By Cat Wyatt

Fans of Jason should rejoice, while those of you that aren’t fans of the Wonder Woman’s brother plotline will probably be less than thrilled about this issue; the entirety of it is spent on Jason and his past. It goes without saying that Jason lived a very different childhood from Diana of Troy. Unlike Diana, Jason could not be hidden among the Amazonians (a boy would stand out quite a bit) and thus had to be whisked away to earth. But we know all that already, courtesy of the last issue. This issue aims to show us more of the details of his life (and presumably to help explain the choices we’ve seen him make).

For the sake of honesty, I’m going to be upfront in saying I’m not a fan of Jason; I don’t think his character was necessary to the plot, and somewhat cheapens it. I know this is probably a bit of bias on my part though since I think Wonder Woman is interesting enough on its own without having to add cheap twists like that. The reason I'm upfront about my feelings towards Jason is because I kind of felt like this whole issue could have been named ‘all the reasons Jason has a chip on his shoulder’ and been done with it (ok, that’s a bit harsh, even for me, but you get my point).

As we know from the last issue, Jason was raised by Glaucus; this is because Jason could not stay with the Amazons (again, because of the obvious) so Hippolyta was forced to make a decision what to do about him. While she had never met Glaucus in person, she felt she could trust him; he was immortal, but not a god, which was exactly the type of person she needed to raise her son. While the idea of a mother giving away her son to a perfect stranger is a bit alarming, it’s not like she had many options. We already know going back and forth to earth is next to impossible, if not actually so. This limits her options for finding an adoptive family significantly.

For what it’s worth, I do believe Glaucus when he said he grew to love Jason as his own. This doesn’t explain or excuse his choice to leave later, but that’s a different story. Glaucus did the best he could with Jason, even going so far as to tell him the truth of his heritage when the time was right (is there ever a right time for that? I think he did the best possible, considering the circumstances). But Glaucus understood his limitations as well and knew that Jason would need a mentor more understanding of his abilities, and that’s the story of how Jason met Hercules (no, I am not joking here).

Several things happen to Jason in what appears to be a short time span; Hercules leaves, as does Glaucus (though he at least promises to come back – even though he never does). Then later, Wonder Woman appears. There’s no doubt to be had that she’s his sister; ironically her appearance sets Jason off on a tangent of self-doubt. It’s clear to everyone that Wonder Woman deserves her name, she’s competent, confident, and has passed all the trials set against her. Jason? He hasn’t faced any trials and thus has no idea how he would fare. What does that mean about him? Presumably, these self-doubts lead him to the Jason we see in the last issue – with him teamed up with Grail (Darkseid’s daughter). Though currently, that’s just a theory, we actually have no solid connection between the two as of right now (I’m assuming that will be further explained in the next issue).

I’ve already explained the reasons why I don’t like Jason or his reason for existing (ok, that one was super harsh, but you know what I’m trying to say). I don’t need sudden relations of Diana’s to show up in order to make me care about the plot – I’m already invested in what’s going to happen to her and the world she’s fighting so hard to protect. Sometimes simpler is better; I just wish more authors could see that.

The artists for this issue did a fantastic job at showing motion – you could really tell that the waves or wind should be moving, or how a character was dodging or moving during a fight. I love those sorts of details, it adds to the whole effect. The lines were very crisply done (which I love), and the colors were bright and never muddy. What I really loved were the little details hidden in the background – sometimes it was the extra attention given to a fishing net, other times it was the weapon being held. The little pop of texture and detail really brought the whole thing to life for me.

Score: 2/5

Wonder Woman #35
Publisher: DC Comics