So, how was the Perez reboot of WW treated by the fandom when it happened?

[Pinsir]

Does anyone have any testimonials, letters to the editor, recollections, or any other kinds of evidence on how the Perez reboot was received during the time it ran? So from 1987-1992. I know how it is received now, but I am curious how it was received then.

[AmiMizuno]

Sale wise it was very strong reboot.http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...gold-standard/

[Gaelforce]

I recall from hanging out at my LCS and talking to friends that it was very well received, but with some reservations.

One of the main problems raised, as I recall, was the elimination of Steve Trevor as a love interest, but, more than anything, the biggest complaint was the removal of Diana from the history of the DC Universe - not just WWII, but the founding of the Justice League. Due to the de-evolution, she was completely wiped from everyone's memory and they plugged Black Canary into her place as the first female hero. That wasn't Perez's problem (he didn't write/create it), but it was by far the top complaint I remember hearing at the time.

Folks generally loved that she could fly, enjoyed seeing her coming new into the world (but didn't like that it was the present and not the past), and thought the art and stories were excellent.

[Pinsir]

I recall from hanging out at my LCS and talking to friends that it was very well received, but with some reservations.

One of the main problems raised, as I recall, was the elimination of Steve Trevor as a love interest, but, more than anything, the biggest complaint was the removal of Diana from the history of the DC Universe - not just WWII, but the founding of the Justice League. Due to the de-evolution, she was completely wiped from everyone's memory and they plugged Black Canary into her place as the first female hero. That wasn't Perez's problem (he didn't write/create it), but it was by far the top complaint I remember hearing at the time.

Folks generally loved that she could fly, enjoyed seeing her coming new into the world (but didn't like that it was the present and not the past), and thought the art and stories were excellent.

From what I recall, CoIE was in '85 and the reboot was '87. I know they published a short in between to keep the rights, but I wonder if there was a lot anxiety between those years. I imagine the biggest upset was removing WW's JL history, which as you said was not Perez's fault. Thanks for the info.

[Outside_85]

I'd imagine that any sour feelings back then would have been tempered tremendously by the fact you didn't have the internet to be anonymous and very vocal on.

[Gaelforce]

I'd imagine that any sour feelings back then would have been tempered tremendously by the fact you didn't have the internet to be anonymous and very vocal on.

Nah, we had BBS's we dialed into and usenet groups

Plus we used to have a lot of folks hanging around the LCS back then (nowadays, if it isn't Wednesday, nobody seems to hang out anymore)

And yeah, there was a lot of anger and stress as I recall in the intervening years. I don't know of anyone who liked that she was not only removed from continuity, but that it happened in the most unheroic way possible (this after the awesomely heroic death of Barry Allen, and the crushing loss of Supergirl. Diana was merely gone in an eyeblink and nobody remembered)

So when they announced that WW was coming back and that George Perez had the job? Folks were pretty pumped. Top line writer/artist on the book bringing her back (though I think it was Legends by John Byrne that introduced her to the DCU/JL in a pretty fantastic splash panel)

[wagthedog]

Nah, we had BBS's we dialed into and usenet groups

Plus we used to have a lot of folks hanging around the LCS back then (nowadays, if it isn't Wednesday, nobody seems to hang out anymore)

And yeah, there was a lot of anger and stress as I recall in the intervening years. I don't know of anyone who liked that she was not only removed from continuity, but that it happened in the most unheroic way possible (this after the awesomely heroic death of Barry Allen, and the crushing loss of Supergirl. Diana was merely gone in an eyeblink and nobody remembered)

So when they announced that WW was coming back and that George Perez had the job? Folks were pretty pumped. Top line writer/artist on the book bringing her back (though I think it was Legends by John Byrne that introduced her to the DCU/JL in a pretty fantastic splash panel)

That was when Byrne was at his best in terms of artwork.

[billee0918]

That Byrne splash is amazing, I remember picking up that issue of Legends when it was published and reading it a kabillion times. WW is absolutely glorious in it.

I also thought the Perez relaunch was the most exciting thing ever. I was around 13 and didn't care about continuity, all I knew was WW was getting lots of attention, spectacular art and great stories. A wonderful time to be a WW reader.

[PauloIapetus]

This article reflets some of the most frequent impressions pretty much

http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing13/feature2.shtml

[dshipp17]

Does anyone have any testimonials, letters to the editor, recollections, or any other kinds of evidence on how the Perez reboot was received during the time it ran? So from 1987-1992. I know how it is received now, but I am curious how it was received then.

I couldn't really answer this, because I didn't get a focused interest in comic books and Wonder Woman until about 2005 (e.g. but, I did remember her long before that from the Superfriends, but didn't really know or, it near really occurred to me, that she had a comic book, even though the possibility was fairly obvious), but, the question to ask yourself is: was Perez removed from the title for the next writer or did he just decide to leave, because he was bored with the title? Usually, the writer is asked to leave, meaning interest was declining; but, I'll see if I can do an unbiased look into what may have been some of the common complaints about his run, at the time, most notably, when he departed from the title. The only Wonder Woman writer that was not asked to leave, to my knowledge, was Marston, and, possibly, the writer after him. But, for me, I thought Perez was very creative and made up nearly an endless array of good stories, he just had a tendency to give Wonder Woman easy victories and he portrayed Wonder Woman as shallow (e.g. she constantly hung out with Hermes, but probably wouldn't have given someone like Ferdinand the time of day); fortunately, that's just speculation on my part; otherwise, if she were actually shallow, I wouldn't care one way or the other and probably would even remember or notice her by now and couldn't recollect her.

[dcdrew]

I was 16 when Wonder Woman was relaunched in November 1986! Of course I was excited because WW was my favorite superheroine and George Perez was revamping her! LOVED his art since New Teen Titans and I liked the emphasis on Greek mythology which makes WW unigue! Like Perez I thought 1st 6 issues of new WW were supposed to be flashback until I read Legends #6 and Diana was appearing in present to the other DC heroes for 1st time! *They didn't notice WW's costume similarities to Wonder GIRL? I liked in Legends how Superman had crush on Diana right away and finally met up with her again in Action #600! I NEVER liked Steve Trevor as WW's boyfriend *what can I say I'm a guy and past Steve might as well have been Ken doll to WW's Barbie. I didn't mind Perez making Steve older and tying Steve's mom to Diana. Did Steve really have to get with Etta Candy, though? And WW was much younger not much older than Donna if any! I did miss Diana Prince secret ID and Washington DC location for WW! I loved seeing Diana fly but I wish Invisible Jet could have been kept for transporting her friends! Ares was an awesome villain WW's Darth Vader! As for Cheetah I'll always prefer Priscilla Rich but Barbara Minerva was dangerous, too! Too bad Perez only drew 24 issues but he continued as writer for 5 years and Wonder Woman has not been same since he left. Interested to see Morrison's take in Wonder Woman Earth One! *Funny to see that John Byrne Legends WW splash page, after the damage Byrne did to Superman in 2 years who would have thought he would destroy Wonder Woman also in 3 years!

*Can Perez contribute anything next year 2016 Wonder Woman's 75th anniversary? With an INFINITE DC Multiverse again Perez's WW is on an Earth! Golden, Silver, Bronze (Lynda Carter) Wonder Women, too!

[Frank]

One of the main problems raised, as I recall, was the elimination of Steve Trevor as a love interest, but, more than anything, the biggest complaint was the removal of Diana from the history of the DC Universe - not just WWII, but the founding of the Justice League. Due to the de-evolution, she was completely wiped from everyone's memory and they plugged Black Canary into her place as the first female hero. That wasn't Perez's problem (he didn't write/create it), but it was by far the top complaint I remember hearing at the time.

Perez had a say in that de-evolution thing, though. Originally, Diana was supposed to be turned into a clay statue, and she was supposed to appear in the opening sequence of Legends, not first appearing in the last issue. But what Perez was doing changed Diana and the Amazons so much that they decided it'd be easier to wipe the slate completely clean, as it were. Also, if I remember correctly, those first six issues were supposed to be a flashback "Year One" arc (like what Byrne did with Superman), but Berger liked what Perez was doing so much that they decided to turn the "Year One" first story arc into from a flashback into "present continuity."

My complaint was that Perez & Berger barely let Diana appear anywhere else in the DC Universe for two or three years. I understand that Perez wanted to control her voice and not have her return to the pedant that many writers portrayed her as pre-COIE, but it also meant that Diana appeared almost nowhere else (It's why she didn't remain in JLE) and she barely had a presence in crossovers.

[Tayswift]

This article reflets some of the most frequent impressions pretty much

http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing13/feature2.shtml

" As a longtime fan, it is sad to see Steve Trevor removed from the mythology, but Diana has been notoriously asexual since her revamp; as with Xena, there are presumably too many lesbian/feminist fans who don't want to see the strong heroine with a man in her life."


this is fun, but lesbians/feminists had nothing to do with it.

anyway I would like to know why trevor was just thrown away? new 52 and perez reboot are wasted chances

[JackBNimble]

Perez had a say in that de-evolution thing, though. Originally, Diana was supposed to be turned into a clay statue, and she was supposed to appear in the opening sequence of Legends, not first appearing in the last issue. But what Perez was doing changed Diana and the Amazons so much that they decided it'd be easier to wipe the slate completely clean, as it were. Also, if I remember correctly, those first six issues were supposed to be a flashback "Year One" arc (like what Byrne did with Superman), but Berger liked what Perez was doing so much that they decided to turn the "Year One" first story arc into from a flashback into "present continuity."

My complaint was that Perez & Berger barely let Diana appear anywhere else in the DC Universe for two or three years. I understand that Perez wanted to control her voice and not have her return to the pedant that many writers portrayed her as pre-COIE, but it also meant that Diana appeared almost nowhere else (It's why she didn't remain in JLE) and she barely had a presence in crossovers.

Wow! That's a new bit of lore...that Wonder Woman was turned into a clay statue at the end of CoIE instead of devolved. How much of that was Perez (compared to Potter or Wein)?

I definitely wished she appeared more in the rest of the DCU after the reboot. She had a smattering of appearances but never in any integral way: that splash page in Legends by Byrne was amazing; her appearances in Millenium and Invasion were uninspired.

I recall being very bothered by her removal from Justice League history, but found the substitution by Black Canary really exciting.

[Scott Taylor]

I'll see if I can find the issues in my collection and look at the letter pages. My recollection is that people liked it because Perez was a huge creator on top of his game. There were a few negative rumblings about the reworked origin, as I recall. Seems like that happens with every single WW reboot.