Wonder Woman: Sacrificio

Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka #3

by Greg Rucka (guion), Gail Simone (guion), Mark Verheiden (guion)

La muerte de Blue Beetle ha conmocionado a la comunidad superheroica, que, además, se ha enterado de que existen unos androides llamados OMAC que los vigilan a todos por orden de un peligroso adversario. Así las cosas, tanto Wonder Woman como Superman se sumen contra su voluntad en un juego siniestro que alterará para siempre la concepción que el mundo tiene de la amazona.
Sacrificio pone punto final a la recopilación de la primera etapa de Greg Rucka (Batman: Tierra de nadie) al frente de la serie mensual de Diana de Themyscira con un volumen que cuenta con dibujantes tan destacados como Rags Morales (Crisis de identidad), John Byrne (Superman: El Hombre de Acero) o Karl Kerschl (Academia Gotham).

EDICIÓN ORIGINAL: Wonder Woman núms. 218-226, Superman núm. 218-219 USA, Adventures of Superman núm. 642-643 USA, Action Comics núm. 829 USA || FECHA PUBLICACIÓN: Marzo de 2018 || GUIÓN: Gail Simone, Greg Rucka, Mark Verheiden || DIBUJO: Cam Smith, Carlos D'Anda, Cliff Richards, David López, Derec Aucoin, Ed Benes, Georges Jeanty, John Byrne, Karl Kerschl, Rags Morales, Ron Randall, Sean Parsons, Tom Derenick, Tony S. Daniel || FORMATO: Cartoné, 344 págs. A color. Disponible el 13/02/2018 || ISBN: 978-84-17354-34-3

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

344 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2010

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a week ago but I swore I reviewed this. Guess not.

So this ends Rucka's run on WW (Well first run. He returns in Rebirth). And it ends...okay. It's kind of a disappointment since 1 was great and volume 2 was fantastic. This basically has WW dealing with Lord Maxwell and his assholish ways. It's dark, and what WW does seems like a smart thing to do but the way the world will view it does not. This is mostly for Infinite Crisis.

But yeah this just kind of ended in a semi-dud way. Wasn't all that interested even though still were some good fights happening here and there and I still enjoyed WW still a lot. But it lacked the punch of the other two volumes sadly.

A 3 out of 5.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This third and final installment in Rucka's first Wonder Woman run is probably the worst read of them all. Not because the main storyline is worse (it's much of the same), but because the run gets hijacked big-time by the big build-up to Infinite Crisis. The book begins with major tie-ins to the Superman: Sacrifice storyline and The Omac Project, but none of the other issues from those books are included, so, if you don't have access to those other books, the first few issues feel like one big confusing mess of organic robots, fights with Superman, and an evil Maxwell Lord. Then it doesn't get much better with an admirable but foolhardy attempt to bring the main story to a close within the context of Infinite Crisis. Then it all ends with a tie-in miniseries from Blackest Night that takes place years later and comes out of nowhere.

All of these stories are actually pretty good within the bigger events, but without context and on its own as a book, it's a pretty ridiculous read. Skip to Rucka's Wonder Woman run during the Rebirth era. WAY better.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's an issue in this volume called "Nothing Finished, Only Abandoned" which I think really sums up the entire collection. While we start strong with the infamous Maxwell Lord issue, the following stories are all ruled by OMACs and Infinite Crisis stuff, with all of Wonder Woman's solo plot lines pushed to the side in favour of these until right near the end. It's very strange that Rucka would do this, especially given that he was already writing an OMAC side-project anyway - I wonder if it was more editorially mandated than anything else?

It all ends with two little stories that flash back across the entirety of Wonder Woman's time in the world of Man, and while there are definitely some good repercussions as a result of Rucka's run, there's so much left unfinished that I'm really a little disappointed. What happened to Veronica Cale? What's going on with the gods of Olympus? Just...what? And while Cliff Richards is a great artist nowadays, his work on these issues just feels bland and flat, and lacking in detail.

Also included however is Rucka's triumphant return to Wonder Woman as part of the Blackest Night crossover. This is a story told in three parts, with each issue focusing on a different aspect of the crossover and how it affects Diana - the first brings back Max Lord as a Black Lantern, the second deals with Wonder Woman's own time in the Black Lantern Corps, and the last focuses on her rebirth as part of the Star Sapphires. It's a truly wonderful tie-in, and has some gorgeous Nicola Scott artwork to boot.

Greg Rucka's run ends with a whimper instead of a bang, which is a damn shame. The Blackest Night tie-in softens the blow a little though, which is nice.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was quite good!

It deals with the fallout of everything that occurred with Cale and all and then she is thrust into the fight with Superman which was so awesome and the thing with Maxwell Lord that changed her forever and finally we have the big thing with the fallout of it and how people don't trust her, OMACs coming for Themyscirians and tough choices they and Olympian gods had to make. This was a great and long arc sure but I like how it shows the fall of Diana in such a unique way and like changes things she believed in for good.

Plus there is the fallout of relationship with JL members and the people, that challenges her question of - Did she ever succeed in her mission and then the Cheetah battle which was good but we never got the resolution of Lyta and Ares and Circe which seems to have bene forgotten which was disappointing. Its an okay volume and is good for the most part but had loads of promises too.

Plus the Blackest Night tie ins were cool like her battling the dead Lord and then becoming one herself and then Star sapphire corps and vs Mera, which is like my favorite part of the volume and like shows another defining feature of Diana - she loves everyone and shows how she is ready to forgive and accept others through this power of love and interesting stuff with Mera.

Overall good stuff and loved every moment of it and Rucka continues to explore what makes Diana so special and its a great volume. The art is good, the storytelling great and its one of the definitive volumes of WW for sure.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

And here ends Greg Rucka's original-run on Wonder Woman, as well as the run on Womder Woman that began in 1987 with George Pérez after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. With that in mind I guess it is fitting that this iteration of the comic end with Infinite Crisis. The problem is that Infinite Crisis disrupted the story Rucka was trying to wrap-up and it makes the story dis-jointed and rushed. Still there are enough good moments in this comic to have a lasting effect inWonder Woman's history (thankfully, Rucka was able to come back to the comic with Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: The Lies). Besides the Infinite Crisis-stuff, we have the included here the Wonder Woman tie-ins to Blackest Night that Rucka was tapped to write. I plan to now pick-up the story with Gail Simone's time writing the character that begins with Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: The Circle.

[Rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit of a disappointment, this is pretty much one event tie in to both infinite crisis and then blackest night. I don’t really have an issue with it because Rucka makes it interesting with the infamous Maxwell Lord scene and dealing with the aftermath of it. My only problem is that a lot of the other plots got dropped, we don’t see the resolve for quite a few things. I think Rucka’s run could’ve benefited from another volume to tie up all the other plots that were dropped probably due to editorial mandates.

[Desa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengo algunos sentimientos encontrados con estos últimos números de Rucka, sobre todo porque están conectados con cositas que estaban pasando en el universo DC y de las que tenía poca idea (a pesar de que las expliquen), y aunque sea muy fan de Superman, no me ha acabado de gustar el crossover. Sin embargo, las consecuencias y ramificaciones de lo que ocurre aquí, son muy importantes para Diana y las Amazonas, y me ha gustado cómo ha planteado Rucka éste ‘final’, algo nostálgico pero lleno de esperanza.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is terribly disjointed. Is this really how Rucka’s run ends? It seemed like it was going somewhere and this trade goes absolutely nowhere since it’s railroaded by two separate events.
The issues themselves aren’t written badly, it’s just the fact that this run had some story threads that have had no resolve. In fact this trade ends in the middle of A Green Lantern story. The blackest night one. It’s a joke and why nobody cares about comics for the most part.

It’s one of the big reasons why I feel crazy for reading as many of these comics as I do. There’s no payoff to any story being told at any time. It’s a real tiring thing especially when comics aren’t cheap.

[Nate]

Infinite Crisis (and 52) caused Rucka’s run to end slightly rushed. These issues aren’t bad, just kind of... eh. To get the most out of this final volume, you should read The OMAC Project and Superman Sacrifice; in fact, the issue where Diana kills Maxwell Lord is collected here. The cover promises a Cheetah showdown, which does happen but only for a few pages. It’s clear that Rucka had bigger plans for Wonder Woman but his run got cut short (though he did return to the character during Rebirth). It is what it is, I guess.

[Anthony Hillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little disappointing that the story that was being told in the first two volumes is largely abandoned in favour of being an Infinite Crisis teaser. But even so, this is still excellent work from one of my favourite comic writers (and among the best writers Wonder Woman is ever had.)
As a nice bonus, the three part Blackest Night tie-in story is included here featuring artwork by the incredible Nicola Scott (one of the best ARTISTS Wonder Woman has ever had.)

[cc · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Dash Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty meh end to an alright run by Rucka. So many of the plot lines setup go nowhere, and in the end, he strips bare a lot of the interesting tools and characters away from the story. Not it.

[Davide Saladino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quest'ultimo volume è abbastanza sottotono rispetto ai precedenti. La parte su "la notte più profonda" è poco comprensibile per chi non ha letto l'evento principale.

[Aidan]

It’s unfortunate this book was canceled in favor of Infinite Crisis and the One Year Later time jump as I really think the book had finally found its footing. I was excited to see the fallout of Cassie’s discovery that Zeus is her father, and Ares’ kidnapping of his and Circe’s daughter. It definitely felt like there was one more volume of story here that got cut off, and Rucka has said as much in interviews. The one silver lining is the smear campaign plot line also gets dropped, which I didn’t mind one bit.

Most of this book ties into Rucka’s work on OMAC which I quite liked, but similarly gets cut short. Regardless, Diana’s characterization here is better than ever, as she is forced to turn herself over to the UN for a killing she believes was justified, and then must decide to go back on that promise to fight the OMACs on Themyscira. Diana’s feud with Brother Eye feels even more personal than Batman’s, calling her “murderer” every time she encounters it. Themyscirans being classified as meta forces all of them to be attacked by the OMACs, causing Paradise Island to disappear from the mortal realm once again for their own safety, and the Gods retreat soon after, leaving Diana separated from her home and her people. The scene where Diana closes down the embassy and group hugs her core team of advisors and Ferdinand is heart wrenching yet hopeful. They’ve lost this battle but all of them still believe in the mission.

The Blackest Night tie in is pretty trash.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, incredible.

Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t stand alone. Infinite Crisis is 100% required reading, but taken together, this story is incredible.

The Blackest Night tie in was also fun. Less important to have read that as long as you know the premise, as it’s more a fun companion story than an essential tie in.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't reach the heights of the first 2 fantastic volumes due to the imposed Blackest Night tie-in issues which bring it to a sad anti-conclusion and which bring down my overall rating. Rucka's first run was otherwise just wonderful.

[Jack Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final collection of Rucka’s original Wonder Woman run is sadly bogged down in chunks of event crossovers, but Rucka’s writing shines through as best it can.

[Pirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous two volumes in the series but still a solid end to a fantastic run

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the 3 Blackest Night tie-in issues that are tacked onto the end of this in order to try to get you to read more DC crossover stuff, but I have read everything else in here and it's pretty great. Not as good as the previous 2 volumes, if only because it feels a lot less like it can stand on its own. I felt I was missing some connective tissue by not reading through Infinite Crisis.

That said, I personally loved the somewhat understated nature of the last couple issues. Typically in comics, there's a huge thing that happens, and then we move on to the next huge thing, and we don't really get a full denouement and follow-through resolution. I loved taking the last issue of the story proper to be about Wonder Woman really feeling the impact of the end of the major events.

Overall, I'd give Rucka's entire run a 5/5, though, and say it's amazing stuff about one of the greatest comic characters ever that moved me from "I've heard of that character and seen the movies" to "I love Wonder Woman and can't wait to read more of her." Eventually, this may stand as the thing that makes me a huge WW fan, as I read more of her adventures over the decades. Very excited to go back to the immediate post-Crisis George Perez stuff and start diving in.

[Jasna · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the ending seemed rushed and had some looses ends, i still give this series and this volume 5 stars due to the strong quality of writing, character development, and reverence to the character of Wonder Woman and her world that Rucka so strongly exhibits. Rucka's WW gives me so much hope, joy, and pride as an immigrant woman from a foreign island with a stubborn sense of justice that sometimes gets me into trouble or overwhelms me. :) I love the mythology, how self-aware Athena and the other goddesses are, how much they revere WW, how much she reveres them in return, WW's devotion to all living creatures, her struggle to balance that with her love for her Amazon sisters in the face of the Olmacs, her sense of duty in turning herself in to the international court while holding true to her choices (not regretting what she does to Max Lord), etc. I love the art, how tasteful it is, doesn't sexualize her or the other women, is diverse in representation (though could still be better there!), emphasizes Amazon grace and strength... I loved the recap of the series and Black Lanterns tie-in as well.

Clearly a top series for me. Thank you again and again, Rucka and Team Diana!

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I loved this run. Well written through and through, generally good artwork, and it definitely boosted my interest/love for Wonder Woman. But it’s not without its flaws. The main downside is really just that...I wanted more. I feel like there was much more story to tell, and several plot threads that needed to be completed. Like Veronica Cale, Olympus, the Amazon’s, and the embassy squad. Even though I do think it wrapped up well, I just really want the rest of those untold stories (and from a quick reading order search, that doesn’t look likely). But the stories Rucka tells are fantastic. The attack on Themyscira, the trifling of the gods (seriously, they are all the worst), Cheetah’s savagery, the fall and redemption of Wonder Woman, all great.

The ending issues are an ode to Diana and everything that makes her incredible, and I really felt it and loved it.

Highly, highly recommend this run as a whole, for Wonder Woman fans or the uninitiated all the same.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zwieńczenie prac Rucki na tamten moment, równie dobre co poprzednie dwa tomy. Tu przydomek Wonder nie jest dany na wyrost. Diana to dynamit. Czy to w starciu z okładkową Cheetah, czy z Bratem Oko, który nasyła OMACi na dom Amazonki czy gdy stoi przed haskim sądem za czyn, którego żałuje, ale był potrzebny, aby ratować przyjaciela.

A to nie koniec atrakcji, bowiem bohaterce przyjdzie skrzyżować rękawice z Supermanem, Max Lordem czy też ze śmiercią. Mamy w tym zbiorze bowiem udział Diany w Blackest Night, gdzie przeszła swoje, na moment stając się nawet Czarną Latarnią (to nie jedyna petarda). I tu można trochę ponarzekać, bo fabularnie zeszyty niezbyt się ze sobą spajają, ale wymaga to zwyczajnie posiadania/lub znajomości wspomnionego wydarzenia. A warto, bo to jedne z lepszych jakie dało nam DC.

Wizualnie komiks ma już swoje lata, ale całość nadal wygląda bardzo przyjemnie dla oka. Zdecydowanie jeden z najlepszych runów, zaraz obok Azarello, jaki kiedykolwiek powstał o tej postaci. Taki mały must have.

[Viola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Rucka's (first) WW run kept getting better and better. It's shame he wasn't allowed to finish it properly because people get upset every single time a writer does something interesting with a character.
The way Batman and Superman treat Diana after she does the thing makes me want to fight them. But the thing is, I think their behaviour was supposed to be challenged and explored if Rucka was allowed to write that story. Instead we got Diana being constantly judged for doing what was necessary á la Infinite Crisis (which I like on the whole but Diana's treatment is a big gripe I have with that book).
Also the way reactions to this parallel the reactions to Clark's decision at the end of Man of Steel...is just a lot. In some ways, comics fans are the worst enemies of comics properties. As well as higher ups who make hasty and bad decisions based on backlash.
Anyways, please read this run, it's great.

[Alek Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a shame that the Infinite Crisis concluded Greg Ruckas run of Wonder Woman. Though it did provide a nice little expansion into the DC Event and the fall out of the "OMAC Project". It did create a rushed ending for where Rucka was going with the character. We didn't get to follow up on the plots of Veronica Cale or Dr. Psycho. The debate and insight into WW was replaced with her actions against Max Lord. All in all I wanted more and Infinite Crisis stole that.

And because this volume collects all of Rucka's preNew 52 work it also cane with his 3 Blackest Night issues. Issue 1 was a nice reunion with Max Lord, issue 2 was a meh story about zombie WW, and issue 3 was a good tie-in issue for the Blackest Night Event with Love Lantern Wonder Woman.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decided to read this run on a whim and was not disappointed. Greg Rucka did a great job. I thought the first book was a little slow and pretty average while the second book was basically great from beginning to end. The Medusa fight was especially great!

The beginning of book three was good and all the Infinite Crisis tie-ins were good, but the Blackest Night story was underwhelming and the Star Sapphire suit design was awful. If it wasn’t for the Blackest Night story this would’ve been four stars.

Overall I’d probably give this run an overall 3.5 to 4 stars. Very solid and mostly consistent run. It has some pretty high highs but the lows aren’t too low. At best you get great and at worst you get average. I would still highly recommend this.

[Jacob Daczyk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a mess of a final volume to a run. It starts by continuing the story we have been following but then we get a random issue that's tied to an event that the remaining issues tie to which just gives the whole volume a stop and start kind of effect. What started as a story about Diana trying to connect with the people of Earth and the balance between her superhero life and her job as ambassador ends with a fight against robots on her homeland with almost no connection to the previous arcs of this run. It's a shame because overall the previous volumes were pretty good. The final 3 issues are also not connected to the run at all so feel free to just completely skip them.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bookend to the plot threads Rucka had weaved since the beginning of the run. The main problem of this volume is that alot of the events mentioned are closely tied up with stuff happenning on other titles, particularly the events leading to and during Infinite Crisis.

The last two or three issues are just tie-ins to Blackest Night.

Overall, despite its close connections to other events, ultimetly it provides a satisfying conclusion to Rucka's run, especially to readers familiar with the events of Infinite Crisis.

6/10

[Gus Casals · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shame, really, that Rucka's mature, topical Wonder Woman run ends up in this mess of crossovers and inconsistent art. Of course Sacrifice has long lasting impact but only an isolated chapter is offered in this collection, and Infinite Crisis and Blackest Night criss cross in out making thing at moments incomprehensible.
And issued drawn by two or more artists don't help either.
Still above average, but a shadow of the two previous collections.

[César More · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely the best Wonder Woman storyline I've ever read. The character work for Diana is complex and deep. The stakes are real. The emotional punchline got me on tears. A bittersweet ending for one of the best runs of any character ever told.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

for the love of Diana...

Rucka always writes a great Wonder Woman.
It's a shame this volume is filled with filler issues for events.
...