New Readers of WW: Recommended Reading & Questions

[americanwonder]

JLA: A League of One is usually recced around these parts as a must-read (and I agree, it's great), but I was wondering if anyone could rec me some other JLA trades that feature Diana in a prominent way? I'm trying to get into the title, and Diana's presence would just be the kind of thing that'd help.

JLA trades? Hmm, off the top of my head ...

Golden Perfect - by Joe Kelly
http://www.amazon.com/JLA-Golden-Per...5952858&sr=1-1

New Frontier - by Darwyn Cooke
http://www.amazon.com/DC-New-Frontie...5953147&sr=1-1

Justice - by Alex Ross
http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Vol-1-...lp_edpp_img_in

Kingdom Come - by Mark Waid
http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Come-M...5953074&sr=1-1

The Hypothetical Woman - by Gail Simone
http://www.amazon.com/Justice-League...5952903&sr=1-1

Ultramarine Corps - by Grant Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/JLA-Confidenti...ref=pd_sim_b_6

Is that kind of what you had in mind?

[swatkat]

americanwonder, thank you, this is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. I think I'll go for The Hypothetical Woman first, because it's written by Gail and she was my introduction to WW, and then try the rest. Thank you so much!

['Flo]

Hello WW fans!

Although I generally read more Marvel-based titles, I've been a fan of Wonder Woman for a while (...actually I was a fan of hers before I started reading Marvel - go figure ) and recently decided to start getting into some of her books. I love DC's JLA and Birds of Prey (not the current ones). But I just had a few questions:

- Any good recomendations on where I should start for her backstory?(Preferrably back issues, I'm not necessarily looking for anything re-told or current.)

- What are some well-recomended arcs?

Scans, links, and general info. would be greatly appreciated.

[Jimmy Bond]

Yeah I also am new to Wonder Woman. I read Spirit of Truth from Dini & Ross's World's Greatest Heroes, and now I've been more intriguied than ever in the idea of Wonder Woman as someone who fights gender oppression on a global level.

The only thing I've read aside from that resembling Wonder Woman I've read is Alan Moore's Promethea. She's featured in JLA, but I never felt she does that much.

I'm not sure where to start. I hear good thing's about Rucka's run, and I'm a fan of Rucka's work (sans Superman).

[Ari Gold]

How is Cheetah a formidable foe for WW?

What are her powers? . . . I suppose I could just wiki it . . .

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

Cheetah's the avatar of a forgotten god, possessing strength, speed, and agility on a par with Diana's, plus a brilliant mind and a ferocity that makes up for any lack of combat training. On top of that, she's a trained archeologist and tomb-raider type.

That's the general idea, anyway. Too often, she's written as a villain-version of Tigra.

Oh, and that's the current version. The pre-Crisis version, she's a batty lady in a fur jumper.

[Cardinal!]

Cheetah's the avatar of a forgotten god, possessing strength, speed, and agility on a par with Diana's, plus a brilliant mind and a ferocity that makes up for any lack of combat training. On top of that, she's a trained archeologist and tomb-raider type.

That's the general idea, anyway. Too often, she's written as a villain-version of Tigra.

Oh, and that's the current version. The pre-Crisis version, she's a batty lady in a fur jumper.

Yeah... You wouldn't know it from 95% of the comics she's appeared in from the last 20 years, but when written in proper form as George Perez re-invented her, the post-crisis Cheetah is bad news - as strong and as fast as Diana, frighteningly cunning, and won't hesitate for a second to claw you to shreds and make dinner of your innards. These days all it takes is a punch in the face from Batman or Catwoman to knock her out cold, though.

[Cardinal!]

Hello WW fans!

Although I generally read more Marvel-based titles, I've been a fan of Wonder Woman for a while (...actually I was a fan of hers before I started reading Marvel - go figure ) and recently decided to start getting into some of her books. I love DC's JLA and Birds of Prey (not the current ones). But I just had a few questions:

- Any good recomendations on where I should start for her backstory?(Preferrably back issues, I'm not necessarily looking for anything re-told or current.)

- What are some well-recomended arcs?

Scans, links, and general info. would be greatly appreciated.

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.

[Boonciaver]

I'm not familiar with the lingo of the community? What do the terms: Crisis, Golden Age, Silver Age, & Bronze Age mean?

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

Quickly...

Golden Age means the 1940's comics, which usually feature the original incarnations of comics characters. It's generally agreed to have begun with ACTION COMICS #1 and the debut of Superman. The exact time it ended is argued about by various fans and some say it differs from book to book, but most agree it sputtered out shortly after the end of World War II when superhero books began to fall in popularity and most were cancelled.

Silver Age refers to the period from the late 50's to the mid or late 60's when superhero comics were re-energized. New versions of Golden Age heroes like The Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman debuted, while Stan Lee transformed also-ran Marvel into a powerhouse with new heroes like The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and The Avengers, introducing a new maturity into comics.

Bronze Age refers to a somewhat funkier period in the 70's when comics began to experiment with new tropes and styles. No longer written for little kids, comics began to explore more serious topics, experimented with being 'relevant,' and ventured into non-superhero territory such as sword and sorcery, horror, and experimental styles.

Crisis refers to the comics mini-series Crisis On Infinite Earths, an attempt to streamline DC continuity by melding the Golden Age, Silver Age, and Bronze Age characters not just from DC but also the various defunct comics companies DC had acquired characters from (Quality, Fawcett, etc.) into a single history, discarding or reshuffling elements when necessary. For instance, originally The Huntress was the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of the Golden Age, who'd retired, married, and grown old while we read about the adventures of the Silver Age Batman. However, after the Crisis, the Golden and Silver Age Batman was supposed to be more or less the same character, so The Huntress got a new history and identity.

Kind of confusing, but I'm sure some folks will be along to quibble over the fine points.

[wwgrandkid]

Cheetah's the avatar of a forgotten god, possessing strength, speed, and agility on a par with Diana's, plus a brilliant mind and a ferocity that makes up for any lack of combat training. On top of that, she's a trained archeologist and tomb-raider type.

That's the general idea, anyway. Too often, she's written as a villain-version of Tigra.

Oh, and that's the current version. The pre-Crisis version, she's a batty lady in a fur jumper.

LOL!!! We just had a museum visitor who has fallen in love with the original Priscilla-Rich-debutante-turned-psychotic Cheetah, and has vowed to become 'the New Cheetah'! [since said visitor is in burlesque, this could be amusing].

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

LOL!!! We just had a museum visitor who has fallen in love with the original Priscilla-Rich-debutante-turned-psychotic Cheetah, and has vowed to become 'the New Cheetah'! [since said visitor is in burlesque, this could be amusing].

So... She's going to try to kill Lynda Carter?

Seriously, smart remarks aside, I do think the creative team bungled by creating a completely different Cheetah rather than updating the original. But it's rather too late to whine about it now.

[Nevertheless]

Glad that there were so many recommendations for League of One. I'm a fan of Christopher Moeller's other work (Iron Empires), but this is really a step above that. Great story.

I was wondering though whether Althea and Zoe have featured much in other WW comics?

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

I plan on taking a look at WW once Hester takes over.

My main question being: what exactly did JMS do to WW?

I heard it isn't the same WW/Diana Prince from New Earth and that the current DCU characters have no memories of her (not sure if "her" being the classic WW or the new one). Is this true? The Superman #708 solicit seems to confirm it. So I ask why? Who is she then? I assume this'll get "fixed" in Flashpoint, but I'm still curious. I looked on wikipedia, google, and DC Database, but couldn't find anything.

Thanks

edit: so i found that it's because the gods decided to change the timeline for some reason and for some reason only she was affected? Still leaves a lot unanswered to me.

[americanwonder]

edit: so i found that it's because the gods decided to change the timeline for some reason and for some reason only she was affected? Still leaves a lot unanswered to me.

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.