What Are Your Thoughts On The Eric Luke Run? (WW #139-159)

[SJNeal]

Somewhere in between the horror that was John Byrne and the glory that was Phil Jimenez, Diana's adventures were penned by a writer by the name of Eric Luke.

You never hear much about this relatively brief run, but the creation of this board has had me nostalgic for era's of WW past. While not necessarily ground-breaking, I found these issues quite good; we got strong writing, great art from Yanick Paquette and later Matthew Clarke, as well as beautiful Adam Hughes covers! We also got Devastation and Rama, which were polarizing characters at the time, but have since been all but forgotten.

So what do the rest of you think? Am I alone in my appreciation for this period of Diana's story??? Discuss! :biggrin:

[troy2g1]

I really loved Luke's run. He handled the "Who am I?" angle far better (and much earlier) than Heinberg.

[lariatofhestia]

I loved it and think DC needs to put it in trade format. It had some gorgeous covers by Hughes.

[SJNeal]

I loved it and think DC needs to put it in trade format. It had some gorgeous covers by Hughes.

Absolutely! 2 large (or 3 smaller) trades would collect the full run easily.

I'd also like to see DC do a coffee table book of ALL Adam Hughes covers, much like what Vertigo did for the Preacher and Sandman cover collections. While they're at it, they might as well do one for the Brian Bolland covers as well. And Phil Jimenez. Ok now I'm getting greedy... :redface:

[Raven Of Rhiannon]

Eric Luke's run is a hidden gem in the Wonder Mythos.

[Bound4olympus]

Am I really the only person who doesn't like the Adam Hughes covers? It's not that I don't think he's insanely talented, becaues I definately do, but I just thought they were so dark. Plus I just thought her loose boots looked awful. I will say however that he did draw one of my favorite covers. That'd be this one.

http://kleinletters.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ww184_02.jpg

[Gail Simone]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

[troy2g1]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

I think it was a great idea too!!

[LittleMissVixen]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

Is it off limits?

[troy2g1]

Is it off limits?

The Wonderdome was a form that was created by Dome (the Lansarian Morphing Disk) -- Dome died helping Diana and locked itself into the form of her invisible plane.

It's possible, I guess, for Diana to somehow find/receive another Lansarian Morphing Disk.

[SJNeal]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

I thought it was a horrible idea at first! But Luke made it such a fascinating concept; a character unto itself, really. At the time, I would have rather kept the Dome in lieu of the invisible jet.

[Constantine Drakon]

Didn't he get in hot water over the use of the Hindu Pantheon?

Rama in a leather jacket... oy.

I'd have say that, while it was great, at least some parts of it were... "ill advised"?

Fantastic reboot of Dr. Poison.

As for the Wonder Dome, I always thought it was fantastic as her "Fortress of Solitude/Batcave" and would love to see it return in that capacity. But I wouldn't want to see it winning any more fights for her (as it did when it sucked up all that nuclear radiaton Devastation was throwing around).

[SJNeal]

Am I really the only person who doesn't like the Adam Hughes covers? It's not that I don't think he's insanely talented, becaues I definately do, but I just thought they were so dark. Plus I just thought her loose boots looked awful. I will say however that he did draw one of my favorite covers. That'd be this one.

http://kleinletters.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ww184_02.jpg

The saggy boots seemed to get on a lot of people's nerves; I tended to overlook them because the rest of the cover was always so amazing!

[aegisbearer]

I loved Eric Luke's run because of Yanick Paquette. He asked CBR people waaaaay back (when I visited the chat room) if they wanted something like a picture or piece of text included in an issue.

Well, in issue #148, Yanick put a picture of me in a museum scene.

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/CBRmodWW/Fullscreencapture97200982424PM.jpg

He even remembered me when I saw him at the Comic Con in NYC in February. That was my 15 minutes... LOL

Aegis

[troy2g1]

I loved Eric Luke's run because of Yanick Paquette. He asked CBR people waaaaay back (when I visited the chat room) if they wanted something like a picture or piece of text included in an issue.

Well, in issue #148, Yanick put a picture of me in a museum scene.

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/CBRmodWW/Fullscreencapture97200982424PM.jpg

He even remembered me when I saw him at the Comic Con in NYC in February. That was my 15 minutes... LOL

Aegis

That's great!

[ScottyQuick]

I really, really love Rama, from what I've seen by Bluefall's posts on Scans Daily. I think he's the best love interest for Diana, and unlike Tom, he's actually good enough for her!

[Ciro]

Although I couldn't get the issues except for one, I loved the fact that he used Cronus the Titan as a villain as well as introducing characters inspired by the hindu pantheon, as I quite like mythology.

In fact to me that's the strongest aspect of Wonder Woman's appeal as a character, her roots in mythology.

Rama should return, it's a great character.

[Mr. Kent]

Yeah, the chidlren of Cronus were neat villains. I mean, the great visuals of characters such as Disdain and Harrier, along with Devastation, were what really drew me in to that run.

But on the writing side, there were just as many things I liked. The whole concept of Devastation was really interesting to me.

[Stanlos]

Somewhere in between the horror that was John Byrne and the glory that was Phil Jimenez, Diana's adventures were penned by a writer by the name of Eric Luke.

You never hear much about this relatively brief run, but the creation of this board has had me nostalgic for era's of WW past. While not necessarily ground-breaking, I found these issues quite good; we got strong writing, great art from Yanick Paquette and later Matthew Clarke, as well as beautiful Adam Hughes covers! We also got Devastation and Rama, which were polarizing characters at the time, but have since been all but forgotten.

So what do the rest of you think? Am I alone in my appreciation for this period of Diana's story??? Discuss! :biggrin:

But props where they are due, Mr. Byrne did accomplish a lot for Wondy and was definitely in her corner.

As for Luke, there were a lot of touches to love during his run. He brought back the Amazon Mental Radio which still makes me grin, he had some really cool scenes where Artemis is training Cassie, he restored the Greek mythology that got deleted during Byrne's run, he had Diana do LOTS of superstuff, he made Devastation a truly frightening villain (the Harrier spell/contribution is scary, deadly stuff), and his teamup of Diana and Jade was so cute!

[Xeres]

Luke's run IMO is the most underrated ones in the book. Now there were things I didn't like about it but for the most part the stories were very good.

The Wonderdome though was just bad.

[korok]

This run was just torture to read! Sure, there were some good ideas, but the execution was worse than a Rob Liefeld comic! It was confusing mess! This is the only run that I have absolutely hated! And yes - I've gone back and re-read them... they get worse!

And that's sad. I've read other comics by Eric Luke that were quite good. I don't know why he fell down on Wonder Woman. I admit, I had high expectations after Byrne's Outstanding run. Mr. Luke did not measure up... I wish he had just written a fill-in and left it at that. There have been some mediocre fill-in issues that were better than this one.

But, I also realize that this is just an opinion. If you liked his run, that's awesome! Someone's favourite run on a book is someone else's most hated, so...

[SJNeal]

But props where they are due, Mr. Byrne did accomplish a lot for Wondy and was definitely in her corner.

As for Luke, there were a lot of touches to love during his run. He brought back the Amazon Mental Radio which still makes me grin, he had some really cool scenes where Artemis is training Cassie, he restored the Greek mythology that got deleted during Byrne's run, he had Diana do LOTS of superstuff, he made Devastation a truly frightening villain (the Harrier spell/contribution is scary, deadly stuff), and his teamup of Diana and Jade was so cute!

Eh, I do have to give you that. I remember reading interviews leading up to/during his run and you're right, he always came across as a big fan. He wanted a long tenure, he wanted to leave his mark, etc. I guess it all came down to personal taste because I was on the verge of dropping the book at several points... :redface:

I one and only element I did like was the Champion story; weird, because I know fans of this run that hated only Champion!

[SJNeal]

This run was just torture to read! Sure, there were some good ideas, but the execution was worse than a Rob Liefeld comic! It was confusing mess! This is the only run that I have absolutely hated! And yes - I've gone back and re-read them... they get worse!

And that's sad. I've read other comics by Eric Luke that were quite good. I don't know why he fell down on Wonder Woman. I admit, I had high expectations after Byrne's Outstanding run. Mr. Luke did not measure up... I wish he had just written a fill-in and left it at that. There have been some mediocre fill-in issues that were better than this one.

But, I also realize that this is just an opinion. If you liked his run, that's awesome! Someone's favourite run on a book is someone else's most hated, so...

Whaaaat?!?! Lol. As they say "different strokes..." :smile:

[korok]

Yep... different strokes... Again, I can see where Eric Luke had some good ideas. I do not feel he executed them well at all. And some were just awful. Wonder Dome? Queen, please! The Devastation story-arc? Yuck! The Dr. Poison two-parter was confusing, even tho I liked her coming back. Rama? He shows up, and then he's gone... faster than a wonder spin! What was the point? I saw the book as aimless and confusing. It was like a big stream-of-consciousness... much like Final Crisis.

[BnL]

This run was just torture to read! Sure, there were some good ideas, but the execution was worse than a Rob Liefeld comic! It was confusing mess! This is the only run that I have absolutely hated! And yes - I've gone back and re-read them... they get worse!

That's so weird, because I feel the exact same way about Byrne's run. I hated it initially, and since then I've decided to re-read it, thinking I may have been too harsh, and that there must be SOMETHING I can find enjoyable in it. But no matter how many times I read it, I still hate it.

As for Eric Luke's run, I thought it was okay, not great, but not awful either. Lots of good ideas, but sometimes the execution was off (maybe due to the fact that the run was so short, and he had to pack a lot into a few issues). I did like the concept of the Wonderdome, I just didn't like the name.

[Shatagni]

I'd personally like his Godwar & Devastation arc compiled in a TPB.

Though maybe his interpretation of the Myths are a little askew, I thought it was one of the most epic Storylines Wonder woman has been a part of.

John Bryne had his good moments. He introduced Cassie, his art was nice and the Morgan LeFey storyline was Aces.

[SJNeal]

I'd personally like his Godwar & Devastation arc compiled in a TPB.

Those were definitely highlights, but I'll take the whole run, please. :smile:



John Bryne had his good moments. He introduced Cassie, his art was nice and the Morgan LeFey storyline was Aces.

It was?! In what issue??? :confused: :wink:

[Major Comma]

I sense that Eric Luke might be a future candidate for Five Wonder Questions.

[heystacy]

I liked the introduction of Devastation as a villain for WW. I think that's Luke's best contribution. I feel that the character should reappear.

[SJNeal]

I sense that Eric Luke might be a future candidate for Five Wonder Questions.

I hope so! Before the internet became accessible daily, I was completely ignorant of what was going on behind the scenes of my favorite series unless something was printed in Wizard :rolleyes: .

That said, there are a lot of creators (Luke and WML included) that I'd like to hear from and find out exactly why things went the way they did, and how much effect editorial had on their respective runs.

[Hyperion322]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

I liked what Diana did with it in the end, but I hated that it became her floating Fortress of Solitude and took her away from some of the great characters in Gateway City and Boston. The Wonder Dome was my biggest qualm with Luke's run, which I liked immensely for the most part. There were new and powerful villains introduced (who need to make a return!), Diana regained a little bit of her independence, Wonder Girl was made an honorary Amazon after intensive training from Artemis, and Wonder Woman's relationship with Superman and Batman was defined.

~ Hype

[Shatagni]

While I'm not a fan of the Wonderdome, I do like the idea of a sentient Invisible Jet. Now here's someone who should come back on Blackest Night, who's with me?

[scary harpy]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

It was a grea idea.

Batman has the Batcave; Superman has the fortress. Why shouldn't Diana have a little place of her own?

[scary harpy]

Rama and the Hindu pantheon
Doctor Poison updated
Cronos and his children

All great ideas and well executed. I hope they don't linger in limbo forever.

[Wonder Watcher]

I really enjoyed Eric's run and Yannick Paquette's art was excellent. Spectacular Adam Hughes covers were an added bonus. It's true that neither Eric nor Yannick (who was only involved for around 12 issues) get very much credit for their contribution to they mythos.

Things that stand out in my memory were him bringing Diana back to Earth from her lofty position as a Goddess, restoring the Greek Gods and of course Devastation, who I would love to see brought back into the rogues gallery. I also remember his Diana as being quite lonely and his writing at times being quite touching as he dealt with the emotional side of Diana's life.

The WonderDome was pretty good in concept but I felt it was a tad over-used (I don't think she should have actually lived there 24/7) and I aso agree it shouldn't haven got involved in fighting for her.

[SJNeal]

All great ideas and well executed. I hope they don't linger in limbo forever.

Good luck. I don't think we'll ever see any elements of Luke's run return, unfortunately. :frown:

[Mars Getsoian]

It was a grea idea.

Batman has the Batcave; Superman has the fortress. Why shouldn't Diana have a little place of her own?

She does. It's called Themyscira. When she's in Man's World, the Embassy is a fair substitute.

I really liked Luke's run. Only good romance Diana's ever had, incredibly gorgeous character design, some great work with Cassie and Artemis that really helped ground both characters in the franchise (Temi particularly), vigorous and jubilant use of the divine, epic mythology that Diana's heir to, and did I mention "only good romance Diana's ever had," because that's a pretty amazing accomplishment right there.

He did seriously overuse Devastation, who was never a good Wonder Woman badguy to begin with (she'd make a good rogue for Cassie, though), and he had some weird fits and starts, and I was never fond of the Wonderdome either as a fortress of solitude (Diana doesn't want solitude, she wants to go home to her loved ones) or a deus ex machina, but on my list of "why the hell isn't this stuff in trade yet" Luke's run is still right below the second half of Perez'. Too much good stuff there to miss.

[Stanlos]

I loved Eric Luke's run because of Yanick Paquette. He asked CBR people waaaaay back (when I visited the chat room) if they wanted something like a picture or piece of text included in an issue.

Well, in issue #148, Yanick put a picture of me in a museum scene.

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/CBRmodWW/Fullscreencapture97200982424PM.jpg

He even remembered me when I saw him at the Comic Con in NYC in February. That was my 15 minutes... LOL

Aegis

MR. Paquette was sooooooooooooooooooooo kind and enthusiastic!!!

[Talisman]

OMG. Missing this run. I remember loving it so very much when it first came out. I think I'm going to have to do some digging and get those missing parts again. Loved the covers, the new characters and loved, loved, loved Yanick Paquette's art on this book. I don't understand why it was such a short run...it was filled with so much goodness, sure, he wasn't a big name, but as much as I love Jimenez's run, I think this run was painfully cut short.

[Mecegirl]

It was really fun. Not the best but definitely fun. The new characters were awesome. Or I least I think that it was awesome to use a group of gods that were not Greek(how well he used them is debatable. I do understand why some folks were not comfortable with their use). I was such a Di/Rama shipper....

[brettc1]

Somewhere in between the horror that was John Byrne and the glory that was Phil Jimenez, Diana's adventures were penned by a writer by the name of Eric Luke.

You never hear much about this relatively brief run, but the creation of this board has had me nostalgic for era's of WW past. While not necessarily ground-breaking, I found these issues quite good; we got strong writing, great art from Yanick Paquette and later Matthew Clarke, as well as beautiful Adam Hughes covers! We also got Devastation and Rama, which were polarizing characters at the time, but have since been all but forgotten.

So what do the rest of you think? Am I alone in my appreciation for this period of Diana's story??? Discuss! :biggrin:

It was great is what it was.

That Devastation has never been seen since in the pages of WW is nothing short of a tragedy. :frown:

[brettc1]

I liked it a LOT. I know I'm gonna get killed for this, but I thought the Wonderdome was an awesome idea, and I'd bring it back in a second if I could.

The wonderdome yes, but also DEVA!

I dont think I was the only one hoping that Genocide was her millenium upgrade. :wink:

[Seant]

The Devastation 4-parter was good, but the rest was dreadful. I particularly remember #150, where the characters are standing around on a rooftop, saying things like, "can you feel it? the godwave has been corrupted," and "all of reality is affected!" but all we saw were 4 people standing on a rooftop.

Or Diana having to be reminded by Zeus she had a soul.

Most galling, the Devastation story where Deva convinces Cassie that Diana is Devastation, and Cassie beats Diana to a pulp and nearly kills her. ????

It's clear Luke was trying to do a Sandman/Morrisson-style run, but he just didn't have the chops.

[jason_w]

I consider this to be just filler between the Byrne and Jimenez runs and is forgettable for me except for the covers by Adam Hughes.

It did give me my monthly WW fix but that's about it.

[brettc1]

The Devastation 4-parter was good, but the rest was dreadful. I particularly remember #150, where the characters are standing around on a rooftop, saying things like, "can you feel it? the godwave has been corrupted," and "all of reality is affected!" but all we saw were 4 people standing on a rooftop.

Or Diana having to be reminded by Zeus she had a soul.

Most galling, the Devastation story where Deva convinces Cassie that Diana is Devastation, and Cassie beats Diana to a pulp and nearly kills her. ????

It's clear Luke was trying to do a Sandman/Morrisson-style run, but he just didn't have the chops.

Disagree. I like the Cassie storyline, and of course she had it over Diana in that fight because Diana was holding back so much. I thought the scene where she reaches Cassie through the lasso was wonderful. :smile:

If there was one fault with this run is was the two parter with Diana dreaming wistfully about being Superman's girlfriend. It was never going to happen, so what we really needed was someone she could go out with. But sadly every run for the last 25 years has had the same problem.

[jack-be-nimble]

I felt parts of Eric Luke's run was inspired and interesting, while other elements were too morose and indulgent.

Elements I liked were:
Cronus and his twisted children
The use of the Hindu pantheon
Rama
Dr. Poison
Devastation (as a teen/young adult)
The Dome (as a headquarters)
Cassie and Artemis

Elements I didn't like:
Who/what am I?
Isolation and sad Wonder Woman
Superman love
Devastation as an all powerful baby
Armageddon starts in some unknown town with some unknown girl?
Godwave/metaphysical lotus of power thing

[CaptMagellan]

I liked his ideas but found the execution a bit... off. A fun run, but not great.

And, while I didn't have a problem with the Hindu elements (for me the Greek pantheon and folk-way is just as worthy of religious respect as any other tradition and that all of them can be constantly revivified through tales) I did find his 'understanding' of it to be weak and the execution a bit banal.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

I wasn't a big fan of Eric Luke's WW.
It was more of the whole "am I a real girl?" schtick I hate so much, not to mention it had Wonder Woman falling to fantasy about life as Superman's wife, and this sudden need for Diana to isolate herself from everyone she loved.

Some things I liked, such as Diana finding Sensation Comics #1 to be utterly tacky, the use of Cronus as a villain, and the introduction of other pantheons.

[Mecegirl]

Guh!! it's not fair! Hottest couple ever!!
http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/600w/326/113261/9272561_1.jpg

[Seant]

Guh!! it's not fair! Hottest couple ever!!
http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/600w/326/113261/9272561_1.jpg

Looks like a Jodie Foster movie to me. Strong female, non-threatening effeminate male. Plus they're engaging in a ceremony! How sexy. Not.

[Mecegirl]

I'm assuming that you haven't read the run or don't remember how Rama was portrayed.

[Seant]

I
Some things I liked, such as Diana finding Sensation Comics #1 to be utterly tacky,

That's funny, she wouldn't exist if it weren't for Sensation #1. Also funny that Erik Luke, barely a footnote in Wonder Woman's illustrious history, would take a moment to crap on her creator.

Additionally funny that Luke thought it weird Marston's Diana was inspired by love for a man to go against convention and win a contest, give up immortality and venture to a strange land where she did amazing things and received great acclaim-- and yet Luke's Diana was pining over Superman, a married man? She invited people into her WonderDome to see the testament to her unrequited love.

Gee, which Diana was the bigger loser?

(Just sayin').

[Seant]

I'm assuming that you haven't read the run or don't remember how Rama was portrayed.

I've read the run. I was actually making a comment on that ridiculous cover, but the more I think of it, it makes sense for the way Rama was portrayed inside, as well.

Rama: "My feelings for you are too strong to think I could be a danger to you."

Oh, how Twilight!

[Mecegirl]

He has a berserker mode. Diana had to ask for a power upgrade from the gods just to take him down. He is actually dangerous.

The cover's fine. I just think folks are too used to male superhero comic book characters being depicted like sexless bricks of testosterone.

[Seant]

He has a berserker mode. Diana had to ask for a power upgrade from the gods just to take him down. He is actually dangerous.


I know. I read the story. Rama got bitten by the spider thing so he had to call on his berserker side, and then Diana had to call on her gods to combat it. It was all a false idea of urgency.

"Me go berserk on you!"

"No, me go berserk on YOU! RAHHHH!!!"

All so ethereal and dramatic and blah blah blah, and editorial wanted Rama removed so he skittered away saying he was too dangerous for a girl (if I may quote Mart).

And actually, the cover is quite beautiful, but knowing the story behind it, it's also hilarious. Because as with the "relationship" between Diana and Rama, as with the action in Luke's stories, it was all about representations as opposed to actuality.