John Byrne's Wonder Woman - anyone else mostly like it?

[Razor Tiara]

The Flash generally isn't fast enough to dodge or outrun it. Blocking it when it's aimed at her? Perfectly fine for me. Intercepting it? Not so much.

Then why isn't the Flash dead? He vibrated and they went through him, or what?

[Carabas]

Then why isn't the Flash dead?

The Omega Effect usually isn't lethal. Darkseid prefers to use it to scatter his enemies througout time and space.

[Razor Tiara]

The Omega Effect usually isn't lethal. Darkseid prefers to use it to scatter his enemies througout time and space.

You know 20 minutes later I was playing a game and remembered the Omega Effect often teleported those hit by it. All I was thinking earlier was that it killed and resurrected people.

[Carabas]

You know 20 minutes later I was playing a game and remembered the Omega Effect often teleported those hit by it. All I was thinking earlier was that it killed and resurrected people.

Darkseid can use the Omega Effect to do pretty much anything he feels like, including what you say, but usually he doesn't feel like killing with it for whatever reason (his opponent's plot armour most likely).

[Dr. Poison]

Byrne said he would never do to Wonder Woman anything he'd never do to Batman or Superman. However, I cannot imagine a story where Darkseid comes to Metropolis or Gotham, kills thousands of citizens, and leaves, all without Batman or Superman doing absolutely nothing. Not even laying a hand on him. It was insulting.

Orion and Barda were on the JLA around the time of Byrne's run. Superman could probably get to Apokolips unaided. The Angle Man had a goddamn angler able to bend time and space given to him by Darkseid. If Byrne were interested in making Wonder Woman not look like a chump, he could have written a story in which she has some kind of victory.

But it certainly was a good forecast for what was to come, in which Wonder Woman shows her greatest strength and her significant wins were from her ability to withstand torture. Byrne was one sick puppy when it came to Diana.

Orion and Big Barda didn't join the JLA until after Hippolyta had taken over as Wonder Woman and Diana was a goddess(JLA #14). How would Superman get to Apokolips unaided when it's in another dimension? As for the Angle Man, he hadn't existed yet Post-Crisis in order to help Diana get to Apokolips with his Angler. He didn't show up until Jimenez's run.

[SeanT]

So Byrne could contrive to get Wonder Woman to Apokolips in his very first issue, but couldn't figure out a way to get her back? Angle Man showed up after his run, so Byrne himself couldn't have used him? What kind of logic is that? He couldn't contrive to have Diana meet Orion and Barda, or write the follow up after they had joined the League?

Thinking about it, I didn't really need to see Diana going back and get revenge. I think the story shouldn't have been written in the first place. It was just a springboard for something Byrne had been trying to assert-- that the Greek gods were an offshoot of the birth of New Genesis and Apokolips. It was just an excuse to re-introduce Kirby characters, his springboard for the (awful) Genesis mini-series. Just as the introduction of Hippolyta as Wonder Woman was an excuse to bring back the JSA for a series he wanted to write.

He had no real interest in writing Wonder Woman, which is why she was pretty useless during his run.

[Carabas]

Thinking about it, I didn't really need to see Diana going back and get revenge. I think the story shouldn't have been written in the first place. It was just a springboard for something Byrne had been trying to assert-- that the Greek gods were an offshoot of the birth of New Genesis and Apokolips. It was just an excuse to re-introduce Kirby characters, his springboard for the (awful) Genesis mini-series. Just as the introduction of Hippolyta as Wonder Woman was an excuse to bring back the JSA for a series he wanted to write.

Don't forget about the story that only was n excuse to 'fix' Etrigan and make him stop rhyming (or start rhyming again, I forget).

[Dr. Poison]

So Byrne could contrive to get Wonder Woman to Apokolips in his very first issue, but couldn't figure out a way to get her back? Angle Man showed up after his run, so Byrne himself couldn't have used him? What kind of logic is that? He couldn't contrive to have Diana meet Orion and Barda, or write the follow up after they had joined the League?

Thinking about it, I didn't really need to see Diana going back and get revenge. I think the story shouldn't have been written in the first place. It was just a springboard for something Byrne had been trying to assert-- that the Greek gods were an offshoot of the birth of New Genesis and Apokolips. It was just an excuse to re-introduce Kirby characters, his springboard for the (awful) Genesis mini-series. Just as the introduction of Hippolyta as Wonder Woman was an excuse to bring back the JSA for a series he wanted to write.

He had no real interest in writing Wonder Woman, which is why she was pretty useless during his run.

My point was that many of the things you said Byrne should have done didn't exist during his run.

[SeanT]

While it's true Barda and Orion didn't join the JLA until near the end of Byrne's run, the Angle Man with an Angler had been around since the 70s.

[Dr. Poison]

While it's true Barda and Orion didn't join the JLA until near the end of Byrne's run, the Angle Man with an Angler had been around since the 70s.

Angle Man didn't arrive in Post-Crisis continuity until Jimenez's run. Sure, Byrne could have introduced him in his run but it's doubtful Diana would know much about him after just meeting him.

[Stanlos]

Byrne's run had a lot to recommend it. After the inconsistencies of the Messner-Loebs era in terms of powers and power levels it was great to see her restored and consistently portrayed. He also brought a wonderful sense of escapist fun. His rendition of the armour featured bold elements with special mention of the boot strips and the dynamic and prominent WW emblem. However I did not like the two stars thing and I did not like the gi-normous tiara.

Among the negatives for me was the loss of Wonder Woman's more unique approaches to her faith and her gifts. Byrne emphasized the warrior angle and the superhero angle but Wonder Woman is a lot more than both. I like the complexity of the character's design so I did not receive this simpler rendering of her world as well as I might have otherwise. Also, Byrne tried to apply the same formula from his Superman days. The difference though was that Diana only had the one book whereas Superman was featuring in three to four at that point. Where it appeared that all of the additions (The Demon, Morgaine, Jason Blood, Phantom Stranger, et al.) felt like guest stars during his Superman tenure, they really crowded the book and forced Diana into guest star status during his Wonder Woman run. Same exact formula but the effectiveness was dramatically affected by the smaller stage.

Also negative for me was his bringing that blasted Golem business to the fore and mucking up the Wonderverse terribly in the process. The Gods leave and the Amazons including Wonder Woman "revert" to clay. Uh, no.