Covergirl: Before New York Comic Con, I adored Cliff Chiang and felt a little disappointed every time Tony Akins’ name appeared on the cover.

After New York Comic Con, after hearing Tony Akins talk about his art, after hearing him reference wide-ranging influences that include Victorian funereal photographry and British footballer Wayne Rooney, I was psyched to see his name on this week’s cover.

(P-S-Y-C-H-E-D! Let’s! Get! Psyched! My pom-pom shaking days ended decades ago, but that little bit of perkitude is forever etched in my brain.)

That said, the cover didn’t blow me away, though I did find the use of space (i.e. the sand stretching in front of Diana) interesting and effective. Nice break from the Covers of Much Action.

We don’t always need a boot in the face. Though I love to say MOTHERFUCKER, and when you get a boot in the face, you get to say MOTHERFUCKER.

Ramble: Another great read. Let’s get my one hesitation with the book out of the way first, then dive into the happy.

My One Hesitation with the Book

The bit about the scientists seemed out of another book; Supergirl, maybe.

Diving into the Happy

I particularly enjoyed the family dramedy; both the poolside scene at Apollo’s re-imagined Olympus, which looks like a newly minted movie star’s first multimillion-dollar estate, and the Hera-Zola smackdown in Diana’s London apartment.

Also enjoyed the Siracca reveal, especially the final dramatic shot and the initial interaction between the demi-god and Diana, her half-sister.

Siracca appears first in the form of a child, which allows us for a brief moment to envision a maternal Diana. She’s fresh off a display of her superhero chops. The juxtaposition of that ass-kickery with her taking care of a small, scared child succinctly reminds of us Diana’s gender duality.

Do you like that phrase, gender duality? I learned it in graduate school. $30,000 bucks buys you some swell jargon.