Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia Deluxe Edition by Greg Rucka, J.G. Jones, Wade Von Grawbadger and Dave Stewart (graphic novel review).
Here’s a cover image you wouldn’t normally see, Wonder Woman stepping on Batman’s head. Thing is, if she did do that, there would be a bloody stain there.
So obviously, in this collected edition, ‘Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia Deluxe Edition’ by Greg Rucka, J.G. Jones, Wade Von Grawbadger and Dave Stewart, based on material from Wonder Woman # 200-226, something else is going on. Unless they reduced the regular comic book’s page count, as this book has a 27 page cover gallery, the dominant story is 98 pages and only one probable splash page.
Essentially, the Batman is tracking down Danielle Wellys, who had murdered two men and did her third just before he caught up with her. She doesn’t so much flee but falls into Gotham River and appears later in New York and recites to Wonder Woman at the Themyscira Embassy the code of Hiketeia, asking for her protection. You only learn much later she did this in ancient Greek. The Furies or Erinyes are watching outside the Embassy, foretelling some foreboding is going on.
Of course, the Batman arrives, and there is some disagreement. Danielle Wellys was seeking revenge for her dead sister, Melody, who had been raped, beaten and pumped with heroin that killed her. That area of the crime was something the Batman didn’t know but, even so, it’s the courts that decide leniency, not himself. She is also under Wonder Woman’s protection, so things get complicated and, for that, you need to read this book.
J.G. Jones art and, more so, his covers take the Alex Ross tone mixing the purity of the Greek with modern city, making for an interesting balance. The story dilemma from Greg Rucka doesn’t present any different solution at the end, but is a solid tale.
GF Willmetts
September 2021
(pub: DC Comics, 2020. 128 page graphic novel hardback. Price: I pulled my copy for about £13. 00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-77950-216-2)
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