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The Greatest Stories Ever Told
Wonder Woman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
A collection of Wonder Woman stories beginning with the first story of Wonder Womans' creation and coming to America.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 16, 2010
This collection makes clear a sad truth: when you boil it down, not that many great stories have actually been told about Wonder Woman.
Now for a few caveats. Yes, there are plenty of good Wonder Woman stories, but it's hard to name very many great ones. Also, some of the best Wonder Woman stories are larger arcs that take place over a number of issues and thus would not fit well in a collection such as this one. And it seems that many of the best WW stories don't even appear in her own book, but rather take place in the pages of Superman or Justice League. (Perhaps my favorite Wonder Woman story--a team up with Superman in Action Comics #761, where WW and Supes fight demons in an alternate universe over a period of ONE THOUSAND YEARS!--does not appear in this collection but is referenced in a caption in one of the other comics in this book. Would it really have been so hard to include that great story?)
Of the 10 stories in this book, only 2 come from the post-Crisis Wonder Woman series. One each by George Perez and Phil Jimenez, and in my opinion they're the only stories in this book worth reading. The rest of the collection is comprised of goofy, poorly-drawn tales from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. I know it was important to portray some of Wonder Woman's background in this series, but up until the 80s, most Wonder Woman stories were terrible. And if they really wanted to showcase her origins, why not include Wonder Woman #1 from 1942 or the superb Perez reboot #1 from 1987?
Wonder Woman is a great character and has been placed in the hands of a number of great writers over the last 3 decades. (I'm thinking Perez, Jimenez, Rucka, and Simone, but I'm sure there have been others, too.) It's just a shame this book didn't feature more of those stories.
One final complaint, that I find is all too common in collections of this type: the covers to the comics have been omitted from this book. I think that the cover is an integral part of any comic issue, and I personally think that a lot of context and feel of the time period is conveyed through the cover image, the title/logo style, and the original issue price. There are 10 issues in this book. Including all the covers would have added 10 pages. Was there really any reason to omit them?
Now for a few caveats. Yes, there are plenty of good Wonder Woman stories, but it's hard to name very many great ones. Also, some of the best Wonder Woman stories are larger arcs that take place over a number of issues and thus would not fit well in a collection such as this one. And it seems that many of the best WW stories don't even appear in her own book, but rather take place in the pages of Superman or Justice League. (Perhaps my favorite Wonder Woman story--a team up with Superman in Action Comics #761, where WW and Supes fight demons in an alternate universe over a period of ONE THOUSAND YEARS!--does not appear in this collection but is referenced in a caption in one of the other comics in this book. Would it really have been so hard to include that great story?)
Of the 10 stories in this book, only 2 come from the post-Crisis Wonder Woman series. One each by George Perez and Phil Jimenez, and in my opinion they're the only stories in this book worth reading. The rest of the collection is comprised of goofy, poorly-drawn tales from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. I know it was important to portray some of Wonder Woman's background in this series, but up until the 80s, most Wonder Woman stories were terrible. And if they really wanted to showcase her origins, why not include Wonder Woman #1 from 1942 or the superb Perez reboot #1 from 1987?
Wonder Woman is a great character and has been placed in the hands of a number of great writers over the last 3 decades. (I'm thinking Perez, Jimenez, Rucka, and Simone, but I'm sure there have been others, too.) It's just a shame this book didn't feature more of those stories.
One final complaint, that I find is all too common in collections of this type: the covers to the comics have been omitted from this book. I think that the cover is an integral part of any comic issue, and I personally think that a lot of context and feel of the time period is conveyed through the cover image, the title/logo style, and the original issue price. There are 10 issues in this book. Including all the covers would have added 10 pages. Was there really any reason to omit them?
January 11, 2018
From an historical perspective, this is interesting considering it spans several decades of wonder woman's career. Now, reading it with 21st century sensibilities is a bit tougher. The sexism is pretty rampant throughout but most noticeable between the stories from the 50s to the 80s. Be it Steve Trevor trying to trick WW into marrying him, Denny O'Neil's now infamous run of a dejected WW who loves to shop, or a cop story from the early 80s where half the story is the narrator fawning over wonder woman's appearance. It's pretty gross with modern thinking at play. The last story by Jimenez is ok and has strong points applicable today, but there are other moments where peculiar dialog ("homo"... Really?) and tension between WW and Lois Lane ruin things. Really hoped for more from a collection called "The Greatest Stories Ever Told". I've no idea what the criteria were for curating this and why these specific issues were chosen. There is better out there.
September 16, 2018
This was a really great, varied collection. My knowledge of Wonder Woman is pretty limited, which is the main reason I picked up this book. I wanted to get a better understanding of who this character is and how she has evolved over the years. My takeaway.... I like her. I'm not sure she would make my Top 10 (maybe not even my Top 20), but that's not because she isn't well-written, complex, and interesting. It's just because... there's other superheroes I like better. Honestly, it's just personal preference. Still, these were solid stories that, in many ways, actually surprised me. Starting as early as the '60s, Wonder Woman actually had some comics with layered plots and more significant stakes than I was expecting. Were they up to today's standards? No. But did they have a bit more "punch" to them than other Silver Age comics I've read? Yes. I also enjoyed the final issue in which Lois Lane was scrutinizing Wonder Woman: her good side, her bad side, and everything in between. The end result was a woman who, despite her powers, any female could understand--in fact, any PERSON (regardless of gender) could understand. Humanity is a walking contradiction, and Wonder Woman epitomizes that. She's a warrior who is also a diplomat, a humanitarian who is also royalty. And, in many ways... isn't everybody all of those things? Another interesting thing I noticed is that Wonder Woman isn't written like other superheroes: she represents a government of a sovereign nation, and, as such, has a different agenda. In that way, she's very much like Aquaman. But, interestingly, these two characters are written in drastically different ways: Wonder Woman tends to take a world view of things, possibly because Paradise Island is separated from the rest of the world. Aquaman tends to take a nationalistic view, probably because what the surface world does impacts Atlantis. These two characters could create some very interesting conflicts within the DC universe--ones that would parallel real world issues. I don't know if DC has ever addressed this, but if so, I would love to see how it was handled. Recommendations appreciated! But, anyways... this was a solid read and an intriguing snap shot into this character and how she has changed over the years. I'm interested to read more Wonder Woman, even if it's not a top priority. But still.... I definitely have a new appreciation for this Amazon princess.
February 15, 2020
I'd read the "Greatest Stories" for Superman, Batman and the Flash, and was surprised to discover there wasn't one for Wonder Woman. This one seems to have been put together ten years after the others and isn't called "The Greatest Wonder Woman Stories Ever Told"...I dunno, it seems weird given the character's status as the third most popular comic book hero in the DC stable.
For whatever reason, this book does exist and is roughly the same format as the others, though having been done ten years later, a story from 2001 is included and it's pretty awful.
As with the other books, the early years are charming, fun and juvenile—and especially juvenile because you're writing a female character for 10-year-old boys. Though it curiously goes unmentioned in the introduction, Wonder Woman was created because M.C. Gaines was taking heat from Marston for the violence in superhero comics. Gaines hired Marston to get him to shut up.
Combine that with Martson's love of bondage, dominant women and unusual domestic arrangement, and Wonder Woman was born. Well, I didn't expect them to put THAT in the intro, but it certainly sheds a different light on lines like "the ideal state is total submission to a loving authority".
But a big part of what makes these interesting is the struggle of reconciling the feminine ideal with the superhero comic book. Wonder Woman can throw down, but she's also going to try to resolve the issue non-violently when possible. She loves Steve Trevor but freeing the world from evil comes first. Perhaps more than her male counterparts, even into the '90s she's going to have a desire to salvage others as a big part of her nature.
It's also more fun to see her fashions change over the decades, and the art styles used to draw her. They all had merit, though I didn't care much for the 2001 era style. It wasn't all bad, but whatever they were doing for inking and shading looked off. The last story itself was actually pretty good except for being buried until mounds of Lisa Simpson-isms.
In this, we get a 2001 where the President is Lex Luthor (subtle) who thwarts her plans at the U.N. as she teleports around to do very non-super-heroine things. Walls of text, too. The good part of the story—that of her relationship with a suspicious Lois Lane—is just smothered by smugness.
But that's a minor point in a book full of co-eds evolved from primates, purple rays and golden lassos. Still well worth checking out.
For whatever reason, this book does exist and is roughly the same format as the others, though having been done ten years later, a story from 2001 is included and it's pretty awful.
As with the other books, the early years are charming, fun and juvenile—and especially juvenile because you're writing a female character for 10-year-old boys. Though it curiously goes unmentioned in the introduction, Wonder Woman was created because M.C. Gaines was taking heat from Marston for the violence in superhero comics. Gaines hired Marston to get him to shut up.
Combine that with Martson's love of bondage, dominant women and unusual domestic arrangement, and Wonder Woman was born. Well, I didn't expect them to put THAT in the intro, but it certainly sheds a different light on lines like "the ideal state is total submission to a loving authority".
But a big part of what makes these interesting is the struggle of reconciling the feminine ideal with the superhero comic book. Wonder Woman can throw down, but she's also going to try to resolve the issue non-violently when possible. She loves Steve Trevor but freeing the world from evil comes first. Perhaps more than her male counterparts, even into the '90s she's going to have a desire to salvage others as a big part of her nature.
It's also more fun to see her fashions change over the decades, and the art styles used to draw her. They all had merit, though I didn't care much for the 2001 era style. It wasn't all bad, but whatever they were doing for inking and shading looked off. The last story itself was actually pretty good except for being buried until mounds of Lisa Simpson-isms.
In this, we get a 2001 where the President is Lex Luthor (subtle) who thwarts her plans at the U.N. as she teleports around to do very non-super-heroine things. Walls of text, too. The good part of the story—that of her relationship with a suspicious Lois Lane—is just smothered by smugness.
But that's a minor point in a book full of co-eds evolved from primates, purple rays and golden lassos. Still well worth checking out.
June 23, 2017
Out of the "holy trinity" of DC Comics characters, Wonder Woman is the character I have the least experience with. Batman is my favorite superhero of all time, and I used to enjoy Superman. But Wonder Woman always escaped my purview. Sadly, this collection of her "greatest stories ever told" does little to entice me into reading more of her adventures.
For a supposedly feminist character, at least originally, the early issues still oddly have Diana falling prey to stereotypical feminine personality traits. On just the third page of the first comic, she ogles some dresses in a storefront window. It's not until final comic, from 2001, that we get a true characterization of a strong, independent woman leader, nicely contrasted with Lois Lane's all too mortal attitude and flaws. Still, reading these 10 comics is a reminder of how rare a true female lead superhero is, even if she is still battling giant gorilla women. I swear, Wonder Woman has the wackiest rogue's gallery, all of whom are women. Although oddly a couple of the female villains masquerade as men for some reason. It all highlights how segregated gender was (is) in comic books.
It's always hard to review older comics. The Golden Age and even Silver Age are just so vastly different from modern comics. On the one hand, it's fantastic how much more plot and action are packed into each tiny issue. On the other hand, there's way too much expository dialogue and narration to move along all that action. I actually enjoy the older artwork; it's much cleaner and less busy than modern comic art. But there is a sharp contrast in the illustrations from the 2001 comic and the rest of the collection.
I have a feeling there's some great Wonder Woman stories to be found. But this collection confines itself to single issue stories. A single issue, especially the shorter classic comic book issues, is not nearly enough room to tell a truly epic tale. But it can be done, as evidenced by some classic Batman stories.
If you're new to Wonder Woman, like I was, I would skip this book and hunt down some higher quality collections of longer stories to hopefully get a better take on this iconic female superhero.
For a supposedly feminist character, at least originally, the early issues still oddly have Diana falling prey to stereotypical feminine personality traits. On just the third page of the first comic, she ogles some dresses in a storefront window. It's not until final comic, from 2001, that we get a true characterization of a strong, independent woman leader, nicely contrasted with Lois Lane's all too mortal attitude and flaws. Still, reading these 10 comics is a reminder of how rare a true female lead superhero is, even if she is still battling giant gorilla women. I swear, Wonder Woman has the wackiest rogue's gallery, all of whom are women. Although oddly a couple of the female villains masquerade as men for some reason. It all highlights how segregated gender was (is) in comic books.
It's always hard to review older comics. The Golden Age and even Silver Age are just so vastly different from modern comics. On the one hand, it's fantastic how much more plot and action are packed into each tiny issue. On the other hand, there's way too much expository dialogue and narration to move along all that action. I actually enjoy the older artwork; it's much cleaner and less busy than modern comic art. But there is a sharp contrast in the illustrations from the 2001 comic and the rest of the collection.
I have a feeling there's some great Wonder Woman stories to be found. But this collection confines itself to single issue stories. A single issue, especially the shorter classic comic book issues, is not nearly enough room to tell a truly epic tale. But it can be done, as evidenced by some classic Batman stories.
If you're new to Wonder Woman, like I was, I would skip this book and hunt down some higher quality collections of longer stories to hopefully get a better take on this iconic female superhero.
November 17, 2013
This book is supposed to be made up of some of the Greatest story in the history of Wonder Woman from 1942-2001.
The book begins with two stories from the original run by Creator William Moulton Marston in the 1940s. The origin story is skipped for the more entertaining "Wonder Woman Comes to America" which has a great light sense of fun to it as Wonder Woman encounters crooks and establishes her secret identity. Second, we find Wonder Woman up against a team of supervillains when her attempt to put the Saturn women on Paradise Island's reformatory goes awry. The book length stories by Moulston were groundbreaking in that most comic book heroes would usually do 3 or 4 different stories when presented with their own magazine. Going back to Wonder Woman #2, Moulston would have a big plot for as comics as long as 64 pages. Whether this was Wonder Woman's greatest Golden Age story or not is unclear, but it's probably the one that could really fit in the 192-page book at a much more manageable 36 pages. It should be noted that the second story has more of Marston's legendary bondage imagery.
Next are three stories from the early to mid Silver Age by Robert Kanigher. "Top Secret" is a somewhat lame retelling of Wonder Woman's secret identity and a bizarre game played by Steve Trevor as the male Lois Lane trying to trick Wonder Woman into marrying him. "Wanted-Wonder Woman" is a fairly run of the mill alien story that just doesn't feel like it belongs in a greatest story ever told book. "Giganta-The Gorilla Girl" is from a series of stories where Wonder Woman's Golden age opponents were being reintroduced in the 1960s. Okay, but not great.
Next are three late Silver-to-Bronze book length adventures. "Wonder Woman's Rival" has Steve Trevor convicted of murder and acting like a jerk to blame Wonder Woman who tries to clear him by going undercover in mod clothing as she tries to solves the murder Steve's accused of. This was actually a pretty fun story.
Then we have "Wish Upon a Star," a story told by Green Lantern as he observes Wonder Woman as the JLA has its members observe Wonder Woman and evaluate whether to give her back membership in the JLA as part of the 12 Labors story in which Wonder Woman has to prove herself worthy of being in the JLA after leaving when she lost her powers. This is a part of Wonder Woman history that never made sense. It wasn't like she did anything unethical, so why did she have to prove that she was still worthy. So, while Wonder Woman has a great triumph, the underlying story makes no sense.
The best story in the book is without a doubt, "Be Wonder Woman...And Die" about a dying young woman who wants badly to play Wonder Woman in a film to prove herself as an actress and give some joy to her elderly father. While many stories here try to be emotionally powerful, this one does it and is the truest classic in the book.
Next up are two post-crisis Wonder Woman stories. First is, "Who Killed Windi Mayer" where most of the story is told by a male cop in this murder mystery that attempts a more realistic procedural. A police procedural is one of Wonder Woman’s greatest stories? Really?
Finally, we have "She's a Wonder" a story that's full of inconsistencies as Lois Lane follows Wonder Woman around for a day in the life with the help of the JLA teleporter. I really don't like the politics of Wonder Woman which really don't need to be stated. She comes out as pro-choice and attacks traditional religion. Whether you agree with the views expressed or not, it doesn't strike me as making the story timeless, but rather shoving politics down people's throats and dating it to the issues of the time.
The story's also bizarre for Wonder Woman's distracting constant wardrobe changes. Through the 18 hour day, she begins in Boston and then teleports to France wearing her traditional Wonder Woman costume and then speaks to College students then goes up to the Watch Tower to work on scientific experiments and changes into a Purple turtleneck and black mini-skirt, and does a TV interview in the same before teleporting to the White House wearing a dress that could double as a tent, before changing into a Wonder Woman costume with mini-skirt, then she goes into Atlanta and changes into a Wonder Woman t-shirt with gym shorts, then in a white t-shirt and workout pants in Indonesia, then back to Wonder Woman with mini-skirt in Rwanda, then to New York where she puts on a blue tunic with gray slacks at the UN, and then to white t-shirt and Jeans in support of an AIDS charity in Metropolis and finally back to her UN outfit on the streets. All told she wore seven different outfits and changed clothes nine times in a day. Mind you, she is at know time carrying a bag with extra clothes.
In addition, the artists and writers couldn't seem to agree. A full page spread of Wonder Woman declares she wears no make up while she's obviously wearing pink nail polish and lipstick.
While the story showed Wonder Woman doing great things and interacting with Lois, who is jealous of her relationship with Superman, the story seemed forced. The writers seemed self-conscious about making all the right points that they ended up with a lot of junk and lacked consistency.
Until this last story, the book was bordering on being four stars, but this makes a definite three.
The other thing that keeps this story out of the four star territory is the introduction. It's by Linda Carter who played TV's Wonder Woman and seems to know nothing about the comic. This is a book that needs an introduction. If I hadn't researched beforehand, I wouldn't have know about the "12 labors " series or how rare the lengthy villain battle contained here during the Golden Age was. Wonder Woman went through more fundamental changes than other characters which leaves many questions. Why did they redo Wonder Woman's origin in 1958? Why were they reintroducing Golden Age characters in 1966? You won't find the answers here.
There was a time that DC would put good introductions that would give fans the context to understand what's going on when they did DC Archives and the original Greatest story ever told collections in the late 1980s and DC Archives books. What Wonder Woman got here was a mish mash of stories with no context, some of them excellent, and some unintentionally laughable. She deserves better than this thrown together book by DC.
The book begins with two stories from the original run by Creator William Moulton Marston in the 1940s. The origin story is skipped for the more entertaining "Wonder Woman Comes to America" which has a great light sense of fun to it as Wonder Woman encounters crooks and establishes her secret identity. Second, we find Wonder Woman up against a team of supervillains when her attempt to put the Saturn women on Paradise Island's reformatory goes awry. The book length stories by Moulston were groundbreaking in that most comic book heroes would usually do 3 or 4 different stories when presented with their own magazine. Going back to Wonder Woman #2, Moulston would have a big plot for as comics as long as 64 pages. Whether this was Wonder Woman's greatest Golden Age story or not is unclear, but it's probably the one that could really fit in the 192-page book at a much more manageable 36 pages. It should be noted that the second story has more of Marston's legendary bondage imagery.
Next are three stories from the early to mid Silver Age by Robert Kanigher. "Top Secret" is a somewhat lame retelling of Wonder Woman's secret identity and a bizarre game played by Steve Trevor as the male Lois Lane trying to trick Wonder Woman into marrying him. "Wanted-Wonder Woman" is a fairly run of the mill alien story that just doesn't feel like it belongs in a greatest story ever told book. "Giganta-The Gorilla Girl" is from a series of stories where Wonder Woman's Golden age opponents were being reintroduced in the 1960s. Okay, but not great.
Next are three late Silver-to-Bronze book length adventures. "Wonder Woman's Rival" has Steve Trevor convicted of murder and acting like a jerk to blame Wonder Woman who tries to clear him by going undercover in mod clothing as she tries to solves the murder Steve's accused of. This was actually a pretty fun story.
Then we have "Wish Upon a Star," a story told by Green Lantern as he observes Wonder Woman as the JLA has its members observe Wonder Woman and evaluate whether to give her back membership in the JLA as part of the 12 Labors story in which Wonder Woman has to prove herself worthy of being in the JLA after leaving when she lost her powers. This is a part of Wonder Woman history that never made sense. It wasn't like she did anything unethical, so why did she have to prove that she was still worthy. So, while Wonder Woman has a great triumph, the underlying story makes no sense.
The best story in the book is without a doubt, "Be Wonder Woman...And Die" about a dying young woman who wants badly to play Wonder Woman in a film to prove herself as an actress and give some joy to her elderly father. While many stories here try to be emotionally powerful, this one does it and is the truest classic in the book.
Next up are two post-crisis Wonder Woman stories. First is, "Who Killed Windi Mayer" where most of the story is told by a male cop in this murder mystery that attempts a more realistic procedural. A police procedural is one of Wonder Woman’s greatest stories? Really?
Finally, we have "She's a Wonder" a story that's full of inconsistencies as Lois Lane follows Wonder Woman around for a day in the life with the help of the JLA teleporter. I really don't like the politics of Wonder Woman which really don't need to be stated. She comes out as pro-choice and attacks traditional religion. Whether you agree with the views expressed or not, it doesn't strike me as making the story timeless, but rather shoving politics down people's throats and dating it to the issues of the time.
The story's also bizarre for Wonder Woman's distracting constant wardrobe changes. Through the 18 hour day, she begins in Boston and then teleports to France wearing her traditional Wonder Woman costume and then speaks to College students then goes up to the Watch Tower to work on scientific experiments and changes into a Purple turtleneck and black mini-skirt, and does a TV interview in the same before teleporting to the White House wearing a dress that could double as a tent, before changing into a Wonder Woman costume with mini-skirt, then she goes into Atlanta and changes into a Wonder Woman t-shirt with gym shorts, then in a white t-shirt and workout pants in Indonesia, then back to Wonder Woman with mini-skirt in Rwanda, then to New York where she puts on a blue tunic with gray slacks at the UN, and then to white t-shirt and Jeans in support of an AIDS charity in Metropolis and finally back to her UN outfit on the streets. All told she wore seven different outfits and changed clothes nine times in a day. Mind you, she is at know time carrying a bag with extra clothes.
In addition, the artists and writers couldn't seem to agree. A full page spread of Wonder Woman declares she wears no make up while she's obviously wearing pink nail polish and lipstick.
While the story showed Wonder Woman doing great things and interacting with Lois, who is jealous of her relationship with Superman, the story seemed forced. The writers seemed self-conscious about making all the right points that they ended up with a lot of junk and lacked consistency.
Until this last story, the book was bordering on being four stars, but this makes a definite three.
The other thing that keeps this story out of the four star territory is the introduction. It's by Linda Carter who played TV's Wonder Woman and seems to know nothing about the comic. This is a book that needs an introduction. If I hadn't researched beforehand, I wouldn't have know about the "12 labors " series or how rare the lengthy villain battle contained here during the Golden Age was. Wonder Woman went through more fundamental changes than other characters which leaves many questions. Why did they redo Wonder Woman's origin in 1958? Why were they reintroducing Golden Age characters in 1966? You won't find the answers here.
There was a time that DC would put good introductions that would give fans the context to understand what's going on when they did DC Archives and the original Greatest story ever told collections in the late 1980s and DC Archives books. What Wonder Woman got here was a mish mash of stories with no context, some of them excellent, and some unintentionally laughable. She deserves better than this thrown together book by DC.
December 21, 2022
It’s a fascinating overview of Wonder Woman stories because you see how she has to shift around a patriarchal society that’s continually unsure of what it means to depict a strong woman, especially when the writers and editors in charge of that depiction have been, for the most part (and in all part for this book) men. Batman and Superman are basically the same guys with the same origins and same cornerstones even though the stories and tones may change. Wonder Woman doesn’t get that luxury, which makes her a compelling cultural icon.
August 19, 2010
Like the Batman version I read a while back, this is a collection of Wonder Woman stories that span her entire history. Looking back at my review of the Caped Crusader's Greatest Stories, it seems like I was overly harsh on bad art and poor writing from the '40s and '50s. I was holding them up to a higher standard than was reasonable instead of just enjoying them as products of their own time. Having read some more old comics, I feel like I can now appreciate the fun aspects of Wonder Woman's cheesy old adventures as well as the more modern stuff that appears here.
Wonder Woman Arrives in Man's World - 1940
Just like the old '40s Batman, old '40s Wonder Woman has the same weirdly stumpy, dumpy characters, generally primitive art, and faintly troubling ideology. "Always the woman", our heroine Diana Prince is unable to walk past a shop without being struck by retail fever. Sheesh! Chicks, huh?
Villainy, Incorporated - 1948
A really interesting story that raises lots of questions, due to the huge amount of tying up, hypnosis, mind control, and general situations where one person physically or mentally dominates another. The Venus Girdle in particular seems to be some kind of woman pacification belt. It certainly says a lot about the philosophy of comics and the attitudes to women at the time of writing. There's also an amazing episode with a "Devolutionizer" machine that, for me, perfectly captures the B-Movie appeal of old comic books.
Missing from notes - fill me in!
Wanted - Wonder Woman - 1959
Some great panels of Wonder Woman surfing the air currents are teamed with a fluffy, nonsensical story that didn't grab me like Villainy, Incorporated did.
Giganta - The Gorilla Girl - 1966
Giganta makes for a fun villain, and her fight with Wonder Woman while precariously balanced on overhead power lines is a definite highlight. From what I can tell from the ropey art, she appears to have been created by an evil woman-hating genius called Professor Psycho, who may or may not be a dwarf. It's a little hard to tell.
Wonder Woman's Rival - 1968
Some great '60s flower power visuals and hippy scenes abound as Wonder Woman turns detective, but it's hard to avoid coming back to the gender issues (as much a simple product of their era as from any particular woman hatin' bias on the writers' part... I hope). Miss Prince decides she must "change" her appearance to keep her man interested. Way to stay true to yourself, WW!
Wish Upon a Star! - 1974
I never stood a chance of not enjoying this comic after the appearance of the mighty Green Lantern in the second panel. This story involves his progress report on Wonder Woman's heroic attempts to prove herself worthy of rejoining the Justice League. Reading it as an isolated issue, we have no idea why she was kicked out in the first place, but that's comics for you. It's easier just to enjoy the Cold War paranoia, nuclear terror, and magic wish-granting amulets. The rampant sexism is beginning to become a little less acceptable, as we've reached the '70s but apparently it's still okay to describe our heroine as "not your average submissive woman". Seriously?
Be Wonder Woman... and Die - 1981
This story cranks up the comic book madness to 11 and is all the better for it. We get a Reagan assassination attempt, Wonder Woman with cancer, Doppelgänger confusion, the unluckiest Jewish man in the world, a mechanically-hearted Nazi toting a flamethrower, and a posthumous Oscar being awarded to the deceased star of a comic book movie. The Dark Knight, anyone?
Who Killed Myndi Mayer? - 1988
A brilliant double spread of Wonder Woman dismantling small-time thugs with style moves into a pulpy gumshoe murder investigation with a great tone, your typical grizzled narrator and a nice downbeat ending. Though it's a little odd that one of the best stories in this collection has its main character in something of a supporting role.
She's a Wonder! - 2001
"She's a Wonder!" is my favourite story in the collection by far. The concept? A day in the life of Wonder Woman, as seen by Lois Lane. It does a great job of giving a woman's perspective on comic book heroes, and got me thinking about "godlike" characters from an original angle. I loved Lois Lane's very human struggle to deal with the embodiment of unattainable, unrealistic feminine perfection, the threat she feels, and her discovery that (of course) nobody's really perfect.
Just like the Batman collection of the same name, this chronologically ordered group of stories further convinces me that comic book art and writing is only improving with time. The book has its good parts, its bad parts and, throughout, a sense that the genre is constantly improving and moving far beyond the clichéd "kids' stuff" criticism that is pointlessly levelled at it from time to time, as well as distancing itself from the sexism, xenophobia, and kooky political ideologies that are a feature of its history but have no serious place in its future. The fact that 2001's Wonder Woman has a believable personality, despite her unbelievable powers, shows how far she's come from 1940's stumpy, shopping obsessed "little lady". Her modern incarnation is also a perfect example of the utterly ridiculous colliding with the believable and human that only comics can provide.
Wonder Woman Arrives in Man's World - 1940
Just like the old '40s Batman, old '40s Wonder Woman has the same weirdly stumpy, dumpy characters, generally primitive art, and faintly troubling ideology. "Always the woman", our heroine Diana Prince is unable to walk past a shop without being struck by retail fever. Sheesh! Chicks, huh?
Villainy, Incorporated - 1948
A really interesting story that raises lots of questions, due to the huge amount of tying up, hypnosis, mind control, and general situations where one person physically or mentally dominates another. The Venus Girdle in particular seems to be some kind of woman pacification belt. It certainly says a lot about the philosophy of comics and the attitudes to women at the time of writing. There's also an amazing episode with a "Devolutionizer" machine that, for me, perfectly captures the B-Movie appeal of old comic books.
Missing from notes - fill me in!
Wanted - Wonder Woman - 1959
Some great panels of Wonder Woman surfing the air currents are teamed with a fluffy, nonsensical story that didn't grab me like Villainy, Incorporated did.
Giganta - The Gorilla Girl - 1966
Giganta makes for a fun villain, and her fight with Wonder Woman while precariously balanced on overhead power lines is a definite highlight. From what I can tell from the ropey art, she appears to have been created by an evil woman-hating genius called Professor Psycho, who may or may not be a dwarf. It's a little hard to tell.
Wonder Woman's Rival - 1968
Some great '60s flower power visuals and hippy scenes abound as Wonder Woman turns detective, but it's hard to avoid coming back to the gender issues (as much a simple product of their era as from any particular woman hatin' bias on the writers' part... I hope). Miss Prince decides she must "change" her appearance to keep her man interested. Way to stay true to yourself, WW!
Wish Upon a Star! - 1974
I never stood a chance of not enjoying this comic after the appearance of the mighty Green Lantern in the second panel. This story involves his progress report on Wonder Woman's heroic attempts to prove herself worthy of rejoining the Justice League. Reading it as an isolated issue, we have no idea why she was kicked out in the first place, but that's comics for you. It's easier just to enjoy the Cold War paranoia, nuclear terror, and magic wish-granting amulets. The rampant sexism is beginning to become a little less acceptable, as we've reached the '70s but apparently it's still okay to describe our heroine as "not your average submissive woman". Seriously?
Be Wonder Woman... and Die - 1981
This story cranks up the comic book madness to 11 and is all the better for it. We get a Reagan assassination attempt, Wonder Woman with cancer, Doppelgänger confusion, the unluckiest Jewish man in the world, a mechanically-hearted Nazi toting a flamethrower, and a posthumous Oscar being awarded to the deceased star of a comic book movie. The Dark Knight, anyone?
Who Killed Myndi Mayer? - 1988
A brilliant double spread of Wonder Woman dismantling small-time thugs with style moves into a pulpy gumshoe murder investigation with a great tone, your typical grizzled narrator and a nice downbeat ending. Though it's a little odd that one of the best stories in this collection has its main character in something of a supporting role.
She's a Wonder! - 2001
"She's a Wonder!" is my favourite story in the collection by far. The concept? A day in the life of Wonder Woman, as seen by Lois Lane. It does a great job of giving a woman's perspective on comic book heroes, and got me thinking about "godlike" characters from an original angle. I loved Lois Lane's very human struggle to deal with the embodiment of unattainable, unrealistic feminine perfection, the threat she feels, and her discovery that (of course) nobody's really perfect.
Just like the Batman collection of the same name, this chronologically ordered group of stories further convinces me that comic book art and writing is only improving with time. The book has its good parts, its bad parts and, throughout, a sense that the genre is constantly improving and moving far beyond the clichéd "kids' stuff" criticism that is pointlessly levelled at it from time to time, as well as distancing itself from the sexism, xenophobia, and kooky political ideologies that are a feature of its history but have no serious place in its future. The fact that 2001's Wonder Woman has a believable personality, despite her unbelievable powers, shows how far she's come from 1940's stumpy, shopping obsessed "little lady". Her modern incarnation is also a perfect example of the utterly ridiculous colliding with the believable and human that only comics can provide.
July 12, 2019
The Greatest Stories Ever is pretty subjective, but this book certainly presents a solid selection of WW stories from almost every phase of her career (the major exception being the powerless period from the 70’s). Well worth checking out, and an excellent entry point for those unacquainted with the Amazing Amazon.
November 1, 2024
Good book. Starts with 4 classic stories, and then other stories focusing on Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman. The book finished off with a pretty good murder mystery. I was surprised that the only other superhero to appear in this book was Green Lantern, but it was still a good issue. Obviously due to the time periods of these stories - the writing is very dated (mainly kinda sexist) but I am used to it with these comics. Overall, I would recommend this book.
August 15, 2013
Honestly, I struggled slightly with this collection. It started with a 2 page spread for her origin story, which was disappointing plus it didn't shed any more light on it then I already knew. Then the first comic provided some laughs with how ridiculous it was. But as I moved I became bored. The stories were uninteresting and the Wonder Woman being presented was not how I imagined from my basic gleamed knowledge. Then I hit the final tale and suffering through those dodgy stories has become worth it.
This is the Wonder Woman I always pictured in my mind. Strong. Intelligent. Confident. Saving the world anyway she possibly can.
I know these aren't a collection of her greatest stories because I have 2 other Wonder Woman tales sitting on my bookshelf which are better than all those presented in this. I was actually disappointed and surprised that the book was so small. Surely there are many, many more excellent Wonder Woman stories that could be put together in a large comprehensive collection.
Overall this was terribly disappointing. 1 star for the giggles I got from the first tale and 2 for the excellence of the final one.
This is the Wonder Woman I always pictured in my mind. Strong. Intelligent. Confident. Saving the world anyway she possibly can.
I know these aren't a collection of her greatest stories because I have 2 other Wonder Woman tales sitting on my bookshelf which are better than all those presented in this. I was actually disappointed and surprised that the book was so small. Surely there are many, many more excellent Wonder Woman stories that could be put together in a large comprehensive collection.
Overall this was terribly disappointing. 1 star for the giggles I got from the first tale and 2 for the excellence of the final one.
August 22, 2012
Wonder Woman has merit as a character, but there's no examples of 'why' in this comic, really.
That said, the early Marston stuff has genuine curiosity value, relentless stories about the importance of submission, with inky, odd artwork.
The final story, by the reliable Phil Jiminez, is the most readable, however, despite having reams of text which render the nice art incredibly off-putting, as does the awful modern computer colouring. It tries to get across the fact that wonder woman actually does stuff, which makes a nice change to the other stories, which are just examples of why she should get shot of that loathsome army prick, Steve Trevor.
If this is Wonder woman's 'Greatest Stories Ever Told', then it doesn't speak highly of her, and I'm not sure I can ever be arsed reading any more of her solo stories, really.
That said, the early Marston stuff has genuine curiosity value, relentless stories about the importance of submission, with inky, odd artwork.
The final story, by the reliable Phil Jiminez, is the most readable, however, despite having reams of text which render the nice art incredibly off-putting, as does the awful modern computer colouring. It tries to get across the fact that wonder woman actually does stuff, which makes a nice change to the other stories, which are just examples of why she should get shot of that loathsome army prick, Steve Trevor.
If this is Wonder woman's 'Greatest Stories Ever Told', then it doesn't speak highly of her, and I'm not sure I can ever be arsed reading any more of her solo stories, really.
May 5, 2012
This is just a weird collection of comics. It goes from the 1940s to 2001, and I find it really hard to believe that these are the "greatest" stories in a whole 60 years. The very first issue is entertaining in a campy, 1940s kind of way. And the last one, from 2001, is the only one that I really see as being the true Wonder Woman of today. Everything in between is pure dribble.
It's mostly crappy art, weird story lines that meander around, and strange villains (Gorilla girl). Don't get me started on the chauvinistic elements as well. People are constantly commenting on how sexy she looks, and the "male gaze" is increasingly present with each page.
It's really only worth it to read the first and last story.
It's mostly crappy art, weird story lines that meander around, and strange villains (Gorilla girl). Don't get me started on the chauvinistic elements as well. People are constantly commenting on how sexy she looks, and the "male gaze" is increasingly present with each page.
It's really only worth it to read the first and last story.
July 16, 2014
3 1/2
A collection of ten Wonder Woman stories spanning her first sixty years. There's also a two-page snippet explaining her origin and an Introduction by Lynda Carter.
It works better as a historical overview than as a 'best of' collection. Seeing the changes over the years is fascinating. Robert Kanigher is overrepresented, with four of the ten. Two of his efforts could have been replaced and this would have been a stronger collection, both in variety and quality.
The stand-outs are 1942's "Wonder Woman Comes To America" for its camp appeal, 1988's "Who Killed Myndi Mayer?" - a murder mystery, and 2001's "She's A Wonder!", which features Lois Lane.
A collection of ten Wonder Woman stories spanning her first sixty years. There's also a two-page snippet explaining her origin and an Introduction by Lynda Carter.
It works better as a historical overview than as a 'best of' collection. Seeing the changes over the years is fascinating. Robert Kanigher is overrepresented, with four of the ten. Two of his efforts could have been replaced and this would have been a stronger collection, both in variety and quality.
The stand-outs are 1942's "Wonder Woman Comes To America" for its camp appeal, 1988's "Who Killed Myndi Mayer?" - a murder mystery, and 2001's "She's A Wonder!", which features Lois Lane.
August 8, 2014
Saw that book at the library and could not resist revisiting my childhood hero. However, it's not exactly the greatest stories ever told, but the greatest story by era, I think. And the oldest stories are, well, childish and a bit ridiculous. But even in my younger years, I didn't like those.
I am glad I read it to the end because the older stories were much more interesting. Maybe I will try to catch up on what happened to Wonder Woman between the time I was an avid fan and now.
I am glad I read it to the end because the older stories were much more interesting. Maybe I will try to catch up on what happened to Wonder Woman between the time I was an avid fan and now.
August 1, 2013
Really disappointing. I was hoping this would be a good starting place for Wonder Woman after reading Trinity, but the selection was odd. I liked reading the first and the last stories, but the ones in between were kinda boring. Is WW only interesting as a supporting character in the Justice League? Or maybe I'm only reacting to the sexism.
May 11, 2013
I skipped the last story, and the second to last one wasn't very good, either. Too much drugs and violence... too REALISTIC. I much prefer the kookiness of the earlier stories. The further the years progressed, the less fun the comics became.
December 6, 2013
Wow - early Wonder Woman was even more sexist than I expected. Still, she was ahead of her time all the same. The last story is my favorite in the volume, and one of my favorite Wonder Woman stories in general.
March 24, 2015
Was so excited to see Wonder Woman as she has evolved. But I guess I haven't read enough stand alones to judge if these truly are "greats". Most were good, but a couple were lacking big time and I'm sure there are better out there.
May 19, 2015
I'm not sure what it was, but I really enjoyed this one in comparison to the other compilations I've read. I still don't like what they did with Steve Trevor post-Crisis, I love their mutually saving the day dynamic they had pre-Crisis. But whatever, that's not exactly new! Very fun overall.
October 17, 2019
This through the years collection was ok. Again if you don't know stories or characters steer clear. I was most surprised by the 80s comics that were featured in this. Very definitive style that screamed 80s in multiple ways.
May 17, 2009
Yes, I enjoyed a handful of these narratives, mostly the final comic, but in all these are a pretty good representation of WW across the years. This is very interesting.
December 25, 2011
Awesome!
January 9, 2014
The title of this is very misleading. Not sure these stories are really "the greatest." I do enjoy the Alex Ross cover, though.
August 7, 2012
Disappointing.
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