Wonder Woman by George Perez Omnibus Vol. 2

Wonder Woman by George Perez Omnibus

by George Pérez, Mindy Newell, Chris Marrinan (Artist)

More than four decades after making her debut in ALL STAR COMICS #8, the World's Greatest Heroine was comprehensively reimagined in 1986 by legendary comics creator George Perez--and this new incarnation of DC Comics' fabled Amazon Princess quickly rose to unprecedented levels of popular and critical acclaim.

Working with such talented collaborators as Len Wein, Mindy Newell, Chris Marrinan, Jill Thompson and Tom Grummett, Perez went on to craft Wonder Woman's adventures for years, spinning masterful stories that ranged from heart-stopping battles with the Titans of myth to heartwarming interludes with Diana's trusted network of friends.

Now, for the first time, these treasured tales from the 1980s are available in a comprehensive omnibus edition, featuring some of the most exciting moments of DC's Modern Age!

This second volume of the deluxe hardcover series collects issues #25-45 of the historic title together with WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #2, and features a special bonus gallery of archival art and information.

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

552 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1990

About the author

George Pérez (June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic books artist and writer, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.

Reviews

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume contains a variety of story types: There is a multi-part arc dealing with the origin of the Cheetah, which was much more complex and enriched in details than I had seen before. This is followed by a few small stories focusing on some of the supporting cast as well as Diana’s legacy with the marketing agency she dealt with previously before jumping into another multi-part story in which trouble brews on Themyscira right when there is a UN sponsored delegation visiting. During this arc, the reader has a chance to learn a lot more about the island and the the culture of the Amazons. The last couple issues are a thinly veiled story about battery and abuse of women in relationships.

A couple notes on the writing and art: Perez pretty much draws none of the interiors and only a handful of the covers. The rest is handled mostly by Chris Marrinan who starts off as a Perez copycat, mimicking his general anatomy, layouts and style. It’s acceptable but it isn’t Perez. Eventually Marrinan’s art moves away from the Perez style, at least with storytelling into a more conventional art form that isn’t eye-popping in any way, and also isn’t distracting. The inker changes at one point providing a slightly cleaner look.

While there really wasn’t anything wrong with the dialogue in the Cheetah arc, about halfway through the book Perez only provides the plot with Mindy Newell providing the scripting. I’m not sure if this was just a time crunch problem or it was desired to have a more feminine feel to the dialogue. Either way, it is noticeable and overall for the better.

It is quite clear in this book what Diana stands for and what sets her apart from most superheroes. While most superheroes presumably want and fight for the same ideals, Diana is very vocal about them, spending an equal amount of time promoting those values versus literally fighting for them.

[David]

Opening the box thoughts:

140 pages shorter than the previous volume? This is a very slim, over-priced "omnibus". Bit of an abuse of the term omnibus to call this one. It's nearly half the length of most omniboo and the full price. You get only 20 issues and one annual. I'm very glad I got my copy at a very steep discount of over sixty-some percent. Otherwise I'd have passed on this edition.

Full review to follow:

[Maythavee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed the majority of the stories in this omnibus. Since it is a huge book, I won't review each issue individually. Here are some of my thoughts on this book:

• I loved that Steve finally got to visit his mother’s memorial on Themyscira. I got very emotional when Steve did the Amazon salute and spoke Themysciran and Hippolyta spoke English in return.
•We got Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva’s backstory on how she became Cheetah. Some parts of the story made me uncomfortable because of the racist portrayal of Africans.
•The introduction of the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall. I hope this is not the last time we see them. Their war-like culture was pretty fascinating.
•Hermes being roommates with Steve is something I never knew I wanted until now. Bless Steve for being able to handle Hermes and his God-attitude. I was sad that it caused a rift in his relationship with Etta though.
•The return of the Golden Girdle of Gaea to Hippolyta. The girdle was an important part of the Amazons’ history so the scene where Diana gave the girdle to her mother was extra special.
•The arc where 12 delegates from ‘Man’s World’ visited Themyscira to establish ties with the Amazons was amazing. It was pretty cool to see how people from different cultures and religions react to the Amazons and their way of life. Lois Lane also played a big part in this story and she was awesome.
•The return of the Silver Swan! I’m glad that Valerie finally knows the truth with Diana’s help. It was very satisfying to see the bad guys pay for their crimes.
•Issue 45 was really ominous.
• Annual #2 was just as good as the first Annual!

[Nate]

Following issue 24, Perez resigned to writing and plotting duties only. As a result, this omnibus - collecting issues 25-45 - displays a slight decline in quality from the first. For one, it’s less focused on the mythology, which Perez excelled at for the first leg of the series. And the series loses some of its epic flavor without him at the drawing board. There’s still good stuff here, though, and Diana endures as a compelling character.

Invasion crossovers (25-26). These issues are relatively throwaway without the rest of the Invasion event. We get some good interactions between Diana and the JLI, plus the aftermath of the Hermes debacle from issues 23-24. Alas, the Invasion stuff went over my head because I haven’t read it.

Cheetah (27-31). Finally, Perez delivers a proper Cheetah story following her brief encounter in issue 9. In hindsight, he probably wanted to quickly introduce her while saving this big story for later. And it’s a good one. I have virtually no history with Cheetah, so her backstory and characterization was new to me. In this version, Barbara Minerva is a fearless, headstrong archeologist who becomes a reincarnated cat-god after an African expedition goes wrong (she chooses to become Cheetah). This arc begins with Cheetah stealing Diana’s lariat, leading her to London and then Egypt for a series of tense showdowns. Perez also introduces the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall, an extremist splinter group who play a role in the next arc. All told, this is an exciting, brutal story that makes Cheetah into a fascinating character and credible threat. It’s brought down a bit by the lengthy exposition.

Meanwhile (32). Basically a look at what the side characters are up to and a set up for the next arc. I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the Hermes storyline.

Bana Mighdall (33-36). Things come to a head between Diana and the Amazons of Bana Mighdall surrounding Gaea’s Girdle. Perez gives their backstory which, while interesting, is kind of tedious to read. Still, this arc has some good moments and occasionally thrilling action. I like the international direction the series has taken.

The Game of the Name (Annual 2). The Mayer Agency and Diana end their licensing agreement. Julia helps sort through their files as they reminisce about Wonder Woman and her publicity campaign, which was glossed over in issue 8. Most of the stuff here is charming or at least intriguing. Not all the publicity had a positive effect, as Diana simply wanted to spread her message of peace while others exploited or misrepresented her image. My favorite section is drawn by Trina Robbins, who inserts herself in the story as the artist of the official Wonder Woman comic book. If I’m not mistaken, this entire issue is drawn by women.

Themyscira/Eris (37- 40). A lot happening here. Firstly, Themyscira welcomes 12 representatives from around the world for its first official cultural exchange. Diana selects the ambassadors, one of which is Lois Lane, whose dispatches narrate issues 38-40. Then Eris, daughter of Ares, attempts to kickstart war by feeding Amazons and their guests her golden apples which ignite hateful tendencies. Perez continues to mine mythology in an admirable way, but I feel like the series is starting to spin its wheels a bit. The stuff with Hermes and Steve Trevor isn’t going anywhere. Perez’s writing (or in this case, plotting) of Diana herself remains a high point.

The Ties that Bind (41). A text-based issue that recalls issue 8 from the first omnibus. I like this one for it’s quiet character development of Diana, Vanessa, and Julia, offering insights into their wants and regrets at this point in time.

Silver Swan (42-44). I wasn’t anticipating Silver Sean’s return, but this ended up being a decent storyline. Her true origin is revealed, and it’s rather sad. Beyond that, Diana’s compassion and grace shines through in these issues.

Legacy (45). The Fates recap the story of Pandora as they contemplate what will befall Diana and the world at large. This issue nicely calls back to the Challenge of the Gods arc, but it’s clearly setup for later stories. The depiction of the Fates is striking.

Perez would write (or at least plot) Wonder Woman until issue 62. His run culminated in the “War of the Gods” crossover event, which saw a bunch of gods facing off with Diana at the center. My library doesn’t have the final omnibus, so I’m stopping my read of the series for now. I’ve enjoyed Perez’s run. The first 24 issues are pretty great, and his characterization of Diana - confident, compassionate, hopeful - remains a major strength of the series. And the full-throated embrace of Greek mythology gives these comics a distinctly grand feel. This is the first Wonder Woman run I’ve read, and it makes me excited to tackle more of her stories. For those who haven’t read WW comics, Perez’s run is the perfect starting point.

[Sean Curley · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Perez's epochal run on Wonder Woman lasted from 1987 to 1992, and is often cited as the peak of the character's publication history (on a story level I might on some level prefer the two runs by Greg Rucka, but there's no question that Perez shouldered the far greater task in reinventing a character who had been adrift pretty much since her creator died in 1947). For a long time, the only collected editions of this run were four trade paperbacks that covered the first 24 issues (Gods and Mortals through Destiny Calling); a few years ago, the contents of those four trade paperbacks were bound into a single hardcover Omnibus edition. However, that Omnibus was unnumbered, which did not augur any future omnibuses, and the smart money would have been that the remaining 40+ issues of the Perez run would remain uncollected and inaccessible. However, probably by the grace of the 2017 Wonder Woman film, here is Volume 2, covering issues 25-45 (as well as the second Annual).

There were a few points in reading this where I found myself wishing that I had refreshed my memory in respect of the earlier issues, because Perez really hits the ground running and there are very few wholly new stories here, the bulk of the time spent elaborating on earlier arcs (in particular, the final arc brings back the Silver Swan and a few characters who had by that point not been seen in more than twenty issues). The most compelling material in this collection is undoubtedly the first half, which is heavily concerned with Perez's expanding the Amazon mythology by journeying to Bana-Mighdal, the sister city of Themyscira, where a corrupted form of the Amazon culture survived through the centuries, but evolving in a very different direction. This also features greater development for Diana's nemesis the Cheetah, a villain that only Perez every really used well, at least in this initial form. There's a lot less emphasis in these issues on the Kapatelis family, who formed Diana's main human supporting cast in her early introduction to the wider world. Apollo, the Greek god descended to Earth, takes a prominent supporting part (and frequently a humorous one), the other gods being almost entirely absent.

If this volume has an obvious point of inferiority compared to the earlier issues, it is that this is the point in the series where Perez had stopped illustrating as well as writing. The various replacement artists are more than capable, but George Perez is one of the all-time great pencillers, and none of the succeeding ones can quite live up to his beautiful work in the early part of the series.

[ArabellaGray271 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was way less cohesive and focused than the first one. While it has its moments, it rarely feels like it's going anywhere, even if most of the individual issues are pretty interesting. Also, while the art is fairly solid, none of it was drawn by Pérez himself and that's a disappointment because nobody was as stellar as his usual work in this volume.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still really good, there was a few parts I didn't like as much, but it's a good read overall.

[_luciiraamos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoró. Sirvió. y NO ayunó 💋

Me gusta que este tomo hace más critica y tiene muchísima mitología, aunque por parte la historia no me ha entretenido tanto, pero me apetece ponerle una notaza 😙😙

[Rizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review for the entire Perez run, not just this volume.

Well, I have mixed feelings. Certainly this run deserves all the credit in the world for bringing WW into the modern world after decades of creative bankruptcy. And indeed, pretty much all of the new aspects introduced are successful, and remain staples of modern WW comics today. But it's far from a perfect run. It's a bit overlong, very inconsistent, and ends with a frankly terrible, incoherent crossover event. Even the first few arcs, which are actually excellent, have since been outclassed by other more recent retellings of Diana's origins.

So where does that leave this run? Is it just a relic of history? A necessary step towards other, better stories? Honestly...kinda, yeah. It's hard to say, because I love Perez, and I love what he did for this character. But I can't in good conscience recommend this as one of the best Wonder Woman runs, because as a whole, it just isn't. It shares the exact same fate as John Byrne's Superman in that regard. There are things to enjoy if you're curious about WW's history, but there's not really anything here that you can't find done better elsewhere. And there's a lot of pretty bad stuff that everyone seems to overlook due to the run's importance. The War of the Gods crossover is frankly unforgivable in how utterly incoherent, incomprehensible, generic, unfocused, and overstuffed it is (and no, reading all the tie-ins doesn't make it any better). I wish it was the only time that a good comic run ended with an insufferable crossover event, but it sure seems to be common.

So what's the actual good? Well, the art is pretty sumptuous, at least for the first third and the final third of the run, by Perez and Jill Thompson respectively. The middle section has a long stretch with pretty simplistic Chris Marinan art that serious dragged things down. Also, I really did love the character of Vanessa. She was annoying, but annoying in a realistic teen girl kind of way. I enjoyed watching her grow up, including some truly dark moments along the way that were handled excellently.

That's about it though. The villains are generally pretty lame (especially the Bana-Mighdall, ugh) with very few exceptions. The other supporting cast like Julia, Hermes, Indelicato, and the other Amazons are totally forgettable. Also probably the worst version of Steve Trevor that I'm aware of.

Anyway yeah, this is really only for people who are interested in the early post-Crisis era or Wonder Woman history more broadly. There's good stuff here and there, but it's quite lacking as a cohesive whole.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some dated portions of this collection. Wonder Woman’s encounter with the Amazons of Bana-Mishdall, separated from the Amazons of Themyscira, are destructive women of color who distrust and confront Diana from the start; they should have been presented with more depth, especially with Cheetah in the mix. Perez mostly gets women right in his Wonder Woman writing, but he can’t seem to resist periodically noting how beautiful Diana is and how jealous non-Amazon women must be of her.
Perez’s excellence is in his depiction of a hero whose most dangerous weapon is a boomerang and mostly uses a lasso that forces people to tell the truth. Wonder Woman excels when she is showing that Amazons seek to solve problems instead of fight, unite good people through honesty.
Trevor and Candy develop a romantic relationship in Vol 2; but I almost wish these two characters could have been left behind in the early 1900s; WW meets a wider variety of people in the ensuing years with more development potential.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good reading this again and didn't have the original comic book collection because I had given my personal comics to a friend who needed it. I am amazed how the stories still stand up today because the themes of Tolerance and Respect are timeless. I am glad that the Silver Swan story has concluded because her story reflects the issue of Domestic Violence that needs to be honestly discussed in our nation alongside the issue of Race.
Yes Wonder Woman is a Superhero, one who forces us to deal with our issues and challenges us to become better versions of ourselves. Even the Amazons have to deal with their own flaws due to the machinations of Ares' daughter and the eventual meeting with Donna Troy.
This volume ends with the prelude to Wonder Woman 50 leading up to the War of The Gods storyline.

[Michael Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this second volume collecting George Perez’s iconic run on Wonder Woman, nearly all of the interior sequential artwork is provided by Chris Marrinan, with Perez doing the story work and a few covers. The legendary accomplished artist isn’t usually acknowledged for his writing but there’s some great stuff here, especially the revised origin of Cheetah and the discovery of a combative tribe of Amazons. Would be great to see adapted to an animated or live action movie.

[Jay Trask · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often find that I like the concept of Wonder Woman much better than the actual stories. The Silver Swan and Cheetah storylines are probably the best in book, and I am really happy to have basically moved beyond the marketing/PR storylines of the first volume (except we do have a thrilling flashback to Vanessa "Nessie" Kapatelis' adventures with Wonder Woman officially trademarked bracelets.)

[The Poor Person's Book Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really shows it’s age at times but I can see where it was trying to be progressive and came off cringe, (it’s never good when a middle age man writes as a teen girl). Making the evil amazons Middle Eastern could have been done way better. I did enjoy the theme of Diana being criticized for holding up unrealistic beauty standers and The Hermes, Steve Trevor, “Odd couple” B polt was great.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

A continuation of Perez’s work. This omnibus continues the tale of Wonder Woman and her involvement in the lives of Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis, as well as Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and recurring villains such as the Cheetah and the Silver Swan. Also to be found within: the introduction of the Bana-Mighdol Amazons that play such a role in the future of Themyscira and the world at large.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing story arcs in this one, moves a lot faster than the first omnibus