Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth

Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth

Originally released in 2001

Written by Paul Dini

Art by Alex Ross



While DC's app doesn't have other Alex Ross and Paul Dini collaborations (I know they did something similar with Batman and Superman, at the very least), they do have the one that they did which featured Wonder Woman, so I decided to read that today.



To say that Alex Ross's art is amazing here is like saying that water is wet. It feels like any given panel could be framed in a museum, and he does a great job with fitting as much detail as he can into these double page spreads.



When it came to the DC Animated Universe interpretation of Wonder Woman, I felt like she and Martian Manhunter were underused compared to their fellow members of the Justice League. (Wonder Woman barely even got to meet any members of her rogues gallery in that show) As a result, I was curious about how she'd be handled here.



The first third or so recaps Wonder Woman's backstory and her role in the outside world, before she returns to Themyscira to talk to her mother about how things are in "man's world".



As it turns out, things aren't going great.  Wonder Woman attends a protest in an unnamed country that's clearly China.  When the government decides to remove the protesters using tanks, she intervenes to prevent another Tiananmen Square incident.



However, people seem intimidated by her, and in spite of her efforts to help and be neutral, she is viewed as a foreign agent and met with suspicion even by the people that she's trying to save.



A discussion with Superman helps her to find a different point of view, about the effectiveness of doing what she can anonymously rather than wearing the outfit of a superhero.  I'm not sure how Wonder Woman came up with the Diana Prince identity in other stories, but this seems to be the origin of it here, as she travels the world, witnessing events incognito and doing what she can to punish people who are acting in legal but immoral ways or helping to prevent bloodshed.



She is forced to act as Wonder Woman, but now she is not as concerned about how others react to her. She acknowledges that, much like the people of the outside world, she is a mix of many unlike parts, but they're all a part of her, whether it's the warrior or the advocate for peace.



This was all right, though not as good as the Captain Marvel story in my eyes. Maybe my relative lack of familiarity with Wonder Woman doesn't help here; I've read parts of the George Perez run, but that's about it, so I might not have a full picture of the character. Wonder Woman going anonymous is handled well, as it lets her get a grounded perspective and listen to both sides of a protest or learn things that people might not say if Wonder Woman is present, but the conflict about Diana's nature feels like it was included in a fairly rushed manner.

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