BIZARRO BREAK #4 (Wonder Girl)
"The Wonder of it All"
Writer - Mo Willems
Art & Colors - Ellen Forney
Seps - Matt Madden
Edits - Joey Cavalieri
What a weird turn of events here... a story by, Mo Willems?
If you're not familiar with that name, well, lemme catch y'up. Mo Willems, among other things, is a children's book creator... most notably, the Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie series' of books. My wife, a second-grade teacher, is a huge fan and Mo's books are a favorite of her students. So yeah, wasn't ever expecting to cover anything by this fella here on the humble blog! The #BizarroBreak truly is the gift that keeps on giving!
Funny thing, apparently I bear a passing resemblance to the fella... and so, I have been mistaken for Mr. Willems by my wife's students (and, oddly, co-workers) on more than one occasion. I guess all of us salt-n-pepper bearded white fellas look alike!
I mean, I guess I can kinda see it... though, thankfully my beard hasn't gone that white yet! The rest of the hair on my head, however... well, no comment.
Anyhoo... let's get down to it!
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We open with Wonder Woman (when she was a girl) reading a magazine, and finding an ad for a Lasso of Truth (only $99.95!). She calls out to her mother, I'm assuming Hippolyta, to ask for it for her birthday. Some four-to-six-weeks later, the booty arrives. She ka-rippps it out of the package, and immediately tests it out on her gal-pal, Etta Candy. Etta reveals that she only hangs out with Diana to get closer to Steve... and also, that she and Steve have kissed. So... this is gonna be one'a dem "be careful what ya wish for" sorta stories, innit?
Diana heads over to the football field to confirm all this... and, gets even more bad news. Looks like Steve kisses anything with a pulse! Also, everyone else she lassos up gives her some pretty brutal truths!
At home, Di elicits advice from her mother on what she should do next. Unfortunately for her, she lassos Hippolyta up before asking... and so, she learns just what a bother all of her silly questions really are. Wonder Woman (when she was a girl) bursts into her bedroom, lamenting the fact that she doesn't have the courage to tell people what she really thinks... and so, she decides to lasso herself up!
Before we know it, she's rocketing toward the Holliday Mall. After bursting through the wall, she sees her pals all having a heckuva good time. She decides her only "truth" is to be true to herself. And so, she ditches the lasso in a garbage can and joins up with her clique.
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This was a cute story... but lemme tell ya, I did not care for the art. It almost looks as though they were trying to make some of these characters appear as ugly as possible. Like, Diana herself is incredibly off-putting. Not sure why an artist would go to such lengths, when clearly not every character comes across as homely. Really made this story more difficult to read than it should've been. I kept wanting to look away... which, ain't good.
As for the story... like I said during the synopsis, it's one'a dem "be careful what you wish for" sort of deals... and, as such, it works! It works quite well. It's pretty clever, and as someone who has read very little Wonder Woman, I'm not sure if this sort of thing is "well-trodden ground" in her stories... so, I found a measure of novelty in it.
Overall, despite my misgivings regarding the art, this was a harmless, fun little story.
