New Readers of WW: Recommended Reading & Questions

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Yeah, it's still pretty confusing.

Gods (we think) changed the timeline. Paradise gets attacked. Mom dies. Diana grows up in hiding. Amazons still being hunted. We still don't know why. Diana tries to put it all back together again.

Were the affects shown in any other book besides WW's? Or is it just presumed that no one remembers who WW is?

[americanwonder]

Were the affects shown in any other book besides WW's? Or is it just presumed that no one remembers who WW is?

That's part of what is confusing. In Return of Bruce Wayne, Diana seems like her same ol' self. In JL: Generation Lost, Max can't seem to find her, and in an upcoming Superman, he runs into her but doesn't know who she is.

So, basically, your guess is as good as mine.

[Gaelforce]

That's part of what is confusing. In Return of Bruce Wayne, Diana seems like her same ol' self. In JL: Generation Lost, Max can't seem to find her, and in an upcoming Superman, he runs into her but doesn't know who she is.

So, basically, your guess is as good as mine.

Pretty simple, really.

If you see Diana in classic costume, then this is either (a) out of continuity (like the Halloween story) or (b) a book that ran late and takes place before WW 600.

If you see Diana in the new costume, that's the current continuity. The weird exception to this is JLA/99 which is 'classic' Diana wearing 'new' Diana costume for propriety's sake (99 is an Islamic team and Stuart Moore needed to put more clothes on Diana, so he 'borrowed' the new costume. JLA/99 is out of continuity as most crossovers are)

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Pretty simple, really.

If you see Diana in classic costume, then this is either (a) out of continuity (like the Halloween story) or (b) a book that ran late and takes place before WW 600.

If you see Diana in the new costume, that's the current continuity. The weird exception to this is JLA/99 which is 'classic' Diana wearing 'new' Diana costume for propriety's sake (99 is an Islamic team and Stuart Moore needed to put more clothes on Diana, so he 'borrowed' the new costume. JLA/99 is out of continuity as most crossovers are)

Right, we get that. I'm just wondering how its explained in other books or regarding other characters. In what issue does Superman suddenly realize "hey, I forgot who Diana is"?

[Gaelforce]

Right, we get that. I'm just wondering how its explained in other books or regarding other characters. In what issue does Superman suddenly realize "hey, I forgot who Diana is"?

Nobody knows who she is in JLA Gen Lost except for Max Lord so far, and if I remember correctly, she doesn't appear in any databases and such when he checked.

In the latest Flash, there's a picture of her showing one half of her in new costume, one half in the classic get up as people from the future realize that the timeline is full of paradoxes.

I think those are the only in-continuity references so far.

[Halo Jones]

Not quite a new reader, but I was wondering what's the general consensus on War of the Gods, and if I need to read any of the tie-ins or can I just get the four issue mini-series and be fine?

Also, has JH Williams III ever drawn a Wonder Woman comic, or just her in a team book or guest appearance or anything?

[Cardinal!]

Not quite a new reader, but I was wondering what's the general consensus on War of the Gods, and if I need to read any of the tie-ins or can I just get the four issue mini-series and be fine?

Also, has JH Williams III ever drawn a Wonder Woman comic, or just her in a team book or guest appearance or anything?

I would say the only tie-ins necessary were the Wonder Woman issues (#s 58-62 I think), but others may disagree; it definitely was necessary to read WotG to understand those tie-in issues, but not sure if it worked the other way. Although I first read it along with the rest of Perez's WW run, I remember thinking at the time that it wouldn't have been the easiest story to get into without any prior knowledge of events in WW's title that led up to it... and truthfully, even with the background knowledge the story just didn't read well. I really felt like Perez was off his game here, which was very unfortunate, being that it was supposed to be the culmination of an otherwise pretty excellent 5-yr run on Wonder Woman.

Not sure on the JH Williams question, sorry! Anyone know if Diana appeared at all in Chase?

['Flo]

For backstory, just go straight to the Perez stuff, particularly issues #1-14 of volume 2 (collected in the Gods & Mortals and The Challenge of the Gods trades). I just never felt like any later re-telling of her origin ever did as much justice as the original storyline. Generally all of Perez's run is really good and highly recommended (#1-62 + the first 2 Annuals), but unfortunately not all of it is collected in trade. If you like the first few arcs well enough, it could be very well worth your time to track down the remaining backissues!

You'll also find a lot of the Loebs' run to be pretty good, but again, not a lot of it is collected. However, the portion that is was probably the best out of the run anyway - The Contest and the Challenge of Artemis.

Wonder Woman #120-136 is probably the most important group of issues from John Byrne's run - it includes Donna Troy and Artemis's re-integration into the supporting cast, Diana's death and resurrection, Hippolyta's tenure as Wonder Woman, Cassie Sandsmark getting her powers... not all of it is exactly canon, but it was still a pretty fun and interesting period, though the standard of quality from Perez's run isn't really there by this point.

I like to recommend Wonder Woman #139-159, even though not many go out of there way to suggest it... it was Eric Luke's brief stint on the book, and read in one sitting it's actually a pretty good vision of Wonder Woman and he had a lot of interesting ideas. It's kind of a more sober, thoughtful take on Diana.

Phil Jimenez writes (and draws some of) #164-188... again, only half of it's collected, but fortunately it's the half that's really worth reading... the artwork is beautiful, and his take on Wonder Woman is more in keeping with Perez's work.

All of Greg Rucka's run is collected in trade and is quite good, especially Eyes of the Gorgon and Mission's End.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[Manic_Mark]

Pretty simple, really.

If you see Diana in classic costume, then this is either (a) out of continuity (like the Halloween story) or (b) a book that ran late and takes place before WW 600.

If you see Diana in the new costume, that's the current continuity. The weird exception to this is JLA/99 which is 'classic' Diana wearing 'new' Diana costume for propriety's sake (99 is an Islamic team and Stuart Moore needed to put more clothes on Diana, so he 'borrowed' the new costume. JLA/99 is out of continuity as most crossovers are)

OK, I was wondering about this too. I dropped WW at the beginning of the Simone run and read the most recent issue and have no idea whats going on, can you give more details?



Also Im sorry did I read that right? Wonder Woman had to be put in more clothes because the team was islamic? Is this serious? Is there anything backing this up or is it just an assumption?

[Gaelforce]

OK, I was wondering about this too. I dropped WW at the beginning of the Simone run and read the most recent issue and have no idea whats going on, can you give more details?



Also Im sorry did I read that right? Wonder Woman had to be put in more clothes because the team was islamic? Is this serious? Is there anything backing this up or is it just an assumption?

In issue 600, 'classic' Diana chased a young Amazonian looking girl with a remarkable resemblance to herself as a child through a portal. That was the last we saw of the 'classic' Diana.

The next story in the issue picked up with 20ish nu-Diana in NYC fighting with a bunch of armed men trying to kill her. The Greek gods have apparently gone into hiding, but before they did, they altered the timeline to 'hide' Diana as well. This new timeline has the gods removing their mystical protections from Themyscira when Diana was about 3 years old, and the island was invaded by men bearing magically enhanced modern weapons. The Amazons were killed and Hippolyta was captured by the main bad guy, but before he could torture and kill her, she threw herself into the fire.

Diana was smuggled off the island and the surviving Amazons scattered to the four corners of the Earth. She was moved around the world (the latest issue show her being in Turkey when she was 8) and now lives in a brownstone in NYC guarded by Phillipus and other Amazons.

We've seen 'guardians' of some sort in a sewer beneath NYC, but whether they live there or just guard there is unknown. They seem to have played a part in Diana's training. There is also an Oracle who lives under a bridge who has revealed to Diana that not all is as it should be, and Diana's dreams of 'classic' Diana back this up.

As to the JLA/99, I spoke with Stuart Moore at NYCC 2010 and he told me that that was why they were using the costume. He explained it was for Islamic modesty and if the new costume hadn't been available he would have used a variation of the old (i.e. the full star spangled blue cloak) that she used for ceremonial purposes.

[Manic_Mark]

In issue 600, 'classic' Diana chased a young Amazonian looking girl with a remarkable resemblance to herself as a child through a portal. That was the last we saw of the 'classic' Diana.

The next story in the issue picked up with 20ish nu-Diana in NYC fighting with a bunch of armed men trying to kill her. The Greek gods have apparently gone into hiding, but before they did, they altered the timeline to 'hide' Diana as well. This new timeline has the gods removing their mystical protections from Themyscira when Diana was about 3 years old, and the island was invaded by men bearing magically enhanced modern weapons. The Amazons were killed and Hippolyta was captured by the main bad guy, but before he could torture and kill her, she threw herself into the fire.

Diana was smuggled off the island and the surviving Amazons scattered to the four corners of the Earth. She was moved around the world (the latest issue show her being in Turkey when she was 8) and now lives in a brownstone in NYC guarded by Phillipus and other Amazons.

We've seen 'guardians' of some sort in a sewer beneath NYC, but whether they live there or just guard there is unknown. They seem to have played a part in Diana's training. There is also an Oracle who lives under a bridge who has revealed to Diana that not all is as it should be, and Diana's dreams of 'classic' Diana back this up.

Yeah thats the issue I read. It referred to a diaspora and I was scratching my head wondering when the heck that happened. My first thought was she was with the Bana-Migdhalls but that didnt seem to fit.

As to the JLA/99, I spoke with Stuart Moore at NYCC 2010 and he told me that that was why they were using the costume. He explained it was for Islamic modesty and if the new costume hadn't been available he would have used a variation of the old (i.e. the full star spangled blue cloak) that she used for ceremonial purposes.

Wow. And people wonder why I am so suspicious of/antagonistic towards Islam. I mean its not as if the guys working on that project were taliban fundamentalists living in caves, at least i assume they weren't.

[swatkat]

Wow. And people wonder why I am so suspicious of/antagonistic towards Islam. I mean its not as if the guys working on that project were taliban fundamentalists living in caves, at least i assume they weren't.

From what I gather, DC was simply being cautious so as to ensure there could be no protests, should there be any - no one actually said a word about the costume.

[Silvermoth]

Could anyone tell me the name of the trade where Wonder Woman gathers an all woman Justice League? I really want to see her interaction with Cassandra Cain.

Thank you.

[sirvk]

I have a question about Rise of the Olympian.

When Wonder Woman is smashing the tower, she says that feeling 'the rage was a one time mistake' and that she didn't plan on letting it happen again.

What story was this line referencing?

Thanks

[CHCl3]

I am not a WW fan nor am I a WW basher but can someone explain to me what is up with the American theme on the old costume. I know she has a newer costume but was there ever any sort of reasonable explanation or was it just a thing from the Golden Age that no one really questioned. I remember the animated movie saying because she was a diplomat to America that she needed to wear the red,white, and blue on the armor but I am not sure if that is cannon.

That costume seemed really weird and too flashy in terms of colors to represent a princess from an ancient Greek civilization of all women. The newer one doesn't fit it either as it looks too modern for her.