Wonder Woman: The Last Amazon

Warning: graphic depictions of blood and mentions of Medusa’s story of rape

This might be controversial, but I personally love this variant of Diana vs. how she is usually represented. While she is still an Amazon warrior and supposed to be on the island of women, this Diana was raised in Hell by Circe. This graphic novel has representation of mythological Greek gods. I love this because the world of Greek Gods in novels are either sexualized or underutilized in novels. However, in this case we get to see Greek gods at there best and worst in this graphic novel and this made the world building more engaging for me.

Another highlight was the characterization of Diana and Circe. We got to see multiple layers of there characters. While I wish we got to see more development in how Diana discovers she is an Amazon, I like how we were able to see the mother/daughter relationship flourish overtime. At first glance, we see Circe numb to her isolation in the Wild Isle and when she is tasked with raising Diana, she thinks the baby won’t survive and sits back to watch her due. However, when she discovers Diana’s strength, she does her absolute best to protect her and get her ready to fulfill her destiny. However, despite the mother/daughter relationship being developed properly, I do wish we got to see Circe’s mindset change overtime. It feels a little rushed how willing she was to take care of her after a moment ago sitting back and letting the snake attempt to kill her. However, despite this, the relationship felt authentic and I could feel the love that they had.

One nitpick I will say I had was the inconsistencies with the artwork. While there were moments where the artwork felt slick and clean (e.g. Diana floating over the monsters and saying her title). At other times, there were different art styles where it didn’t work. (E.g. introduction of Barbara). I do wish they had stuck to one art style and run with that because the more consistent the art style is, the more engaging the story is. No matter how much a story is engaging, the art style is what people are seeing, so if they see one character look a certain way and then in the next panel, they have a completely different style, it feels off and I wish the artists would’ve stuck with one style and stick with it.

Also, the introduction of Barbara felt off to me. While I know she is an important character down the road, I think her presence in this graphic novel didn’t work. Her interactions with Diana/Wonder Woman felt weird and some of the dialogue didn’t work at times and it left we confused and for a brief moment out of the story. So I wish we got more focus on Diana and Steve (no romantic relations though). The less characters and get a solid cast of main and supporting characters would’ve worked and Barbara’s presence didn’t work.

Be prepared to read not only the last amazon, but also the lady or the tiger story as well, which for me is underdeveloped. However, despite these minor missteps, a huge recommendation for any fans of Wonder Woman/greek gods.