Bombshells United #5

Written by: Marguerite Bennett
Art by: Siya Oum and Marcelo DiCiara
Colourist: J. Nanjan
Published by: DC Comics

With this issue comes the conclusion of the first story arc, American Soil, in Bombshells United. What Bennett has crafter over these 10 chapters has been a story of how, during World War II, the United States did something quite horrible to its Japanese citizens, and this story seeks to not only bring to light this unfortunate part of history, but also seeks to see how it would have turned out if a hero like Wonder Woman would have been there.

In Chapter 9 of our story, the Clay Men, led by General Armstrong have come to attack the Wonder Girls and an evolved Clayface after they began to spread the truth of what has been happening to Japanese-Americans to the masses. For efficiency’s sake, I understand that Bennett had to do this on a small-scale, but it is a little weird to only see a few dozen “enlightened” people coming to their aid.

The General and his men are no match for this newly formed grouping, and the Wonder Girls make very short work of them and make them see the error of their ways by using the Silver Rope that was created in the last issue - this is, I believe, the essence of Wonder Woman’s sacrifice imbued in her former vestments that the Wonder Girls now wear.

In all, Bennett’s take on Wonder Woman and her cast of characters in World War II was a pretty fun read and fits perfectly in the digital-first model. Each chapter of this opening arc truly did feel like I was reading a singular chapter of a greater story. It also helped that Bennett properly utilized this format to tell the story.