Sat Oct 4, 2008 — by Chuck Rozakis

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: 'Wonderella'

What if Wonder Woman was a total jerkass? Not evil, or a supervillain, or the crazy Nazi-lady from Whom Gods Destroy, but just a self-centered, self-absorbed jerk?

Justin Pierce answers that question, by showing us The Non-Adventures of Wonderella. [link: http://nonadventures.com/].

Pierce skewers (did you see that? That was totally a pun) bits of DC Comics continuity, along with barely-disguised cameos from both DC and Marvel, and a smattering of other pop culture and cartoon references. Wonderella and her sidekick Wonderita fight evil (when it gets in their way), get drunk, travel through time, interact with historical and religious figures, and demonstrate superpowers they don’t even have names for yet.

There's a book available that collects the first 99 strips, titled Everybody Ever Forever, plus the usual assortment of prints and buttons for sale. The strip also appears on Graphic Smash, where you can pay a fee to read Pierce's other superhero-themed comic, Killroy and Tina.

Notable moments:

• The introduction of the nefarious Doctor Shark!
• The Death of Wonderelle
• The Clone Saga
• The Dark Wonderella Strikes Back
• Don't call me again.

Drama: Not as such. This is a humor strip. There's some lovely schadenfreude, though.
Humor: Requires at least a basic knowledge of comic book superheroes, and a willingness to accept that the protagonist is OMG TEH WORST PERSON EVAR.
Continuity: Low. Reading from the beginning will allow you to pick up some of the running gags, but pretty much every strip is self-contained and can be read independently.
Art: Pierce uses a bright, no-outline, construction-paper-cutout style reminiscent of early Scary-Go-Round [link: http://www.scarygoround.com]. Various deviations from this indicate that it's obviously a stylistic choice, not an artistic limitation.
Archive: Two years of page-size comics, about 115 comics.
Updates: Once weekly, on Mondays.
Risk/Reward: Wonderella tends not to suffer consequences of her actions, so long-term conflict and resolution is really not an issue with this strip. Enjoy it while it's here, mourn it if it goes stale or ends.
 

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