“Come closer, Diana. Put your hands in the clay. This is what you were made from. This core of the Earth, the strongest of what this broken world had to offer, gave way to the mass that makes you what you are now.”
-Daniel Warren Johnson
Publisher’s Synopsis
“Wonder Woman’s mission was to save Man’s World from itself. She failed.
When Diana awakens from a centuries-long sleep to discover the Earth reduced to a nuclear wasteland, she knows she failed. Trapped alone in a grim future, Diana must protect the last human city from titanic monsters while uncovering the secret of this dead Earth–and how she may be responsible for it.
The celebrated creator of Murder Falcon and Extremity and artist of The Ghost Fleet, Daniel Warren Johnson, brings bold sci-fi chops to his DC debut with a harrowing vision of Wonder Woman unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”
My Thoughts
I’d never been interested in reading Wonder Woman comics before this book. It was artist and writer Daniel Warren Johnson that convinced me to buy it. I loved his work on Extremity and Murder Falcon, and found both titles to be an absolute blast to read.
I really like his art style, which can leave some readers a bit cold. He’s not going for realism; he’s all about the energy and flow of the story. I find his drawings and panel-layouts exciting and cinematic. There is a real kinetic flow to the action he depicts, reminding me of some of the best manga. But he adds his own unique twist to it, and it becomes a kind of cool hybrid of the American and Japanese styles. Mike Spicer’s colouring suits the apocalyptic story and becomes almost psychedelic in some of the fight scenes.
There is a great, entertaining story in here, and I enjoyed every panel and page. Yes, it’s filled with big chunks of stylized, eye-popping comic-book action, but there’s an underlying message of forgiveness and hope, too. It goes a lot deeper than might first appear, exploring Wonder Woman’s powers and what her role actually is. Plus, if you’ve ever wanted to see what would happen if Wonder Woman took on Superman in a brutally physical fight, you need to read this book! Diana might not look as wonderful as she usually does, but she well and truly kicks ass in Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. Recommended!
Thanks for reading!
Wakizashi's Reviews 
I agree about the art style. Very nice. 🤠
It’s been a minute since I got my hands on a decent Marvel book. Enjoy.
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Do you have any favourite comic book stories or characters?
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I like Spawn, from Todd Mcfarlane, having grew up with it. I also took a great liking to the more recent The Vision series, where he is with his android family ( which makes me excited for WandaVision show coming out next month ). And even more recently I enjoyed a graphic novel called Rouge Planet, which is fun, cosmic horror ( I have a review for that one on my blog ). Back to the earlier years, in the nineties, I really liked the X-Men, as well! 🤠
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Cool! I enjoyed that recent Vision series, too. I used to collect Batman and Spider-Man when I was young. Also Daredevil. I never got into Spawn, but I love McFarlane’s art. I remember when he was drawing Spidey back in the day. I read Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men, but that’s all. Thanks for your comments S.D.!
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Oh, thank you and for sharing that with me. I would love to have a copy of Spiderman #300, they Mcfarlane did. He connects really well on his Facebook page, which on an unrelated note . . . sadly I’m not apart of anymore. Facebook just slid down hill, not only Facebook, but the toxicity level got to high for me!
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Me too! I left Facebook this year. Twitter, too 🤐
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I think this artwork would end up becoming an acquired taste for me. Initially I didn’t care for it, but the more I see it and read about the story the more I appreciate it for the type of story being told, gritty, hard-hitting, as you said it’s about the enegy and flow of the story. In the past, like you, I’d never really been drawn to Wonder Woman comics. But I like when creators come up with something interesting and different.
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Yes, I can see the art being an “acquired taste.” Looking at some of the reviews on the net, a fair few readers have had issues with Johnson’s style. It certainly stands out from most of the Wonder Woman art that has come before. As you say, I think it really suits the story, plus I appreciate the dynamic nature of it. Thanks Todd!
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Excellent thoughts on this little gem, sir. I liked it for the same reasons as you did and found that the art went well with the story and that all the little niggles could be overlooked for the sake of enjoying this post-apocalyptic tale! 😀
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Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed this one, too. I heard that Johnson is working on a Beta Ray Bill story for Marvel. Intrigued!
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