Wonder Woman: Evolution #1: Because It’s There

Let me start this review by saying Mike Hawthorne is a fantastic artist, and his work on Deadpool and Daredevil (among others) have been stellar. But his art is just not a great fit for Wonder Woman.

The story is very much a set-up issue while also reuniting Wonder Woman with her old frenemy Vanessa Kapatelis, aka the Silver Swan. I’ve never been a huge fan of Vanessa as the Swan, especially not the Rebirth take on the character. Killing off her mother, Julia Kapatelis, who was such a pivotal character in Diana’s life during George Perez’s critically acclaimed run in the 80’s is just insulting. And worse, they made Vanessa into Diet Cheetah by making her a former-friend-turned-sworn-enemy. I’ve always been rooting for the return of the original Silver Swan, Helen Alexandros, who was an agent of Ares and represented the “ugly duckling becomes beautiful swan” archetype. But nevertheless, we’re stuck with Vanessa as the Swan for the time being.

I have to say, I wasn’t mad at the fight scenes between Diana and Nessie. While the setup was very generic (attacking a bunch of children to get Diana’s attention? Oof), the battle itself was fun. We get to see Silver Swan level-up into a fully cybernetic version who is actually quite cool. And this is where Hawthorne’s art excels: the fun action scenes.

We also get some nice Superman/Wonder Woman bonding (with NO romantic subtext, thank you), and we get a taste of what Wonder Woman’s super speed is like on par with Superman’s. Superman also looks quite good here under Hawthorne’s pencils. I think it may be just his Wonder Woman that I have major issues with. But since this is a Wonder Woman title and not Superman, I have to be a bit more critical.

I have to give a major shoutout to Jordie Bellaire, easily one of the best colorists in the biz. Her colors are vibrant and eye-catching, especially on Diana. The gold accents and her blue eyes are a highlight for this story.