Wonder Woman published by DC Comics

Wonder Woman: The Circle  2008 (HC & SC TPB) 138 pages

Written by Gail Simone. Pencils Terry Dodson, Bernard Chang, with Ron Randall. Inks by Rachel Dodson, others.
Colours: Lee Loughridge, Alex Sinclair, I.L.L. Letters: various. Editors: Matt Idelson, Nachie Castro.

Reprinting: Wonder Woman (3rd series) #14-19 (2008)

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

The Circle collects the first two storylines from Gail Simone's run on the comic. This after Wonder Woman was relaunched with a new #1 a year or so earlier.

Being a famous, but commercially problematic, character, Wonder Woman is always undergoing creative changes and "new directions". So the current version of our fearless Amazon has adopted a civilian alter ego, that of Diana Prince, agent for the U.S. government dept. of Metahuman Affairs (ie: super beings). This change alone has irked some fans, as Wonder Woman had spent the last couple of decades just as Princess Diana, Amazon Ambassador, with no civilian disguise. But since the character spent some four plus decades prior to that with a secret identity, one could argue they aren't so much turning their backs on the last twenty years, as simply returning to the character's roots. In fact, given that there was a period in the late 1960s/early 1970s when Wonder Woman lost her powers and she basically acted as a non-costumed spy/private eye, the idea of her civilian identity being a government agent could be seen as a homage to that period (even the fact that she dresses, in her civilian ID, in a white jump suit seems to hearken back to that period).

In other words, it could be argued the current Wonder Woman is less a rejection of any one era of Wondy's adventures, and more an attempt to bring them together in one incarnation.

Anyway, the main story arc -- The Circle -- has Wondy discovering some neo-Nazis are planning to occupy the Amazon home, Themyscira -- or Paradise Island for us traditionalists. The Amazons themselves having left/been banished due to some previous company crossover/story arc (yawn). So the only inhabitant of the island is Queen Hippolyta...and four mysterious prisoners of whom even Wonder Woman is ignorant. And these prisoners are what give the story its real spark as we learn something of their back story...and their pathologucal antipathy toward Wonder Woman. Oh...and there are also some talking gorillas!

And perhaps the word that best describes this is: fun.

Simone writes an entertaining adventure story that moves along briskly, has enough disparate plot elements to sustain four issues, juggling a lightness and humourous quips, while still maintaining a dramatic core and serious, emotional moments. Her Wonder Woman is ingratiating, cunning, tough, but humorous and self-effacing, and Simone does a better than decent job of convincingly juggling the inherent philosophical contradictions of the warrior woman who advocates peace. Essentially, Wondy takes a kind of Tomboyish thrill in the roughhousing...but is always keenly searching for any hint the conflict can be resolved passively.

I won't say its flawless. Like with a lot of modern comics, there can be a certain emotional superficiality at times. A scene where Wondy -- in her powerless Diana Prince alter ego -- is confroted by the super powered Captain Nazi lacks suspense because Wondy herself never seems particularly perturbed. I question the idea of Diana working for the "Department of Metahuman Affairs" simply because a civilian alter ego should contrast with the fantasy of the super hero-ing -- having her alter ego be part of an equally fantasty concept seems pointless (like having Iron Man be the director of SHIELD!). And Simone does the usual cheat of having the story end...but with a question that's meant to hint at future revelations to come...sometime...maybe...assuming Simone stays around long enough to deliver on 'em. And though the plot comfortably fills out its pages, it doesn't maybe stretch them, without any truly "shocking" surprises (I thought it might've been clever to have it revealled that Diana wasn't the first child created by Hippolyta...but that an earlier one had been murdered).

But the general impression that I'm left with is of an enjoyable adventure, and maybe some of the best Wondy I've read.

Simone is one of the few women tagged to write Wonder Woman's regular comic (in 60 years!) and maybe it's because she's a woman that she came up with the idea she did -- a re-considering of Wondy's birth, and its impact on some of the Amazons, that is obvious and plausible...yet I'm not sure any previous writer ever thought of it.

The second story, Ex-patriate, a shorter two-parter, has Wonder Woman reluctantly coming to the aid of the alien Khund -- a recurring, warrior race, usually the villains in DC Comics --when their world is threatened with extinction by a mysterious invader. Again, I can recognize flaws/weaknesses in the telling (the Khunds say they came to Wondy because of a legend among their people she might be part-Khund, but other than as a plot point, it's not explained why they believe this). But, again, my overall impressions remain positive. It's briskly paced, nicely mixing the humourous (even silly) and the serious (even moving); Simone's take on Wondy's character is as a fairly likeable, unpretentious character.

(And there's a minor, joke scene that may well be the first time DC has ever alluded to an idea that most people have basically already pondered -- that is, if the Amazons are a race without men, doesn't that imply a potential for lesbianism?)

Although both story lines are complete herein, there are plenty of continuity references -- from Flash-foe Gorilla Grodd who, though unseen, is clearly being set up as a recurring adversary, to the Khunds themselves and references to a previous attempted invasion of earth. But I think most is explained well enough as the stories unfold...at least, enough to follow the plots. So though you don't need to know specifics (as I didn't) it probably reads best if you have a general familiarity with the DCU (as I do).

"The Circle" arc is drawn, mainly by Terry and Rachel Dodson (though Ron Randall pinch hits a few scenes) and I sort of had mixed feelings about it. As on one hand the art is good and attractive, on the other hand with its open line work, there's a certain cartooniness to it that I don't always like. But Dodson manages to draw a beautiful Wonder Woman...without sliding into gratuitous cheesecake. And the visuals maybe add to my earlier reference to"fun", the art open and lively. And clearly I was enjoying Dodson's art, because even though Randall is a perfectly okay artist, with a style that doesn't clash, I found his scenes less effective.

The Khund story is drawn by Bernard Chang, again, with a style that's in the same vein as Dodson's (realist but leaning toward cartoony, Spartan line work) but not quite as effective, his figures and faces a bit more angular. Yet overall, the art remains decent throughout.

It's the colouring that is the weakest part. With the colourist choosing odd hues that just further de-emphasize realism, the flesh tones often pallid, occasionally even yellowish.

Ultimately, of course, like many modern TPB collections, this is just a collection of a few issues, rather than a carefully constructed "graphic novel" building to some grand climax. Both stories are, more or less, complete in these pages, but there are on going sub-plots -- Wonder Woman abruptly announcing she wishes to "court" a guy that, in these pages, we didn't realize had met her in her Wonder Woman guise!, or the hints that Gorilla Grodd is up to some big scheme.

As many of my reviews on this site indicate, I often find myself finishing Wonder Woman stories with a vague dissatisfaction, a feeling that even the writers themselves were struggling to get a grip on the material. Here...I have no such qualm. Simone's may not be the definitive Amazon Princess (after six decades, no one version can be), but she seems to have settled on a personality she can get a grip on, and the stories are well-paced and energetic.

A solid read.

This is a review of the stories as they were serialized in the monthly comics.

Cover price: $ ___

Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals  2004 (SC TPB) 192 pages

Plotting by George Perez, Greg Potter. Script by Greg Potter, Len Wein. Pencils by George Perez. Inks by Bruce Patterson, with Bob Wiacek.
Colours: Tatjana Wood. Letters: John Costanza. Editor: Karen Berger.

Reprinting: Wonder Woman (2nd series) #1-7 (1987)

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Additional notes: intro by Perez; covers; related character profiles from Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe (which just recap what happens in this TPB and maybe should've been left for a future TPB collection).

As readily identifiable as Superman and Batman, and one of the few comic book characters to be published, more or less continuously, since the 1940s, Wonder Woman is considered a lynchpin of DC Comics. At the same time, she's never been that successful. Some have claimed that any other character with her sales numbers would've been cancelled decades ago. But she's such a marketing icon -- gracing pillow slips and lunch boxes and puzzles -- DC has never wanted to retire the property.

Supposedly part of the problem has been the difficulty attracting first rate artists and writers to the book, or at least getting them to tackle it with enthusiasm (after all, writers have included such greats as Robert Kanigher, Denny O'Neil, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas). When DC Comics overhauled its line after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman was felt to be in desperate need of a shot in the arm...a shot that came when super star artist, George Perez, expressed interest in the title. Perez's run garnered almost universal praise, visually and narratively, and boosted sales, though it still wasn't enough to put her on a level with the genuine best selling comics.

I'd really wanted to read some of these early Perez issues for a long time. Both because of the accolades, and because I do have an affection for Wonder Woman, even as I agree with the consensus that her lacklustre periods overwhelm any highlights. I, too, want to see her done right.

Finally, DC re-released most of Perez's run starting with this first of a four TPB collection. The good news is this is a decent volume...the bad news, it still failed to excite me.

The first issue starts out establishing the back story of the Amazons of Paradise Island, their connection to the Greek Gods, and the "birth" of Diana...soon to be Wonder Woman. It reminded me a little of the issue "The Pact" in Kirby's New Gods, which crammed an epic saga of mythology into a single issue. But unlike Kirby, scripter (and co-plotter with Perez) Greg Potter fails to make it more than a Classic's Illustrated treatment. Although the mythological aspect was always a part of Wonder Woman stories, Perez's run amped it up considerably. But there's a certain lack of, well, bombast, in dialogue and art throughout the "gods" scenes of this story arc -- it lacks the kind of theatricality that used to make the New Gods, and Marvel's Thor, fun...and full of passion and vigour.

There's also some aspects that start to veer uncomfortably toward "mature readers" areas, what with the back story of the Amazons being that they were once, briefly, conquered by Greeks (led by the demi-god Heracles), enslaved, and raped!

The saga continues, echoing the familiar WW origin, but with some twists, as WW rescues Colonel Steve Trevor and goes to America to stop Ares, God of War, from unleashing some deadly master plan. The comic starts telling its own story, introducing new supporting characters (as well as familiar ones like Trevor and Etta Candy) and a plot mixing super hero action, as Wonder Woman battles agents of Ares, with a conspiracy plot as Steve Trevor is framed for murder. But even here the conspiracy plot seems kind of perfunctory. It isn't exactly rife with paranoia, where the reader isn't sure who to trust -- there're few surprise revelations or double crosses. Even Ares' "plan" isn't some cleverly laid masterwork of intricacies but just culminates with a few rogue troops loyal to him hijacking a nuclear missile silo. It's a bit as if Perez had a vague story idea that never quite gelled in his head.

In fact, one wonders if the problem with all those creative cooks -- Potter starting things (then leaving, one assumes, less than amicably), then Perez plotting, but getting Wein to script -- a lot of the nitty gritty of logic and cohesion falls in the cracks. At one point, Trevor tracks Wonder Woman down...but it's not explained how. And various stuff involving a disk of Ares and a map seemed kind of inexplicable. Even the fact that the Gods feel their time is ending if Ares wins -- but it's not explained why. Okay, when you're dealing with magic and fantasy, some things just have to be accepted as a given of the plot. But still... Even little things like Wonder Woman using her tiara as a cutting blade when there was no indication earlier it was that sharp, or her employing her magic lasso in the climax...but it demonstrates a power that I don't believe was foreshadowed! All this is nitpicking, I'll grant you, but it starts to pile up after a while.

Still, when the saga (complete in this TPB) gets going, the story picks up, and Perez (now joined by Len Wein as scripter) cuts between the various cast members, and their various plot threads, occasionally creating a sense of complexity. But it is more a sense than an actuality. And for a seven issue run, even the supporting cast seems a tad undeveloped...or maybe they are developed, and are just a bit bland (Etta Candy comes across best).

Perez is a master of cramming lots of panels onto a page, and letting writers cram words into those panels, meaning you get a lot for your money...but the end result, strangely, doesn't really feel like you're getting more story or characterization. It even seems a bit draggy, occasionally.

There are clever, imaginative ideas, like having Wonder Woman arrive in America only able to speak ancient Greek, or the eerie depiction of the river Styx where river and sky merge into a grey background, and the surreal vision of Mt. Olympus.

I used to love Perez's art and his intricate detail. He breaks actions down in an almost cinematic way. And clearly landing Perez-the-artist was seen as a big coup for the comic. But, I'll admit, there's a certain stiffness to the figures, and there can be a certain drabness to the scenes, particularly action scenes. And I mentioned before the way the characters seem ill-defined, and that's partly attributable to Perez's art which fails to entirely create memorable looks for the personalities. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. I still like Perez's art, but I'm no longer sure I love it.

One can't shake the feeling that a problem facing Wonder Woman over the years...is that, like a lot of DC's heroes, she can be a bit, well, bland. Her powers are a tad generic (Perez even gives her the power of flight, dropping her nifty invisible plane, and making her even more like just Superman with breasts). And her unique aspects -- like her bullet deflecting bracelets and her lasso are rather under-employed. Perez also drops the secret identity bit.

One would like to think that he did all that because he had such a strong vision of this "new" take on the character...but the very fact that he throws in so many supporting players, and robs her of her ability to speak English (at first) actually marginalizes her even more. I can point to some (less well regarded) Wonder Woman comics from my youth (written by Conway and the like) in which I had a better sense of WW as a person than I do in these issues. By introducing Trevor as middle aged, Perez also seems to be shutting the door on any romance. But most male super heroes have love interests -- it helps define the characters, giving them something outside their super battles to focus on. By dropping the romance, it's as if DC's saying -- rather misogynistically -- the only way a woman can be a hero is if she's sexless.

In fact, the very emphasis on Wonder Woman, and the Amazons, as agents of the Gods -- though no doubt intended to evoke the flavour of old Greek myths -- could also be seen as sexist, as Wonder Woman and the Amazons spend very little time initiating actions or plans.

It seems to me that Wonder Woman shouldn't be seen as just a female Superman, but as the Silver Surfer -- a quasi-pacifist (as much as a super herro can be a pacifist) fighting the very idea of violence. After all, with her magic lasso, she was already equipped with a great pacifist "weapon", and her bullet-deflecting bracelets were also somewhat defensive. Perez and the gang certainly seem to be thinking the same by facing her off against the God of War, where Steve Trevor is a Liberal soldier at odds with his hawkish superiors. Unfortunately, Perez doesn't follow through. Pretty soon she is scraping with the best of them, blustering, and even using lethal force against demonic adversaries while her (mainly military) allies get into shoot-outs with the villains.

I'm left reading a Wonder Woman comic where I don't really feel like the creators have much of a handle on Wonder Woman.

And above all, that emerges as the problem here for me -- I just didn't much care, about Wonder Wooman or her supporting cast. Despite Wein being an old pro, and a writer I often like, he and Perez fail to really humanize the personalities and relationships.

In his introduction, Perez admits that Potter actually started the ball rolling, but that Potter basically quit when Perez started to dominate (not just the title, but Potter seems to have left the biz entirely). Perez states that some of Potter's proposed ideas didn't sit well with some of the DC staff -- particularly the women. But Perez doesn't say what those ideas were going to be. In other words, he basically implies there was something sexist and/or offensive about Potter's ideas...then acts all innocent, as if it would be inappropriate for him to say what those ideas were. In other words, he slurs Potter, even as he pretends he's not slurring him.

Cover price: $30.95 CDN./ $19.95 USA. 

Wonder Woman: Gods of Gotham  2001 (SC TPB) 96 pgs.

Written by Phil Jimenez, J.M. DeMatteis. Pencils by Phil Jimenez. Inks by Any Lanning, Cam Smith.
Colours: Pam Rambo. Letters: Comicraft. Editor: Tony Bedard, Eddie Berganza.

Reprinting: Wonder Woman (2nd series) 164-167 (2001) with covers.

Rating: * *  (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Before I get into the meat of the book, the format is worth commenting on. It costs roughly half what it would've cost if it had been published as a more conventional TPB. You still get quality paper and elaborate colour, it's just the paper isn't quite as expensive as most TPBs, and the cover is softer, almost more like a magazine than a TPB. Bringing the prices down is soooo important to the future of the industry. Cheaper books need to be encouraged. This story was also subsequently included in the more standard TPB, Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost (along with the next three consecutive issues)

Now on to the contents...

Three Greek gods have possessed the bodies of Batman villains the Joker, Poison Ivy, and the Scarecrow, and plan to open a dimensional portal in the middle of Gotham City that will allow Ares, God of War, to come to earth. Wonder Woman sets out to stop them, hooking up with Batman, and each bringing along with them their "family" of sidekicks. For Wonder Woman there's Artemis, Troia (the former Wonder Girl), and the current Wonder Girl, plus a brief stop over on Paradise Island, for Batman there's Huntress, Nightwing (the former Robin), the current Robin, and Oracle (the former Batgirl). And comic relief villainess Harly Quinn also shows up.

Essentially this is another one of those stories where part of the point is to arrange a massive team-up between various characters.

This marked the beginning og Phil Jimenez's run on the comic as plotter and artist -- Jimenez, the Man Who Would Be George Perez, only he's possibly even a bit better than Perez with his ability to create mood and employ more limbre figures. But the down side is that Jimenez's art may be a little too busy: lots of little panels crammed with lots of background and details. It can be overwhelming, depersonalizing the human factor. Not to mention it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on, particularly with how darkly Batman's coloured. Of course Jimenez, with his Perez-influenced style, might bring a nostalgic flavour to things, as it was Perez who rebooted Wonder Woman in the late 1980s (and, indeed, this story resurrects God villains encountered in Perez's first story arc).

As for the plot: the story hits the ground running, which might almost be a part of the problem. Sure, it means it starts fast...but there's little build up, little chance for us to be drawn into the story. Tthe Gods have assembled a cult, headed by another Batman foe, Maxie Zeus, and most of the story takes place in a kind of inter-dimensional limbo located inside an old church. Structurally, it probably works better as a collected story because it doesn't really feel like something that should've been serialized. There aren't a lot of twists or turns, nor does it shoot off on unexpected sub-plots. It's basically an 88 page action sequenc that takes place in and around this church/dimensional rift. Even a couple of the cliff-hangers that break up the issues/chapters are kind of pointless, with a character declaring something we already knew but acting as if it's a shocking revelation that hooks us for the breathless "To Be Continued" notice at the bottom of the page that then leads to the next chapter. And the climax is a little too Deus ex machina.

There is some attempt at character exploration, with various heroes confronting personal fears (the god who inhabits the Scarecrow is, not surprisingly, a god of fear) and there is some intriguing philosophizing about religion and faith here and there. But a lot of it's heavy handed. The characters state ideas more than demonstrate them. And the character-human emotion stuff is a little shallow anyway. The best stuff is the always very "real" interaction between Teen Titans buddies, Nightwing and Troia. So much so that one half wished the story could've been just about them. There's also an amusing exchange between Batman and Nightwing when they first hook up. But the main marketing point, the teaming up of all the heroes, is part of the problem. With too many heroes, few get enough space to simply be people.

In fact, this is another Wonder Woman collection where I emerged out the other side still not really getting a feel for who and what the writers in question picture Wonder Woman to be.

I've been feeling old lately. Why? Because although I'm the first to acknowledge that something like Gods of Gotham is better drawn and better produced than the few Wonder Woman comics I read from twenty years ago, as a human personality, I think she was far more vividly realized in those older stories. In fact, just as a scientific experiment, see if you can find The Brave and the Bold #158 in the back issue bins at your local comic shop. It was also a Batman/Wonder Woman team up. It's not a "must read" story, but see which realizes the humanity of the characters better. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jimenez and DeMatteis do a better, more sophisticated job then Gerry Conway (in B&B). But it'd be an interesting comparison.

Gods of Gotham has nice art and it isn't dull, but neither is it exciting or particularly original, with too much sameness throughout. The fact of the matter is -- I've read it twice, and both times I never really connected with it, emotionally. In fact, it's -- well, I hate to say it -- but it's a bit of a slog, "full of sound and fury", but failing to engage as a story.

It's also curious how many of these Wonder Woman collections I review on this page feature guest stars and team ups, as if DC's not fully convinced a collection just featuring Wonder Woman would do well.

Still, you got to love the cover price!

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./$5.95 USA.

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