Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon

Wonder Woman (1987) (Single Issues) #206–213

by Greg Ruka

The deadly Medousa comes calling, and Wonder Woman's world is turned completely upside-down. After a terrible sacrifice, the Amazing Amazon must prove herself once again to her comrades in the JLA and to the world.

Collecting WONDER WOMAN Vol. 2 #206–213

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Wonder Woman, Fantasy, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy storyline and not a real fan of the artworks, but the epicness level rising page after page made this a real page turner for me.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that embodies what it is to be a superhero. The fight, the drive, and the willingness to sacrifice for others is what makes Wonder Woman one of the absolute best. However, is this a strong story? Narratively, no. The actual plot is the weakest part, with a lot of filler dialogue and boring transitional scenes. It also goes on for a long time, and could have benefited from a shorter number of dedicated issues. Once the main Medusa arc is 'over', that's when it feels like it overstays its welcome a tad bit. Full of heart and epic moments, it's the titular character that elevates this volume.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have I mentioned lately that Wonder Woman is really, really, amazingly cool? Luckily, Greg Rucka knows it, and writes her accordingly. I think this may be the point when I really start to get into his run. I feel like he's pulling together the elements of her personality, and of what she does. And yes, things are actually starting to happen, instead of just being set up to happen. Definitely better than the last volume.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spoilers, should you care, are right up at the top here...

...Because this is the one in which Wonder Woman puts out her own eyes in order to win a fight with Medusa. (Or Medousa, as it's transliterated here.) Medousa's ripped off her blindfold and is compelling Wonder Woman to look at her (and, therefore, turn to stone -- and therefore, lose the fight and allow Medousa free reign to turn several thousand spectators to stone) so Wonder Woman grabs a shorn hair-snake with acid venom, spikes her own eyes out with its fangs, and finishes the fight by turning and decapitating Medousa. Because you do not fuck with Wonder Woman. Seriously, in every other comic -- including ones with women heroes -- I'm almost always "yeah, fight scene, whatever", but Wonder Woman is always hardcore awesome. The one where she rips off cage bars to beat up a demon that's going to eat her old enemy Cheetah? Awesome. The one where she's dunked in molten metal and shakes it off? Awesome? The one where she beats down Superman until she can free him from mind control? Awesome. You see my trend here.

And in this book, she then goes off and beats up the entire JLA for an "evaluation" of her blind fighting skills. Superman snips at her for not resigning and she snips at the whole JLA (except Batman, of course) for holding back in the fight. (She has other reasons for getting cranky with Batman.) And doesn't resign, because, hello, maybe she originally won that armor fighting but (a) in case you didn't notice, she's still fighting, and (b) as an avatar of the Goddess of Wisdom, she has a little more to offer than just a sword-arm, y'know? And to bring back the point that (a) she's still fighting, the Goddess of Wisdom (Pallas Athena, who's been orchestrating this whole thing from the beginning) calls her up to Olympus to champion Athena in her bid to dethrone Zeus and take ultimate power on Olympus for herself -- and Athena wins because, of course, she's got Wonder Woman on her side.

Also, seriously, the section where the Themysciran ambassadors (Diana, Artemis, and Phillipus) get called to a formal White House dinner is awesome. Seeing Diana as an ambassador with a day job in addition to being Wonder Woman is lovely, especially because the art carries through the "inhumanly strong and perfect" thing even when she's in jeans and a tank top or a weird formal toga-like robe.

And I kind of love that the volume opened like this:
Dr. Leslie Anderson: What happened to you?
Wonder Woman: I was blown up and then buried under some hundred tons of earth.
Leslie: And this happens to you often, does it?
Wonder Woman: Probably more often than it should, yes. [shrug] You're on the Embassy network? I uploaded Ballesteros' files to the Embassy server before everything exploded.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puntaje: 4.6 Estrellas.

Les seré completamente honesto. No me esperaba nada con este cómic, y me ha callado la boca. Tremenda historia la que nos relata Greg Rucka en este tomo!

Recuerdo que, al iniciar mi aventura con los cómics (Hace más de 10 años), me llamaban mucho la atención las portadas de esta serie de Wonder Woman. Quise leerlos desde ese momento, pero nunca le daba el tiempo. ¡Hay tantos cómics por leer y tan poco tiempo!

En esta ocasión, veremos como Diana se ve atrapada entre la guerra de los dioses. Ella, al ser la campeona de Atenea, debe luchas las batallas que la diosa no puede luchar, así como también se convierte en el objetivo de los eternos enemigos de Atenea. En “Los Ojos de la Gorgona”, Wonder Woman se debe enfrentar a la mítica Medusa, quien se propuso a Asesinar a Diana como venganza a Atenea.

La batalla es brutal y deja graves secuelas a uno de los personajes más poderosos de DC Cómics. Además, la historia se iba construyendo poco a poco para llevar al mundo entero el clímax de la batalla entre estas dos guerreras.

Me gustaron los personajes secundarios de la historia. No había leído cómics de esta época de Wonder Woman y he quedado antojadísimo de explorar muchos más. El hecho de que el autor no dudara en poner en peligro a cualquiera que se encuentra alrededor de Diana hace que el lector nunca olvide que cualquiera puede morir en cualquier momento. La serie de Wonder Woman no es un juego en absoluto.

Evidentemente, al ser parte de una serie, la historia no concluye del todo. Si vemos el final de la batalla con Medusa, pero las escenas finales están relacionadas con un arco mucho más grande, el cual tendré que buscar para continuar con la serie.

Finalmente, disfruté mucho del arte de este cómic. Las escenas se ven tan épicas con estas ilustraciones que es imposible no emocionarse, sentir la adrenalina o temer por lo que está a punto de suceder. La imagen de Diana llegando a la embajada en su pegaso estará un muy largo tiempo en mi memoria.

Sin duda he disfrutado de la lectura de este tomo. Me ha dejado por completo sorprendido y quiero leer tanto los cómics siguientes como los anteriores, pues hay mucha historia previa que aún no conozco. Recomiendo mucho esta historia para quienes quieran leer algo de Wonder Woman y tengan curiosidad de conocer un poco más del personaje. Sin duda entra en mi top de mejores lecturas de Wonder Woman.

[Chaitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be a fan forever of Greg Rucka's WW run, because in this one, Diana fights Medousa in the Yankees Stadium and because she doesn't want to get turned into stone by looking at Medousa, she takes a snake from Medousa's head and puts out her own eyes with its venom. Then she wins by hacking Medousa's head off. This is epic, and it's coming from someone who cares nothing for fight scenes.

She also battles the entirety of JLA at once, but those jokers had it coming for doubting her just for being blind. And then she goes to Olympus and defeats Zeus' champion whom the gods are scared of, again while not being able to see. Yeah Diana. This is satisfying in so many levels.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of Wonder Woman's defining stories, it's shows the compassion and determination that Wonder Woman embodies.

[Paweł · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie pierwsza i nie ostatnia potyczka Wonder Woman z wredną gorgoną. Kiedy bogowie zaczynają maczać w tym paluchy to wiedz, że coś się dzieje...

[Ben Horner · Rating 3 out of 5]

My limited knowledge of Greek gods probably hindered my enjoyment somewhat.

[Joel Griswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the first WW I've ever really read. She's one of those character's that I'd always just seen as really lame, but my appreciation has been growing. Reading more about her origins fascinated me, so I figured I'd give a few stories a shot. And overall, I wasn't let down. Greg Rucka's writing and the artwork are both solid. The story itself is a bit up and down, with some really strong elements. The battles, the Medousa plot thread, and Diana's selfless sacrifice (I won't spoil it). WW is quite a bizarre character, a contradiction in many ways. She is in some ways a very modern woman, as an ambassador to Themyscira, but she is also part of a large mythic world. This aspect of her story is what I find fascinating, the Greeks gods and godesses who are prominent character, and the Amazon warrior culture, personally I could live in that world, and I find the efforts to move into the modern world throw me out of it. But this story tends to balance those two worlds pretty well. Long live Princess Diana (not thaaat one, this one).

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I was of two minds on Wonder Woman before this collection, I am fully on board now that I've read this one. A pitch-perfect match of myth and superhero craziness combined with just some really cool...everything. I know I'm still relatively new to this comic thing overall, but this is really one of the best story arcs I've read in a comic series period so far. Great, great stuff.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Not a huge fan of the art, but the story was pretty good. Rucka does a great job blending both sides of Diana's personality. She's a kick-ass warrior who has a huge capacity for love. I hope I can find the next volume, because the cliffhanger at the end left me wondering how everything is going to get resolved.

[Kinan Diraneyya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah. So, I have never read any Wonder Woman comics before. I have no idea who any of these bad guys are, neither the few good guys for that matter. But despite the hard time I had following the story, I ended up enjoying most of it.

The beginning is somewhat slow, and it concerns itself with many characters from previous volumes that I sadly missed, like that injured cyborg lady and some doctor villain who wastes the second issue. Then Medusa shows up on Earth, sparking a few fights that conclude in an epic duel between her and Wonder Woman.

It is kinda stupid that the good guys sometimes needed blindfolds and other times simply closed their eyes or turned their faces when fighting Medusa. The whole turning to stone affair was an awkward element in the story, even in the epic fight at the end. That said, the action was mostly great, so perhaps I shouldn't be complaining.

This is also my first time learning about Themyscira's embassy in the US. I suppose it is something that most Wonder Woman readers are familiar with, but seeing US officials interacting with Amazon warriors, and then watching Wonder Woman's duel with Medusa on TV like a sports event felt off. Besides, having a bull-headed man living among humans still wasn't normal in many of DC's series in the same continuity.

Not to leave on a negative note, I liked the characters of this series. I look forward to seeing more of Zeus and his great monsters. I also loved The Duke of Deception. It is a shame that he isn't a commonly used character in the universe.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

I understand creative license is a thing, but the one fact I wish they hadn't skewered in order to make the overall storyline work, is the lie that Poseidon was Medusa's "great love". He's a rapist (like nearly all the dudes in the Greek pantheon), but P-boy raped Medusa. And yet this story does keep in the spirit of blaming women for the actions of men. In the mythology, Athena turns Medusa into a gorgon after Poseidon rapes her in Athena's temple, instead of you know, trying to get back at her uncle who committed the desecrating act. In this tale, Medusa wants to get back at Athena for Perseus killing her by going after Athena's new champion, Diana. I suppose Medusa would have had beef with whoever Athena's champion was, but again the gods have shown they don't really care about anyone but themselves, so killing Diana wouldn't have mortally wounded Athena, but I supposed that didn't really matter to Medusa so long as she could strike a blow.

I will say I wish the fight between Medusa and Diana was longer. It certainly would have been more tension filled had it been live-action or animated. If you have DCU or your own copy of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines the film, you can see their epic battle. I think my favorite part of this is the "test" the league puts Diana through to see if she's still capable of handling herself without her sight. She wiped the floor with 'em and I ain't mad. In all, I enjoyed this. The beginning was a bit slow but it really picked up in the last two issues.

[Gustavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta colección me está sorprendiendo bastante en estas últimas entregas, casi todo lo que he leído me parecido muy bueno.

Esta vez, Greg Rucka escribe una historia "moderna" sobre Wonder Woman, en donde logra balancear muchos aspectos de su vida de una forma muy natural: pasa de embajadora a super heroína, a campeona de los dioses, sin ningún esfuerzo. Como no hay un desdoblamiento en una identidad secreta, Wonder Woman es Diana y Diana es Wonder Woman, todo el mundo lo sabe, y la verdad es que es refrescante y da la posibilidad de un personaje más consistente.

Otro aspecto que me gustó mucho es la nueva personificación de los Dioses, algunos están modernizados y se visten como personas contemporáneas y por suerte no hablan en ese lenguaje "pseudo antiguo" super denso, lo que los hace menos insoportables.

Los dibujos son un poco desparejos y las escenas de pelea un poco torpes pero eso no le quita tanto como para hacer que este comic deje de ser excelente. Capaz que en algún momento compre lo que sigue de Rucka, si hay más.

[Vicenç Sanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los Ojos de la Gorgona es una buena aventura de la protagonista, pero no deja de ser una aventura bastante random (aunque pueda tener consecuencias para los números siguientes). Con esto quiero decir que es una más, no se trata de una historia que defina al personaje.

Eso sí, dentro de éste tipo de historias es la mejor que he leído, aprovechando todo lo que puede ofrecer el personaje (mitología incluida) y mezclándolo para dar una trama bien llevada, un dibujo competente y una muy buena acción.

Leída como un simple vistazo de la colección completa creo que pierde, y será leyendo todos los números anteriores y posteriores cuando lo que sucede aquí tenga más profundidad.

Como tomo único funciona, se echa de menos tener la continuación inmediata para ver cómo se resuelven algunas tramas arrancadas aquí, pero aun así se consigue disfrutar.

Vale la pena? Si os gusta el personaje os encontraréis un comic moderno que lo retrata bastante bien, lo que ya me parece lo suficientemente interesante como para acercaros a él.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up, hoping it was a continuation of the story started in Wonder Woman By Greg Rucka Vol. 1 and Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, Vol. 2, but it's just another version of Vol 2. Perhaps with fewer stories.

You can find my review of (basically) this book here

I hate that it's so difficult to track down specific series of comics within the larger body of work....

[Szava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another storyline, where I feel like, it was too short. The Olympian part of the story needed more "screentime". I am also not fan of the design choices. Neither of the gods look particularly godly. Ares was the only one who felt powerful for half a second during the Amphetheater scene.

I also think the whole explanation on why the kid had to die spoiler> was just bad. Diana is a hero who would have fought Medusa to te death no matter what, because it is the right thing to do. Either Athena is lying about the faith she has in her own champion or the writers are unable to imagine someone would do the heroic thing without any personal motivation/agenda.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally something happens in this series: WW fights Medusa and it's basically over before it starts, which is kind of a bummer for how long it took to build toward their rumble. However, this is immediately followed by a story in which she fights a hundred-armed purple ogre in the hall of Zeus, which is honestly pretty awesome. The art for this second story is kinda garbage, but at least the story is going somewhere. I hope it maintains the balance of weird WWII scifi along with all the Greek mythology -- I think that balance is where the series finds the sweet spot.

[Maythavee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, one of my favourite Wonder Woman story arcs ever!!! The plot-points that Rucka set up from his first issue paid off in an intense and amazing battle between Wonder Woman and Medusa. However, this was more than just a battle between the two since the Gods had a hand in facilitating this confrontation. The mixture of mythology and superhero lore was just brilliant. I highly recommend this arc!!!!!

[Jason Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Athena makes her power play. Medusa strikes. Heads roll. Diana pays a heavy price for victory. Rucka steps his Wonder Woman run up a notch as the political intrigue between Diana, Cale, and the US takes a backseat to the political intrigue of the Greek Gods. All the setup of the earlier collections is really beginning to pay off in earnest, and Rucka is well on his way to cementing himself as one of the best Wonder Woman writers out there.

[Rodney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon is mediocre in its blandness. Wonder Woman needs to stop Medousa from trying to turn everybody to stone, while also not becoming a part of the ongoing battle for Mount Olympus between Pallas Athena and Zeus. The art is so-so, the storyline is okay, but the illogical situations that only serve to surprise the reader (especially during fights) do not aid the story.

[Cat S · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the age rating of this book, visit my blog for the full article!

I am absolutely in love with Wonder Woman comics! Not just because it’s a strong female superhero, but because the stories that are created surrounding her, are so phenomenal. Greg Rucka does such a good job of capturing Wonder Woman’s character and her personal strength. She’s such a good character that is so passionate about what she believes.

One thing I really like is that we see her downfalls as well and her strengths. She’s incredibly stubborn when it comes to her beliefs, but that’s also a kind of weakness. She’s stubborn and doesn’t know when to admit she can’t do something. It’s not a major plot point in the story, but it’s significant enough to notice and make her relatable.

Ultimately, as I said earlier, it’s the story that really got me with this TPB. I loved the excitement and the emotion behind all of it and I couldn’t help but just be zoned into it! I’ve read this before, but I had no difficulty reliving all of it again. I’ve forgotten a few plot points of the next TPB so I’m excited to read that one too!

[Will Plunkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some comic heroes are "true," with such positive traits as to appear unreal and truly fictional. Other heroes are in the "gray areas," with anti-heroic or questionable actions and beliefs. WW is usually the former more than the latter. This trade paperback shows just how altruistic she is, along with how powerful. The painted covers from the original comic books are wonderful, too.

[RND · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things really begin to pick up here, featuring two nice fight sequences, actions of consequence, and a panic-inducing attack from Medusa. I had forgotten about the machinations of the Olympian gods in this run.

[Richard Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonder Woman vs Medousa is one of my favorite comic moments of all time.

[Gareth Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myths crossed with superhero - Diana vs Medusa live on tv - worth it.

[Ivona · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 hvězdičky

[Ondra Král · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ke konci Wonderce dochází dech, ale jinak fajn. Moderní, svižný, spusta fajn nápadů + se tu hezky prolíná mytologie a moderní svět. 3,5*

[Mohamed Alwakeel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art is quite good. Too much dialogue and too little action, even though action is pretty good.