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Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka #1
Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, Vol. 1
When an ancient ritual requires Wonder Woman to protect a young woman from anyone who threatens her, it pits the Amazon Warrior against her Justice League ally, Batman!
And while an array of enemies, including Silver Swan and the more dangerous than ever Dr. Psycho, attack Wonder Woman on all fronts, it’s the publication of Princess Diana’s book that opens her to an assault by a new and deadly foe – the malevolent Veronica Cale – and places Wonder Woman’s island homeland of Themyscira in grave danger.
Best-selling writer Greg Rucka (DETECTIVE COMICS) teams with artists JG Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Drew Johnson (SUPERGIRL), Shane Davis (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and more for the start of his legendary run on the title as Wonder Woman stands against mortal foes and faces the machinations of the gods themselves!
Collects the highly sought after WONDER WOMAN: THE HIKETEIA and WONDER WOMAN #195-205.
And while an array of enemies, including Silver Swan and the more dangerous than ever Dr. Psycho, attack Wonder Woman on all fronts, it’s the publication of Princess Diana’s book that opens her to an assault by a new and deadly foe – the malevolent Veronica Cale – and places Wonder Woman’s island homeland of Themyscira in grave danger.
Best-selling writer Greg Rucka (DETECTIVE COMICS) teams with artists JG Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Drew Johnson (SUPERGIRL), Shane Davis (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and more for the start of his legendary run on the title as Wonder Woman stands against mortal foes and faces the machinations of the gods themselves!
Collects the highly sought after WONDER WOMAN: THE HIKETEIA and WONDER WOMAN #195-205.
392 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2004
45 people are currently reading
658 people want to read
About the author
Greg Rucka
1,494 books1,924 followersGreg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
February 27, 2017
I hovered on this one because:
The Hiketeia: 5 stars
The rest of this volume: 3 stars.
The Hiketeia : This story follows a teenage runaway fleeing Batman because they're being accused of murder. She runs to Diana's place to make Hiketeia. Hiketeia is the sacred Themyscrian ritual in which a needy person makes a pledge to serve a kind patron in exchange for protection. The patron takes on all of this person's problems, takes care of them and protects them no matter what. The person is indebted to their patron, they're forbidden to lie to their patron and only they can break the tie with their patron. It's a fascinating concept, to be honest.
This girl, Danny, makes this pledge to Diana and Diana takes her in, despite not knowing anything about Danny or why she sought protection in the first place. Diana is bound by her values to honor the Amazon's way of life and to protect those who need it. This story is such a great way to get to know Diana as a character. She's so strong, protective and kind to everyone she meets that, if you weren't already, you fall in love with her.
Of course, Batsy shows up looking for Danny and Diana protects her. He vows to not stop trying and tries to get Diana to ask Danny why she fled Gotham in the first place. When the truth finally comes out, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed but it leads to a big conclusion. Batman's strategy here was really fascinating and I won't spoil it but this was an interesting fight.
This story as a whole is fantastic! I adored it! This was probably my favorite Wonder Woman story, ever.
Then we get
The rest of this book :
My problem with Rucka's Batwoman is that some of the plot was hard to follow. Not just because it assumes the readers know what happened to Kate in the past but because the way the story was told, especially the villain's goals, was complicated to follow.
In this book, we get a lot of Greek Mythology. A lot of Greek mythology. And I say this as someone who finds that kind of stuff interesting. Whatever the complaints about the New 52 WW run, it dipped it's toe in the mythology and didn't fully immerse itself. I'm sure I'd appreciate some of this more if I knew more about Wonder Woman's history with the gods. Here, I wasn't turned off entirely until the scenes with the circe witch. It was such a side note that I wondered if I really needed to see it.
The worst part of this is that it doesn't tell a Wonder Woman story with Wonder Woman. The story is mostly the public and the gods reacting to Diana. Sure, it makes her seem even more larger than life but it makes it harder to get to know Diana as a well rounded character. She can change the minds of her naysayers by just speaking with them. People feel compelled to tell her the truth even without use of the Lasso because of who she is and the presence she gives off. I get all of that but some pretty heavy stuff happens in this book, particularly Zeus taking out anger on the Amazons, and we don't get a lot of Diana's reactions.
In a way, this was like watching WW centric episodes of Veep or the West Wing. I got a lot more of how her staff handles things than Diana.
Anyway, it's a recommend for the Hiketeia alone but I didn't feel the rest of this was particularly spectacular.
4 stars.
The Hiketeia: 5 stars
The rest of this volume: 3 stars.
The Hiketeia : This story follows a teenage runaway fleeing Batman because they're being accused of murder. She runs to Diana's place to make Hiketeia. Hiketeia is the sacred Themyscrian ritual in which a needy person makes a pledge to serve a kind patron in exchange for protection. The patron takes on all of this person's problems, takes care of them and protects them no matter what. The person is indebted to their patron, they're forbidden to lie to their patron and only they can break the tie with their patron. It's a fascinating concept, to be honest.
This girl, Danny, makes this pledge to Diana and Diana takes her in, despite not knowing anything about Danny or why she sought protection in the first place. Diana is bound by her values to honor the Amazon's way of life and to protect those who need it. This story is such a great way to get to know Diana as a character. She's so strong, protective and kind to everyone she meets that, if you weren't already, you fall in love with her.
Of course, Batsy shows up looking for Danny and Diana protects her. He vows to not stop trying and tries to get Diana to ask Danny why she fled Gotham in the first place. When the truth finally comes out, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed but it leads to a big conclusion. Batman's strategy here was really fascinating and I won't spoil it but this was an interesting fight.
This story as a whole is fantastic! I adored it! This was probably my favorite Wonder Woman story, ever.
Then we get
The rest of this book :
My problem with Rucka's Batwoman is that some of the plot was hard to follow. Not just because it assumes the readers know what happened to Kate in the past but because the way the story was told, especially the villain's goals, was complicated to follow.
In this book, we get a lot of Greek Mythology. A lot of Greek mythology. And I say this as someone who finds that kind of stuff interesting. Whatever the complaints about the New 52 WW run, it dipped it's toe in the mythology and didn't fully immerse itself. I'm sure I'd appreciate some of this more if I knew more about Wonder Woman's history with the gods. Here, I wasn't turned off entirely until the scenes with the circe witch. It was such a side note that I wondered if I really needed to see it.
The worst part of this is that it doesn't tell a Wonder Woman story with Wonder Woman. The story is mostly the public and the gods reacting to Diana. Sure, it makes her seem even more larger than life but it makes it harder to get to know Diana as a well rounded character. She can change the minds of her naysayers by just speaking with them. People feel compelled to tell her the truth even without use of the Lasso because of who she is and the presence she gives off. I get all of that but some pretty heavy stuff happens in this book, particularly Zeus taking out anger on the Amazons, and we don't get a lot of Diana's reactions.
In a way, this was like watching WW centric episodes of Veep or the West Wing. I got a lot more of how her staff handles things than Diana.
Anyway, it's a recommend for the Hiketeia alone but I didn't feel the rest of this was particularly spectacular.
4 stars.
July 22, 2016
Greg Rucka's run on Wonder Woman is one of the most critically acclaimed and highly lauded as the definitive take on Diana. Of course, I've never read it because I wasn't into DC at the time. But now, DC have kindly decided to reprint his run in two trade paperbacks, starting with this one.
We open with the Hiketeia original graphic novel, which sees Diana defend a fugitive from any foe, including Batman. This establishes Wonder Woman's morals and her loyalty, as well as letting her beat Batman up, which is always nice. Rucka's knowledge of Greek mythology plays well into the story here, as well as in the ongoing series after this.
I think we probably could have done with a 'Currently in Wonder Woman...' page after the Hitekeia and before the issues of the series themselves because getting up to speed on Diana's current status quo takes a little while, as well as some of the backstory about the villains she's going to be fighting, especially Silver Swan, who has an emotional connection to Diana that doesn't really get explained, but a quick Wikipedia helps out pretty quickly.
The first arc starts a bit slowly, building up the political and social machinations of Veronica Cale and her anti-Wonder Woman campaign, before everything explodes in issue 200 (literally). There's not actually that much fighting in this series except in issues 200 and 205, with most of the story devoted to Diana's attempts to balance all the facets of her life as well as save as many lives as she can; and while that seems a bit counter-productive for a superhero book, it's really quite clever in emphasising that Diana is many things before she's a warrior. The second half after issue 200 is a bit more fast paced as some of the stones Rucka places at the top of the hill in the first 5 issues start rolling, and there's a good little cliffhanger at the end of the volume that plays nicely off of what seems like a throwaway back-up story in 200, too.
The artwork in The Hitekeia is by J G Jones, whilst the series pencils are handled by Drew Johnson, with fill-ins from Shane Davis and Stephen Sadowksi, and you'd be hard pressed to tell them all apart. It's consistent art throughout but never particularly adventurous, a victim of the 'house style' approach that both Marvel and DC have been prey to over the years. It's not a weakness so much as a disappointment.
Rucka's Wonder Woman is off to a good start. It takes a while to get going, but you can tell he has a well-thought out plan in place, and he really does understand Wonder Woman like no one else.
We open with the Hiketeia original graphic novel, which sees Diana defend a fugitive from any foe, including Batman. This establishes Wonder Woman's morals and her loyalty, as well as letting her beat Batman up, which is always nice. Rucka's knowledge of Greek mythology plays well into the story here, as well as in the ongoing series after this.
I think we probably could have done with a 'Currently in Wonder Woman...' page after the Hitekeia and before the issues of the series themselves because getting up to speed on Diana's current status quo takes a little while, as well as some of the backstory about the villains she's going to be fighting, especially Silver Swan, who has an emotional connection to Diana that doesn't really get explained, but a quick Wikipedia helps out pretty quickly.
The first arc starts a bit slowly, building up the political and social machinations of Veronica Cale and her anti-Wonder Woman campaign, before everything explodes in issue 200 (literally). There's not actually that much fighting in this series except in issues 200 and 205, with most of the story devoted to Diana's attempts to balance all the facets of her life as well as save as many lives as she can; and while that seems a bit counter-productive for a superhero book, it's really quite clever in emphasising that Diana is many things before she's a warrior. The second half after issue 200 is a bit more fast paced as some of the stones Rucka places at the top of the hill in the first 5 issues start rolling, and there's a good little cliffhanger at the end of the volume that plays nicely off of what seems like a throwaway back-up story in 200, too.
The artwork in The Hitekeia is by J G Jones, whilst the series pencils are handled by Drew Johnson, with fill-ins from Shane Davis and Stephen Sadowksi, and you'd be hard pressed to tell them all apart. It's consistent art throughout but never particularly adventurous, a victim of the 'house style' approach that both Marvel and DC have been prey to over the years. It's not a weakness so much as a disappointment.
Rucka's Wonder Woman is off to a good start. It takes a while to get going, but you can tell he has a well-thought out plan in place, and he really does understand Wonder Woman like no one else.
October 3, 2020
Wow I completely fell in love with this and ordered volume 2-3 right away.
So the first story is probably one of the most famous stories. You know the famous image of Wonder Woman's boot on Batman's face? (WE KNOW YOU LIKED IT BATMAN) Well...this is hiketeia. A woman who is being hunted by the Batman for killing people goes to Diana for sanctuary. After doing a Hiketeia which is basically a vow to protect that person, it puts Batman and Wonder Woman verses each other.
This story is great, filled with quick pacing, great art, wonderful bitter moments between two fights who HAVE to fight with a legit reason, and a sad but strong ending. Overall, I can see why so many people hold this as a classic for Wonder Woman. It is THAT good.
The next few arcs in here focus on Diana as she releases a book. This book is all about her view points and trying to preach love and such to everyone. This is a great view into the world of Wonder Woman as we take multiple points of views of people around her, down to even a new assistant. This won't be for everyone as it is very down to earth but I love the political nature of this arc and a very scary "villain' in the sense she's not some hulking god or something.
We also get multiple stories running here and that includes the gods fucking around because...well that's what they do. But when War has his eye on Diana once more he begins to play his family to get back at Diana, which cause a major event to happen that not even HE could see coming.
Overall, I was engrossed the entire time. Each issue made me want to read more and Rucka was a master at giving us SO many plot lines but making it very easy to follow. I can't recommend this title enough.
Also, 500th book read in 2020! WHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Okay 4.5 out of 5.
So the first story is probably one of the most famous stories. You know the famous image of Wonder Woman's boot on Batman's face? (WE KNOW YOU LIKED IT BATMAN) Well...this is hiketeia. A woman who is being hunted by the Batman for killing people goes to Diana for sanctuary. After doing a Hiketeia which is basically a vow to protect that person, it puts Batman and Wonder Woman verses each other.
This story is great, filled with quick pacing, great art, wonderful bitter moments between two fights who HAVE to fight with a legit reason, and a sad but strong ending. Overall, I can see why so many people hold this as a classic for Wonder Woman. It is THAT good.
The next few arcs in here focus on Diana as she releases a book. This book is all about her view points and trying to preach love and such to everyone. This is a great view into the world of Wonder Woman as we take multiple points of views of people around her, down to even a new assistant. This won't be for everyone as it is very down to earth but I love the political nature of this arc and a very scary "villain' in the sense she's not some hulking god or something.
We also get multiple stories running here and that includes the gods fucking around because...well that's what they do. But when War has his eye on Diana once more he begins to play his family to get back at Diana, which cause a major event to happen that not even HE could see coming.
Overall, I was engrossed the entire time. Each issue made me want to read more and Rucka was a master at giving us SO many plot lines but making it very easy to follow. I can't recommend this title enough.
Also, 500th book read in 2020! WHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Okay 4.5 out of 5.
August 21, 2021
This volume was so epic and I loved it!
It was a big read for sure but it starts with the Hiketia story where a girl named Danielle begs Diana for protection in some ages old Greek ritual and she fights Batman and the erinyes/Fates and thats like one of my favorite Wonder woman stories ever and I loved it!
Then we have different stories like her trying to be an ambassador and the politics and defaming side of things and I like how subtly its done and it brings her to so many conflicts especially with the riots and all and pits her against Silver Swan and then Dr Psycho and that was the best part and I loved that story especially the development of Veronica cale and how she comes about as a villain on her own here which is great.
Plus the big stuff with the Greek gods and whatever is happening with Medusa and Circe and then on Themysciria and their conflicts with Olympus and whatever Ares is planning. Its such a great thing like it was building slowly and will have big pay-offs in the future storyline! Loved the whole thing!
And the art is so good, it catches Diana's personality and struggles really well and I love all aspects, yes its long but its just fleshing out most things and putting players in place for the big conflict down the line. Its scope is epic and I loved every aspect. A must read.
It was a big read for sure but it starts with the Hiketia story where a girl named Danielle begs Diana for protection in some ages old Greek ritual and she fights Batman and the erinyes/Fates and thats like one of my favorite Wonder woman stories ever and I loved it!
Then we have different stories like her trying to be an ambassador and the politics and defaming side of things and I like how subtly its done and it brings her to so many conflicts especially with the riots and all and pits her against Silver Swan and then Dr Psycho and that was the best part and I loved that story especially the development of Veronica cale and how she comes about as a villain on her own here which is great.
Plus the big stuff with the Greek gods and whatever is happening with Medusa and Circe and then on Themysciria and their conflicts with Olympus and whatever Ares is planning. Its such a great thing like it was building slowly and will have big pay-offs in the future storyline! Loved the whole thing!
And the art is so good, it catches Diana's personality and struggles really well and I love all aspects, yes its long but its just fleshing out most things and putting players in place for the big conflict down the line. Its scope is epic and I loved every aspect. A must read.
August 1, 2016
So, this volume contains an original graphic novel Hiketeia, as well as the first two trades of Rucka's serial run on Wonder Woman, apparently highly praised and held as one of the essential runs on the character. Well, I think it blows.
Well, I'm not being totally fair, because Hiketeia is actually great. I've read it before, and now read it again, and both times it was a blast. It's fast-paced, has an interesting conflict between Diana and Batman, and is overall a great read with nice artwork. It is also a good stand-alone story for new readers. That one, I highly recommend.
Sadly, though, what comes after Hiketeia is an excruciating snoozefest of a story that is also extremely light on Wonder Woman. What you do get is eleven issues of dudes working in Diana's political team (because she is, apparently, an ambassador of something or whatnot), talking about politics and stuff. You see, Diana just wrote a book about how she is a feminist and a vegetarian, so that's obviously a big scandal. And guess what, you get to see all the talk shows, protests, interviews, editorial meetings, casual dialogues, evil speeches, all about Diana's controversial book. And almost none of those feature Wonder Woman herself. I am not kidding. There are literally whole issues here without Diana at all. Would you want to read something like that in a Wonder Woman comic? Because I sure as hell don't.
There are also some vaguely evil women plotting to do something evil, some greek gods talking about stuff, and a chef minotaur constantly bitching about how everyone tells him how to cook, and none of these things are even remotely interesting to read. Honestly, this book is almost as bad as Rucka's abysmal Lazarus.
It's still worth getting for Hiketeia alone, though. I'm pretty sure it's currently unavailable separately, and this volume is cheap enough to justify the purchase. But if you want a good Wonder Woman run, maybe because you are excited about her solo movie, or if you're just interested in the character, I think it's better to look elsewhere. Where? Hell if I know, I am in the same boat as you. I've yet to read a really good WW run, and I've been trying for years.
Well, I'm not being totally fair, because Hiketeia is actually great. I've read it before, and now read it again, and both times it was a blast. It's fast-paced, has an interesting conflict between Diana and Batman, and is overall a great read with nice artwork. It is also a good stand-alone story for new readers. That one, I highly recommend.
Sadly, though, what comes after Hiketeia is an excruciating snoozefest of a story that is also extremely light on Wonder Woman. What you do get is eleven issues of dudes working in Diana's political team (because she is, apparently, an ambassador of something or whatnot), talking about politics and stuff. You see, Diana just wrote a book about how she is a feminist and a vegetarian, so that's obviously a big scandal. And guess what, you get to see all the talk shows, protests, interviews, editorial meetings, casual dialogues, evil speeches, all about Diana's controversial book. And almost none of those feature Wonder Woman herself. I am not kidding. There are literally whole issues here without Diana at all. Would you want to read something like that in a Wonder Woman comic? Because I sure as hell don't.
There are also some vaguely evil women plotting to do something evil, some greek gods talking about stuff, and a chef minotaur constantly bitching about how everyone tells him how to cook, and none of these things are even remotely interesting to read. Honestly, this book is almost as bad as Rucka's abysmal Lazarus.
It's still worth getting for Hiketeia alone, though. I'm pretty sure it's currently unavailable separately, and this volume is cheap enough to justify the purchase. But if you want a good Wonder Woman run, maybe because you are excited about her solo movie, or if you're just interested in the character, I think it's better to look elsewhere. Where? Hell if I know, I am in the same boat as you. I've yet to read a really good WW run, and I've been trying for years.
September 16, 2016
If you can't find "The Hiketeia" to read as a separate comic, this volume has the story, as well as other amazing works of Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka. I am quite glad he is at the helm of the Rebirth series.
September 10, 2017
The volume starts off with Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, which I've separately rated 4 stars.
The rest of this volume (WW issues #195-205) was good, but not great. Mostly because you have a lot of people talking about why they love Wonder Woman (and why she's important to them), but you don't get to see why for yourself. This story happens around Diana, as opposed to happening to her.
One person this story happens to is Jonah, a new legal aid to Princess Diana, Ambassador for Themyscira. The story starts out weirdly by mentioning a $32,000 yearly salary, which is so laughable, for New York, and for a lawyer. Anyway, Jonah meeting Superman was cute, but his flying session with Diana was not.
The cover (the meeting with the book editors) scene for Diana's book was as horrible (and as sexually exploitive) as Rucka meant it to be. I know he's making a point (which is why he mentioned Jonah's salary above), but it seems to be a little heavy handed and without finesse.
Because I'm new to Wonder Woman I had no idea who Vanessa Kapatelis/Silver Swan was. A little Googling helped, but a line or two about their history wouldn't have hurt.
Also, the Invisible Jet was part of a creature called Lansanarian/The Wonder Dome/Dome? More Googling.
With the big reveal in the story re: Dr. Psyco, I would have liked to have seen a timeline when the switch happened. Was it from the very beginning (issue #197)? Also, Dr. Cale still has it in for WW, so was the big reveal all that meaningful?
This is a long story (story-line) including the gods and Ares, the Amazons, more with the Silver Swan, a Batman cameo, and the Gorgons and the witch Circe.
Overall, 4 stars if we include The Hiketeia.
The rest of this volume (WW issues #195-205) was good, but not great. Mostly because you have a lot of people talking about why they love Wonder Woman (and why she's important to them), but you don't get to see why for yourself. This story happens around Diana, as opposed to happening to her.
One person this story happens to is Jonah, a new legal aid to Princess Diana, Ambassador for Themyscira. The story starts out weirdly by mentioning a $32,000 yearly salary, which is so laughable, for New York, and for a lawyer. Anyway, Jonah meeting Superman was cute, but his flying session with Diana was not.
The cover (the meeting with the book editors) scene for Diana's book was as horrible (and as sexually exploitive) as Rucka meant it to be. I know he's making a point (which is why he mentioned Jonah's salary above), but it seems to be a little heavy handed and without finesse.
Because I'm new to Wonder Woman I had no idea who Vanessa Kapatelis/Silver Swan was. A little Googling helped, but a line or two about their history wouldn't have hurt.
Also, the Invisible Jet was part of a creature called Lansanarian/The Wonder Dome/Dome? More Googling.
With the big reveal in the story re: Dr. Psyco, I would have liked to have seen a timeline when the switch happened. Was it from the very beginning (issue #197)? Also, Dr. Cale still has it in for WW, so was the big reveal all that meaningful?
This is a long story (story-line) including the gods and Ares, the Amazons, more with the Silver Swan, a Batman cameo, and the Gorgons and the witch Circe.
Overall, 4 stars if we include The Hiketeia.
May 26, 2017
A bit disappointed with the stories. They just didn't hit home with me.
January 6, 2021
I really enjoy Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman because introduces a lot of Greek mythology into his stories, which I am a fan on. The first story in this collection is The Hiketeia, which is one of the all time best Wonder Woman stories. In this story, Wonder Woman is pitted against Batman as she upholds an oath to protect a woman who has committed crimes. This story really gets to the heart of who Wonder Woman is as a character. The other stories that follow this are just OK. If you just wanted to read The Hiketeia, that is sold as a separate volume.
July 15, 2017
First time reading any 'Wonder Woman' stories by Greg Rucka, and I can see why he's considered to be one of the more successful writers in the great DC superheroine's run.
I've recently been stuck in a rut when it comes to comic books. Whether it's slogging through the convoluted and complicated 'Monstress', or concluding that works like Rucka's other comic, 'Black Magick', range from "okay" to just barely above-average, I kept being met with disappointment. And with all the disastrous DC-based films - cinematic and straight-to-DVD - coming out this year, my hopes for the comic company haven't been high lately.
However, when returning to the classics with 'Wonder Woman', I found I enjoyed this volume overall, my low expectations soaring from the first page.
'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' is the least action-packed of the 'Wonder Woman' comics I've read. It's politically-charged, with lots of characters playing multiple parts throughout in the spiderweb of a plot structure. But Greg Rucka definitely knows who Wonder Woman is and what her ethics - and the godlike pedestal the patriarch's world places her as a superhero - are all about. He explores who she is as an icon, an idol, a princess, a feminist, a hero, a person, and an ally to the world of everyday superheroics.
In this volume we see Diana of Themyscira as an ambassador living in New York, started in 2004. We see her friendships, her business schedules and meetings with hundreds of people - including her Justice League friends, and enemies - and we see how her Greek pantheon/Amazonian origins affect her life both at home and in the patriarch's society. How they shape her as a superheroine, a champion of Athena, an ex-goddess and princess, and as a businesswoman. All this and more of her beliefs Diana explains in her book, 'Reflections', which brews fiery controversy upon its release. It's even gotten the attention of the Greek gods.
Diana deals with everything in a passionate, level-headed and reasonable demeanor. She always strives to do what is right for everyone, for the earth. She keeps her cool when confronted with so many problems from all aspects of her life. Many - mortal and immortal - are out to discredit her. To make her appear naive, weak and ineffectual, despite all the good she clearly does. But Diana never buckles under the massive pressure - as a superhero, an ambassador, an Amazon, a symbol of truth and feminist teachings.
This is what makes her Wonder Woman. She is able to balance all this - the external and personal disasters - plus face all the vile sexist criticism she receives - from social and public circles - and remain her loving, calm and intelligent self.
Worthy of note: Amid all of Diana's problems and difficulties, not one of them is of a romantic nature. No current heterosexual pairing is ever implied.
Yeah, this is the Wonder Woman I love. This Wonder Woman has a Minotaur chef named Ferdinand, speaks for the trees, and talks to birds too.
The characters are well-rounded and developed. Danielle Wellys, who plays a major role in the first issue, 'The Hiketeia', is such a tragic figure. Doctor Veronica Cale may be my favourite Wonder Woman villain, because of how diabolical she is. Her methods of destroying Wondy's name through her "controversial" book are painfully realistic representations of how any woman who dares to speak her mind is treated by the social media and public industries. Yet Cale is tragically unable to see how much alike she is to the Amazon she despises so ruthlessly. Cale, a successful woman herself, should be a friend to Diana, not a detractor. I hope the two women do manage to speak to each other more in future issues. Cale's best friend (who may potentially be in love with her) Leslie Anderson is more positive towards Wonder Woman, and becomes her ally at the end. The Amazons in Themyscira, such as Artemis and Io, are also rich in personality and are dynamic key players in their friend Diana's story. Even the other DC characters - Batman, Superman, Cassandra Sandsmark and the Flash being only a handful I've named who appear here - act as they should and are as fleshed out as Wonder Woman herself.
Kudos to Batman for telling Alfred that a man and a woman can be friends without anything sexual going on between them, by the way.
The artwork is consistently brilliant throughout, and I barely noticed any changes of artists as I read the whole volume. Though the last issue does have a tendency to, ahem, draw more attention to women with very loose clothing on than in the previous issues. At least Wonder Woman herself is powerful, no matter how she's depicted in the art. Her beauty lies in how strong she is, and this is shown to an awesome degree in this volume, even when she isn't fighting crime but is just talking to people she cares about.
There are flaws: The high assortment of characters to keep track of, and the fact that the volume has no real conclusion and we are left hanging with Wonder Woman dealing with lots and lots of baddies who are out to get her. The later issues have the Amazons practically betray Diana when she needs them the most, after everything she's done for them, for reasons that are understandable story-wise, but come across as narrow-minded and petty. I hate female friendship betrayals like this, because it gives the impression that women are by nature petty, and they easily turn against each other. Wondy has complicated relationships with every woman in this comic, and even the negative ones are given great time to develop, at least.
In conclusion, 'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' shows the heroine at her most peaceful and less action-orientated. But it's still interesting, and shows her at her smartest - where her strengths lie as one of DC's Holy Trinity of superheroes. Beautiful artwork (the covers are absolutely gorgeous) and strong characters mixed up in complicated but clever plotting, the early ambassador days of Diana the Amazonian princess and champion are worth a read.
I grow into a bigger fan of Wonder Woman with each comic I read about her. Please, PLEASE PLEASE let her first blockbuster movie next year be good! It's vital we get further positive female heroes in film, at any rate.
Final Score: 4/5
I've recently been stuck in a rut when it comes to comic books. Whether it's slogging through the convoluted and complicated 'Monstress', or concluding that works like Rucka's other comic, 'Black Magick', range from "okay" to just barely above-average, I kept being met with disappointment. And with all the disastrous DC-based films - cinematic and straight-to-DVD - coming out this year, my hopes for the comic company haven't been high lately.
However, when returning to the classics with 'Wonder Woman', I found I enjoyed this volume overall, my low expectations soaring from the first page.
'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' is the least action-packed of the 'Wonder Woman' comics I've read. It's politically-charged, with lots of characters playing multiple parts throughout in the spiderweb of a plot structure. But Greg Rucka definitely knows who Wonder Woman is and what her ethics - and the godlike pedestal the patriarch's world places her as a superhero - are all about. He explores who she is as an icon, an idol, a princess, a feminist, a hero, a person, and an ally to the world of everyday superheroics.
In this volume we see Diana of Themyscira as an ambassador living in New York, started in 2004. We see her friendships, her business schedules and meetings with hundreds of people - including her Justice League friends, and enemies - and we see how her Greek pantheon/Amazonian origins affect her life both at home and in the patriarch's society. How they shape her as a superheroine, a champion of Athena, an ex-goddess and princess, and as a businesswoman. All this and more of her beliefs Diana explains in her book, 'Reflections', which brews fiery controversy upon its release. It's even gotten the attention of the Greek gods.
Diana deals with everything in a passionate, level-headed and reasonable demeanor. She always strives to do what is right for everyone, for the earth. She keeps her cool when confronted with so many problems from all aspects of her life. Many - mortal and immortal - are out to discredit her. To make her appear naive, weak and ineffectual, despite all the good she clearly does. But Diana never buckles under the massive pressure - as a superhero, an ambassador, an Amazon, a symbol of truth and feminist teachings.
This is what makes her Wonder Woman. She is able to balance all this - the external and personal disasters - plus face all the vile sexist criticism she receives - from social and public circles - and remain her loving, calm and intelligent self.
Worthy of note: Amid all of Diana's problems and difficulties, not one of them is of a romantic nature. No current heterosexual pairing is ever implied.
Yeah, this is the Wonder Woman I love. This Wonder Woman has a Minotaur chef named Ferdinand, speaks for the trees, and talks to birds too.
The characters are well-rounded and developed. Danielle Wellys, who plays a major role in the first issue, 'The Hiketeia', is such a tragic figure. Doctor Veronica Cale may be my favourite Wonder Woman villain, because of how diabolical she is. Her methods of destroying Wondy's name through her "controversial" book are painfully realistic representations of how any woman who dares to speak her mind is treated by the social media and public industries. Yet Cale is tragically unable to see how much alike she is to the Amazon she despises so ruthlessly. Cale, a successful woman herself, should be a friend to Diana, not a detractor. I hope the two women do manage to speak to each other more in future issues. Cale's best friend (who may potentially be in love with her) Leslie Anderson is more positive towards Wonder Woman, and becomes her ally at the end. The Amazons in Themyscira, such as Artemis and Io, are also rich in personality and are dynamic key players in their friend Diana's story. Even the other DC characters - Batman, Superman, Cassandra Sandsmark and the Flash being only a handful I've named who appear here - act as they should and are as fleshed out as Wonder Woman herself.
Kudos to Batman for telling Alfred that a man and a woman can be friends without anything sexual going on between them, by the way.
The artwork is consistently brilliant throughout, and I barely noticed any changes of artists as I read the whole volume. Though the last issue does have a tendency to, ahem, draw more attention to women with very loose clothing on than in the previous issues. At least Wonder Woman herself is powerful, no matter how she's depicted in the art. Her beauty lies in how strong she is, and this is shown to an awesome degree in this volume, even when she isn't fighting crime but is just talking to people she cares about.
There are flaws: The high assortment of characters to keep track of, and the fact that the volume has no real conclusion and we are left hanging with Wonder Woman dealing with lots and lots of baddies who are out to get her. The later issues have the Amazons practically betray Diana when she needs them the most, after everything she's done for them, for reasons that are understandable story-wise, but come across as narrow-minded and petty. I hate female friendship betrayals like this, because it gives the impression that women are by nature petty, and they easily turn against each other. Wondy has complicated relationships with every woman in this comic, and even the negative ones are given great time to develop, at least.
In conclusion, 'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1' shows the heroine at her most peaceful and less action-orientated. But it's still interesting, and shows her at her smartest - where her strengths lie as one of DC's Holy Trinity of superheroes. Beautiful artwork (the covers are absolutely gorgeous) and strong characters mixed up in complicated but clever plotting, the early ambassador days of Diana the Amazonian princess and champion are worth a read.
I grow into a bigger fan of Wonder Woman with each comic I read about her. Please, PLEASE PLEASE let her first blockbuster movie next year be good! It's vital we get further positive female heroes in film, at any rate.
Final Score: 4/5
April 10, 2018
I picked this up because I wanted to read The Hiketeia story.
Which was worth the price.
The Hiketeia deals with WW taking on supplicant who is wanted for murder, and who Batman is chasing. The story gets at the difference between WW and Batman. One thing that has always bugged a little about Bats (and I should not that I was not, and never will be, a regular Batman reader) is that whenever I read him, he always cared more about the bigger crimes instead of the little crimes and injustices that lead to them. In fact, he wants people to follow the rules that he doesn't follow. Bugs me. The Hiketeia addresses this, and is quite a stunning story.
The other stories are about WW's conflicting places and duties as Amazon, savior, warrior, and ambassdor. It's quite well done.
Which was worth the price.
The Hiketeia deals with WW taking on supplicant who is wanted for murder, and who Batman is chasing. The story gets at the difference between WW and Batman. One thing that has always bugged a little about Bats (and I should not that I was not, and never will be, a regular Batman reader) is that whenever I read him, he always cared more about the bigger crimes instead of the little crimes and injustices that lead to them. In fact, he wants people to follow the rules that he doesn't follow. Bugs me. The Hiketeia addresses this, and is quite a stunning story.
The other stories are about WW's conflicting places and duties as Amazon, savior, warrior, and ambassdor. It's quite well done.
May 20, 2017
Whenever I read a Greg Rucka book, I remember why he's my favourite comic book writer. He just knows how to get me invested in the characters.
Diana is everything I admire and aspire to be. I adore her. She has presence and the other characters rightfully respond with respect - even her opponents. At the same time, her perfection makes her hard to relate to as a person. She has all these wonderful ideals and virtues, but it's a little too easy. I don't feel as much of an emotional journey within her as I would like. It doesn't help that the book takes on the perspectives of normal people who witness Diana's actions rather than Diana's own perspective most of the time. It adds to that unreachable feeling. I'd like to see more personality in her. More little interactions that show her human side, even if it's a bit of humour.
That said, I enjoyed reading this a lot. I mean, it's Rucka writing Wonder Woman. Of course it's good. If he added more emotional depth to it, I would call it perfect.
Diana is everything I admire and aspire to be. I adore her. She has presence and the other characters rightfully respond with respect - even her opponents. At the same time, her perfection makes her hard to relate to as a person. She has all these wonderful ideals and virtues, but it's a little too easy. I don't feel as much of an emotional journey within her as I would like. It doesn't help that the book takes on the perspectives of normal people who witness Diana's actions rather than Diana's own perspective most of the time. It adds to that unreachable feeling. I'd like to see more personality in her. More little interactions that show her human side, even if it's a bit of humour.
That said, I enjoyed reading this a lot. I mean, it's Rucka writing Wonder Woman. Of course it's good. If he added more emotional depth to it, I would call it perfect.
February 3, 2017
This book collects the first two storylines of Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman. It also has Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia which I have already reviewed. This volume did not surprise me with how good it was, but I was surprised to see a certain antagonist from this run is being brought back for Wonder Woman, Volume 1: The Lies. This lady is pretty much the "reverse"-Wonder Woman and seeing that she is as dangerous and cunning in both runs has me excited for where both of these volumes will be heading.
May 25, 2017
La première histoire, Hiketeia, était juste géniale, magnifiquement dessinée et au scénario top. Le reste du volume n'est pas tout à fait aussi bon, mais l'histoire reste très bonne et bien ficelée, et le dessin, bien qu'un tout petit peu moins à mon goût que celui du début, reste lui aussi agréable. La Wonder Woman de Greg Rucka est très différente de celle que j'ai pu découvrir dans le premier volume New 52, c'est intéressant, et j'ai hâte de lire la suite de ce run !
June 20, 2019
I think it says something when I her Gal Gadot's voice when reading this instead of the voice actress from the justice league cartoon. But whatever. So begins Greg Rucka's seminal run on a legendary fictional character. It begins with his beloved one shot Hikiteia and then leads into his run on the main series. So starting with Hikiteia, I really enjoyed what he was doing. I wasn't crazy that he was writing a dark Wonder Woman story but he had a great reason for it. And it was done extremely well. Wonder Woman has to protect a woman on the run from Batman. Wonder Woman is pulled between two responsibilities, that of her cultural law and that with modern American law. I will say he did write Batman very one note and robotic. I get that Batman is supposed to be the villain but man, did he seem too unreasonable and stupid. Then we get to Rucka's main series run and so I expected the same. Instead I got an extremely fun brightly colored tale about Wonder Woman being the Themiscara ambassador to America and her selling her book. Sounds lame? It. Was. Fun. You get a superhero tale that feels like the West Wing. Who are the people that plan her meetings, who discuss p.r. and furthermore who does her cooking? I enjoyed the hell out of this and Rucka has impressed me with his witty dialogue and character driven arcs. Fantastic job. Slightly bummed when they pulled Trish Mulvihill out of coloring duties after only a few issues, because her work was so bright and colorful that it made the real world feel fantastical which really compliments the character exquisitely. So after reading some of his Wonder Woman stuff I have to say, perhaps Wonder Woman is one of the few Superheroes, outside of Batman and Daredevil, who can work as both light-hearted or dark-melancholic. Either way I loved it.
May 1, 2021
I really enjoyed Rucka’s rebirth run for Wonder Woman so I thought I would give this a try and I’m glad I did. I love what Rucka did with Diana and the story, he leans a lot into her role as an ambassador and plots his story around that. I think that was a smart direction to take her in since it allows the story to lean in on Wonder Woman’s status as an icon. He focuses more on politics and Wonder Woman’s role as an icon rather than big battles with super villains. There are super villain battles but they feel a lot more rewarding waiting with the build up to them. I also like how Wonder Woman is solving other problems like natural disasters. Rucka really understands Wonder Woman as a character and what she means to so many people. The Hiketeia is also included in here which is a masterpiece of it’s own and one of the best DC stories ever told, it also has beautiful J.G Jones art.
August 24, 2019
Three and half stars.
February 22, 2019
This was my first Wonder Woman comic book to read. Some of the stories were better than others, but I enjoyed it overall. I know true comic book fans understand more about the illustrations than I do but I found them to be perfect for the story.
June 28, 2018
Can't tell you how much I loved this! It's so damn good! Very slick writing. Lovely to look at.
Did not like the misappropriation of HIV meds terminology for a completely unrelated disease. Protease inhibitors are HIV specific and it's weird hearing them being used for a woman's body rejecting her cyborg tech parts. Also lifted drug cocktail, immunity stuff and opportunistic infection. Those bits of Rucka's script showed his only weakness, cribbing from the headlines.
Great period for Wonder Woman. Wish more of this decade was reprinted in Epic Collection sizes. Would love to see the post-Perez issues reprinted through the end of this series as well as the follow up series. Wonder Woman is big right now! Why is this fun era not back in print yet?
Did not like the misappropriation of HIV meds terminology for a completely unrelated disease. Protease inhibitors are HIV specific and it's weird hearing them being used for a woman's body rejecting her cyborg tech parts. Also lifted drug cocktail, immunity stuff and opportunistic infection. Those bits of Rucka's script showed his only weakness, cribbing from the headlines.
Great period for Wonder Woman. Wish more of this decade was reprinted in Epic Collection sizes. Would love to see the post-Perez issues reprinted through the end of this series as well as the follow up series. Wonder Woman is big right now! Why is this fun era not back in print yet?
March 17, 2017
I particularly enjoyed The Hiketeia.
June 22, 2017
I love how different the art is book to book but that Diana is always Diana. Plus canon bisexual Wonder Woman is VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.
December 4, 2017
A few notes to be aware of:
- This is vol 1 so it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger but it's something you expect going in
- Comic Books aren't my usual fare so I can't really comment on or compare the art style to much. That said I personally liked it. I have one story related note on this later, however.
The story is rather fast paced and there's a lot going on. WW has been in "Patriarch's World" (Off Themascrya) for 10 years so she's in the JL, she's met Wonder Girl and her villains are established. If you aren't caught up (at least generally) on who WW is then you'll have some "who's that?" moments but each character is established enough in story for it not to be too jarring. WW is the ambassador for her people and (like the story) she's very busy. There's a lot going on and WW is trying to juggle it all with her usual grace and poise. That said there isn't a lot in the way of action. Beyond a short scuffle with Batman and one fight with Silver Swan (google it, I had to) she doesn't really fight anyone. This isn't an "action" comic but a character driven narrative. Diana (WW) is dealing with a very modern and realistic reaction to her and her people making themselves known to the rest of the world. The characters are well fleshed out and mostly likable and the villains especially have very human motivations. The story can get a bit preachy with feminist commentary, vegetarianism and environmentalism but its self aware enough about this an it even becomes a plot point. Most of this comes from Diana herself and she gets criticism for it which I like. Nothing here is black and white and its how Diana deals with that nuance that really held my interest.
That said the comic deals with some controversial ground. There's less bondage than in other WW fare (so far as I'm aware) but there are a lot of scantily clad women presented at angles clearly intended for the male gaze. These are balanced, however, by strong female lead characters and they aren't all naked sex pots. Even the male characters are diverse. From Batman (being Batman) to a new employee with a schoolboy crush to a muscly minitoar cook and even a psychic, little person rapist. Men can be smart, helpful, compassionate, good and evil. They aren't pushed down to raise WW up even higher nor are they universally demonized. This all gave the plot a very human, down-to-Earth feel that allowed for suspension of disbelief.
Whatever you think of Wonder Woman you will find a character to relate to here. It's visually interesting (as far as I'm concerned) but I always say that plot makes a story and I'm ready to dive into vol. 2 after finishing this book.
I feel obligated to make a pun...
It's no WONDER I gave this 5 stars.
- This is vol 1 so it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger but it's something you expect going in
- Comic Books aren't my usual fare so I can't really comment on or compare the art style to much. That said I personally liked it. I have one story related note on this later, however.
The story is rather fast paced and there's a lot going on. WW has been in "Patriarch's World" (Off Themascrya) for 10 years so she's in the JL, she's met Wonder Girl and her villains are established. If you aren't caught up (at least generally) on who WW is then you'll have some "who's that?" moments but each character is established enough in story for it not to be too jarring. WW is the ambassador for her people and (like the story) she's very busy. There's a lot going on and WW is trying to juggle it all with her usual grace and poise. That said there isn't a lot in the way of action. Beyond a short scuffle with Batman and one fight with Silver Swan (google it, I had to) she doesn't really fight anyone. This isn't an "action" comic but a character driven narrative. Diana (WW) is dealing with a very modern and realistic reaction to her and her people making themselves known to the rest of the world. The characters are well fleshed out and mostly likable and the villains especially have very human motivations. The story can get a bit preachy with feminist commentary, vegetarianism and environmentalism but its self aware enough about this an it even becomes a plot point. Most of this comes from Diana herself and she gets criticism for it which I like. Nothing here is black and white and its how Diana deals with that nuance that really held my interest.
That said the comic deals with some controversial ground. There's less bondage than in other WW fare (so far as I'm aware) but there are a lot of scantily clad women presented at angles clearly intended for the male gaze. These are balanced, however, by strong female lead characters and they aren't all naked sex pots. Even the male characters are diverse. From Batman (being Batman) to a new employee with a schoolboy crush to a muscly minitoar cook and even a psychic, little person rapist. Men can be smart, helpful, compassionate, good and evil. They aren't pushed down to raise WW up even higher nor are they universally demonized. This all gave the plot a very human, down-to-Earth feel that allowed for suspension of disbelief.
Whatever you think of Wonder Woman you will find a character to relate to here. It's visually interesting (as far as I'm concerned) but I always say that plot makes a story and I'm ready to dive into vol. 2 after finishing this book.
I feel obligated to make a pun...
It's no WONDER I gave this 5 stars.
April 24, 2018
I guess it makes sense that a comic book that is centered around an established female comic book hero would actually be about her, but I've disappointed in the past. Comics that are supposed to feature a female superhero so often end up being all about the male characters instead. It helps that Wonder Woman has her own expansive backstory to draw upon, rather than trying to pull out a supporting character and try to make her shine on her own. The first story sets up Wonder Woman to defend a young woman against the cudgel-like justice of Batman. The Fates love to set up stories of betrayal and tragedy, and Batman is the perfect single-minded patsy to play the role set out for him. (Man, I'm really starting to hate Batman.) The rest of the book centers around a successful woman who is trying to bring down Wonder Woman in the public arena with a smear campaign. Her motivations are a bit weak: she's jealous that Wonder Woman was born into privilege & power, whereas she had to rely upon hard work and motivation to reach her dreams. The gods, as always, are petty and manipulative...and easily manipulated...and jealousy among that incestuous group never turns out well for the mortals.
There were a lot of butt shots of Wonder Woman, which seemed overly gratuitous (do we ever just see the ass of male super heroes? Has a study been done?). And any mom that's had to spend her day bent over chasing toddlers will tell you that if you try to wear something like this, your boobies will fall out. I guess besides the Lasso of Truth, Wonder Woman got a Bra of Holding.
There were a lot of butt shots of Wonder Woman, which seemed overly gratuitous (do we ever just see the ass of male super heroes? Has a study been done?). And any mom that's had to spend her day bent over chasing toddlers will tell you that if you try to wear something like this, your boobies will fall out. I guess besides the Lasso of Truth, Wonder Woman got a Bra of Holding.
February 3, 2018
I really loved this story ARC. It was compelling from start to finish, and I am looking forward to what comes next. However, the motivation of Dr. Veronica Cale was really troubling to me.
Rucka is known for being a feminist writer. There’s a myriad of reasons why his take on Wonder Woman is ranked among the best. The writing is smart, with great dialogue that is laugh out loud funny in places and gut wrenching in others. He made some of the best characters I’ve seen in the Wonder Woman universe with Diana’s UN staff and his take on Vanessa and Julia.
My question is: does he look back at this ARC from 15 years ago and regret the motive he gave Cale?
Wondering what possible reason Ronnie could have for hating Diana was a big part of the dramatic tension in the earlier issues of the volume. When the big reveal ends up being one of the worst worn stereotypes — that a beautiful successful woman is jealous and hateful over Diana’s fame and success because it should be her who is called Wonder Woman, not Diana ... is more than disappointing. It’s disgusting. Cale is the ultimate role model — just like Diana. She rose from nothing to become wealthy, successful, innovated. Why does she have to be threatened by Wonder Woman, of all people? I am tired of women viewing other women with suspicion and as competition.
I feel like Rucka missed a real opportunity there. There were so many other ways he could have given Cale a grudge.
That complaint aside, I really did love the volume, and look forward to reading Volume 2.
Rucka is known for being a feminist writer. There’s a myriad of reasons why his take on Wonder Woman is ranked among the best. The writing is smart, with great dialogue that is laugh out loud funny in places and gut wrenching in others. He made some of the best characters I’ve seen in the Wonder Woman universe with Diana’s UN staff and his take on Vanessa and Julia.
My question is: does he look back at this ARC from 15 years ago and regret the motive he gave Cale?
Wondering what possible reason Ronnie could have for hating Diana was a big part of the dramatic tension in the earlier issues of the volume. When the big reveal ends up being one of the worst worn stereotypes — that a beautiful successful woman is jealous and hateful over Diana’s fame and success because it should be her who is called Wonder Woman, not Diana ... is more than disappointing. It’s disgusting. Cale is the ultimate role model — just like Diana. She rose from nothing to become wealthy, successful, innovated. Why does she have to be threatened by Wonder Woman, of all people? I am tired of women viewing other women with suspicion and as competition.
I feel like Rucka missed a real opportunity there. There were so many other ways he could have given Cale a grudge.
That complaint aside, I really did love the volume, and look forward to reading Volume 2.
May 6, 2025
This is the second time I've read "The Hiketeia" and I found it again to be an underwhelming story. Danielle is a sympathetic character for the most part. I understand the reasons behind going on a murder spree to avenge your relative, but I would also expect you to be ready to face prison after. The tension the situation creates between Diana and Bruce is forced, and, while being able at any time to release Wonder Woman from her obligation and faced with the alternative of simply going to prison, the girl decides to throw herself off a cliff. Okay.
The main story revolves around Veronica Cale, whose reasons for hating Diana are beyond pathetic, especially in comparison to her Rebirth backstory. She devises The Worst Plan Ever to discredit Diana, a plan that involves several other WW villains but doesn't do any of them justice, and unsurprisingly it backfires in multiple ways.
When she's not busy superheroing, Diana leads a busy life as the ambassador for Themyscira. We follow new hire "Jonah" as he's welcomed in, quite frankly, one of the worst work environments I've ever seen. Like, you'd have stronger boundaries between you and your employer if you worked for your mom.
The saving grace of the book is Ares, with his machinations that also end up involving Circe. I'm curious to see what happens next and I liked this volume, but I expected something a little more exciting.
The main story revolves around Veronica Cale, whose reasons for hating Diana are beyond pathetic, especially in comparison to her Rebirth backstory. She devises The Worst Plan Ever to discredit Diana, a plan that involves several other WW villains but doesn't do any of them justice, and unsurprisingly it backfires in multiple ways.
When she's not busy superheroing, Diana leads a busy life as the ambassador for Themyscira. We follow new hire "Jonah" as he's welcomed in, quite frankly, one of the worst work environments I've ever seen. Like, you'd have stronger boundaries between you and your employer if you worked for your mom.
The saving grace of the book is Ares, with his machinations that also end up involving Circe. I'm curious to see what happens next and I liked this volume, but I expected something a little more exciting.
December 24, 2017
Five stars just for the awesomeness that was Hiketeia. There was some other stuff, and honestly it's not bad. But Hiketeia is something else - it's a short but complete introduction into Wonder Woman's psyche and the guidelines she follows. Also it has Batman, whom I always appreciate and who also lives according to his own code. They clash, and it leads to an interesting consequence, and neither one of them is the victor. It's solid.
The rest of the book deals with the machinations of one Veronica Cale, a pharmaceuticals owner who seems to have it in for WW. She employs the classic villain tactic of siccing several different villains on WW all at once. There's also Ares making trouble and Zeus being his horrid self, leading to bad consequences for Amazons. My favorite part of the non-Hiketeia arc was the bedtime story Cassie tells the two Garibaldi boys, about Perseus and Medousa. I'm weird that way. But yes. It's rather lack luster as far as the set up goes, especially following Hiketeia.
The rest of the book deals with the machinations of one Veronica Cale, a pharmaceuticals owner who seems to have it in for WW. She employs the classic villain tactic of siccing several different villains on WW all at once. There's also Ares making trouble and Zeus being his horrid self, leading to bad consequences for Amazons. My favorite part of the non-Hiketeia arc was the bedtime story Cassie tells the two Garibaldi boys, about Perseus and Medousa. I'm weird that way. But yes. It's rather lack luster as far as the set up goes, especially following Hiketeia.
June 29, 2021
Man, I just love reading Rucka. His stuff reads so effortlessly, and I know achieving that level of effortlessness is not a simple task. Just a little Ruckappreciation up top!
Anyway, this particular collection compiles his initial Wonder Woman stories, including the graphic novel “The Heketeia” and the first 11 issues of his actual run on the main WW title.
And I’ll start by saying, “The Heketeia” is fantastic. One of the best Wonder Woman stories I’ve ever read. It’s far more about her character than it is about action or adventure, but man what a great character portrait it is. It’s a story about honor and loyalty, and about how Wonder Woman treats a criminal who comes to her begging for her protection under a ritual called “Heketeia.” Wonder Woman, at once tied to tradition and justice, has to make the decision to either protect this young woman or turn her in to Batman, who is hunting her down. It leads to a fantastic, emotional story of a person stuck between two worlds, doing their best to honor both. I really loved it.
Then, we get into Rucka’s actual run, which is a bit of a step down. Not a huge drop, but it’s just nowhere near as easy to write a compelling story like “The Heketeia” every month. But, it’s still a great approach to the character.
At this point in the series, WW has become Themyscira’s ambassador to the U.S., and the series reads almost like a political thriller. She’s being trashed in the media by her enemies, and having to deal with annoying PR problems and right-wing nut jobs while also trying to be an actual hero. It doesn’t always pay off everything it builds, and the main villain introduced has pretty thin motivations, but it’s still a page-turning read that, to me, felt like a fresh approach to the world of this character. Also lots of Machiavellian Greek god meddlings, which I’m always into.
In any case, I’m excited to continue with this series. Rucka gets it!
Anyway, this particular collection compiles his initial Wonder Woman stories, including the graphic novel “The Heketeia” and the first 11 issues of his actual run on the main WW title.
And I’ll start by saying, “The Heketeia” is fantastic. One of the best Wonder Woman stories I’ve ever read. It’s far more about her character than it is about action or adventure, but man what a great character portrait it is. It’s a story about honor and loyalty, and about how Wonder Woman treats a criminal who comes to her begging for her protection under a ritual called “Heketeia.” Wonder Woman, at once tied to tradition and justice, has to make the decision to either protect this young woman or turn her in to Batman, who is hunting her down. It leads to a fantastic, emotional story of a person stuck between two worlds, doing their best to honor both. I really loved it.
Then, we get into Rucka’s actual run, which is a bit of a step down. Not a huge drop, but it’s just nowhere near as easy to write a compelling story like “The Heketeia” every month. But, it’s still a great approach to the character.
At this point in the series, WW has become Themyscira’s ambassador to the U.S., and the series reads almost like a political thriller. She’s being trashed in the media by her enemies, and having to deal with annoying PR problems and right-wing nut jobs while also trying to be an actual hero. It doesn’t always pay off everything it builds, and the main villain introduced has pretty thin motivations, but it’s still a page-turning read that, to me, felt like a fresh approach to the world of this character. Also lots of Machiavellian Greek god meddlings, which I’m always into.
In any case, I’m excited to continue with this series. Rucka gets it!
August 6, 2022
The signs were there when this first volume in Greg Rucka’s Wonder Woman run started with the disappointing The Hiketeia. Greg Rucka is one of my favorite comic book writers but I was worried that this Wonder Woman run was going to be weak and so far that’s the case.
It’s focus is on the ambassador side of Diana and all the politics as she deals with the release and backlash surrounding the release of her new book. There’s also a lot of setup as the stage is set for cool villains like Medusa and Veronica Hale to start reeking havoc later. For now, it’s all pretty boring though and terribly over-written, with Wonder Woman not even close to being as great of a character as we’re used to seeing in Rucka’s work.
The gods literally drop-kicking Themiscyra across the ocean isn’t even enough to save this one. So far, this is nowhere near as good as Rucka’s second crack at Wonder Woman during his Rebirth run, but we’ll see how the second volume is.
It’s focus is on the ambassador side of Diana and all the politics as she deals with the release and backlash surrounding the release of her new book. There’s also a lot of setup as the stage is set for cool villains like Medusa and Veronica Hale to start reeking havoc later. For now, it’s all pretty boring though and terribly over-written, with Wonder Woman not even close to being as great of a character as we’re used to seeing in Rucka’s work.
The gods literally drop-kicking Themiscyra across the ocean isn’t even enough to save this one. So far, this is nowhere near as good as Rucka’s second crack at Wonder Woman during his Rebirth run, but we’ll see how the second volume is.
March 11, 2018
This is the first Wonder Woman comic I've read, and the women are drawn so sexualised in it to the point of distraction. I've taken off a star because the highly sensual drawings of all the women, regardless of their dress or activity, detracted from otherwise passable fun incorporating Greek myth and superhero standard business. I very much enjoyed the plot but kept being yanked out of it by how the female characters were contorted or oddly focused on to occupy the story. Will stick to Monstress until there's Wonder Woman that illustrates women as people and not just boobs and butts. (Monstress is written by women so probably explains very much.)
March 28, 2022
I love the world building in this book. Really settling into what the new Wonder Woman status quo will be. I think there’s also a good balance between super hero Wonder Woman and connected to the Greek gods Wonder Woman. Rucka does such a good job running multiple storylines of what eventually will be problems for WW; Veronica Cale, Medusa resurrection, the Amazons world position, whatever Ares plan is. I also like that they don’t treat WW like she’s clueless about it. She knows something is up but just can’t quite see it yet. We even get some nice DC interactions with Batman, Flash, and Superman. The art is mostly good by Drew Johnson but every once in awhile the faces seem off. However the book is setting up for some big and exciting stuff that I’m excited to read.
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