BLOOD and WAR: A Great Introduction To The NEW Wonder Woman!

[Mel Dyer]

Blood and War...Volumes One and Four.

Trade paperback volumes 1 and 4 read very well in this format, ..and much better than they ever did, in monthly comics. Action-packed, fun, great characterization - these two comics had all of that. If I was going to introduce someone to the new Wonder Woman, these would be great for that.

[brettc1]

Blood and War...Volumes One and Four.

Trade paperback volumes 1 and 4 read very well in this format, ..and much better than they ever did, in monthly comics. Action-packed, fun, great characterization - these two comics had all of that. If I was going to introduce someone to the new Wonder Woman, these would be great for that.

If I was ever going to introduce somebody to the New52 Wonder Woman, I probably would as well.

[Mel Dyer]

It wasn't perfect, but showed off the best of what this run had to offer.

[brettc1]

It wasn't perfect, but showed off the best of what this run had to offer.

I will agree with that as well.

[wagthedog]

I will agree with that as well.

I'm trying to remember what would be in volume 1. I am guessing that it would be issues 1-6, right? I don't remember the issues being action packed, what little we got was Diana fighting cannon fodder centaurs. She did some somersaults, which isn't very impressive with the powerset Diana has. Wasn't Zola taken to Hell by then?

[SofNascimento]

I think War was the absolute top of this run. In particular issues 21, 22 and 23. But those collections miss issue #0, witch I believe in the single best issue to introduce Wonder Woman, Azzarello's run or not.

[borntohula]

I agree that the book reads better in collected form. Also being a good weird pulpy introduction to the character.

Hope it'll get released as an omnibus and/or 3 deluxe books one day.

bk.1 Blood & Guts
bk.2 Iron & War
bk.3 Flesh & Bones

[Mel Dyer]

I think War was the absolute top of this run. In particular issues 21, 22 and 23. But those collections miss issue #0, witch I believe in the single best issue to introduce Wonder Woman, Azzarello's run or not.

WW #0 was a great issue.

For the record, ..I still don't think we've seen Wonder Woman's Dark Knight Returns, or a definitive graphic novel. Azzarello's run might qualify as a Year One, though.

I agree that the book reads better in collected form...Hope it'll get released as an omnibus and/or 3 deluxe books one day.

bk.1 Blood & Guts
bk.2 Iron & War
bk.3 Flesh & Bones

Now the trade titles make sense.

[Blacksun]

Blood trade sell pretty well

[Mel Dyer]

Keep in mind that Mr. Azzarello has told us that he doesn't find anything story-worthy in the perfection of Wonder Woman.

For him, the utopianized Paradise Island and the rest of her idyllic mythos was too sterile to grow a story out of. That's the meat and potatoes of his run, ..and, to some extent, I am forced to agree with him. The best of that might be Diana's being the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, and the worst of that is surely the retconning in of SEX PIRATE AMAZONS! [Unforgivable!] I think these first 35 issues lay a foundation for narrative growth from that very deliberate pursuit of imperfection.

That, in my mind, is progress.

However, ..with Mr. Azzarello's imperfection premise, came the 'unfinished quality' that I've been critical of from the very beginning. The worst of that, I think, was the ham-handed pairing of Zeus and Queen Hippolyta, a major change - completely uncharacteristic of Hippolyta - forced upon us, without any sense to be made of it. What is the history between Zeus and Hippolyta? Were they allies or enemies, in the context of the story? We don't know, and Mr. Azzarello isn't interested in telling us. It just leaps out of nowhere, with seemingly no narrative depth or substance justifying its presence in the mythos. That's the unfinished quality I'm talking about!

For my money, the issues in Blood and War are the least diminished by that.