Wonder Woman Archives, Vol. 2

Wonder Woman Archives #2

by William Moulton Marston, Harry G. Peter (Illustrator)

Collects comic books following the development of Wonder Woman's powers and philosophy as she battles villains including Dr. Psycho and the Cheetah.

Genres: Comics, Wonder Woman, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

217 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dr. William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen names Charles Moulton and William Marston, was an American psychologist, feminist theorist, inventor, and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman. Two women, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne (who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship), served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced her creation.

He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing to read out of curiosity and my obsession with completeness. My thought are the same as they were in my review for the first volume.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

And you get a fetish!

Wonder Woman comics are over-the-top, horny, fun, and ridiculous. A friend I sent a photo of an entire page responded with "that's literally just femdom porn." I appreciate how many times Steve Trevor must be rescued.

Unfortunately, these 1940s comics are littered with racism, specifically toward Japanese people (WWII-related) and Black people (United States, all the time, sigh).

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

As fun and exciting as the first volume! Unfortunately these comics were made when us propaganda was getting reeeeaaaall racist. Feature some great feminist storylines though, as well as some kinky ones.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is every bit as good as the issues collected in the first volume. The bondage and S&M overtones are still everywhere, and I can't help but laugh when I wonder what people thought of this stuff in 1942-43. Wonder Woman always seems to get tied up and/or is forced to submit. It's funny how Wonder Woman tries to convince a lady to have her make her man her slave, because he'll love her for it. Too funny.

The writing, the artwork and the lettering are all outstanding. H.G. Peter really has a unique flavor to his art, straddling a line between cartoon-y and serious. The 'Christmas story' on Paradise Island was surreal. I wonder where Peter got his photo referencing for the bondage get-ups and other strange costumes. I wouldn't think that it was common at that time.

Issue 2 features an 'arc'. There are several stories in that issue, as was common at the time, but they all point to a larger story arc. Baroness Paula von Gunther reforms and becomes an Amazon. She was Wonder Woman's only nemesis at this point in time, so it was a bummer to see her become a heroine. The Nazis are also recurring antagonists.

The paper has a nice, creamy, off-white color to it, similar to the pulp paper of the day, and I like it quite a bit. The linework and color restoration are excellent. The book has sewn binding, but it is Canadian sewn binding. It's a bit stiffer than Chinese sewn binding, but the book does lay reasonably flat.

[T.J. Alexian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as great as I was hoping. I applaud Marston for his feminist leanings, but in practice, the stories he chose to tell weren't, for the most part, as fantastic as I had been hoping. Even the Peters artwork wasn't as great as, say, C.C. Beck.

[jillbertini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look back at historical Wonder Woman comics.