Wonder Woman – Dead Earth (2020) 

Writer/Artist – Daniel Warren Johnson 

Colors – Mike Spicer 

My friends Amy and Dave sent me Issues One and Four of this mini-series in the mail years ago. I was recently organizing and putting away comics when I came across them. I decided to request the collection from the library to get the full scope of the story and to save some time and money trying to track down the other issues since they may be hard to find. 

Wonder Woman awakens from stasis to find the Earth ravaged by death and destruction. Survivors looking for food and supplies cross paths with her and bring her back to Camp New Hope and their leader Theyden. After repelling an invasion of ugly, giant creatures called Haedra, the camp rallies around Diana and agree to her plan to relocate them to the island of Themyscira. Along the way, she will find out the truth about the Great Fire, the final fate of Hippolyta and her Amazon sisters, and what happened to her friends and allies (like Batman and Superman).

Let me start off by saying that if you are interested in reading this mini-series, do yourself a favor and check to see if your local library has a copy to borrow. Reading the oversized hardcover is the way to enjoy it. The paneling has a cinematic quality to it and the double page spreads are meant to be seen and enjoyed in a physical format. I don’t think reading this digitally will do the art justice. 

This story is set in a dystopian future, so you should mentally prepare yourself for some grim and devastating revelations as the story progresses. However, not all hope is lost and you can see what Diana’s return means to the survivors. Wonder Woman is willing to do what she can to restore faith in herself and others, but there is conflict and tension as she remains trapped between humanity and her heritage. She must choose one side or the other and this decision will weigh heavily on her mind, body, and soul. 

This mini-series could easily be added to the best of Wonder Woman list and if you are a fan of the character, it is well worth your time. For those that haven’t read a lot of stories featuring Princess Diana, Daniel Warren Johnson does a great job retelling her origin and fleshing out her character in only four issues. This story DOES have a happy ending and there are some plot threads that aren’t fully wrapped up at the conclusion of the story. I feel that if he wanted to, DWJ could easily create a sequel mini-series and I would be all for it. He has been busy with other projects recently so it’s only a matter of time if/when this happens. If it doesn’t, that’s okay. I would champion this being adapted into a DC animated movie. I think it would be a hit, for sure. 

The next time I talk to Amy and Dave, I will once again thank them for sending me these comics and compliment their exquisite taste in books. It’ll be nice to discuss this story with them and ask if they have any other recommendations. If you have read Wonder Woman – Dead Earth, I’d love to hear what you liked/disliked about the mini and if you have any favorite Wonder Woman stories worth checking out. You can also share which stories by DWJ I need to read next as well!