Customer Reviews

Paradise Lost (Wonder Woman)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got both volumes of Phil Jimenez's "Wonder Woman" stories on the same day and read them back to back. After that I had to lie down for three days. The work here in "Paradise Lost" and in the second volume, "Paradise Found", is a feast for the eyes. You'll spend days gazing into the details of each panel that you'll literally suffer from sensory overload after that. That wasn't a complain. In fact, I absolutely LOVE Jimenez's art in this book. He's the closest thing to having George Perez draw this book again (and in many ways, Jiminez's art is even better). We live in a time where big-panels and in-your-face, action-oriented splash pages are the norm. In fact, I'm one of those who complain about how expensive comicbooks are and how short a time it takes to read one these days. Not so with Jimenez. His "Wonder Woman" takes *forever* to read. There's just so much to savour in his 12-16 panels-per-page comics.

This first volume contains three storyarcs. The first has the return of Ares' children to Earth - this time taking over the bodies of Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Joker. The Wonder-Woman-Family and the Bat-Family team up to take them down.

The second story is a civil-war, politically-heavy story that finally ties-up all the long-standing issues from George Perez's previous run on the title. Phil Jimenez successfully balances the "super-heroic" Byrne version of Wonder Woman with the myth/politics-heavy Perez version in these stories. We finally see the resolution to the whole Themyscrican/Bana-Mighdall conflict. (There's also a short insert featuring a more streamlined origin of Donna Troy that served as a kind of Prologue to this arc.)

The third story is the best of the bunch. It features a day in the life of Diana, as chronicled by Lois Lane. Joe Kelly co-writes this tale and brings much-needed "humanity" to our beloved Amazon.

Despite the whole story being rather "continuity-heavy", I'd still recommend this book to a new reader. The beauty and obvious passion of the work is enough to suck anyone in.

This trade paperback collects Wonder Woman #164-170, and a Donna Troy bio from Wonder Woman Secret Files #2.

Phil Jeminez's interpretation of Wonder Woman is the best I have read thus far. Ever since John Byrne completely destroyed her (making her into a sex object with nothing much to say), Wonder Woman has slowly been reconstructed into that DC icon that stands for innocence, truth, respect and honor. Jeminez's interpretation of her, along with the art of Andy Lanning, is still very sexy, but she is sexy not because she wears skimpy clothing and because she frequently sticks her breasts and rump in the readers' faces, but because she is very intelligent and witty and just downright beautiful. She has poise.

The first story collects the "Gods of Gotham" storyline. This is, without a doubt, the most intelligent and the most exciting Wonder Woman story I have ever read. Jeminez, already keen on Wonder Woman, proves that he can write Batman just as well. At the end of the story, there is excellent dialogue between the two heroes, and Batman shows a lighter (or shall I say, less dark) side of himself to Wonder Woman. It is very sweet. The pairing of the Huntress with Artemis was downright ingenious. Artemis and Huntress verbally spar on the faith and God issues, but everything ties back to something Wonder Woman said in the beginning: "Faith, in the end, [is] our greatest weapon."

The "Paradise Island ... Lost" storyline is very short, but still very exciting. It's really only exciting if the reader understands a lot of the Wonder Woman folklore, but the bios at the front of the trade help out somewhat.

The greatest moment in the trade is the last story featuring Lois Lane's interview with Diana. Lois, I suppose, resolves her issues with Diana and her former relationship with Superman. They come to a full appreciation of one another.

Jeminez has sculpted Diana (another "made from clay" pun) into a great role model for any boy or girl. She's honest, strong, compassionate and kind, but she, despite her godhood, is still a woman with very human feelings. And this makes her sexier than any previous T'n'A interpretation of her. This is a very intelligent read with wonderful art and colors. If one were to read any Wonder Woman trade, I would recommend this one. Bravo!

As much as this Wonder Woman fan appreciates ANY exposure for the character outside her monthly comic title, this collection of stories does neither WW nor her fans any favors. The entire first part is a shameless repackaging of material that has already been offered in a TPB, called "Gods Of Gotham." The next section (from which the TPB got it's name) is a rushed, vainglorious two-part nightmare. As if that isn't enough to make some readers wish the book ended there, there's a followup 'Day In The Life' story, which is indigestion-inspiring. This book's one bright point is a thematic re-hash of the original Wonder Girl, Donna Troy. It's a sad but telling commentary on the brutal way that WW has been treated under Jimenez, that Donna Troy (with her messed up origins) is treated with much more care and consideration.

Despite guest appearances from Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Huntress, Donna Troy, Wonder Girl and Artemis, the "Gods Of Gotham" saga is much ado about nothing. Originally spread out thin over four WW issues, it re-introduces a trio of evil greek gods (Eris, Phobos and Deimos) from WW, placing them in the earthly bodies of three Batman foes (Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Joker, respectively). The creative team behind this story had strict limitations imposed upon them, in regard to their use of Batman and his supporting cast, so the action never strays from a Gotham City church and has almost no impact upon Batman's continuity. (With the exception of a minor villain's death.) The interaction between heroes is of slight interest, but again, with so little appreciable characterization for Batman OR Wonder Woman it plods along to a predictable outcome.

The second part of this book is even worse; it portrays an Amazonian civil war which pushes a big body-count in a matter of two issues. It's also an excellent example of destroying tradition in favor of something contemporary, or palatable to impressionable minds. In this case, Jimenez & Co. decide that Paradise Island/Themyscira's matriarchy is outdated and un-PC, and go about abolishing it with typically bloody results. So after sixty years in her role as the Princess of the Amazons, Wonder Woman becomes simply the ambassador of Themyscira, and Paradise Island has chaotic democracy thrust upon it.

A 'Day In The Life' is presented in the context of an interview; Lois Lane follows WW around for a day which includes trans-oceanic travel, singing to dying African children, and a trip to a local pool hall. Oh, there's certainly MUCH more to Wonder Woman's day, be sure. Just don't count on getting much of a "feel" for Diana's personality...she's too busy to have one! This story's sole grace is the (apparent) understanding reached between Diana and Lois. Few of WW's personal relationships can boast that kind of surety, under Jimenez.

While the stories contained in this volume are NOT the worst examples of what Jimenez and his co-plotters have done during their tenure on WW, they still make for dismal reading. I wish that Mr Jimenez had stuck with drawing stories (which he is very good at) instead of writing them. Even with input from past WW scribe George Perez, "Paradise Lost" is a potent reminder that style usually triumphs over substance in comics. The great visuals here provide an excellent distraction from the book's severe tone. It doesn't matter that WW's supporting cast is given abundant exposure, or even that a handful of thematic loose ends are tied up: if the stop-start pacing doesn't put you off, the re-writing of Amazonian (and Comics) tradition should.

Bat-fans and WW initiates will probably like this book, or at least be unaware of how much it undercuts the WW mythos. Longtime fans are much more likely to object to WW's ineffectual presence and stilted dialogue. In the end, if you are simply looking for a single collection from this period, this book is a reasonable buy, with plenty of pages. But don't look for anything particularly "wondrous" in this uneven, depressing book.

This collection contains three storylines:
The first one focuses on three renegade gods that are causing chaos in Gotham City by possesing three of its most dangerous villains Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and The Joker. So of course Diana and her sidekicks(Troia, Artemis, Wonder Girl) must team up with Batman and his sidekicks (Huntress, Nightwing, Robin) to stop them.
The second storyline focuses on a civil war in Paradise Island: the amazons are divided in two tribes and have issues and with some lies all the unresolved anger and resentment erupt into a civil war.
The final storyline consists of Lois Lane taging along with Diana to write a "day in the life" type article on Diana. Diana is humanized as we see her through Lois eyes and even though there is some tension between both women they are able to come to understand and respect each other. The main source of the tension is that Diana is the super HOT, kind and all around perfect best friend to Lois husband.
The art and writing by Phil Jimenez if excelent, even if things sometimes get very cluttered on pages. Sometimes there is alot going on and things get very busy, but thats just a minor complaint, overall highly recommended. oh also this book leads into Wonder Woman "Paradise Found". EP

For too many years since George Perez revitalised her in 1986, Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of the Amazons and heir to the throne of Themyscira, has been treated shabbily, turned into a sex goddess, and denied her uniqueness as a character firmly rooted in Greek mythology. Phil Jimenez tries hard to remedy years of mistreatment and return Wonder Woman to greatness. He largely succeeds, crafting stories that involve the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece within the often underrated context of comic book super heroics. "Paradise Lost" reprints his first seven issues as the writer and artist of the monthly Wonder Woman comic book, and opens with a four-issue story arc that involves the War God, Ares, and his children, Deimos (Terror), Phobos (Fear) and Eris (Strive). Ares' three children have descended upon the earth and taken possession of the bodies of three of Batman's worst enemies, namely the Joker, the Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. The mad gods plan to bring Ares' reign of terror back to earth by raising the Areopagus right in the middle of Gotham City with the help of Maxie Zeus, a small-time criminal purporting to be descended from Zeus himself. Diana intervenes despite Batman's warning for her to stay away from his city, and the supporting casts of both superheroes (Troia, Wonder Girl, Artemis, Nightwing, Robin and the Huntress) soon get into the action. The adventure gets off to a jolly good start with guest appearances by two monsters from Greek mythology, the Chimaera and the last surviving Gorgon, Stheno. After the first story arc, Jimenez crafts a short story that explains the origin of Diana's twin sister, Donna Troy (Troia, named by the Titans of Myth after the city of Troy). Next, trouble hits Paradise Island as Ariadne returns to exact vengeance on the Amazons by manipulating rival factions into starting a devastating civil war. (Note: Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, who betrayed her father by helping Theseus to defeat the Minotaur. Theseus later abandoned her on the island of Naxos on his journey back to Athens, and married Antiope, Queen Hippolyta's sister. Ariadne hates the Amazons with a passion for this slight.) The closing story shows us what a day in the life of Diana is like, and introduces a potential love interest in the form of UN humanitarian aid worker, Trevor Barnes. Jimenez excels at handling a large number of characters at the same time but his writing is often uneven. For example, it is difficult to believe that the characters would talk so much in the middle of a battle - in some cases, they make whole speeches about duty and honour and other some such nonsense. However, there is no question that he is a wonderful artist - he started off in the early 1990s imitating George Perez, but has since developed his own similar, yet distinctive, style. Diana and her supporting characters have never looked better. Jimenez's two-year run on the monthly Wonder Woman comic book ended recently, and he will be sorely missed.

The evil children of Ares possess the bodies of three of Gotham City's deadliest criminals in the first story arc. With a lineup including WW, Artemis, Wonder Girl, Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Huntress, what's not to like? Enough, actually. The story was very confusing, for one thing. For another the so-called "gods" inability to seriously injure their mortal antagonists seemed hopelessly far-fetched; if they can go toe-to-toe with Wondy, how do they not take Robin's head right off? And the whole religious angle with Huntress and Maxie Zeus just didn't work for me. Matters of faith are hard to discuss even under the best of circumstances, and a comic book populated by gods of Greek myth is not the best.

The next story arc deals with a war between rival factions of Amazons on Paradise Island, and falls pretty flat considering all that happens during the course of the story. As a reader who is not a big WW fan, there were too many characters with peculiar names, and it was seldom clear who was with which faction, etc... Most of all, this arc really suffered from being rushed; an event this big cries out for a few dozen additional pages.

My favorite entry was the Day-in-the-Life piece that rounds out the book. Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane spends a day with Diana secretly hoping to find out about WW's relationship with Superman. In the course of a very busy day, Lois finds discovers exactly what kind of person WW really is.

In sum, we get one so-so story, one lame story, and one pretty good (albeit short) story, plus a super-short featuring Wonder Girl. That said, the real standout of the book was the artwork, which was at times exceptional. But being a story kind of guy, I wouldn't recommend this book except to die-hard fans of WW, or to those who are all about the art.

The art and storyline are fantastic, P.Jimenez is a great writer and the artwork cannot be topped!

A writer team up on Wonder Woman, and a pretty good one. Ares is not a nice god, or at least is not as far as Wonder Woman is concerned.

He sends some of his godlings to Gotham to take over some
Bat-Villains, and Maxie Zeus gets in the mix as well. After this, we
end up with a Bat Family and Wonder Family team-up, basically.

I guess this was a bad graphic novel to start out with as my first "introduction to Wonder Woman". The characters that appeared in the novel were a bit to the excess and did more to get in the way of the story than to actually propel it. The only novel that was worse than this one (in over-character-saturation was Paradise Found).

It was okay. I wasn't wowed with it as I expected to be with all these shining reviews.

This book collects the first 7 issues of Phil's run of Wonder Woman and as a bonus it also has the "Who is Troia" from the Wonder Woman Secret File a couple years back. Phil works his magic and helped turn Wonder Woman into a must read book! From a team up with the Batman Family to a day in Wonder Woman's life, Phil truly show you what a wonderful and powerful character Wonder Woman really is! You can't go wrong with this book, very highly recommended! Phil Jimenez is one of the best creators around, with his name attached to any project, you will not be disappointed!