Reading Comics 243 “Comics Garage: First Box!”

 Having apparently ended my Forbidden Geek experiment only earlier this year (it feels like longer, although partly because it took so long to get that last box), I guess I was in the mood to try another service (or Amazon thought so, and I agreed). Like Geek, Comic Garage ships out assortments of random comics monthly. There are a variety of options. I opted, naturally, for DC titles, and ten comics per box. This is what I got in my first box:

Batgirl: Futures End #1

I’m pretty definitively determining that I just don’t care for Gail Simone. Most of the time I try to read her I hate the results. Somehow she even managed to screw up what so many other Futures End one-shots managed to accomplish, which was to give clever glimpses, well, into the future. The only worthwhile thing she does is gather the Batgirls together (and add a new one): Babs, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain. But the other inexplicable thing Simone can be counted on is to screw up Bane, who was part of her Secret Six. She somehow takes Bane seriously for a change, but her idea of giving Barbara Gordon character development is to make her hulk out as part of a con job against him. I honestly have never seen Simone’s logic appear remotely logical. There’s a very real phenomenon called comic book logic, which I associate mostly with Marvel comics (and movies). Simone should probably just head over there. And stay there. She would be a killer writer for Squirrel Girl. That’s, ah, a whole other inexplicable thing...

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #121

As part of the “No Man’s Land” arc (loosely adapted as part of The Dark Knight Rises), Larry Hama (the G.I. Joe guy) tells a wimpy Mr. Freeze tale that’s about as generic as possible. I have nothing against Hama, but it at least seems like he was wildly out of his element. I have no idea how long he stuck around Batman at this time. Hopefully not very long.

Freedom Fighters #10

The newest (from last year) comic in the box is one I’d wanted to check out anyway. It’s written by Robert Venditti, another writer I’ve tended to struggle with. The only problem here is that this is toward the climax of the story (it was a twelve-issue series), so it’s all action. Most stories you really ought to be able to jump in and have a good chance to understand the tone of it, but unless it’s a movie it’s going to be hard to appreciate if it’s anywhere near the climax.

Green Lantern #53

The classic Ron Marz/Darryl Banks comics (receiving a lot of nostalgia recently, a quarter century in), at this point still featuring the nascent adventures of Kyle Rayner. This was prime comics for me at the time. If any era had been in a position to replicate the Silver Age generational shift, it would’ve been this one, which at least for a decade ended up being exactly the case. Wally was a new Flash, Kyle was a new Green Lantern, there was even a new Green Arrow, and of course there was the poster boy, Jack Knight. 

Reading this particular issue again was interesting. Kyle battles Mongul, the big brute Alan Moore created with the Black Mercy gimmick who later turned into Cyborg Superman’s key collaborator but somehow ended up taking an extreme backseat. He instead became a punching bag, here for Kyle and then again later for Wally. 

Superman sort of co-stars (Banks does not nail Mulletman), giving Kyle a mainstream link for the first time. But the big development is Major Force taking on the assignment that will lead to the most infamous moment in the Marz/Banks run (Women in Fridges, which coincidentally also gave Gail Simone her career; two wrongs don’t make a right). 

The thing is, this is the first time I actually found Kyle’s ill-fated girlfriend Alex almost necessary to sacrifice. Marz set her up as a way to establish Kyle as requiring a steep learning curve, but she actually sort of inadvertently made it steeper than it really needed to be. In hindsight it would perhaps have been better to have her be the classic archetype of girl who falls for boy after seeing in action as a superhero. Instead their relationship predates the costume, and she spends all her appearances questioning his pedigree. And in hindsight it’s pretty annoying. I guess it’s the difference between experiencing it as an adult rather than a teenager. That and knowing her ultimate fate. Ultimately Kyle’s journey becomes completely his own, and meeting Superman means more than what Major Force ends up doing. The intention to have him (and readers) shocked into character development becomes superfluous, especially because it happens so quickly. If the intention was to try and replicate Uncle Ben, then it backfired. Once she dies Alex becomes almost completely invisible to Kyle’s existence.

(Though if Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale ever returned to DC and did the kind of comics they did at Marvel, it would be really easy to guess what they’d do with Kyle, if they chose him as a subject.)

Martian Manhunter #11

In contrast to Freedom Fighters, this late-issue climax was easier to read, in part because I had already read and enjoyed this Mr. Biscuits, Williams/Barrows comic (though, alas, Barrows isn’t on art this particular issue). In recent years DC has been leaning heavily into J’onn’s alien nature (though, I guess, since the Ostrander/Mandrake series, so for some twenty years), and I think this was about as extreme, and awesome, as it’s likely to get. Really wish someone could manage to do it while also integrating him back into the rest of the DC landscape, though. Sort of like Aquaman, who only seems to look relevant if he’s worrrying about underwater politics. 

Nightwing #45

The classic Chuck Dixon era! This issue is part of a Birds of Prey crossover, “The Hunt for Oracle,” which is to say, the villains finally figuring out Oracle exists and maybe they should make that stop. The weirdest thing about recent comics is that Babs is Batgirl again. Naturally it was Gail Simone who wrote the initial stories, although it wasn’t until Burnside (and apparently de-aging her) that it was at all relevant. And as stupid as it was to cripple her in the first place, it was probably even dumber to un-cripple her, after years of developing an entirely new career, and apparently not even bothering to have her pass it on. In an era where if anything Oracle would have been even more relevant...

(Incidentally, I finally figured out where MCU Spider-Man came up with the “man in the chair” trope. I was rewatching Batman Returns and...it’s Alfred, of course.)

Robin: Son of Batman #1

Patrick Gleason started out this series as writer/artist. I think he did a brilliant job. It’s a direct continuation of his and Tomasi’s Batman and Robin, and is therefore a must-read for anyone bold enough to admit that those were the best Batman comics of the New 52. Fans still seem convinced Damian is a snot-nosed brat. I can only assume far too few have read this material.

StormWatch #21

Speaking of the New 52, I cannot fathom this series reaching anywhere near this many issues. And based on this issue, I wouldn’t have bothered reading anywhere near this many...

Action Comics #764

The Loeb/Kelly/Casey era! This was the bold break from the ‘90s triangle era, bold new writing and art styles that ultimately ended up remembered best by Loeb’s subsequent Superman/Batman. The Kelly in question is Joe Kelly. This issue is brilliant, a creative approach to the controversial decision the team had made to put relationship troubles into the married life of Lois & Clark. Superman spends much of the issue talking things over with Ma & Pa Kent, doing an extremely good deed for an old lady...and getting no closer to solving his real problem, alas. Plus Lex Luthor is up to something, but as far as this issue is concerned, I have no idea what. This is always a great era to revisit. They took huge risks, but not necessarily in bold dramatic arcs (at least, not all the time; this is also the era of “Emperor Joker,” after all).

Teen Titans #35

By the time the Doom Patrol shows up, I have to wonder why Geoff Johns never went and outright pursued a comic with them. He randomly brought them up in his Justice League, too, but didn’t go very far there, either. Maybe some day! This issue otherwise reads a lot like the Titans TV show (which I love).

I’ve read other comics since I last checked in here, but at the moment I figure it’s okay to leave them unobserved here. Will be back with more comics from Walmart...!

Sunday Marvel Sunday "Tony Stark: Iron Man #12"

Tony Stark: Iron Man #12

Wow, that was a lot more difficult than it should have been.

I'm talking about finding an image of the cover on Google, which turns out to be a Walmart-exclusive variant (I found one with the title logo in blue, but apparently only Walmart had it in, y'know, Iron Man colors).

It should be noted that all these Sunday Marvel Sunday comics were originally obtained via Walmart three-packs.

Anyway.

Marvel continues to know what the hell to do with Iron Man.  Perversely, the company seems committed to screwing with the character in every way possible.  This has been going on in ridiculous fashion since the '90s, when Tony Stark was, inexplicably, a teenager for a while.  This was okay, in the '90s, if it was Ray Palmer, because even in the '90s Ray Palmer (the teenage thing was thanks to Zero Hour, in case you were wondering, and was featured in Dan Jurgens' Teen Titans) was not really a significant character (he had his heyday in the '70s, I think, in a partnership with Hawkman).  This is not to say The Atom is not a great character.  But very few writers seem interested in him.  I mean, even Ant-Man, with one of the worst publication histories of any major character, now has his own movies.  Ray Palmer in the Arrowverse is basically Iron Man, with shrinking powers.  Played by Superman.

Okay.  I kind of got sidetracked.  Anyway, this rant about how ridiculous Iron Man comics have been of course ties in with the fact that Iron Man has literally been the most significant superhero of the past decade, because of, y'know, the MCU.  And Marvel figured it was okay to exploit this opportunity.  To continue making terrible Iron Man comics.

Iron Man's dad, in the comics, isn't even Howard Stark, by the way.  Multiple writers affirmed that some convoluted adoption nonsense was the new status quo.  And Tony died.  And came back.  And died.  And as of this comic?  Is kind of dead.  And alive.  At the same time. 

Somehow the idea that Tony's a tech genius has gotten widely out of control.  In comics, being a tech genius is futurism, not smartphones.  Tony operates on such an advanced level (and yet, as with his armor, still doesn't...technically share it with everyday peons. despite running a massive business. somehow) he beggars all imagination. 

Part of this is superhero comics as they now exist, almost totally divorced from the real world.  This issue, by the way, is a tie-in with War of the Realms, just another cosmic story in adventures that no longer have anything to do with problems any of us is likely to ever experience outside of, well, a comic book, or another MCU flick.  It's particularly egregious when Marvel does it because this is supposed to be the company that's painfully reflective of everyday struggles.  And yeah, by token references to Tony's alcoholic past, it is.  Pretty much.  His new body has the same history as his old body (just don't even ask). 

Never mind that Marvel is once again replacing Tony as Iron Man, by the way.  Forget that DC may have just fired Dan DiDio because it had second thoughts about a Marvel-like attempt to line-wide replace the icons, again. 

Forget that this was a golden opportunity, with Tony's death in the movies, to remind any interested fans, that Tony's adventures continue well past Robert Downey, Jr. in the comics.  Maybe.  Probably.  Sometimes.  Unless they can help it.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who's writing Iron Man.  Bendis did it for a while, and he actually was kind of more interested in Doctor Doom.  Or Mary Jane.  Or Riri Williams.  This issue it's Gail Simone, the writer most likely to not really conceive of anything outside of comic book logic.  Unless it offends her.  And gives her a career. 

Anyway, I'm noticing that Thought Bubble Comics really only has a readership of one these days (thanks, Pat!), so it really doesn't matter what I say.  Some of these are going to be rants, and some are actually going to have nice things to say about Marvel.  But most of them will be rants.  Coming at you weekly!

Watching the Walmart Giants 1 "August 2019"

I guess it was time to make it official.  Nobody really seems to be putting an emphasis on these things, so at a time when they're finally going to be available outside Walmart, the stuff I've been reading from Walmart since June 2018...I'm just going to make as regular a feature here as I've been blogging these days.   Hopefully once a month, right?

The Walmart DC Giants began fourteen months ago.  There was a revision of the lineup earlier this year, and there'll be another one next month.  I haven't been getting all the titles every month, but I tend to get the first issue of each new title (so, certainly check back in next month for an expanded edition).

Anyway, without further ado:

Batman Giant #14
The final issue of this particular volume also features the final installment of what's being officially reprinted as Batman: Universe from Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington.  Picking up the story from last month, Vandal Savage has erased Batman from existence!  But not Bruce Wayne!  The funny thing about the whole arc, and certainly this final installment, is how the famous master of decompression, Brian Bendis, has actually delivered compressed storytelling, and quite capably, thank you very much.  We join Bruce as he's already hunting Savage all over again.  Alfred, on his coms link as always, observes, "I wish I understood this compulsion, Master Wayne."  To which Bruce responds, naturally, "Me, too, Alfred."  And he finds Savage, and the white ring that in this tale is the first Green Lantern ring (Volthoom begs to differ! but who really cares?), and of course Batman wins.  The whole thing has been a fun little wild ride, and a terrific spotlight for...Nick Derington, actually.  Derington was previously best known for his Young Animal Doom Patrol, but I suspect his profile is going to rise considerably after this.

The issue also features reprints of Paul Dini's Detective Comics #834, which reconciles Batman with Zatanna post-Identity Crisis; Nightwing #14 (circa the New 52), and Batgirl #0, which is Gail Simone's origin story, which ironically for Simone ends with a nod to Batman: The Killing Joke.

Flash Giant #7
I've never been a big fan of Simone.  I should've been interested in reading Flash Giant regularly, but Simone was writing the lead new material.  This is the conclusion to her tale, too.  Long story short, it did not leave me wondering if I missed anything good.  Weird twist: Simone has one of the Rogues working alongside Flash, but it's not Captain Cold (or even Piper), but rather Weather Wizard, for whatever reason.  It at least further suggests that it might be time to revisit the Rogues as potential allies rather than foes. 

The issue also includes Adam Strange: Planet Heist #7 & 8 (to finish the story in this final issue) and Justice League #21 (circa the New 52), which was the final installment of what had until this issue been a back-up Shazam feature, an update for the character that later directly informed this year's Shazam movie (which is actually pretty good; Darla rocks!).  The movie deleted Black Adam and substituted Sivana in an expanded role in his place, but otherwise the ending remains much the same.  I figure Black Adam is being saved for another film appearance, assuming Dwayne Johnson ever actually plays him.  Guaranteed to have more audience appeal for a sequel if he's in that...

Superman Giant #14
No, Tom King is not in this one.  Apparently to accommodate whatever unexplained reasons for repeated delays his story has met in these pages, this is the only title that will not be rebooted next month.  That's all I know for now.  Anyway, replacing Superman: Up in the Sky this month is once again a one-off from Steve Orlando, which is not as interesting as his previous one. 

Also featured are reprints of a story from Green Lantern Secret Files and Origins 2005 featuring Darwyn Cooke illustrating Geoff Johns; Superman/Batman #19, which again features the new Supergirl from that era, which in the credits confusingly uses Steel's logo in a bad printing job for "Girl of Steel;" and The Terrifics #14, from earlier this year, the last issue written by Jeff Lemire.

Titans #7
With all due respect to Dan Jurgens, but I've barely been interested in his Teen Titans stories from these things (which is odd, because I loved his Teen Titans comics from the '90s), and didn't read this installment. 

Also featured: Teen Titans #14 (Geoff Johns era); Superman #38, which features the Super Sons, Damian Wayne and Jon Kent, whose Super Sons series was regularly included in the title, with this issue part of a crossover arc; and Sideways #13, the final issue of the series, which like the series itself far better than lack of fan interest suggested.  In fact, that's the only reason I bought this Giant, so I could catch the final issue.

But it came with a bonus!  A complete listing of the new line-up:

• Batman Giant
• Flash Giant
• Swamp Thing Giant
• Wonder Woman Giant
• Aquaman Giant
• DC Ghosts Giant
• DC Villains Giant
• Teen Titans Go! Giant
• DC Super Hero Girls Giant

And of course, Superman Giant, regardless of whenever, if ever, it gets renumbered.  As my mom used to say, your guess is as good as mine.

Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1 (DC)

writer: Gail Simone

artist: Jan Duursema

This Convergence spin-off hearkens back to Chuck Dixon's Nightwing and Birds of Prey, and the days when Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon seemed like they were always on the verge of a full-blown relationship.

That's great and all, but Dick has actually had a lot of those relationships.  Another of them was with Huntress, which is playing out again in the pages of Grayson.

What to make of seeing the Nightwing/Oracle version arguably for the first time playing out in its own spotlight, which is the real story here?  The writer is Gail Simone, who has a loyal fan following, which I'm not so much a part of, because she tends to lose focus after excellent starts.  For a two-issue series she ought to have every reason to stay sharp, so I'm not worried about Simone.  She puts the focus on Babs, the once and future Batgirl, who provides the voice for the captions.  By the end of the issue, Babs seems to have completely reversed herself, revealing her full hackers' fury.  But the thing is, the whole story also spotlights why her relationship with Dick has never worked.  Which is disappointing?  Because isn't Convergence supposed to be an orgasm of wish-fulfillment?  Except maybe Simone gets it exactly right.  There's still one more issue, after all.

The recap of previous Dick/Babs moments reads like a true hodgepodge connecting dots that are not necessarily there.  Which is perhaps why something like this comic was necessary after all.

Digitally Speaking...#5 "Batman"

Batman #13 (DC)
From 2012.  This is Scott Snyder's introduction to the "Death of the Family" arc.  And surprise to say, but it's kind of shockingly bad.  Not bad as in it's written or drawn poorly, but conceptually it's so poorly executed that it's surprising something like this would be the start of a major story arc for a major character in a major company.  Internet critics say that sort of thing all the time.  I was following a blogger who trashed just about every issue of AvX that way, and that was an event written by Marvel's top creators.  I've ragged on Snyder in the past.  I know he's supposed to be the best Batman writer in years.  I even recently came to his defense in terms of the conclusion to this very arc and what he might have planned for some grand greater scheme.  But in terms at least of this issue, out of all the "Death of the Family" issues I've read, it's easily the worst.

It begins randomly, Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock talking about omens, and then the next page taking all the steam out of the conversation, and then transitioning to Gordon's smoking habit, and then the Joker randomly appears, and then Batman arrives, and then we have a recap of an apparently aborted story Tony Daniel began at the start of the New 52 in the pages of Detective Comics, the one that got the Joker's face peeled off in the first place.  Snyder never really convincingly explains any of that, but it's okay, because it's the creepy Joker.  Then the Joker becomes all methodical, copying the events of the first time he ever struck Gotham, which becomes a pastiche on how the character operates in Tim Burton's Batman.  And finally we reach the Joker and Batman, and the real story is teased.

Honestly, I have no idea why Snyder had to be so obtuse about it.  Damian mocks the whole thing right from the start.  Maybe that's why Grant Morrison realized he had to go, because he's a barometer.  Unlike how Snyder attempts to present Joker, it's really Damian who cuts every situation down to what it really is.  So it's no wonder that the best "Death of the Family" issue came from Batman and Robin.

It's certainly not this issue.  Definitely not.  I have no idea what Snyder was thinking.  He's not really that bad a writer.  To start a major arc like this, though...When Kyle Higgins started at DC, he was paired with Snyder for the Gates of Gotham mini-series.  But now I'm thinking it's Snyder who needs a co-writer.  There's no great shame in this.  Geoff Johns had co-writers, too.  Snyder had one when American Vampire began (some dude named Stephen King).  He needs someone to help formulate stories better.  He's apparently reached the point where editors can't approach him that way (although the buzz in Negative DC Talk is that all the writers who've abruptly departed the New 52 have done so because of meddling editors), but seriously, reading this issue alone?  Any objective analysis begs for Snyder to get a little help.

That's all he needs really.  He has a lot of good instincts.  He also has a lot of bad ones.  Comics are ripe with this kind of talent.  Ed Brubaker, for example.  Brian Michael Bendis.  Even Mark Waid.  Fans like to lump Morrison in with them, Johns too.  I put Brubaker in with that lot because the best and really only good stuff he did with Captain America involved the Winter Soldier arc.  He got his reward with a whole movie based on that work.  Bendis is an undeniable talent, but he suffers from an acute case of verbal diarrhea that constantly gets in the way of telling real, actual stories (then again, sometimes maybe that's the point).  Waid is his own worst enemy.  He's literally a comics savant, but all his best instincts are usually stymied by his nervous need to rebel.  I don't include Morrison or Johns because it's really a matter of creative differences.  Whereas with Snyder, he can't formulate a story completely.  At a certain point, he just throws out whatever he's got.  He's at a point in his career where most people don't care.  But in the long run, it'll absolutely matter.

And this issue is proof of that.

Batman 101
This compilation is a primer comiXology has that at once serves to provide a checklist for a few noteworthy stories from throughout Batman's publication history, as well as provide previews for all the original New 52 series (plus some vintage covers to round out the set).  As far as the preview pages go, they certainly illuminate the original worth of those series.  Scott Snyder's Batman starts out as promising as most Scott Snyder series.  He's usually good at setting a mood (the above example notwithstanding).  He also helps set the tone for most of the other entries, dominated as they are by caption narration (which as a rule I love in comics).  Tony Daniel's Detective Comics comes off extremely well.  At the time, Tony was more or less being demoted.  After serving as artist during pivotal Grant Morrison issues, he'd become primary writer/artist on Batman.  When the New 52 began, he was shifted to the secondary Batman title.  I'd hoped he'd stick around for a while, but he was one of the earliest disappointments in that regard.  Since being booted from Detective Comics, he's bounced from Superman to Justice League to Superman/Wonder Woman.  I'd prefer the guy have some permanent home.  There's also Peter Tomasi's Batman and Robin, which kicks off a more visual story (which is only fitting, given he's working with ideal collaborator Patrick Gleason).  If these few pages intrigue you, know that there's much more interesting material that follows.  David Finch's Batman: The Dark Knight, a title I never had much faith in, reads about as well as any other in these opening pages.  I guess this one's my bad.  Kyle Higgins' Nightwing doesn't come off as well as it could.  I read a lot of the early issues, and it was pretty good stuff, but here it's surprisingly incoherent.  (Maybe Snyder and Higgins ought to stick together more often?)  Gail Simone's Batgirl might presumably be in the same ballpark as Tomasi's relatively feet-first introduction, but as I have far less faith in Simone than Tomasi, I never found out where she went with it.  Judd Winick's Catwoman is a highlight, but then Winick is far better than most fans care to admit.  Which might explain why his role was so tiny in the New 52, because the stupid fans never admitted as awesome he is.  The only real quibble here is why Catwoman has by default become Sexy Catwoman for the past twenty years.  I mean, I know there was the Jim Balent era in the '90s, but then by default every female character in the '90s was presented that way.  It was more the inexplicable fetish version from the early '00s that decided because she wears latex Catwoman must be Sexy Catwoman, her zipper apparently never able to find the top of her costume (and more often than not, finding it incredibly easy to find the bottom).  Winick is also responsible for the similarly impressive Batwing.  This incredibly long paragraph ends by wondering why the hell J.H. Williams' long-anticipated Batwoman ended up becoming one of the earliest lost titles of the New 52.  Seriously.  Sure, it's still being published (and now written by Manhunter mystic Marc Andreyko), but you'd hardly know it.  What's up with that?  It's enough to make me have to read it myself.  And people, I can't read everything I want to anymore.  I learned the hard way.  But it looks like I'll have to make another exception...

Batman: Black & White - A Black and White World (DC)
From 1996.  This is an excerpt from Batman: Black & White #2, from an innovative anthology series DC recently revived.  "A Black and White World" is written by Neil Gaiman, which pretty much by default makes in the best story featured in today's column.  The story more than earns the distinction, and in classic Gaiman fashion, deconstructing the world of Batman so that he and the Joker are filming their own roles in a movie straight out of a comic book script (or perhaps are simply aware that they are characters in a comic book).  The funny thing is, Grant Morrison has had them participate in similar conversations, so it wouldn't be so much of a stretch to assume that between encounters, Batman really does visit Joker at Arkham Asylum and they talk exactly like this, the Joker especially, just as if it's all a game.  It's enough to wish Gaiman would write more Batman (he also wrote "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?", a coda to Morrison's "Batman R.I.P." arc), and especially more Joker.  This few pages is more insightful to the dynamic between the two than everything Snyder did in "Death of the Family" (besides my supposition as to his ultimate, as-yet-unrevealed purpose), especially in the above opening issue.  But that's Neil Gaiman for you.

Essential Reading: Wonder Woman

With the recent hubbub over the casting of Gal Gadot in the forthcoming Superman/Batman movie, superhero fans may be wondering what there might be to find in terms of Wonder Woman material.  Since she has been one of DC's icons, equally important for comic books in general as a strong female, Wonder Woman has long held a position of prominence.

The problem has always been how to present her at the same level as Batman or Superman, and so creators have been struggling over that for decades, and the resulting material can sometimes be hard to penetrate.  Batman is a human with vengeance and redemption writ large beneath his shadow.  Superman is the ultimate immigrant.  What role does Wonder Woman play?  That's always been the problem.  She's hard to identify, much less identify with.  She comes from a more or less Greek tradition, although her Amazons and the Amazons the ancient Greeks mythologized are pretty much polar opposites (as far as artists love to depict any woman in comics), and as such a lot of her background material comes from a culture readers may know far better than Thor's Asgard, which makes Wonder Woman's adventures at once easily comprehensible and hard to interpret solely on her merits.  Unlike Thor, Wonder Woman is a new creation, and she inhabits a landscape that tries to be contemporary while also depicting its own society.

From my own experiences, here are some stories that may help define Wonder Woman's legacy a little better:

"The Contest," Wonder Woman 0, 90-93 (1994)

As close as any iconic presentation of her classic origin story goes (because this is another area where creators have not been as keen to explore in comparison to the scores provided Batman and Superman), this is actually the reverse, with Wonder Woman returning to Themyscira, home of the Amazons, to discover that the world she left behind no longer welcomes her.  Mom Hippolyta (famous from Hercules mythology as the prototypical Amazon; she's actually filled in as Wonder Woman on a few occasions) deems Princess Diana no longer worthy of holding the role as champion of their people, their ambassador to Man's World.  Enter Artemis, who wins the role and temporarily replaces her.  This is a lot like the event stories Superman and Batman and everyone else experienced in the 90s, but it has everything to say very directly about Wonder Woman herself.  Diana did, for the record, continue adventuring, in one of a few instances where she adopted a new costume (like every other instance of this that decade, it looks very 90s), and even remained a member of the Justice League, the only member of the Big Three at that point to hold the distinction.  And then she got the role back, of course.

Greg Rucka, Wonder Woman 195-226 (2003-2006)

To my mind the single greatest and most significant creator run in the character's history, and certainly one of the most involved, Greg Rucka embraces Wonder Woman's role as an ambassador and tosses her into some of her most dramatic adventures.  At one point she's even temporarily blinded.  This is also the period of Infinite Crisis, where she murders Maxwell Lord, perhaps the most daring superhero act of the new millennium, with the fictional effect that Superman's similar act in Man of Steel had on moviegoers this past summer.

Amazons Attack!, 1-6 (2007)

One of the effects of Wonder Woman murdering Max Lord was placing her at odds with the public, which led to all Amazons coming under siege.  Rarely has she been at the center of her own event, and while this was a minor one it is still a noteworthy story, which ably demonstrates all the potential that the character and her world has always held.

Allan Heinberg and Jodi Picoult, Wonder Woman 1-10 (2006-2007)

Simultaneously lifting her presence and also helping to sabotage it was Wonder Woman's receiving a relaunch under the successive early arcs of Allan Heinberg and author Jodi Picoult.  Both of them were reactions to and continuations of the Greg Rucka run, centering heavily on Diana as she struggles to find her way forward, with one of her signature villains, Circe (essentially Wonder Woman's Loki) providing plenty of problems along the way.  To have both Heinberg and Picoult was fantastic, but they combined for ten issues, and although the continuity was there they were both gone in an instant, and so the momentum dissipated in a heartbeat.  Great for anyone coming late to the party, however.

"The Circle," Wonder Woman 14-17 (2008)

I don't generally like Gail Simone, but this story is a wild exception.  It's another look at Wonder Woman's origin, but in a way that adds to it, which is generally hard to do.  Diana was famously created from clay, which makes perhaps sense by way of Greek mythology.  The Amazons not named Hippolyta kind of had a problem with this, the daughter of privilege who ended up inheriting everything that Wonder Woman essentially is, so they formed a conspiracy that tried to thwart her.  Kind of an Occupy Wall Street story before there was an Occupy Wall Street.  A key story in broadening the scope of the character.

The Blue Amazon (2003)

Another thing Wonder Woman rarely gets are her own standalone graphic novels, much less stories that dare feature art that doesn't completely glamorize her.  This is that, plus a way of exploring the archetypes involved in her relationships with Batman and Superman, which is another thing DC loves to do every now and then.

Ben Caldwell, Wednesday Comics 1-12 (2009)

One of the more interesting comic book experiments of the recent past was Wednesday Comics, which presents superhero adventures in serialized cartoon strip form.  The best of these strips was Ben Caldwell's visually impressive take on Wonder Woman's origin, which plays like a classic Disney animated feature.  Arguably the best Wonder Woman story in this lot.

Brian Azzarello, Wonder Woman (2011-present)

Azzarello has been creating a new standard for Wonder Woman comics, ably blending the mythological elements that others can sometimes misinterpret into her overall story, so that you have an indy comic featuring a mainstream character.  This may yet prove to be the best of all the stories.

Geoff Johns, Justice League (2011-present)

While this series is very much about the Justice League, Johns spent a good deal of the early issues exploring the Wonder Woman: Secret Origin story, at least as far as her introduction to Man's World goes, with all the classic elements like Steve Trevor involved.  I keep mentioning this, so I might as well do it again here.

(All cover images via Comic Book Database.)