Eric Luke Run (1998-2000) Discussion Thread

[WonderScott]

No it was Luke, he caused the invisible tech to fall in love with Diana. Then it went rogue, causing major destruction, and eventually formed itself into the Wonder Dome to give her a place to stay and say it was sorry. It was a good story, I quite enjoyed his run.

Besides the Wonder Dome my favorite part was Devestation. Despite all her powers and ability to match Wonder Woman, she pulled out a gun and casually shot her. That was shocking and a super cool mustache twirling move. The designs for Cronus and his children were awesome too.

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Thank you! I thought I was misremembering the details.

[Primal Slayer]

The precursor to New52...

[OBrianTallent]

I very much liked Eric Luke's run and agree it does not get the recognition it deserves. I loved that he brought in other pantheons and tried to make Diana more global and less insular as most tend to do, keeping her seated firmly in the Greek run. Another important aspect of Luke's run is that we saw the beginning of Yanick Paquette's career as well as the DC debut (I believe) of Matthew Clark. Luke's run was also graced with the beautiful work of Adam Hughes on the covers, unfortunately those same covers presented Diana's costume in a poor light as Hughes was notorious for drawing Diana's bottoms as pretty much non-existant and her boots were "stylishly" slouchy...not quite the fashion statement for a super heroine. For a very brief time, Matt Haley provided some truly beautiful covers as well.

Luke's run was brief and he had the misfortune of falling between John Byrne's run and Phil Jiminez's run. Writing only seventeen issues, Luke's run was fairly short, had a three issue interruption with stories by Doselle Young who brought Nubia into the modern age (to no avail) and one issue by Mark Millar of all people spotlighting Cassie as Wonder Girl (beautifully drawn by Georges Jeanty.)

Luke created some truly terrifying new characters that could have become far more than what they were left as (which with them having been potentially designed by Paquette, I am suprised DC hasn't used them more) which I could also see them collecting the books under a Paquette banner rather than Luke's name. i am only slightly surprised they have never been collected, but again...nothing of too much importance happened during his run other than just being good stories with some interesting characters...not something DC really rolls out the red carpet for unfortunately.

[Stanlos]

What are your thoughts on the Eric Luke run that ran from #139-159 in Wonder Woman Vol 2?

I feel like this run barely gets mentioned. He went hard on the mythological aspects and used more than just the Greek pantheon in his run. He also revived Dr Poison for the modern as a mad scientist experimenting on divine beings and introduced Devastation as the dark mirror villain for WW. He also introduced Rama Chandra; one of the few universally beloved love interests for Diana.

But why has his run become more obscure in recent years?

Is it because there wasn't any of particularly stand out moments like the Taco Whiz issue? Were the godly stuff too out there for your liking? Is it because there was no profound change to the status quo like Hippolyta or Artemis deaths in the Jimnez and Messner Loebs runs respectively? Or a huge turning point like Diana killing Maxwell Lord like in Rucka's run? Or because it wasn't part of a reboot like Vol 3, Vol 4 or Vol 5 were? Or because Luke wasn't a big name like Tom King?

What did you like and what did you not like about his run? Share your thoughts in thread.

I think it is very unsung. It really swung for the fences. I think at the time, I was most appreciative that his first order of business was to restore the proper history of divinity at the start of issue 139 including restoration pf the Titans so important to Captain Marvel, Donna, and other parts of the DCU.

[marhawkman]

I think it is very unsung. It really swung for the fences. I think at the time, I was most appreciative that his first order of business was to restore the proper history of divinity at the start of issue 139 including restoration pf the Titans so important to Captain Marvel, Donna, and other parts of the DCU.

Also, while Luke added a bunch of stuff, he hooked it to what came before. Like the idea Chronos ate several of his children... that's from the old myths. But the myths left them as blank slates, and Luke filled that in. also Deva's status as evil WW alter-ego is part of the original sculpted from clay thing.

[Dream Boy]

Haven't read it in eons but remember enjoying his run. It wasn't flashy, which could have been jarring for some coming off of Byrne, but he crafted decent inoffensive stories. I remember shipping Diana and Rama hard lol Felt like the first rootable love interest she'd had up to that point. As mentioned, his take on Dr. Poison was great too.

[Stanlos]

Also, while Luke added a bunch of stuff, he hooked it to what came before. Like the idea Chronos ate several of his children... that's from the old myths. But the myths left them as blank slates, and Luke filled that in. also Deva's status as evil WW alter-ego is part of the original sculpted from clay thing.

Exactly! I did not understand Byrne's wanting to make RPG story DC Canon despite the obvious disservice it did the mythology upon which WW and many others rely. Byrne literally deleted the Titans and Primal creator entities in favor of the Fourth World.

[HestiasHearth]

The things I remember the most about the Luke run were his incredibly cool Dr. Poison arc, how much I enjoyed Rama as a potential love interest for Diana, how cool the design for the Children of Cronus was, and the very disturbing, very scary menace that Devastation represented.

[Agent Z]

The precursor to New52...

Hey Diana, remember when this guy threatened to sink your home because you refused to sleep with him?

[John Venus]

Hey Diana, remember when this guy threatened to sink your home because you refused to sleep with him?

At some point, someone is going to have to write the story arc explaining why Zeus and his ilk 'deserve' to be worshiped and put on a pedestal despite all the sins they have committed.

[HestiasHearth]

At some point, someone is going to have to write the story arc explaining why Zeus and his ilk 'deserve' to be worshiped and put on a pedestal despite all the sins they have committed.

Agreed.
Although, frankly, it would be easy to say "for the same reason people worship the deity that Abrahamic religions share, despite all of the atrocities he has perpetrated against humanity and despite the atrocities so many people have committed against other people "in the name of God."

[marhawkman]

At some point, someone is going to have to write the story arc explaining why Zeus and his ilk 'deserve' to be worshiped and put on a pedestal despite all the sins they have committed.

Selection bias, their sins get mentioned more often than they happened.

[John Venus]

Selection bias, their sins get mentioned more often than they happened.

It gets brought up for a reason though.

[marhawkman]

It gets brought up for a reason though.

Yeah it's the part people remember.

[Alpha]

At some point, someone is going to have to write the story arc explaining why Zeus and his ilk 'deserve' to be worshiped and put on a pedestal despite all the sins they have committed.

But they aren't worshipped or put on a pedestal. Only the amazons worship them.