I was actually going to give Wonder Woman #12 a 10 for its mind-blowing climax, but, looking back, I was too scared. A 10 was a big deal to me, and I felt better "saving" it, although for what I couldn't say, because my socks had just been knocked off. The same thing happened with FF #17, but again something held me back; I didn't want to lessen the prestige of a 10, even though the comic deserved it.
Luckily, lightning struck twice. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang delivered yet another smashing ending, this time for the First Born arc in Wonder Woman. When I got to the end, that haunting end with no dialogue and pitch perfect colors, my head was buzzing with the emotions and energy of the story. I got up and walked around and then pressed my head down into my bed sheets, but the feeling wouldn't stop. That's when I knew that this issue was a 10, and just like Wonder Woman had to make a monumental decision to become the God of War, I decided I was going to award it this time.
In hindsight, I should have gone with my gut and given those other books a 10. As my Editor Joey said when he gave Superman #712 IGN's first-ever 10, I don't want to live in a world where there can't be perfection. Actually, I don't want to live in a world where I can't admit there can be perfection.
"At long last, Wonder Woman joins Superman #712 and Batman #17 to form the Trinity of Perfection. I thought Wonder Woman #12 was going to be as good as it gets for this series, but somehow Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang managed to build on what made that issue so great and deliver the most poignant, powerful, and poetic superhero comic book I’ve ever read. It doesn't get much better than this, folks."
Read the rest of my review on IGN!
