It’s a nice day for a white wedding, or in the case of Diana and Hades it’s more of a red wedding. Diana has traveled to Hell to rescue Zola and along the way the weapons she bore in Eros’ pistols of love were turned against her so that Hades could force her to love him and to join him in [un]holy matrimony.

With the use of Wonder Woman’s own lasso of truth Hades has tied Diana up and asked her one final question before their marriage can be made official; does Diana love Hades? Given the shot to the chest with Cupid’s bullet things aren’t looking too bright for Diana.

Read on for my review!

Whenever Cliff Chiang steps out as artist I always find myself thinking “man… this would have been so much nicer if it were drawn by Chiang.” There’s nothing against Akins, and while his work as a filler artist has always been very acceptable in exchange for Chiang, there’s just no replacing the phenomenal artist. All gripes with the art aside, regardless of how biased or small those gripes are, this was another great issue of Brian Azzarello’s series. 

We start with the conflict at hand being Hades asking Diana if she loves him or not. If she does they become wed, if she doesn’t then she becomes dead, so it seems like a lose-lose situation either way. But we as comic readers should know that she’s going to get out of it somehow, and it’s how she gets out of it that really made this issue special.

For reasons not explained until later in the issue Diana is able to escape Hades’ clutches while telling him that she does love him, and the middle portion of the issue turns into an action sequence fit for a a true Greek epic, complete with a giant lava-Hades and an intrusion by Strife. But the true wonder in this issue comes from it’s finale. 

When Hades confronts Diana and accuses her of having lied to him about loving her to which she responds that she did not lie (she couldn’t, given the fact she was tied up in the lasso of truth), but that she loves everyone. Hades questions why the pistols of Eros didn’t work on Diana, and this explanation is really where the issue stands as one of the best of the series thus far. You can’t make anyone love you unless you love yourself. Hades retreats, upset that even though Diana confesses that she loves him that she will not marry him. Hephaestus hands Hades a gift before he, Diana, and the rest of their group heads out. In the final two pages Diana takes Eros’ gun, and from far off takes aim and shoots at Hades as he opened Hephaestus’ gift, which happened to be a mirror that he’d be staring at just as Eros’ bullet hit straight through his heart. 

That final few pages, that final moment just made this issue stick with me as a truly special one. It showcases Diana’s love, and that she truly does have love for everyone, enough love to hope that everyone can love themselves as much as she loves them. Not only that, but Hades is depicted as a truly tragic character in many ways. PLUS we get some incredible character work for Hephaestus in the few pages he appears. However, that one moment is the strongest of the whole issue. It’s a moment that I think is truly beautiful in every way, and it makes for a completely satisfying issue. I think if it weren’t for the fact that Chiang took a leave for this issue then it’d basically be a perfect issue, especially for this comic. I’ve been praising this book since issue #1, and it’s never been better than it’s been now. Let’s hope Azzarello doesn’t slow down going forward.

GO Rating: 4.5/5

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