By: Gail Simone Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: September 30, 2008 Release Date: September 30, 2008
Product Description: Sent to man's world from the paradise island of Themyscira as an ambassador of peace, Wonder Woman is the world's greatest superheroine! In the aftermath of the Amazons' attack on America, led by her mother, Wonder Woman has returned to Themyscira...only to discover the island under attack from Captain Naz and the Secret Society of Super-Villains! Her only allies are a group of apes from Gorilla City she has recently defeated...but the real danger is much closer to home, as a conspiracy hatched at her birth finally comes to bloody fruition! Gail Simone ("Birds of Prey") takes Wonder Woman to a whole new level, with amazing art by Terry and Rachel Dodson ("Harley Quinn").
Wonder woman : The circle Wonder Woman and Amazon.com! What a combo! She is an amazon! Buy this book! It's great!
a 5 star golden tiara read This is a story about Diana after she has searched for who she is and is going back on her heroic journeys as Wonder Woman. But sometimes going back to the beginning of a story is what is needed to propel it forward. The first arc in the book is about 4 renegade Amazons who take the shadowside of Athena to a chilling conclusion. These 4 will do anything to defend the Amazon civilization from what they see as its greatest fear, a child. But strangely, because human they be, they yearn for a baby girl themselves.
This is a story that tells of a daughter and how far she will go to help her mother and her land. This is a story that shows the power of Mercy and Diana at her finest as warrior and diplomatic. A top notch story and very worth picking up for your shelves.
DC...Why Don't You Just shoot Her In The Head And Get It Over With? Be Merciful! DC....Are you TRYING TO DESTROY WONDER WOMAN? Please DC..........Don't you get it? Don't you read the reviews? First, Lose the Diana Prince thing. We DON'T LIKE IT! NO ONE LIKES IT! Please Bring back Diana of Themyscira! It's her we love. It's her we want to read about! This secret identy thing does not work for her anymore. Losing the secret identity was the best change of Diana since the title was re-worked in the 1980's. WE are the readers! Change it...Please.
And these stories are just crap. How can you publish such awful crap? ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY WONDER WOMAN??? It sure seems like it! The stories are awful. It would be more merciful to just shoot her in the head and get it over with .DC, Are you TRYING TO KILL OFF WONDER WOMAN? DC Don't you get it? Don't you read the reviews? DC,We DON'T LIKE IT! NO ONE LIKES IT! Please Bring back "Diana of Themyscira!" And Please get some decent writers and artists.
Are Diana's trials at an end? It is hard to imagine a much more wretched year for Wonder Woman than 2007; the year began with Allan Heinberg's perenially delayed and sadly misguided opening arc still struggling to get out; intermixed with these issues we got Jodi Picoult's equally off-base offering, and then "Amazons Attack", an atrocity that seemed almost tailor-made to destroy the character's history. By story's end, Diana's people were turned into a bunch of barbarous morons responsible for gleeful mass-murder. With issue fourteen, Gail Simone, the industry's preeminent female writer (not a particularly wide field, to be sure) and a great writer in general, took over the the title; this volume collects her first six issues, #14-19. What can she make out of this car wreck of a relaunch?
This trade contains two stories. The first, Simone's opening arc, is 'The Circle' (which lends its name to the hardcover as a whole), which, to a certain extent, addresses the fallout of "Amazons Attack", mainly concerning the fate of Diana's mother Hippolyta. As well, Simone introduces a new wrinkle into Wonder Woman's origin, the idea that her birth on Themyscira was not as universally welcomed as previous stories have had it. The challenge of writing imperfection into paradise is a difficult line to walk, but Simone pulls it off quite well. Alkyone's imperial guard are well-realized characters. The art is mainly by Terry Dodson, with some fill-in pages from Ron Randall after Dodson hurt his hand. The book looks quite good, although their action sequences are not that dynamic. Less enjoyable is Simone's attempt to make Heinberg's idiotic new "Diana Prince" status quo work; it still doesn't. I read "Wonder Woman" for Diana of Themyscira, not her pretending to be someone she isn't to hide from the world.
The concluding two-parter, "Ex-Patriate", sees Diana go into space, recruited by the Klingon-esque Khund race to deal with an alien menace that is destroying their civilization. This arc is much less successful then the first one. It begins with an incredibly annoying scene between Diana and Nemesis, the stupid love interest introduced in the Heinberg run, who is totally incompatible with Diana (it doesn't help that the first two arcs portrayed him as a complete sexist idiot; Simone gets him better, but this relationship has no foundation). More broadly, the plot really doesn't make much sense when you think about it. There are some great scenes, such as a fight between Diana and a Green Lantern that effectively captures the power of both characters. Bernard Chang's artwork is very good.
By far the biggest plus in this collection is Diana herself, as a character. For someone who is often maligned as being a dull protagonist, Simone infuses Diana with appropriate personality; she is wise, courageous, devout, competent, and funny (funny in a way appropriate to her, unlike the humour attempts in Picoult's run). Even when the plot is subpar, Diana herself is entertaining to read. Supporting characters like Hippolyta (inexplicably a queen again) and Etta Candy (reintroduced as a competent secret agent-type) are similarly well-done.
The first story would earn perhaps 4 or 4.5 stars, while the second maybe a 2.5-3. I will give this four stars overall; whatever its flaws, it is the best Wonder Woman story since Greg Rucka was forced off, and I believe that if anyone can make Diana worthwhile again, it is Gail Simone.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
