Wonder Woman #38 (2015)

The Amazons of Themyscira are under attack again, this time by a dragon, and once again, they are pressed to ask themselves where their Queen is, when they are already growing frustrated with Wonder Woman's need to split her attention between her people and her adoptive home. By the time Diana returns, she finds many dead, and few are willing to give her the time of day. She searches for her friend Dessa, but nobody can answer her. Finally, she finds a woman in the infirmary who can tell her that Dessa remained in the battle on the beach in order that others might escape. When Diana finds Dessa at last, she is too late. With her last breath, Dessa asks why Diana didn't come to help her people, but she dies before Diana can even make an excuse. Determinedly, Diana promises her fallen friend that the sacrifice will not be in vain. She locates the dragon, but when it sees her, it bows to her. An armoured woman steps out from beneath its coils, explaining that this dragon was just another of Ares' pets, like the Stymphalian Birds had been. Clearly, Diana had given no thought to what it means to be the God of War. The woman claims that the dragon had only been drawn to a battle between warring factions of Amazons that had already begun, thanks to the discord Diana's nature as God of War had sown. The woman attacks, promising to make Diana pay the price for her failure, but before her blade meets its mark, Diana wakes from a dream, crying tears of blood that stain her hands. Watching from Olympus, Strife hopes to ensure that those blood stains are permanent. Elsewhere, Derinoe calls on Donna Troy to be the Amazons' saviour; to restore order when they are faced with enemies from within. In London, Diana meets with her friend Hessia over coffee, explaining that she doesn't understand what the Amazons want from her. Hessia responds that they simply want a Queen. The Amazons may be a great army, but every army needs a leader. Diana's mother had been that leader for as long as any can remember, but with her gone, it falls to Diana. Diana explains that she had set up a council so that everyone would have a voice - so that they could take control of their own destinies. Hessia supposes that the change might have come too quickly for the Amazons to handle, given that they have lived their lives a certain way for thousands of years - and change is hard. Changing the subject, Hessia wonders if Diana has begun to experience any of the changes that being God of War causes, but Diana insists that she cannot be so easily defined or changed. Hessia counters that the change is invevitable, and Diana should steel herself so that she can shape the kind of God she will become instead of letting it shape her into something like Ares had been. Whatever Diana may think - the title she has inherited comes with consequences. Diana promises that she will live with those consequences, excusing herself to answer the Justice League's call. The League's call is in relation to yet another village that has simply gone missing, this time in Peru. Diana partners with Batman, monitoring Superman as he enters a volcano to investigate Cyborg's readings. While they wait, Batman wonders if being the God of War means that she will become a lightning rod for conflict. Annoyed that nobody seems to want to drop the subject, Diana claims that he should know her well enough to know that she won't let that happen. Bruce reminds that the woman he knows is Wonder Woman, not the God of War. Her anger rising, she warns him to keep his attention on the mission. Bruce comments that she obviously has no idea what it means to be God of War. Superman interrupts, claiming to have found something, and when he turns on his lights, he is attacked suddenly by bugs which appear to resemble Parademons before his communicator goes dead. Derinoe stands before the council and demands that they recognize that Diana has abandoned them as their Queen. Though there is some resistance to the move, others among the council feel that Diana's absence at the council cements her choice. It is the League over the Amazons. Derinoe claims to have a perfect Amazon, and the council demands to see her, so that they can judge her worthiness. Derinoe introduces her replacement by explaining that after praying to Hera for deliverance, she was granted Donna Troy, and welcomes her to the council as the new Queen.