User blog:Tupka217/A bold new direction: an overview of Wonder Woman Vol 2

So, what started out as an attempt to list all Amazons ended up in me indexing all of Wonder Woman Vol 2. And creating a buttload of pages. And because she gets thrown around a lot and has undergone a lot of changes, I decided to do a little breakdown for those interested.

But first of all, Wonder Woman changing scenery is nothing new. Unlike Batman and Superman, she hasn't always had a firm base of characters (except maybe Steve and Etta). In the Silver Age, she's been on the move every so often, from the Pentagon to NASA to walking around in a white suit with I-Ching. Same for her post-Crisis appearances, where everyone wanted their own stamp on the character. Or not.

The breakdown lists major writers; incidentals are ignored.

George Perez
First with Len Wein as writer, later with Chris Marrinan on art. He built on Kanigher's Silver Age version, and then some. He created an entire mythology for the Amazons, tying in to many mythical characters. His run is not heavily focused on classic villains; a new Cheetah appears and the Children of Ares take over for the Duke of Deception and the Earl of Greed and the Baron of Whatnot. Villains take a backseat over the personal troubles of Diana, Hippolyta, Myndi and, above all, Vanessa. Vanessa is now one of my new favorite characters. Good stories, great art. Lasted 63 issues. The first annual and #46 are recommended WW reading.

William Messner-Loebs
The Bolland-cover years; probably the most reviled era of Wonder Woman, and my least favorite as well. Not just for Mike Deodato Jr.'s horrible stripperific 90s art. Story-wise as well. The run is about the White Magician, a villain-of-the-week stretched out over forty issues.

He starts by sending Diana into space for five issues, fighting the Sangtee Empire. When she gets back, Julia has rented out her room and Mayer Inc is bankrupt, cutting off Diana's housing and income. The Taco Whiz days aren't too bad, but it's little to improve it overall. Above all, this tenure is marked by wasted potential. Micah Rains is introduced, and then just shows up a couple of times again. Indelicato's new partner, is introduced with all his backstory and characteristics... and then makes one more appearance. Julia doesn't appear, but the woman who rented Diana's room does. A new hip whizkid, Brian Elliot, is created, just to sit behind a computer a couple of issues. Indelicato himself is reduced to a desk jockey.

And that was just during the time Lee Moder and Jeff Parker were artists. They were slightly cartoony, to the degree that one fill-in issue by Deodato led to letters demanding more of that totally rad art. Which leads us to the dark age of the series.

It only lasted 10 issues, from #90 to #100, but it feels like an eternity. Deodato uses that horrible 90s art (I usually blame WildC.A.T.s for popularizing it). Enter Artemis. Swivel hips, cracked spines, wedgie bathing suits, chainmail bikinis, magic loincloths, big hair and yelling with gritted teeth (try yelling with gritted teeth to someone. I dare you).

Needless to say, this series ended with the death of Artemis and White Magician. Paving the way for Byrne.

John Byrne
Starting at #101. Started with Darkseid and killing off half the Amazons. Introduced Mike Schorr and the Sandsmarks. And the Demon and all his supporting cast. Look, we all love Kirby, but if you're writing Wonder Woman, shouldn't you be writing, you know, Wonder Woman?

Whereas Vanessa had undergone years of character development, Cassie is a pretty flat "ooh, a dangerous fight, looks like fun". She manages to become a sidekick within five issues. Gets superpowers about 10 issues later...

Probably the biggest mythological addition to the legacy is the explanation of the Roman Gods, the introduction of the Lansinarian Morphing Disk/Invisible Plane, and Hippolyta traveling to the past to become World War II era Wonder Woman. This tenure lasted until #136.

Eric Luke
After a couple of fill-ins, Eric Luke took over. Like BML, he created a big villain, but this one actually made sense: Devastation, the Anti-Wonder Woman. But that was just about all his run was. Devastation! The Return of Devastation! And the re-return!. Wonder Woman lived in her floating Wonderdome with no real supporting cast except for Chiron. He also introduces us to the Hindu Gods, and a possible love interest in Rama Chandra.

Also done by Luke is the horrible Ghosts annual, which revisits Myndi Mayer's death and completely ignores and contradicts everything we know about her.

Phil Jimenez
The first issues were co-plotted by Perez, and that's all you need to know. It's the best since Perez left. It revisits everything from the past creators: we finally learn Etta and Steve married (Etta had scarce appearances in BML' run, but the marriage was already impending during Perez's run).

We learn of Cassie's parentage, see Themyscira replaced, Hippolyta die. We even see a throwaway character from the Sangtee Empire story return during OWaW, and Micah gets his name dropped... Jimenez continues Perez's mythopoeia of the Amazons, the troubles of the Bana, the petty gods. He reintroduced many classic villains like Villainy Inc., and elaborated on Hippolyta's days as well.

The sad part about the writer shift is that Byrne was setting up Giganta with subtle hints and sub-plotlines, but Luke ignored that... leaving Jimenez to having to explain what happened next in flashback. Vanessa makes her comeback with a vengeance. Well-written, and the jealousy of Cassie is completely understandable.

Also new is Trevor Barnes, who, unlike Steve, Micah and even Indelicato, is specifically created as a love interest rather than a supporting character. He serves little purpose, and is probably the only weak point in this run. But eventually, even his run came to an end.

Walt Simonson
Technically a fill in, but it lasted five issues. A story that makes little sense with a bunch of other pantheons. Its main purpose seems to have been killing off Trevor. I didn't like the guy, but he deserved a better end.

Greg Rucka
Despite the changes, a pretty strong run. He starts, like many others, with drastically changing everything. Byrne placed Themyscira off the California coast, Jimenez placed it in the Bermuda triangle, and Greg Rucka lets Hera destroy Themyscira as well. He also kills the Lansinarian Morphing Disk, which is then locked in Invisible Jet mode... which never reappears.

The Gods are reimagined, and get a new design. More modern, actually pretty cool looking. In doing so, Demeter seems to have absorbed Artemis as she's carrying a bow all the time, and Arty's nowhere to be seen. The gods play a pretty big part in this run, with Athena usurping Zeus and Ares killing Hades. Circe and the Gorgons also play a big part, though as unwitting pawns of Ares.

Introduction of the Themysciran Embassy and its crew. I like that all are written as functions rather than character archetypes. Vanessa returns, and gets better. She deserved that.

Veronica Cale is a new character. Not the first big addition, after White Magician and Devastation. Like Deva, she's an Anti-Wonder Woman. A female Lex Luthor. Self-made, and not content that their enemy never had to work for it.

His run ends with event tie-ins. OMAC Project, Infinite Crisis. Not bad, but they require the context.

So, all in all, my favorite eras were Perez and Jimenez, with Rucka third. Then Byrne (I am really starting to hate that art style), then Luke, then Simonson and BML. So if you want to get a trade paperback, go for an old one. Don't waste your money on BML.

Hope you enjoyed it. If I missed something, feel free to correct me.