John Byrne's Wonder Woman Appreciation Thread

[J.R. LeMar]

I can't be the only one who liked most of his run, can I?

[jason_w]

I enjoyed his run, but it wasn't as good as I thought that it could have been.

I was a huuuge Byrne fan at the time (followed his work on everything since his X-Men days) on top of being a long-time WW fan, so my expectations were extremely high.

I thought that using Hippolyta as a space holder for a GA Wonder Woman was a great idea at the time because now we could have a WW in flashback tales with the JSA.

I also liked that a new Wonder Girl was introduced. I much preferred his version to the current one we have now.

[Shatagni]

As I've said in the Eric Luke thread, His run had some good points. The introduction of Cassie, The Morgan Lefey arc, The clone of Doomsday. All good highlights IMHO.

Sadly we also got his attempt to "correct" everything that Perez established, Screw up Donna's origin even more and of course there was.......Mike Schorr *shudders*

[J.R. LeMar]

I enjoyed his run, but it wasn't as good as I thought that it could have been.

I was a huuuge Byrne fan at the time (followed his work on everything since his X-Men days) on top of being a long-time WW fan, so my expectations were extremely high.

That was pretty much that same for me (although I didn't become a Byrne fan until Superman). I had dropped WW when Perez left, and only came back when Byrne was announced.

Definitely wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it was okay. I was surprised when I later got online and it seemed like most WW fans hated it.

I liked the introduction of Gateway City, I thought it was cool to give her her own city, like Metropolis & Gotham, instead of just being in NY or Boston. And, most importantly, I loved when he had her die and become resurrected as "Goddess of Truth." I just loved the idea of that, and Byrne said it was his intention to to really amp up WW's power levels, so that there would be no doubt that she's the most powerful woman in the world, because he said that there always seemed to a reluctance among the PTB @ DC to show her as equal to the big boys.

So, of course, the very next regular writer of WW had to remove her Goddess aspect in his very first issue (even though, in Byrne's last issue, Ares had said that if they removed it she would immediately die).

I liked having Hippolyta as the replacement WW for a time, but I'm not sure how I felt about having her go back in time & serve with the JSA, only because of the typical messy time travel paradoxes that arise from things like that. Like how come when Diana first arrived in America no one remembered the previous Wonder Woman from WWII? And I did think that his new origin for Donna was unnecessarily complex. To me it always seemed simple, she was an orphan baby discovered and raised by the Amazons, then granted powers by the Gods. That's easy to understand.

And the ideas that Byrne had for the Mike Schorr character, that I'd read in interviews before the run started, sounded interesting to me. The Jewish man and a descendant of Greek Gods. That's the ultimate "interfaith" marriage. Could have been fun, but Byrne didn't seem to do much with him once the series started.

The new Wonder Girl was nice. A real "kid superhero", but of course others had to quickly turn her into a typical hot teenage girl for the fanboys.

[ScottyQuick]

I've only read bits and pieces, but any positive feelings I have are overshadowed by Hippolyta-as-WW.

[pariah-1972]

I'm a big Byrne fan but he drew WW too anorexic looking and that really made it hard for me to even get into the book.

[Stanlos]

There were a number of positives about John Byrne's run! I love that he gave Diana a robust and athletic figure and rendered the armor in tastefully. I liked that he restored the Perez origin and returned her to that level of power. I liked the emphasis on superheroics and the sense of fun that those had. I loved the creation of Wonder Girl. WONDER WOMAN: GODS & MORTALS is excellent. I live for the scene where the Amazons descend upon Gateway in search of their queen. I liked the use of Neron as a rogue. His back up feature featuring Artemis, Cassie and Mike Schorr was the bee's knees. He wrote Artemis very very very well! (I would have bought a mini or ongoing by him featuring Artemis on the spot.) I liked the epic scale of his ambitions with respect to the New Gods and the Olympians. And I liked that even though he is a major league JK4W fan he cast Ares as the most dangerous/powerful divinity. I also loved the bold elements of his take on the armour (though she needed every OUNCE of great Gaea's strength to wear that tiara). I liked the restoration of Donna to the Wonder Woman family. I liked the way he wrote Donna, Hippolyte, and Artemis during Genesis.

He and Mr. Kupperburg worked really hard to get Diana some consistency and respect in her portrayals and it showed. I appreciate them for it.

[Dream Boy]

I liked Byrne's WW too. The only thing that I couldn't get behind was Hippolyta as WWII Wonder Woman. Other than that, a decent run that was full of action, fun, and surprises. Loved the introduction of Cassie and the use of Artemis. I still miss Gateway City and Mike.

[BnL]

So, of course, the very next regular writer of WW had to remove her Goddess aspect in his very first issue (even though, in Byrne's last issue, Ares had said that if they removed it she would immediately die).

I'm pretty sure that was an editorial mandate.

Anyway, I have to say, I'm hard pressed to find anything I liked about Byrne's run on Wonder Woman. I guess I can say that I appreciated his effort to portray her as a powerhouse...?

[Wonder Watcher]

I'm pretty sure that was an editorial mandate.

Anyway, I have to say, I'm hard pressed to find anything I liked about Byrne's run on Wonder Woman. I guess I can say that I appreciated his effort to portray her as a powerhouse...?

I wish I was as generous as you, it was a long couple of years.

[Stanlos]

I wish I was as generous as you, it was a long couple of years.

LOL

There were definitely some negatives during the run but surely you can identify some positives in the general sense? No? Not even one, Wonder Watcherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?

[Constantine Drakon]

He improved Artemis immensely, his take on Wonder Girl has potential, and he brought back Chuma.

...

Well, that's everything nice I have to say.

[J.R. LeMar]

I'm pretty sure that was an editorial mandate.

Which fits Byrne's assertion that I mentioned earlier about the PTB @ DC having a sort of unofficial mandate not to portray WW as being really powerful.

He'd used another example of, I think, some DC Christmas cards, where all of the heroes like Superman, Batman, & Green Lantern were shown in powerful poses on the cards, & Byrne tried to push to have WW in a similar pose, but DC insisted on her being shown sitting around holding a bunch of presents or something like that.

[SJNeal]

Hmmm... I suppose the only thing I appreciate about Byrne's run, is that he was obviously a WW fan. Regardless of how things turned out, I think he truly had good intentions.

That said, I'm reminded of the old addage, "If you can't say something nice...", so I shall take my leave of this thread.

[MinaRho1]

Which fits Byrne's assertion that I mentioned earlier about the PTB @ DC having a sort of unofficial mandate not to portray WW as being really powerful.

He'd used another example of, I think, some DC Christmas cards, where all of the heroes like Superman, Batman, & Green Lantern were shown in powerful poses on the cards, & Byrne tried to push to have WW in a similar pose, but DC insisted on her being shown sitting around holding a bunch of presents or something like that.

Ugh. That word "mandate" rears its ugly head again. I think this may inspired a little respect for Byrne on my part.

Its not that I hate Byrne. His work leaves me cold that's all. But I will acknowledge that Byrne IS a fellow fan. That I can respect. We don't need more writers brought in who are clueless, uninformed and uninterested in Diana to write her. *cough* Jodi *cough*

That's why I love Himenez, Perez, Gail and Rucka. Fans as well as writers. I felt *spoiled* reading their stuff. Spoiled in a good way