Customer Reviews

Wonder Woman: Gods and Goddesses

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

 

 

John Byrne's Wonder Woman tends to inspire great passions, either pro or con. So did the creative team before Byrne. And those that tended to love the early series of stories tended to hate beyond reason almost everything Byrne did with the character once he took over. For me (and contrary to earlier reviewers here), the earlier run was weak, inconsistent, too slick, and featured too much skin. This present compilation of Byrne's first story arc shows why I greatly prefered his tenure on the comic book. His Wonder Woman was strong, decisive, and had human sized breasts. He showed a willingness to really shake things up... which again I liked but some people felt uncomfortable with. My feeling is that for general, or casual readers who just want to read a good Wonder Woman story, that this should fit the bill. Characters are well developed and there is an epic feeling to the story. Partisans aside, most should enjoy this.

I was hesitant to get this volume for a long time. Firstly, I've heard a lot of complains about John Byrne's work on "Wonder Woman". Secondly, I've just read the bulk of George Perez's and Phil Jimenez's work on the Amazing Amazon and therefore, I consider myself a new fan - I can't bear the disillusionment should I come to hate her portrayal by Byrne. However being the completist that I am, I finally did. Here's what I think...

"Second Genesis" collects the first five issues of Byrne's tenure as plotter, scripter, penciller, inker and letterer of Wonder Woman. Yes, you read that right. This guy does it all himself. Only the coloring is done by someone else (in this case, the ultra-talented Patricia Mulvihill). And herein lies the problem. Byrne is no Eisner or Kirby but he sure tries hard! The end result is a little mixed. The work here is neither very bad but neither are they very good. I think many would agree with me that Byrne's best work were those in the past - X-Men, Superman and even She-Hulk.

The story: Diana moves to Gateway City and becomes a superhero there - much like all the other superheroic-guardians-of-fictional-cities that populate the DC Universe. This is clearly a move away from the more mythological-heavy tone of George Perez's recreation in 1987. While I love Perez's work, I wouldn't say that a change is necessarily bad. In fact, I'd say that the second half of Perez's run on the book was a little too slow-moving and often concentrated more on the book's supporting characters (Inspector Indelicato, Julia Kapatelis, Vanessa Kapatelis, Eileen, Lucy, and the countless Amazons like Menalippe, Phytia, Iphtime, etc. etc.) than on the title-character herself. And that's one thing that has been corrected by Byrne here. Diana takes centerstage in this story in a glorious fashion. And that's all I have to praise about Byrne's approach - it's good to see Diana on nearly every page and panel. The rest are all complains:

1) Darkseid's attack on Themyscira seems forced and his exit seems to abrupt. The whole thing felt a little pointless. I don't know whether this particular plotline is followed up upon much in the preceding issues (having never read them), but in this book alone, the reader is left feeling like there's no point to the whole thing. I mean, Darkseid murders 1,200+ Amazons and he just leaves? Where's the resolution to that?

2) I don't really like Diana's costume redesign. Byrne switched the star-spangled panties (?!?) with another pair that has only two stars in the front. Then he gave her a belt that is so big that it needed to be tucked into her golden WW bra! Yes, it really is like that - see for yourself!

3) Byrne's art almost always suffer when he inks them himself. DC should have hired another inker like Terry Austin or Brett Breeding and this work would've turned out better. In many panels, Diana looks too skinny and haggard. There is a difference between battle-worn and downright shoddy.

4) The new supporting characters introduced here are too similar to Perez's that you feel like Byrne is "redoing" Perez. Cassie and her professor mother is very much like Vanessa and Julia Kapatelis. Detective Mike Schorr is just another version of Officer Indelicato!

5) The foreword by Byrne himself is quite painful to read. And I'm saying that as a Byrne-fan myself for many years! You see, I buy this book primarily for a Wonder Woman story. And the foreword is really about "Let-Me-Tell-You-The-Epic-Story-Of-How-DC-Finally-Got-ME-To-Work-On-Wonder-Woman!" I find that quite laughable. Byrne is a comicbook writer/artist. What else would he be doing if not comicbooks? Wonder Woman is just another job - not an epic undertaking by any great stretch! But the way he described his taking the job was like it had to do with the fates being aligned and that it's got some cosmic significance. Seriously, I don't think even Leo Tolstoy would be saying this if he's been picked to do the book!

This book is recommended only for Wonder Woman completists and DC historians. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone that I'd like to introduce to the character.

As a fan of Wonder Woman, i support any work that includes her. Bryne's novel is to the point. It isn't much different from his writing in comics but still is a good story. I thought that the book was good in having a more realistic view towards the large issues that are brought up. The only problem that i have with the book is the fact that it is written omnisciently. It would have been better if it were all told through wonder woman's eyes. Like a previous reviewer, i too would like more detailed action scenes.

I only found this book by accident. After reading Wonder Woman: Gods and Goddesses I was shocked. This book is wonderful! I was not a great Wonder Woman fan, but this book changed that. Mr. Byrne's story is very engaging. We learn a lot about the heroine, and about the world as it may be if such a heroine were to exist. The story elements dealing with society's fears and insecurities translate very well to our world. I was always a fan of Mr. Byrne's comics work, but I have learned to love his novel as well. This book ranks with the best books of this genre.

Wonder Woman: Gods and Goddesses really does not need the "Wonder Woman" to precede the subtitle. She hardly plays a part in the story, which seems to me to be more about Father Donald Morris and his quest for the truth of religion: is his Christian faith false and the Greek gods and goddesses real because the latter can be interacted with directly while Jesus is unseen and beyond reach? His quest takes him across the country to meet Wonder Woman, having heard her interviews where she mentions meeting and conversing or fighting with various gods of the Greek pantheon. He hopes to discuss religion with her given her particular nature and unique insights. He is surprised when she takes him to Paradise Island and then on to Olympus to meet Athena and partake of her wisdom to answer his questions.

Meanwhile back on earth, a religious zealot has fallen under the spell of a well-known enemy of Wonder Woman's from that same pantheon and has gained remarkable political power by accusing Wonder Woman of blaspheming against Christianity with her tales of meeting supposedly false gods and goddesses. She rallies incredible numbers to her cause and severely damages Wonder Woman's reputation, since a zealot cannot be reasoned with despite Wonder Woman's attempts to do so at various points. Riots break out repeatedly in protest of Wonder Woman, leading to crackdowns and the zealot's security forces becoming much like the SS and gestapo of the nazi regime (in a pretty weak parallel, though it would certainly have been likely to be seen in comics, which is Byrne's background of course).

The climax really occurs when Father Morris receives an insight while in Olympus, but his attempt to shed the same light on everyone else runs counter to the plotting god's designs. Whether he will survive and Wonder Woman's tarnished reputation can be cleansed of the stain remains to be seen.

The characters get better as the story goes on, but even those from radically differet walks of life often think in the same mode, with the same grammar violations and run-on sentences. While this seems to be reduced later, the early stages where a teenager and an old man could have their names transposed in their various inner thought paragraphs without affecting the story points to poor characterization in the early going. Still, the characters do get fleshed out pretty well, though the story skips between more than a half-dozen personalities pretty frequently to cover a lot of different bases. The end result is a story that seems a lot longer than it really is because the constant skipping, instead of moving things along faster, makes the story drag on. It's an OK read, but no more than that. We don't even get to see Wonder Woman in costume for more than a few pages, which is more than a bit disappointing.

This was my first novel by this author, and my first in this genre. It wasn't half bad. It was very entertaining on a thought-provoking level. The thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the portrayal of Wonder Woman. She seemed flat, and didn't have much rounding out of her character. All the characters had this flatness to their personality, but it was most pronounced in WW and in the cameos by the other superheros. I definatley reccomend it for a weekend read.

Anyone familiar with Byrne's work (mostly super-hero comic books and horror novels) knows what to expect: lots of action illustrating deeper philosopical questions. Here, Byrne tackles whether or not there is a God -- all in a super-hero context. Unconventional? Sure, well that's Byrne. Boring? Nope. And the ending will surprise you...

The two previous reviews for this graphic novel of Wonder Woman reprints are typical of the extreme opinions that she inspires...if a bit quick to offer unnecessary venom. John Byrne effectively took over Wonder Woman's monthly comic with issue #101 (series 2), taking on both writing and pencilling chores. His version of Wonder Woman was a big departure from the previous creative team, both visually and thematically.

At this point in the comics "timeline," Diana had just regained her title from Artemis, a fellow Amazon who perished soon after taking the name Wonder Woman. Byrne gave Diana little time to grieve for Artemis, as she was soon called upon to face the menace of Darkseid and his minions on the distant planet Apokolips. Though WW escapes Darkseid's trap and returns to Earth, it isn't long before the evil god unleashes his para-demon soldiery for an attack on Themyscira, WW's home.

That's as much of the plot that I'd like to outline, because the story should tell itself. And in spite of heated opinions to the contrary, this story is definitely worth reading. Yes, Byrne's illustrations are a bit stiff, and his She-Hulk of a Wonder Woman takes some getting used to...especially after the creamy cheesecake of Mike Deodato's artwork. But Byrne also gave WW a no-nonsense way of dealing with foes, and her endless string of dilemmas. Though this graphic novel only features the first half-dozen books in Byrne's run, the print quality and colors are superior to the original comic books. That alone should earn this 'novel' a place in any serious WW fan's collection.

-Stoned Soul

In his first story-arc, John Byrne sets out to restore Wonder Woman's long-forgotten position as one of DC's top three superheroes, with physical strength second only to that of Superman. Diana forges a new beginning for herself after the reprehensible machinations of her mother, Queen Hippolyta, caused the death of Artemis, the renegade Amazon who temporarily took over Diana's role as Wonder Woman. Diana moves from Boston to Gateway City, adopts a new look, and gains a new mentor (middle-aged museum curator, Helena Sandsmark, who has a teen daughter) and a new potential love interest (Mike Schorr, a Gateway City cop). This is NOT a good beginning from John Byrne at all - his laziness rears its head in two obvious ways. Firstly, the new look Wonder Woman is nothing more than Byrne's desire to avoid having to draw too many stars - Diana's star-spangled bottom is reduced to only two HUGE stars at the front, and none at the back. Secondly, Byrne's "new" characters show disturbing similarities with old ones created by George Perez. Helena Sandsmark is a [copy] of George Perez's creation, middle-aged archaeologist, Julia Kapatelis, Diana's previous mentor who also has a teen daughter. Gateway City cop Mike Schorr also echoes another of George Perez's creations, Boston's Inspector Indelicato, who also has a crush on Diana. Such weaknesses aside, the story does get roaring - Darkseid invades Paradise Island, slaughtering over 1,000 Amazons, before Diana manages to repel the invasion with the help of Mike Schorr. Diana is portrayed as a no-nonsense super-heroine who is well aware of her strengths. This strong characterisation of Diana has been carried over to the Justice League of America, where Diana has been portrayed as a capable and confident leader since. All in all, "Second Genesis" is not a bad read, but John Byrne's Wonder Woman stories get progressively worse in subsequent issues - in quick succession, Byrne tries to alter Hippolyta, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl / Troia's origins. In George Perez's 1986 revamp of Wonder Woman, Hippolyta was the spirit of a murdered pregnant cave woman given new life by the Greek Gods while Diana was the spirit of her unborn child. Byrne tries to subvert this new origin by introducing an unnecessary character, Magala, the Amazon mystic who looks like a cave woman, suggesting that the cave woman we saw in George Perez's first issue of Wonder Woman was actually Magala, not Hippolyta. Hippolyta somehow becomes War God Ares' daughter in a convoluted sub-plot that still eludes me. Worse still, Byrne sends Hippolyta back in time into the Second World War to become the Golden Age Wonder Woman, thus messing up all of DC Universe's continuity. In the process, Perez and Wolfman's 1988 revamped origin of Wonder Girl / Troia also gets flushed down the drain. I was truly glad when Byrne finally left Wonder Woman - Phil Jimenez has since tried to undo some of the damage Byrne caused, though not always successfully. But at least with Jimenez, we have a writer who has profound respect for Wonder Woman's history.

The amazing thing is how someone who did such a good job remaking Superman in the mid 1980s could do such a horrible job here. This flies in the face of the credo of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Wonder Woman had already been recreated masterfully by the great George Perez (who collaborated with Marv Wolfman on the award winning Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths). Byrne basically shredded everything that Perez had done.

I won't even get into how he later screwed up the whole Donna Troy history. Maybe he can do Hawkman next. At least that character is so screwed up with so many revisions that Byrne can't possibly do it any more harm!