On the third page, Wonder Woman Tempest Tossed made me sit up and take notice, as Diana's Amazon companion said:
And I wasn't disappointed when I turned the page, as the Five Mothers turned out to be Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Artemis, and Hestia (last but apparently the most important of them all), in a clear return to Pérez.May the Five Mothers help us.
There is a lot to like in Laurie Halse Anderson's script and Leila del Duca's art (and correct me on this, but is this the first time we have had an all-women creative team for a Wonder Woman title, as they are joined by Kelly Fitzpatrick on colours and Saida Temofonte on letters?). Themyscira and the Amazons are treated respectfully and with love. Diana ends up in Man's World out of compassion and a desire to help, though in an entirely different way than is common in most of her origin stories. Throughout, Diana's compassion and desire to help is portrayed as a strength and a virtue, never as naďveté or as weakness. Through Diana, we get a lot of commentary on refugees, racism, poverty, and homelessness.
Art-wise, it connects with a lot of the earlier DC Ink titles, with a limited colour palette and a more stylised aesthetic, and it generally supports the emotional beats on the story very well, though it doesn't do as well on the action elements. I like how del Duca manages to draw Diana as very tall without making her seem disproportionate.
On characters, Diana again gets some new companions in Man's World: Steve Chang and his husband Trevor; Henke Cykierek and her granddaughter Riassa. In this too, it feels like a return to Pérez. It's not that they are bad characters, but I think there is a strength in the recurring stable of supporting characters.
As plots goes, this is rather simple: Diana rescues some refugees from Man's World about to be shipwrecked on Themyscira, and as a result ends up in a refugee camp in Greece. She is found by Steve and Trevor, and they manage to get her a scholarship in the USA. There she is hosted by Henke, befriends Riassa (with some snags on the way), learns about our world, and investigates the kidnapping of children. As plots goes, it's not too complex, but the real strength lies in how Diana interacts with people around her.
Is it all good? Sadly, no. I already mentioned how the art doesn't manage to sell the action, and there isn't much action in the book. The plot is fine as it goes, but doesn't feel very Wonder Woman-y: more suited to a character like Batgirl, Catwoman, or Black Canary (indeed, The Oracle Code had a plot that wasn't too dissimilar). It also feels like the book pulls its political and social punches. It never managed to pick up one issue and really dig into it, like Under the Moon did with domestic abuse and youth homelessness, or The Oracle Code did with disability, or Breaking Glass reveled in its queerness.
But perhaps the greatest problem with the story is that Diana is fundamentally unchanged through the book. This makes it feel more static and less interesting than the other titles from DC Young, like the earlier Diana: Princess of the Amazons.
Verdict: a good but not great introduction to Wonder Woman.