You want to introduce someone to the wondrous world of Wonder Woman, but you can only choose 7 stories, arcs, books or trades to introduce to them. What do you choose?
You want to introduce someone to the wondrous world of Wonder Woman, but you can only choose 7 stories, arcs, books or trades to introduce to them. What do you choose?
- Villainy Incorporated
- Gods and Mortals
- The Hiketeia
- Eyes of the Gorgon
- The Legend of Wonder Woman (2015)
- Earth One
- Year One
1. Gods and Mortals
2. The Hiketeia
3. Stoned
4. Legend of Wonder Woman
5. Warbringer
6. League of One
7. Year One
There is, after 70-plus years, ..no seminal, definitive work, like a Dark Knight Returns, for/from the WW comics, and that is truly a shame. Most of the greatest, modern WW stories can probably be found, in other comics, like Justice League and assorted issues of Superman. Below, is a rough list of the best of WW...
Arc "Challenge Of The Gods", G. Perez
Second Run (all trades), G. Rucka
Trades #1-4 (incl. 'Blood' and 'War'), B. Azzarello
Trades: 'The Contest' and 'Fall Of An Amazon', W. M. Loebs
Trade 'Second Genesis', J. Byrne
Mini-series Issues #1-4 'Legend Of Wonder Woman', K. Busiek
Assorted Issues (pre-Crisis), R. Thomas
Assorted Issues (Mod Era), D. O'Neil
Assorted Issues (Mod Era), M. Sekowsky
Assorted Issues (1941-1948), C. Moulton
Assorted Issues JLA, C. Morrison
COMBINING THE BIGBADITUDE OF THANOS WITH CHEETAH'S FEROCITY, IS JANUS WONDER WOMAN'S GREATEST SUPERVILLAIN?...on WONDABUNGA!!! Look alive, Kangaliers!
I sadly don't have seven yet, but...
1. Legend of Wonder Woman - Not only my favorite Wonder Woman book of those I've read, but one of my favorite comic books period.
2. Wonder Woman Earth One (volume one) - If nothing else it's pretty unique and neat I think, and the art's good. Need to get around to getting volume two sometime soon...
3. Wonder Woman Year One - Personally a far cry from the other two Wondie stories I've listed, but it's alright.
1. Wonder Woman: the Golden Age Omnibus, at least volume 1
2. Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Volume 1
3. Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Volume 2
4. Year One
5. Godwatch
6. Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume 1
7. Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume 2
I probably would recommend some of the Azzarello trades despite my not liking large parts of it. It is too major and divisive a run for people to not check it out and form their own opinions. My dislike of it, especially compared to the rest, is the main reason I left it off. Morrison is already dicey enough but I love the art and what he did with Psycho, Etta and Paula so he trumps Azz for them at least.
Last edited by SiegePerilous02; 08-14-2019 at 05:15 PM.
1. Wonder Woman - The Golden Age Vol. 1 (Trade collection with the first year '41-'42 of WW stories... the real "Year One")
2. WW Vol. 1 #269-278 (Gerry Conway's Bronze Age run that restores the classic Golden Age supporting cast and includes villains like Angle Man, Debbie Domaine Cheetah and Kobra. Classic run.)
3. Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 1
4. Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 2 (for "Eyes of the Gorgon")
5. Who is Wonder Woman? (Alan Heinberg, Terry Dodson)
Idk, WW is actually pretty difficult to recommend to newbies. I think Brian Azzarello's run is really the only good option, then maybe Wonder Woman: True Amazon. It really depends on the person though and what sort of things they want.
#InGunnITrust, #ZackSnyderistheBlueprint, #ReleasetheAyerCut
As someone who only read the origin plus, I usually ask the next recommendation to read is the classic villain, but besides Ares, Cheetah, and Circe, plus some Golden Age names that I knew because they've been bringing them back like Dr. Poison, Paula von Gunther, and Dr. Psycho, I know less about her villain list than Superman or Batman.
In general though... I already know their first appearances, so I guess after the origin and the villains, the next part is...
Character Development. This can mean a change in goal and motivation or a significant event that affect her personally, maybe the first changing of the status quo since the origin. This could be the death of a loved one, a morality challenge, a revelation, a breakup, a marriage, a death, or maybe even a reaffirmation of what she believes in.
You can still recommend the villain origin or definitive story, but right now I'm more interested in The Significant Event
After arriving in Man's World, in case that isn't clear, since that's usually the Origin
1.) Phil Jimenez's run
2.) George Perez's run
3.) Greg Rucka's 2nd run
4.) Alan Heinburg's run
5.) John Byrne's run
6.) Eric Luke's run
7.) Steve Orlando's various issues
Currently(or soon to be) Reading: Absolute Power, Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Birds of Prey, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Justice Society of America, Shazam, Titans, & Wonder Woman.
Add Dr Psycho, Giganta and Silver Swan to the list and that's pretty much all you need to know about Diana's Rogues Gallery from Post-Crisis to Rebirth. Every other villain hasn't been relevant for decades.
It's generally hard to say how Significant her Significant Events are. More often than not they are easily ignored once the new writer comes on board. William Messner Loeb's The Contest and the following arc is probably the first significant change of status quo in the Post-Crisis continuity (and some of it was actually followed up on by the future writers which is a miracle in a Wonder Woman comic). After that Byrne's run (though I'm not a big fan of that one personally), Jimenez's run and Rucka's first run.Character Development. This can mean a change in goal and motivation or a significant event that affect her personally, maybe the first changing of the status quo since the origin.
The Significant Event I remember because everyone talked about it was when she was blinded by Medusa and when she snapped Max Lord's neck, especially that last one since it really affected how the character's viewed and portrayed after that, as the part of Trinity who kills, which I know also annoy the fans.
Go back to Giganta for a bit. I actually forget about her. What was her first story, origin, or definitive story?
I've read Silver Swan.
She goes all the way back to Marston's original run, though back then she didn't have the power to grow big (that was first introduced in the Super Friends cartoon).
Your guess is as good as mine, lol. Her origin seems to be different in each continuity. And I don't think she has any definitive story, she's not really a solo character. Dating the Atom was probably the most interesting thing she ever did.origin, or definitive story?
Giganta doesn't really have much of a publishing history despite being a somewhat famous villain. She first appeared in WW Vol 1 #9 which is one of the best Golden Age stories and then she appears in issue #24 as a member of Villainy Inc. After that she has no Silver or Bronze age appearances, at least in her own book.
She didn't reappear again until John Byrne's run and not even as a major villain either, more like a cameo.
#InGunnITrust, #ZackSnyderistheBlueprint, #ReleasetheAyerCut