamlike-- lacking contrast-- just a lot of red and pink on the page. The dreamy look complimented the plot, later in the story, but not the majority. So probably not intentional

Lords and Liars' good moments stand out more If You Read Passively.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lengthy arc focuses on Maxwell Lord and new villain Liar Liar and is essentially one long story, albeit with a diversion in the middle that doesn't quite seem to fit. It's mostly pretty good, with decent art, although I can see why some readers might find it a bit too long (I didn't, for what it's worth). The new villain is interesting as a character as well as providing the sort of challenge that can't simply be met by hitting things, which fits well with the Wonder Woman ethos. Yes, the segment in the middle with Lord and Diana teaming up does feel a bit like padding but even that works as part of the arc I found it more enjoyable than the previous volume in the current series.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too long for what it is. This entire volume is basically all about Maxwell Lord, and his apparently infinite powers of mind control. Add to that a second antagonist, basically a carbon copy of Lord, so it's eleven straight issues about dealing with a psychic villain. And then there's a weird buddy cop interlude in the middle, where Diana has to team up with Lord for very poorly explained reasons. Which all sounds like I hated this book, but I didn't. For all the flaws in storytelling, I did mostly like the way that Tamaki wrote Diana, and her (overdue) final confrontation with Lord plays out well. This just needed to be shorter and tighter.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a solid through-line to this volume. I wouldn't call it uneven/disparate, which seems to be the consensus in the reviews. Largely self-contained as well, which is nice, as this is the first WW I have read, and, given that I have streams of other comic runs to read, I didn't want to start yet another one.

The personal level of the story for the antagonists is good, and the stakes high enough to be worthwhile without having to blow up the universe or whatever.

[Will Plunkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 rating; while the central storyline was fairly consistent, it seemed to be disjointed at times, as well. Liked the different artists, occasionally humorous but mostly serious banter. It wasn't always easy to determine where one book ended and the next began, with different creators and splash pages mixed around.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first encounter with Max Lord and I really like him as a villian. The best ones believe they are on the side of right and this volume really emphasized that. This was a wonderful story.

ETA: I see the writer is a Toronto playwright. No wonder the story was so good.

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can I just say Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is pretty badass! I have not read any modern day versions of Wonder Woman and this issue by Tamaki did not disappoint. From having to trust old enemies to figuring out how to assemble her furniture, Diana does it all!

[Mariano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more. It feels like its always trying to find its feet, changing the tone, the kind of story it's telling, even the characters shift and it never ends up working. It is a quick read though, so there is that

[Sarospice · Rating 1 out of 5]

No ma'am. It's so lazy to have Wonder Woman have to play odd couple with Maxwell Lord after she already killed him. There is no chemistry here. Add a really lame daughter for Lord giving the horrible villain name of LIAR LIAR. Yawn. No understanding of the character.

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A far more interesting take on Maxwell Lord than the WW84 film. However, this had one too many filler villains unfortunately.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tamaki is fantastic!

[Rocco Ricca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy! Finally a run on Wonder Woman that I can get behind! I can't wait for Tamaki's next vol... She's only doing the one? Oh...