George Perez Wonder Woman

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I have fond memories of George Perez Wonder Woman and plan to reread soon to see if my positive opinion remains. Just wondering what are your thoughts and how do you think Perez's stories compare to other versions?

[The I.A.D.C.]

Perez had the advantage of being able to start from scratch with the Wonder Woman mythos after the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. He wasn't saddled with any of the baggage and continuity that came before and he took full advantage of that. I've read interviews where he mentioned he had wanted to do the "Challenge of the Gods" stories in the old Pre-Crisis WW title, and I've often wondered how that would have compared to what we ended up getting in issues #10-14 of his run. His Diana is brand new to Man's World and she often came across to me as a bit naive at times. I did not like his take on Steve Trevor at all, although I can appreciate what he was trying to in establishing a deeper connection between Steve and Diana. I will say that you can see the care that he put into both the stories and the art (for the first 24 issues) and his re-introductions of Cheetah (#9), Silver Swan (#15-16) and Circe (#19) are still my favorite versions of those characters. " I think that while Rucka has obviously tweaked the origin story for 2017 he has stayed true to the spirit of Perez's version. Sometimes I think the byline should read "Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston and George Perez!"

[BrianWilly]

To me, Perez's run is one of the most definitive and cohesive Wonder Woman runs to the point that I don't think anyone can really "understand" post-Crisis Wonder Woman...or maybe even Rebirth WW...without having perused it. If you've read Rucka's old stuff, for instance, there's a bunch of things in Perez's stories where you'll be like "Oh, so that's what Rucka was referencing." Perez's worldbuilding is incredible, not just by WW standards, but by by all standards, period. His development and characterization of the Amazons still makes all other Amazons characterizations feel halfassed in comparison.

The best part is that it still holds up quite well to this day...well, insofar that it's a comic from the 80s of course. But I've always said that the intro arc, Gods and Mortals, is pretty much tailor-made for a modern movie script with very few changes necessary.

There's just a couple drawbacks to the run I could name off the top of my head.
-It starts hella strong but does start to deteriorate bit by bit by bit the further it goes. The descent is so gradual that you'd hardly notice but, well, it's there. The end of the run gets seriously clusterpoopy. That final arc with the Amazons' visit to Patriarch's World should be the crowning climax of his run but it just went out with a whimper, really.

-In my opinion...in retrospect, Vanessa Kapatelis was...not the best lol. I get what Perez was trying to do by inserting a teenage girl as an audience-surrogate, and she does eventually get involved in some of the most emotional and well-written moments of the run, but...and there's no other way to say this really...holy gods was she annoying most of the time . She's definitely the one element of Perez's run that comes across hopelessly dated, especially compared to the gamut of likable, engaging teenage characters that folks have learned to write since then. Like...compare her to the likes of Cassie Sandsmark or Kamala Khan nowadays and it's just...no contest.

-The entire ongoing plot with the gods leaving, and Hermes staying with Diana and then Steve, was just...well, it was just weird. Maybe I just think this 'cuz Hermes is one of my favorite gods and Perez's take on him wasn't particularly likable or charming . Perez did more to make this setting feel appropriately mythological than any other writer...but at the end of the day, most of these gods still felt more like clumsy out-of-touch nuisances than anyone all that worthy of worship.

[SiegePerilous02]

It's easily one of the best runs the character has ever had, though that's not saying much. Probably #2 behind Marston, with Rucka's runs together taking the third spot for me. It was what the character desperately needed at the time, and many parts of it still hold up very well. Although I feel that the Amazons receive too much focus and they are not as interesting as Marston's original take, the fact that many of them have distinct personalities and are very well fleshed out puts a lot of other stuff (both in WW and unrelated to it) to shame. The artwork when Perez was on duty was some of the best of his career. The more accurate depictions of mythology were cool, having Ares be more menacing and acting through his actual children from mythology, and the revamps of the Cheetah, Circe and Dr. Psycho were badass.

That being said, a lot of it hasn't done the character many favors in the long run. I would be very interested in seeing how he could have tackled the character within the confines of pre-Crisis continuity. I think he could have easily had Diana decide not to hide behind Diana Prince anymore and have either her and Steve's relationship mature into a more honest next step (think marriage era Clark and Lois) or just killed him off permanently if he wasn't interested in the romance. But don't cast it out of canon completely. Keep Etta's history with the Holliday Girls and make her more outgoing like her Golden Age self. The Gods, being what they are, could be revamped easily by just having them take on different aspects. The Kapatelis women and Myndi Mayer could still have been introduced, just in the Washington D.C setting instead of relocating her (and thus establishing one of the more detrimental trends for the franchise) to Boston. Introducing Barbara Minerva would be the most difficult thing, but I think he still could have managed it while establishing some sort of connection with Rich and Domaine. Basically, it was good at the time but maybe we wouldn't have the constant need to reboot her if Perez hadn't done it the first time (ditto Byrne with Superman, whose changes within pre-Crisis could have been done far more easily).

Plus, even though I don't blame Perez for it, Donna Troy wouldn't have been ruined beyond repair.

But I still enjoy reading it on its own merits. I can read it and Marston on their own, but always view my ideal Wonder Woman as some sort of fusion between the two.

[sakuyamons]

-In my opinion...in retrospect, Vanessa Kapatelis was...not the best lol. I get what Perez was trying to do by inserting a teenage girl as an audience-surrogate, and she does eventually get involved in some of the most emotional and well-written moments of the run, but...and there's no other way to say this really...holy gods was she annoying most of the time . She's definitely the one element of Perez's run that comes across hopelessly dated, especially compared to the gamut of likable, engaging teenage characters that folks have learned to write since then. Like...compare her to the likes of Cassie Sandsmark or Kamala Khan nowadays and it's just...no contest.

Aw, poor Vanessa! I think her character development was well-done (and, to be honest, that girl spent an unnecessary amount of sh*t when she was like 14 years old). But I can see your point, I prefer Cassie (& Donna lol) by a milestone but I still rank her as third or fourth favorite supporting member and I'd like to see her again and I kinda liked her as the Swan even if it meant Wondy being ooc imo..

I think Diana's sweet relationship with the Kapatelis was the highlight of the book for me, that being said, I didn't like how Perez wrote Etta and I feel that his shoving off Steve to the side really affected both characters long-term. BUT, I really liked the Amazons, Dr. Psycho and Cheetah were awesome, Valerie as the Swan and her rehabilitation was a real nice arc and even though it was to late, I liked the teamup with Troia & how it treated really deep issues like suicide and overdose from time to time.

I'd give it a solid 9 .

[DCMARVELgeek]

To me, George Perez's is the definitive Wonder Woman. This is the WW that I grew up with and the WW that captured my imagination (the Lynda Carter show was meh, and I never "got" what was so special about it, but to each their own). I still think his Wondy, Cheetah, Ares, Silver Swan, Dr. Psycho, and Circe are the best versions of those characters, and I would have loved for Mr. Perez to tackle Cyber also. To this day, I still hope that, if the Wonder Woman film is successful enough to garner sequels, Julia Kapatelis, Vanessa, Mindy Mayer, and Ed Indelicato are introduced down the road in the movieverse. I love them as much as I love Etta Candy and Steve Trevor.

[Lex Luthor]

I liked some of his stories but I didn't care for his writing too much and didn't like some of the things he changed about her character. I'm thankful he did what he did though and cared enough about her to actually write her instead of whatever the alternative would have been had he not taken on the project.

[Doctor Bifrost]

I thought Perez's Wonder Woman was brilliant, one of the best of all time. He captured what was best and most important about her and Hippolyta and the Amazons, and the changes he made felt like added depth, not everything-you-know-is-wrong gimmicks. It's still my gold standard for WW origins. If I were in charge, I might change some things - that is, I don't find it perfect (but I'm not pretending I know better than he does, either) - but it was very, very good.

It's regrettable that the early parts of his story were treated as "current day" (that is, about five years after Superman and Batman started their superhero careers), rather than as a Year One. This created massive problems with Donna Troy, as well has the history of the JLA and how Diana fit into that generation of superheroes. But my understanding was that that was not his choice.

I wasn't crazy with what he did with Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. I know what he was going for, and I respect it, but I think he underestimated the staying power of the original relationships those two had with Diana, which got in the way of his new versions (and substitutes) really getting any momentum.

But overall? Great work! And beautiful to look at.

[Joao]

I'm actually reading it for the first time! It's being published here in Brazil after many, many years.

I read the first two arcs and I'm liking it a lot. Steve and Etta are a bit off and I'm glad Rucka made them young again, but the Kapatelis are amazing! That issue where everyone writes a little about Diana is pure gold. Also, Challenge of the gods is such a god, exciting story. I love everything that deals with Greek mythology and it was good to see it so well played there.

Vol. 3 is coming out this month and I can't wait to meet Peréz's version of Silver Swan and Circe.

[Super-Wonder]

Love Love Love that first issue!
It's just so full of excellent. For me the first 20 issues are really good.
After that I feel that it's overly wordy and cumbersome to read.

I'm in the 40's now of the series, just finished the Eris arc (which was good, Bana was good too), but it feels like those issues are running out of gas, so I'm looking forward to something different.
Just me though.

[hkgkindaichi]

The only problem in Perez's run is Steve. The rest of them, no doubt, masterpiece.

[Jim Kelly]

I liked the art. The stories I found very dull. And that's not all the fault of Perez as he often was working with other writers. But I didn't like any of the characters, I didn't like the situations, I didn't like the dialogue, I didn't like the convoluted history of the Amazons. Ares looked cool, but the approach to the gods (and splitting them into Greek and Roman camps) was awful. They made Aphrodite--who had been the chief goddess of the Amazons in the Marston run--into a bimbo. I bought the comic for the artwork which was worth the cover price. Once Perez stopped producing the art, I lost interest in buying the book.

[Agent Z]

I liked it. It hasn't aged well in some parts but overall it still remains good. I think it reads better when read back to back with the Jiminez, Rucka and Simone runs.

[SiegePerilous02]

I liked the art. The stories I found very dull. And that's not all the fault of Perez as he often was working with other writers. But I didn't like any of the characters, I didn't like the situations, I didn't like the dialogue, I didn't like the convoluted history of the Amazons. Ares looked cool, but the approach to the gods (and splitting them into Greek and Roman camps) was awful. They made Aphrodite--who had been the chief goddess of the Amazons in the Marston run--into a bimbo. I bought the comic for the artwork which was worth the cover price. Once Perez stopped producing the art, I lost interest in buying the book.

Both of these are really bad. I love a lot of the individual Amazon characters (especially Philippus), but the backstory was kind of a slog. Marston's simplicity was better, as well as addressing the Gods by both of their names instead of creating two entirely different groups.

[Pinsir]

My relationship with Perez's work has shifted over the years. When I first read it I liked it, but as many have pointed out, Perez over complicated things. How Wonder Woman received a Latin name (Diana) had to have an entire contrived back story to it. It is also a victim of its age, I burst out in a chortle when her publicist suggest she drop the 'Diana' name as 'We already have a Princess Diana.'

My only genuine grip about Perez is his legacy. I understand that many people remember it fondly and justifiably so, but George Perez did not invent Wonder Woman and it can come across as if he did.