Review by Karl Verhoven
Instead of the normal look at Wonder Woman in the present day, or the slightly unusual look at Wonder Woman’s past, Dead Earth is set in the future with some glimpses back to the past. In comics the future is never bright and optimistic, and Daniel Warren Johnson doesn’t mess with protocol, having Wonder Woman awaken on an Earth where humanity has all-but been eradicated, and the few survivors suffer a precarious existence scrubbing out a living among new nuclear-born monsters.
After reading just a little of Dead Earth you may wonder why it stars Wonder Woman, when any hero might have substituted, but continuing further reveals Johnson knows exactly why it has to be her and no-one else. This is only gradually disclosed, initially through her gracious personality extending her protection to all of humanity irrespective of their previously poor behaviour.
Johnson’s art is blocky, imaginative and emotionally strong, switching from moments of friendship and compassion to captivatingly wild violence against apocalyptic, amorphous monstrosities. These are strange, fleshy creatures, designed to frighten, yet who would want their existence? A spread of Diana driving a jeep onto a monster is particularly brutal and especially glorious, and Johnson being both writer and artist means no words are used if they’re not required.
When Johnson drops his big secret it’s a genuine surprise that cuts to the core of who Wonder Woman is, yet he’s flashed back to past lessons bolstering the present of the future. While almost everyone else is secondary, Johnson includes a few subplots concerning who people are and offering the possibility of redemption. The only false note is Johnson using a barely credible reversal of attitude for a cliffhanger chapter ending. He has Wonder Woman becoming judgemental, considering humanity en masse rather than individuals, a mistake her Amazon sisters often make, yet even that’s partially mitigated via another glimpse into the past. However, it hangs on Johnson establishing that despite good intentions, Wonder Woman has been enslaved by her temper. “It’s like I was outside myself. My anger triggered something I couldn’t control”, is the explanation, and as it runs contrary to the Wonder Woman we know, it won’t sit well with some expecting absolute adherence to the past.
Throughout Dead Earth Johnson steers events away from assumption. Another hero appears two-thirds of the way through, yet in addition to being a crowd-pleasing flashback the encounter serves to underline a personality in crisis, although some may feel how they’re then used speaks more to instability than respect.
In the end Johnson’s produced a page turning, personality based superhero story with side dishes of SF, fantasy and horror tropes. Accept this isn’t always Wonder Woman as you know her, and Dead Earth really hits the target.
