Title: Wonder Woman: Warbringer the Graphic Novel

Series: DC Icons #1

Authors: Leigh Bardugo, Louise Simonson, Kit Seaton

Published Date: January 7, 2020

Publisher: DC Comics

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 208 pages

Source: Library

Date Read: June 26, 2020

Review

I was gifted the audiobook (CDs) a few years ago, but wasn't interested in listening to this version. I picked up the ebook when it was on sale a while ago, and never felt in the mood to start it. So when I saw this version in my library I decided to go for it and have it fill a prompt on the SRP. I'm so glad I did - it was a great story but also streamlined for my attention span. 

The story opens with Diana preparing for an important race to help her improve her standing with some of her Amazon sisters, especially her mother's right hand woman/#1 general who has an unfounded hate towards Diana because she was created differently than the rest of the island's inhabitants. On her way to winning the race, Diana notices a ship that 1)broke through the barrier separating the island from the World of Man and 2) the ship was on fire and going down quickly. She leaves the race and jumps into the water in the hopes of saving those onboard. There was only one survivor, an older teen named Alia. Alia is the descendent of Helen of Troy and as such, she is a Warbringer. 

Diana and Alia work to find out how to stop the people who are hunting Alia as well as help Alia redeem her ancestors/stop the Warbringer bloodline. There are others on the team: Jason (Alia's brother), Theo (friend of the family), and Nim (Alia's BFF who deserves her own series!). This is a coming of age story nestled in a journey to Greece and the resting place of Helen. On the way there is romance, really great one-liners, and some deep topics brought up (race, sexism, capitalism, etc). 

Overall, it was fun and adventurous story that added to my love of Wonder Woman. 

And after the one scene over halfway through the book where Alfred suddenly introduced his husband who had never been mentioned before, the husband disappeared again with no explanation and was never mentioned again. In the one scene he was in, he had one bubble of dialogue where he spoke two sentences. I don't know why Alfred and his husband don't live together or why the guy has zero interaction with Bruce, his nephew, even though Alfred is Bruce's legal guardian. I feel like he existed solely so the author could say her Alfred was gay and then once that was accomplished, he was no longer needed, so he was forgotten.

So this version has Alfred as Bruce's uncle instead of butler. That was an interesting change that I didn't mind, although I didn't like the fact that right after Bruce's parents died, Alfred shipped him off to boarding school. The book started with Bruce's return from boarding school, so we've seen multiple scenes of Alfred and Bruce living together now.

So imagine my surprise when we suddenly learn over halfway through that Alfred is married. Where has his husband been living all this time? Because it's not been in the same house as them. And where was he that he didn't visit his nephew who was suddenly hospitalized for almost a day earlier in the book? Bruce's dead parents and Selina's dead mother have been mentioned more than Alfred's very-much-alive spouse (that I had no clue existed until he appeared on page) even though Alfred and Bruce live together and Alfred has gotten multiple scenes. It just seems weird.

So a kid has been kidnapped from the high school and the principal is the one questioning potential witnesses instead of the police who are assigned to the case? I know the GCPD is typically corrupt, but do the cops there not even pretend to do their jobs in this universe?

If you love an easygoing, full of humour, historical but also with some supernatural elements and a romance to die for manga/manhwa/manhua then this is the right one to pick up.

Short summary in my own words:

The female protagonist, Qian Yunxi, was raised on a Mt. Lin Yun because she has the ability to see the supernatural which is deemed bad and that it brings bad luck. She is the prime minister's daughter and although she is the older sister she is a concubine's daughter so she is not held up to such high standards as the second sister who is the legitimate wife's child. Prime minister wants more power so he is not on great terms with the royal family so when the order comes that his daughter must marry one of the princes he sends the daughter he doesn't care about. Qian Yunxi accepts this proposal because she wants to get off the mountain. Marriage goes through and on the first night the prince tells her she is not wanted and there is one other he considers to be good enough to be his wife. Qian is sent to the worst rundown part of the palace. But for Qian, this is not so bad. She, as a wife, has enough freedom and yet, she doesn't need to do her marital duties. She takes this situation as a positive and with a positive attitude and extreme bravery slowly changes the lives of everyone around here, as well as the cold prince's heart.

My thoughts:

In my opinion, this is almost as good as it gets in this genre of manga or if you will, manhua or manhwa (manga not produced in Japan). It is on point of everything it presents itself to be. It is very funny (I laughed my heart out in the scene where she throws a chicken she purchased at the market, just trust me on this one, go read please), it is very romantic, it is serious when it needs to be, the supernatural element enriches the whole plot, it doesn't shy away from the political discussions and we come to the most important part perhaps - the heroine - she is amazing.

The heroine is truly a heroine. She is independent, she is extremely intelligent and capable, she knows how to handle herself in most situations, she is not a damsel in distress, she is the one who often saves those around her, she kicks as% and she has a pure heart. I have not come across such a capable and well written heroine in a very long time.
The prince starts off as an unlikable tyrant-like-bastard who is cold, ruthless and cunning but unwilling to deal with anything that doesn't personally benefit him. As the story develops we actually see that that is just a front. He has much more layers and a lot of the things he has done can be interpreted differently with the right context. He grows significantly when around our capable heroine. He has a great aura about him and the way he handles situations makes me giggle and blush like a little girl. But he has his vulnerable side too and later on we learn that he is actually much more innocent than we could ever have imagined. Now that is great character writing, totally takes you by surprise.
There are many more other characters who are more or less important, and more or less developed but I believe it is better left for the actual reading experience now that the basics have been laid out.

The romance is the type that makes your heart skip a beat, you blush and you also wish you were the heroine. Prince is the possessive type and I really honestly love that. I know some people don't and that is okay. We are all different. I respect people who say they don't like even a little jealousy or possessiveness but for me that is absolutely amazing. The prince takes care of our heroine and he would go to the depths of hell for her. Since this is a fictional story I think it is safe to enjoy it and savour it. Boy, is this romance delightful.

The Chinese setting and the animation style is absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed every single page, every single image. It is different, it is unique and it is definitely worthy of reading and admiring.

For the final note. The anime that was made based on this manga is pretty much faithful to the manga, although there are differences. As always, manga has much more details, much more characters, a lot of the special moments between our hero and heroine that anime just cannot condense the same in a dozen episodes. If you are interested in this story I would definitely say go first with the manga and then enjoy the anime rendition.