FenrisUlf Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Hi all. I just read a large illustrated book over the weekend detailing the career of Wonder Woman from the Golden Age to today. Now I'm curious -- what are considered to be the best WW stories in current continuity. i.e., since 1987/the first Crisis? What are the worst? And who was her best writer in that time? Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Really, really depends on who you ask. Post Crisis, I like Greg Ruka, Phil Jimenez and George Perez the most. But I know people that utterly despise one, the other or all three of them for their work on Wonder Woman. Hopefully I will soon be able to add Gail Simone to my list of favorites... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caris Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories I loved Perez's run on Wonder Woman. The first major story arc, which reintroduced the character was very good. My favorite story though, dealt with the death of a supporting character, which may be cliche. Who Killed Myndi Mayer was a very good issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Perez was tops post crisis. Put me down as a Rucka despiser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualplayer Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories I never would have thought that I would walk away from these creators but the Walt Simonson/Jerry Ordway run on WW blew. Byrne's run horrified many but I missed it and can't comment firsthand. The Messner-Loebs/Deodato run was very Image-y, but I enjoyed it. I loved Phil Jimenez' run as writer/artist and, IMO, he is the only one to top the Wein/Perez initial post-Crisis reintroduction. Rucka certainly knew his myth and culture but his stint was so-so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories one common thing for me to thing Perez GOOD, Byrne - BAD but there is no small amount of personal prefrence in that as I feel that way about most of what they do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted September 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Why do so many people despise Rucka? I like him myself, sort of, though it seems to me from what I've seen that he does better with stories about espionage and the like, more than the mythic adventure that I assume would be WW's forte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Really, really depends on who you ask. Post Crisis, I like Greg Ruka, Phil Jimenez and George Perez the most. But I know people that utterly despise one, the other or all three of them for their work on Wonder Woman. Hopefully I will soon be able to add Gail Simone to my list of favorites... I enjoyed the Perez stories for their own sake, but always felt that the changes he made to her history were unnecessary and caused problems for DCU as a whole. (Of course, post-InfiniteCrisis, most of his changes went away). Avoid the John Byrne stories at all costs. Not so much because of his (IMO much over stated) ability to write or draw comics - but the man should never be allowed to play in someone else's sandbox. He leaves in his wake continuity time bombs that cause problems for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted September 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Avoid the John Byrne stories at all costs. Not so much because of his (IMO much over stated) ability to write or draw comics - but the man should never be allowed to play in someone else's sandbox. He leaves in his wake continuity time bombs that cause problems for years. What "time bombs" did he leave with WW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories What "time bombs" did he leave with WW? Infinite Donna Troy: He mangled her origin (as if it wasn't already bad enough by this point) such that she was originally created by the Amazon sorceress Magala as a magical duplicate of the young Princess Diana of Themyscira (a nod to the original Wonder Girl) to be a playmate for Diana, who was previously the only child on the island. However, Donna was soon kidnapped by the Dark Angel (a World War II villainess and sworn enemy of Queen Hippolyta, Diana's mother), who thought the girl was Diana. Dark Angel cursed Donna to live endless variants of a life characterized by suffering, with her life being restarted and erased from the world's memory when Donna was at her lowest. Even Donna would forget her past lives until the moment at which Dark Angel would arrive to restart her life, at which point she would immediately recall all of her past suffering. Wonder Mom: John Byrne's run included a period in which Diana's mother Hippolyta served as Wonder Woman,while Diana ascended to Mount Olympus as the Goddess of Truth. Byrne posited that Hippolyta, having traveled back in time to the 1940s, had been the Golden Age Wonder Woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Why do so many people despise Rucka? I like him myself' date=' sort of, though it seems to me from what I've seen that he does better with stories about espionage and the like, more than the mythic adventure that I assume would be WW's forte.[/quote'] To me his stories are icky and always almost total miss the actual characters essence while getting just close enough to be frustrating then missing the point. He tries to be relevant, which I hate anyway and does a poor job of it. He butchers my favorite villains and makes them dark in completely unfun ways. He dresses the Greek gods in business suits when they're not trying to blend in. He makes Diana make stupid decisions ( If she'd blinded herself with ANYTHING other than Medusa's Venom the purple ray could have fixed it for example.) His battles read so fanboy with rampant power level creep and absurdities ( lets have professor zoom punch her to Paris shall we? Now she's molten steel proof) His stories just make me so angry when they involve established characters I like. Definitely one the icons of the despised iron age to me. Everyone hates Byrne but IMO in both Diana and Superman's case he was a far far lesser evil than those like Rucka who came afterward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted September 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Wonder Mom: John Byrne's run included a period in which Diana's mother Hippolyta served as Wonder Woman' date='while Diana ascended to Mount Olympus as the Goddess of Truth. Byrne posited that Hippolyta, having traveled back in time to the 1940s, had been the Golden Age Wonder Woman.[/quote'] Wasn't that actually a fix to explain why (in the post original Crisis DC-verse) there was a Wonder Woman in WW2 when Diana hadn't even been born/created yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories My favorite WW story was the four-part "Challenge of the Gods" Perez arc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Wasn't that actually a fix to explain why (in the post original Crisis DC-verse) there was a Wonder Woman in WW2 when Diana hadn't even been born/created yet? yes and no, shortly after the crisis they decided that all of the WW appearences of note were instead a couple of other characters (Ms. America & Fury), this stood for quite a few years, then Byrne with his "I need everything the way it was when I was a kid" mentality felt a need to make sure there was a wonder woman If you look at Byrne you will notice that most of the things he does is bring characters back to a point they were not for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balabanto Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Re: Wonder Woman: the best stories Byrne did not make the Golden Age Wonder Woman decision. He was TOLD to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightfly Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Ww Really, really depends on who you ask. Post Crisis, I like Greg Ruka, Phil Jimenez and George Perez the most. But I know people that utterly despise one, the other or all three of them for their work on Wonder Woman. Hopefully I will soon be able to add Gail Simone to my list of favorites... Completely Agree. Just read WW's Greatest Stories Ever Told, v.1 tpb recently, thems were some whacky tales - but I liked 'em. Laughed at how often she got tied up I think I'm gonna wait for the trade w/ Wonder Girl's new mini. P.S. Count me among the Byrne haters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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