Wonder Woman #26

I don't like saying this, but I'm underwhelmed by Genocide, Wonder Woman's Doomsday.

My problem boils down to two factors. First, there's way too much talking about how scary Genocide is and not nearly enough showing me how scary Genocide is. Before we ever meet the monster, we get lots of foreshadowing that this one is somehow different. As Diana Prince leads her team of agents into the disaster area caused by this new threat, we get this voiceover from her:



If only we could have seen some of these signs and portents. We're told that Diana feels dread, but unfortunately, we don't get to feel it with her.

It's the same with this scene between Dr. TO Morrow and Dr. Minerva who are discussing their latest effort to defeat the Justice League of America.



When Minerva tells Morrow to get ahold of himself and reminds him that the creature was his idea, he agrees but adds...



Again, lots of fear and trembling from Morrow, but we're being told how to feel about this thing. Who's got the right perspective in that conversation, Morrow or Minerva? We know it's Morrow because we've been reading the press releases about how nasty Genocide's going to be. But reading the scene, I'm just taking Morrow's word for it. And the notion that the idea for Genocide came from Satan himself? Are we supposed to take that seriously or is that just Morrow's madness talking? Again, I know how I'm supposed to feel about all this, but I'm not feeling it. And that's frustrating.

The second reason I'm disappointed by Genocide is... well, just look at her.



Actually, before I get into her design, I've got to complain about her speech. Yes, I know Doomsday didn't exactly have Ra'as al Ghul-level intelligence, but then I never liked Doomsday either. When I heard Genocide described as Wonder Woman's Doomsday, I hoped that referred to Genocide's nastiness, not her intelligence. Genocide is newly-made though, so maybe she matures and learns and becomes a serious mental threat to Wonder Woman as well as a physical one. There's evidence of that even in this issue, so I certainly hope so.

The look though... I doubt that's changing. And I'm just not digging the spiky band covering her eyes. It reminds me too much of this guy.

Life's not all bad though. We get some cool scenes of Wonder Woman's boyfriend fighting his way out of custody after being arrested and once again confirming his feelings for her. And we do get one very nasty scene that does more to inspire loathing towards Genocide than the rest of the issue combined.




I'm not casting judgment on the whole story just yet. There's lots more to come and I trust Gail. It's off to a shakier start than I wanted, but if I can get used to Genocide's appearance, and if we get more like that last scene, this could be powerful.