Wonder Woman by George Pérez, Vol. 4

Wonder Woman (1987) (Collected Editions) #4

by George Pérez

More than 40 years after debuting in All Star Comics #8, Wonder Woman was reshaped by legendary comics creator George P�rez and returned to the public eye in 1986. This updated Amazonian Princess met with such acclaim that P�rez's original six-month commitment to the title was extended--and extended--until nearly five years had passed. Working with artist Chris Marrinan, P�rez brought Wonder Woman to a new generation of readers--and to unprecedented levels of success.

Now these treasured stories are available in an all-new trade paperback edition. Collecting Wonder Woman #36-45 and Wonder Woman Annual #2, this fourth volume in the series features some of the most exciting moments of DC's modern age!

Collects Wonder Woman #36-45 and Wonder Woman Annual #2

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

288 pages, Paperback

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

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, that was boring. I really had to power through to finish. By this point, George Perez was just coming up with the plots and Mindy Newell was doing the actual scripting. First up was the Annual where Myndi Meyer's marketing team had something of a memorial for her while they reminisced about Wonder Woman. Then was a REALLY long story about U.N. delegates coming to Themyscira. After several issues they are all corrupted by Eris and her apples of discord but it took forever to get to that point. The rest of the book was the return of the Silver Swan. This story was much better as Wonder Woman actually got to do something in it.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation of Wonder Woman stories deals with her early years, when she was trying to find her footing in our world. The transition didn’t go smoothly and getting a publicist didn’t always help. Superman had Lois Lane on his side; Wonder Woman had Myndi Mayer.

Ms. Mayer was a determined money-maker while Diana’s goal was very different. Ms. Mayer wanted to make Wonder Woman a household name, her gauntlets a brand and, if she made money off it, what was the harm? Needless to say, Diana was not pleased.

The two women knocked heads on more than one occasion. But Ms. Mayer did have her heart in the right place. She too wanted Wonder Woman’s message of peace, love and decency to win through to the world. But first she had to get Diana’s name out there.

This graphic collection makes its way from those early years through Diana’s awkward tryst with Superman. Never having encountered superheroes before or even knowing about them, she mistook them for gods. So it’s natural that she gravitated to the Big Blue Boy Scout.

I adored watching Diana interact with women who usually treated her with respect and calmly take on men who weren’t always so kind. She has her battles but the majority of the book deals with her connections with humans. When others respond to her innate decency, they rescue her, just as much as she rescues them.

We meet up with the Silver Swan, a supervillain I encountered in only one other story about the Amazonian princess. This one is considerably harsher in tone, making the winged siren a cowering victim of an abusive husband.

Diana strives so hard not to hurt nor kill her opponents and you have to marvel at her restraint. Perhaps that’s because people show her time and again that others are worth saving, no matter what their nationality, race or planet. Even when pressed to her limits, Wonder Woman prefers peace over violence.

The book also gives us some surprises, like the meaning behind the insignia on her chest and her iconic costume which people mistake for the American flag. It ends on an enigmatic note and another origin story for Diana. It states the usual birth-from-clay story that is so common but with a shocking twist, one I never saw coming.

It’s amazing what clever and innovative writers can come up with and I enjoyed most of these stories. The graphics aren’t what I’m used to but I felt they served their storylines very well.

[Roland Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a slight dip in quality from prior volumes. Mindy Newell also comes onboard as co-writer in the back half of the volume.
It’s somewhat convoluted and overly busy at times but overall it’s a gorgeous chapter in Diana’s history. It’s mythology heavy and the art is glorious. The lettering in one of the stories is formatted as a handwritten letter and is quite difficult to read as its cursive script. I found that overdone and somewhat illegible. The annual at the end of the book is glorious and the gods and Titans of myth are rendered with regality and grandeur. Despite my minor qualms this was a fantastic read.

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a big fan of this volume.

First we've already lost the Perez artwork as of the last volume.

Then in this one, most of the story is told as narration so it is at a remove and ends up making things boring. Only a short section near the end concerning the Silver Swan is at all exciting to me.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed in this one. Unfortunately, I'm finding that as I progress through the George Perez run of Wonder Woman, the stories are getting weaker.

"Wonder Woman by George Pérez, Vol. 4" collects the "Wonder Woman Annual #2" (September 1989) and "Wonder Woman" issues #36-45 (November 1989-August 1990).

I found the "Wonder Woman Annual #2" to be average at best. In this issue, some former friends and colleagues of Myndi Mayer find themselves packing up the office and reminiscing about the introduction of Wonder Woman to the world. The seven or eight short stories are written and illustrated by many contributors, some are entertaining, but most miss the mark.

Of the collected issues (#36-45), there are two main story arcs. The first, (featuring Eris as the main antagonist) was definitely the highlight of this volume. In this story, Diana brings a host of dignitaries to Themyscira, only to have Eris plant the seeds of discord between the Amazons and the UN delegation. I really enjoyed this one.

Unfortunately, the second arc of this volume brings back the "Silver Swan" as the main antagonist. To be honest, I didn't particularly enjoy that arc in volume 1, so I wasn't thrilled to see characters like Silver Swan, Armbruster or Choi back for a second go.

The final issue sets up an interesting story based in Greek Mythology featuring Pandora, Prometheus and the fates, which I hope to see continued on Vol. 5. So there is some hope on my part that things will get better. Pun intended.

Overall, it was good, but not great. I give Wonder Woman by George Pérez, Vol. 4 a 3-star rating.

[Shane Stanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mindy Newell is SUCH a breath of fresh air. I had all but given up on this run after the Cheetah story, and I’m so glad I gave it another shot. This keeps everything great about Perez’s ideas, and improves upon them with a script that is actually believable.

[Alex Sarll]

The Perez collection I was reading when we lost him, though sadly not the best showcase for his talents, as witness the fact that I've been getting through it on something like the original monthly schedule, rather than chomping my way like I did with the earlier volumes. Two other writers are credited alongside him; there are 15 artists, none of them Perez bar some cover work. And even when those 15 include include the likes of Jill Thompson and Colleen Doran, one can't help wondering whether the 'by George Perez' is being stretched to breaking point here. Still, even if one might wish to have seen how the solo (or at most co-scripted) Perez would have handled this material, then – beyond the occasional wonky Chris Marrinan likeness he'd never have let slide in his own art – what we have remains perhaps the definitive Wonder Woman run, even when/especially through its willingness to kick at the difficult aspects of the character's whole concept. The opening annual recalls that first Christopher Reeve Superman film in accepting a darker, more modern world without feeling the childish need to dirty up the colourful, inspirational superhero who comes into it to change and inspire. Still, without going into lazy revisionism, it does go a little further than that film in showing the many ways Diana's message has been corrupted, which from commercialism to zeal all spectacularly miss the point; the sense that there is no message the world won't corrupt beyond any use in the reception, and that as such it's fairly pointless to even try, feels very now, even if Diana is inevitably better at finding a way through that than us mere mortals. There's another Superman parallel in explaining her outfit in a way which recalls Superman's S not being an S, even if this version is a bit more convoluted and also kills off a god in passing.

Then it's into the story proper, where controversy over men being admitted to the hitherto all-female space of Themyscira also feels very now, albeit refracted through a comic from decades back which was beginning to admit the sapphic implications of the whole Amazon set-up, but clearly had no framework with which to work through gender issues as we now recognise them (or, in some cases, pointedly refuse to do so). Still, even when one of the naysayers gets a line which calls to mind Magneto's excellent opening gambit from the first X-Men film ("But consider this – we Amazons have not changed in the millennia since we left the Aegean shores. Can you tell me for certain that the outside world has?"), it's clear the story's sympathies do not lie with maintaining exclusion for its own sake. Elsewhere, subplots include the odd couple comedy of Hermes rooming with Steve Trevor in Massachusetts:
"Look, Hermes, personally I couldn't care less. But the neighbors will read me the Riot Act if they catch you up here naked as a jaybird."
"But I am not a jaybird, Stephen. I am an Olympian..."
"Living in Framingham."
Except is he as Olympian as all that anymore? Because something seems to be sapping his divine powers...


There's also a summer camp storyline which for the time was probably quite a progressive thing to do in a superhero comic, but which is impossible to take seriously after Wet Hot American Summer. Then a continuation of the saga of the Silver Swan, which feels a little dated in places, but is still a powerful depiction of what was not yet called gaslighting. And finally, a beautiful issue of straight mythic reworks in which Diana is barely glimpsed, the focus being more on Pandora and dire portents for the future. I will be pressing on, but I think first I need to remind myself of what actual Perez looks like.

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting this volume of George Perez's Wonder Woman run to be a bore since one of the two main stories is about Wonder Woman bringing a small global delegation, including Lois Lane, to Paradise Island. I have found things have a way of meandering on Themyscira - especially when there's some dark, jealous demi-goddess secretly conspiring among the shadows while the Amazons remain oblivious. But this multi-parter moved quickly! The interactions between Wonder Woman's polytheistic sisterhood and the Christian and Jewish dignitaries was just interesting enough, without going overly theological. And the character of the angry Chinese girl who survived Tiananmen Square resonates all the more when you stop to think that these issues would have been published right after the massacre that occurred there. The second main story involves the Silver Swan, another jealous villainess but with a more tragic backstory. Wonder Woman triumphs over all with her heart and lasso.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de mucho tiempo retomo esta etapa del personaje. Desde acá Pérez deja de dibujar y se encarga solo de los guiones, incluso en algunos casos del argumento nomás. Igual la calidad de las historias no se ve afectada; lo bueno sigue estando en los personajes y en las adaptaciones de la mitología griega; para ser un cómic de superhéroes, las batallas son un aspecto secundario.

Lo que sí podría criticar es el cambio de dibujantes, incluso con la presencia de varios. Son buenos, es indudable, pero al estar acostumbrado al mismo estilo durante 3 tomos, cuesta acomodarse, más con estilos distintos.

Me falta el último y ya liquido esta etapa.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A remarkably dull volume. It also suffers through the loss of George Perez's art and writing. In this volume he is either a plotter or a Co writer.
The biggest flaw was the use of narration ( so much narration) which takes away from the immediacy of the story.
The ideas and art for the stories are fine but it just did not capture my attention like the previous volumes. Possibly my expectations have been raised too high after the earlier volumes.

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonder Woman Being Tried from Every Side

This book is an interesting exploration of what happens when Wonder Woman and her people are not trusted from all sides. We see lots of cultures use their lenses on Amazonian culture, some fun explorations of a young woman figuring herself out, the return of Silver Swan and what she really is, as well as some context of Greek tales in this world!

All around it makes for a interesting and ever shifting read!

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was probably my least favorite volume so far. i didnt care much for the Eris arc or the Silver Swan arc. it was way too text heavy too (which is expected for an older comic but even knowing that it was still too much). at least with Swamp Thing I could skip all the text, but the text in this can be important to the overall story so you gotta read it. I think the story peaked with the Cheetah arc in the last volume. i hope it gets good again.

[roberto ortiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tal vez el tomo con el relato más pesado y denso, con historias irrelevantes como su despedida de la agencia de publicidad de Mindi Mayer. Espero no tener que volver a ver un comic dibujado por Chris Marrinan, no puedo conectar con su arte. Mindy Newell asume más la responsabilidad de contar las historias. La vuelta de Silver Swan es un punto positivo.
El punto más bajo de un clásico.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad disappointed that Pérez was no longer scripting at this point. I'm sure the man was incredibly busy, but while his plotting is still interesting, a lot of the magic is gone without his pencils and scripts.

[Yoann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but it definitely felt a bit all over the place. The volume did have some highlights but it felt like a slog at times to get there.

Overall, I am glad I read this volume.

Good, not great read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't reread these comics in years - the Eris/golden apples arc was pretty fun, nice use of Lois Lane, but the rest was a real slog to get through. Hard to imagine we ever read comics so purple.

[Samantha]

without perez’ art this is starting to lose its appeal, but theres inklings of an interesting arc brewing and there was some lesbian vibes in the silver swan issues so i’ll live with that.

[Ektor1714 · Rating 5 out of 5]

ni uno malo