Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1
As influential as the stories of the Golden and Silver Ages were, the simple truth is that those comics don't always hold up several decades later. But there's something special about those early Wonder Woman comics penned by co-creator Dr. William Moulton Marston. As a psychologist and a man with some, let's say, interesting ideas about bondage and sexuality, Marston brought a unique flavor to his Wonder Woman work that DC has often struggled to replicate ever since.
In some ways, those early Wonder Woman comics are hokey, outdated and a wee bit sexist. But they're a lot of fun to read. Unlike so many creators working in the nascent early days of the superhero genre, Marston didn't simply recycle the same tropes, but worked to create a new kind of hero who could speak to a more liberated and progressive culture. Both he and his creation were very much ahead of their time.
For now, this hardcover collection remains the easiest way to get a hold of those early Wonder Woman comics. But for those who crave something a little cheaper or smaller, DC will begin reprinting a series of Wonder Woman: The Golden Age paperbacks in November.
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals
Short of Marston himself, no creator has had as profound an influence on Wonder Woman as George Perez. Much as John Byrne took the reins of the Superman franchise after 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Perez was tasked with reinventing Wonder Woman for a new era. But where Byrne sought to streamline and simplify Superman's world, Perez (along with co-writers Len Wein and Greg Potter) made the choice to double down on the larger-than-life elements of Wonder Woman and emphasize her ties to Greek mythology.
"Gods and Mortals" collects the first seven issues of Perez's 1980's run. Together, these issues are regarded as the definitive account of Diana Prince's origin story, exploring her creation on Paradise Island, her first journey into man's world and her first clash with Ares, the god of war. There have been many new takes on that story since, but it's hard to touch this one (especially with an artist as talented as Perez at the helm).
Fans have several options for reading the "Gods and Mortals" storyline at this point. The recent Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 1 paperback collects issues #1-14 of the series. DC also recently published a hardcover that includes these seven issues and a copy of the 2009 animated Wonder Woman movie. That's a pretty great package.
Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth
Paul Dini isn't just one of the minds behind the seminal Batman: The Animated Series, he's also had quite an impressive career as a comic writer. Wonder Woman: The Spirit of Truth is one of a series of one-shot specials Dini created with painter Alex Ross, each focused on a different Justice League member.
At a scant 64-pages, Spirit of Truth isn't a long read, but it's certainly a memorable one. This character-driven story focuses not on Diana's battles with supervillains, but more real-world threats that aren't so easily punched away. The story is basically a meditation on her humanity and place in the world, one greatly elevated by Ross' gorgeous artwork. The oversized prestige format really allows that art to shine.
Unfortunately, Spirit of Truth and the other Dini/Ross specials are long out-of-print. The good news is that DC will be reprinting them together in a new Absolute Edition hardcover later this year.
Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost
Phil Jimenez is easily one of the greatest artists ever to draw Wonder Woman. The fact that Jimenez's style shares so much in common with that of George Perez is surely no coincidence. And those looking for a taste of Jimenez's influential Wonder Woman run would do well to check out this trade paperback collection.
"Paradise Lost" collects several storylines into one volume. The book opens with a fun Batman crossover, as the gods Phobos, Deimos and Eris wind up possessing the bodies of Scarecrow, Joker and Poison Ivy and wreaking havoc in Gotham City. The next storyline focuses on a massive civil war on Paradise Island, with Diana forced to mediate in her mother's absence.
Both of those tales are worth reading, but the real highlight of this book is Wonder Woman #170, a story titled "She's a Wonder!" This standalone issue features an interview between Diana and Lois Lane as the two spend a day together and Lois learns a little about what it means to truly be Wonder Woman. This issue is widely regarded as one of the one of the best in Wonder Woman's long history, and it's well worth tracking it down even if you forego the rest of the book.
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Greg Rucka is another quintessential Wonder Woman creator, having penned a lengthy run on the series in the early 2000's and recently returned to the franchise for DC Rebirth. Basically, any Wonder Woman comic with Rucka's name attached is worth reading. But if we're going to spotlight any of his works, it's going to be his very first WW tale, The Hiketeia.
The cover to this graphic novel suggests some sort of Justice League-flavored version of Civil War, but the truth is a lot more complicated. The word "Hiketeia" refers to a sacred ritual of supplication and protection. The comic introduces a human woman named Danielle who comes seeking Diana's aid. The problem is that this woman previously murdered the sex slavers who killed her sister, drawing the wrath of Batman. The result is a story that meditates on the nature of justice and morality and plays out as a true Greek tragedy. In short, a terrific start for Rucka's Wonder Woman run.
JLA: League of One
The late '90s/early '00s era of the Justice League is easily one of the strongest for that franchise. That era also yielded some great JLA spinoffs, including this memorable graphic novel from writer/artist Christopher Moeller.
JLA: A League of One puts Wonder Woman firmly in the spotlight as she helps her teammates contend with a threat from the ancient world and a prophecy that the League will die at the hands of the world's last living dragon. It's a story about sacrifice, as so many great Wonder Woman tales are. And given Moeller's background as an artist for the Magic: The Gathering card game, it should come as no surprise that the book features page after page of gorgeously rendered, fantasy-tinged art.
DC's most recent printing of A League of One also includes Moeller's mini-series JLA Classified: Cold Steel. A nice bonus, but A League of One is the main draw here.
Wonder Woman: The Circle
Much like Crisis on Infinite Earths before it, the 2005 mini-series Infinite Crisis resulted in DC taking a "clean slate" approach to a number of their heroes. But where the ongoing Batman and Superman books really hit the ground running in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, it took a little while longer for Wonder Woman to find her footing again. The disastrous "Amazons Attack" crossover really didn't help. It wasn't until Gail Simone took over the relaunched Wonder Woman comic that things really fell into place.
Simone achieved a nice balance with her first story, "The Circle," managing to both bring Diana to her roots as a hero while making the most of the character's relatively unusual status quo as an agent of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. "The Circle" offers a strong new take on Diana's origin and her relationship with the Amazons in general and her mother in particular. "The Circle" also builds a new romance between Diana and her DMA partner, Tom Tresser and throws in fun little flourishes like a troop of hyper-intelligent white gorillas who defected from Gorilla Grodd's army. And with artists like Terry Dodson and Bernard Chang on board, Wonder Woman has rarely looked better.
Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood
More than any other book, Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang's Wonder Woman really set the gold standard for DC's New 52 relaunch in 2011. Where too many comics either made changes for the sake of change or read like they could just as easily have been published in the old DC Universe, Wonder Woman told a story that could only be done with the clean slate offered by the New 52.
"Blood" began a long saga where Azzarello and Chiang fundamentally overhauled Diana's place in the DCU and her relationship with the Greek gods. The series opened with Diana coming to the aid of a mother and her infant child, an act which kicked off a long and often painful odyssey for our hero. Along the way, the series managed to drastically revamp many of the gods and subvert what readers expect from them in the DCU setting. Nowhere was this process more effective than with the relationship between Diana and Ares, now portrayed as less an armored tyrant and more an estranged father figure. The series also delivered the single biggest wrinkle to Diana's familiar origin story in decades.
The Azzarello/Chiang run is collected in Vols. 1 through 6 of the series, and we highly doubt readers will be able to stop at just the first volume. Even though DC has all but swept this series under the rug with the advent of DC Rebirth, it's an essential read for any fan of the character.
Wonder Woman: The True Amazon
With Wonder Woman making her cinematic debut recently, DC has been focusing a lot of energy on publishing new reader-friendly origin stories. There have been some great ones in the past year, including the digital-first series The Legend of Wonder Woman and the gorgeous-looking graphic novel Wonder Woman: Earth One. Both of those books are highly recommended, but we want to give a nod to the one recent origin story that's done to most to lend new depth to the character, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon.
Wonder Woman has always been portrayed as one of the most loving and compassionate heroes in the DCU. With The True Amazon, writer/artist Jill Thompson suggests that those traits aren't innate, but were the process of a long, painful period of self-growth. This comic presents young Diana as a spoiled, self-absorbed brat molded by years of fawning devotion and the promise that she'll one day grow to become the greatest Amazon who ever lived. Only her friendship with a humble girl named Alethea tempers Diana's pride and arrogance, and that friendship helps Diana overcome early tragedies and grow into the selfless ambassador of peace she eventually becomes.
It's a profoundly different take on an iconic character, and one that lends her a new level of depth and humanity. For a more detailed take on this story, check out our review of Wonder Woman: The True Amazon.
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