The Blue Amazon

Concluding a story begun with Superman's Metropolis and Batman: Nosferatu, Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon is an Elseworlds one-shot that adapts classic silent cinema (in this instance The Blue Angel and Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler) from writers Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier.

Wonder Woman has long been identified as the third member of DC's Trinity, yet she has rarely had the same opportunities as her compatriots.  This is a rare instance where someone had to go out of their way to give her the nod in a separate project.  Though it is the final chapter of a trilogy, one might read it separately (as I did) and not miss a beat. 

The Blue Amazon explores a nightmarish world dominated by two surreal figures, the inheritors of three founders who left a lasting impression, and not always for the better.  The third of this new ruling class has been kept prisoner by a psychopath who takes her for granted, until the day she's unleashed thanks to the appearance of her greatest foe.  The whole thing sets off the intrinsic worth of Wonder Woman without referring to any of her familiar elements, except for Steve Trevor.  It's a testament to a potential that has rarely been explored, unless in very simplistic ways.  It doesn't help her cause that of the Trinity, only she lacks a link to the real world.  In Blue Amazon, this is seen as a strength, and any continuing skeptics might take this lesson to mind.  It even suggests the one thing Wonder Woman has never really been allowed to explore, the biological capability that sets her apart and would make her instantly identifiable.  That's another reason why Blue Amazon is a must-read, not just for existing Wonder Woman fans, but those who might appear in the future.

The art, it should be noted, does not seem to know that all female characters in comic books must be depicted as sexually attractive as possible.  In fact, like the rest of the world around her, this Wonder Woman is almost grotesque.  It's just one of the signifiers that you're reading something special.