I was little nervous to read this adaptation. Prose scripts don’t always translate well into the medium of sequential art, but I think the team who worked on this did an excellent job transitioning this story into a graphic novel. I do have some problems with the second half of the story for meandering a bit from the main plot, but it’s my understanding that’s a common criticism of the novel as well.

Leigh Bardugo writes a really charming and honorable Diana, and her coming-of-age drive to prove herself to her peers on Themyscira makes sense given the island’s context as an afterlife for accomplished warriors. I was worried once she left the island Diana would be the target of overdone culture clash and “out of touch” jokes, but Bardugo uses the story’s lore and Diana’s sharp mind at picking up context clues that she dodges a lot of those terrible cliches.

The new character, Alia Keralis, really started to grow on me as her friendship with Diana grew in the second act. Alia gets bolder as the story goes on and she interacts with her supporting cast. She really comes into her own and I wouldn’t mind in the slightest if she became a supporting character in Wonder Woman’s main continuity.

One of the criticisms I’m seeing from people who read the novel is that this adaptation loses a couple details here and there since this is a shorter read. Personally I’m fine with that. I think the team did good with the space they had, and given the story meanders a bit around the halfway point, I think I would have been far more critical of this story if I had had to wade through more words to get back to focusing on the main plot. Another criticism I’m seeing is the art, and while I’m used to the monochrome style DC’s YA comics have been using, I agree that this book would have benefitted from more frequent use of colors like the red and yellow seen on Wonder Woman’s costume. It’s likely a way to cut costs, but the live action Wonder Woman movie used color in really interesting ways and it’s a shame this graphic novel wasn’t able to do the same.

If you’re interested by the plot but either don’t want to spend as much time with a normal book or just prefer graphic novels I say give this a shot. Warbringer is a solid new origin for a young Wonder Woman with a compelling plot and characters begging for a sequel.