Wonder Woman’s recent costume change has sparked a lot of controversy, getting exposure on news sites such as FOX, The Washington Post, The Guardian and much more. The more I read through the comments on these various articles, the more I realize: most of the people who are making a big deal out of this costume change have never read a Wonder Woman comic before, and more than likely don’t read comics to begin with. Rather than go on a fanboy rant, I will instead use today’s Friday Rec to recommend some great Wonder Woman stories from over the years. After all, there’s so much more to Diana than a costume.
Easily the most classic Wonder Woman run was that by comics legend George Pérez which began in 1987. Pérez is best known as an artist, and that is indeed what he originally joined the title to do. However, by the second issue of the newly relaunched series then-writer Greg Potter left the title, and Pérez quickly stepped in as a plotter, sometimes (but not always) relying on other writers to write his scripts. Pérez and Potter started the new title right after Crisis on Infinite Earths, giving the two a perfect chance to revitalize the character. Trust me, Diana needed a revamp even more than Superman did around that time.
As the new Wonder Woman title started over from the very beginning, rather than continuing from where Crisis on Infinite Earths left off like other titles did, Pérez had a lot of timeline to catch up with. The good thing about this, however, is that it left the reboot completely accessible to new readers. Anyone can read Pérez’s Wonder Woman, as you need to know absolutely nothing regarding her history or the history of the DC Universe (no matter what that ad on #1 says). As such, it is perfect both for newcomers to Wonder Woman and new comic readers in general. Pérez’s run lasted 62 issues, but as of yet only the first 24 have been released across four trades.
My personal favorite Wonder Woman run is that by Greg Rucka. Anyone who is into comics knows that Rucka has a reputation for writing strong female characters, and when it comes to comics Wonder Woman is the strong female lead. Anyone who thinks that Wonder Woman is just the female equivalent to Superman will be proven very wrong with Rucka’s run. Sure, Diana is portrayed as an incredibly nice person most of the time (as she should be), but it seems like non-Wonder Woman readers completely forget that she is from an Amazonian warrior society. If there is no other way, she has no reservations about killing. To put it quite simply, Diana is hardcore as all get out.
Rucka’s run in particular showcases both this warrior aspect of Wonder Woman’s personality while retaining her near infinite compassion. The storytelling and characterization from Rucka’s stay on the title are excellent, and I would say that this is one of my (many) favorite in-continuity runs of all time. The only flaw I can see is how much the end relies on the crossover Infinite Crisis, which makes this probably better for readers who are more learned regarding the DC Universe. The first four trades, however, are easy enough to get into, so I still recommend them to newer and more experienced readers alike. Either way, you have no reason not to read his original graphic novel The Hiketeia, though, seeing as it’s completely self-contained. Plus, it has art from the incredible J.G. Jones.
Last, but hardly least, on our list is the ever-entertaining Gail Simone. Well known for her feminist writing, it was only a matter before Simone had her chance to handle DC’s biggest female character. Simone jumped on the book at a bad time, after the terrible One Year Later relaunch and the utterly abysmal Amazons Attack!, but man if she didn’t do an incredible job with what she was given to work with. Simone’s work on the title brought back the epic feel that Wonder Woman deserves, and was just one of the most fun and exciting books on the DC shelves. Her run just ended with #44 about a month ago (unless you count her short story in #600 this week), so not everything is out in trade yet. The last trade should be out in October, so you can space your spending out over the next few months if you’re interested.
Surely these three aren’t the only writers to do DC’s Amazonian princess justice, but in my opinion they’ve done the best job at capturing Diana’s modern character. There are other good stories out there, but there are also a lot of bad ones, so I suggest doing a bit of research before making a purchase you may regret. If I didn’t make it clear enough before, Amazons Attack! is possibly one of the worst comics DC has ever published, so avoid that like the plague. Otherwise, give some of these a read and I’m sure you’ll see that Wonder Woman’s most important traits do not include her appearance.
