Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead [Comic]

Greg Rucka (Author), Geoff Johns (Author), Rags Morales (Illustrator), Drew Johnson (Illustrator), Justiniano (Illustrator), Michael Bair (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Wonder Woman (Graphic Novels) | Publication Date: February 1, 2006

Just as Wonder Woman is starting to deal with her blindness, the Cheetah returns and teams up with another villain known for speed: The Reverse Flash!Wally West, the real Flash, joins forces with Wonder Woman to stop the villainous duo from causing untold havoc.Then, the goddess Athena sends Wonder Woman on a journey to retrieve something believed lost to the Olympian Gods forever. Joined by Wonder Girl and Ferdinand the Minotaur, Wonder Woman must face unimagined peril to complete her mission. But should she succeed, what will Diana ask in return from the all-seeing Goddess of Wisdom?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–The Cheetah is just one of the many obstacles that a now-blind Wonder Woman must face before descending into the depths of Hades to rescue Hermes. In the first part, which is entertaining but standard superhero fare, she teams up with the Flash to battle the evil and power-hungry villains Cheetah and Zoom. The quality of the storytelling and artwork improve dramatically in the second part. Here Rucka's pacing and the art mesh to create a well-plotted story that provides insight into the psychology of Wonder Woman's heroism and her role as ambassador for the Amazons. At the request of Athena, Wonder Woman travels to the underworld accompanied by a Minotaur and her protégée, Wonder Girl. Readers soon learn that Princess Diana and company are merely pawns in Athena's grand scheme to usurp Hades and gain dominion over Mt. Olympus. The culminating events bring closure to a story that is both satisfying and heartfelt. A good choice for middle and high school collections, this book contains minor elements of violence.–Philip Charles Crawford, Essex High School, Essex Junction, VT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In this long, well-plotted story arc, Wonder Woman, aka Diana, is faced with challenges on every level. The Amazon island Themyscira, no longer floating above the ocean, now rests off the coast of the Carolinas, which brings up all sorts of U.S. security issues that Diana, as official Amazonian ambassador, must deal with. Unknown to her, the deadly gorgon Medousa and her evil sisters have been released and want revenge against the goddess Athena and her champion, Wonder Woman. At the same time, Athena plots a bloodless coup against Zeus for the rule of Mount Olympus. Medousa challenges Diana to a fight to the death, and in order to beat the gorgon's deadly gaze, Diana blinds herself. While Wonder Woman triumphs, the cost--the life of her friends' young son--is almost too much for her to bear. Then, Athena herself calls upon the still-blind Wonder Woman to help her cement her power on Olympus. Rucka serves up an exhilarating adventure while still allowing us to see the classic superheroine's softer side. His Wonder Woman still packs a punch but also comes across as very human. A traditional comic-book style reigns in the artwork. Tina Coleman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Comic: 128 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401209386
• ISBN-13: 978-1401209384
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonder Woman/Land Of The Dead, December 14, 2006

By 

sleeping sheepsnake "Seth" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead (Comic)

Wonder Woman as Daredevil? Blind super-hero with other senses amazingly heightened...that's been done, hasn't it?
I would have been remiss if--in my focus on the women of comics lately--I hadn't checked in with Wonder Woman, a character who I must confess, in all my years wasted reading comics (there will be many more, thank you very much), I had completely ignored. But the images on the startling cover of Land Of The Dead (ie. a blindfolded heroine with, well okay, I don't like the man-hands and neither would Seinfeld, but, uh, other than that she's absolutely gorgeous), told me this was where to start, when it comes to the world-famous Amazonian.
Having said that, it was a bit tricky jumping into what is clearly part of a larger epic. I showed up too late for Zeus's de-throning, Medousa's clobbering and Themyscira (WW's homeland) doing a rather large swan-dive into the sea (sorry I missed it, must have been a sight). But Land Of The Dead does feature a somewhat vulnerable Wonder Woman--blindfolded and all (not to mention blinded)--being punched around the globe by the psychotic Zoom, while his partner, Cheetah, engages in the usual rending, tearing, and throat-raking--Flashy being the victim this time. The evil duo's agenda is a bit broad, involving an attack on a previous Cheetah, teaching Flash a lesson (but abandoning that plan and settling for teaching WW a lesson and just killing Flash), souping up Cheetah's powers, punching out a few other Themyscirans when the opportunity arises, and rendezvousing with a fella called Doctor Psycho, who's got whole other agendas! Rather hodge-podgy--and the art is a tad flat.
But then Flashy is written out, Wonder Girl (I like her!) and Ferdinand (bull guy) are written in, as Wonder Woman answers the call of Pallas Athena and agrees to rescue Hermes from the, uh, Land Of The Dead. Time gets dilated, creepy underworld denizens slither out of the darkness, and there's a bit of a problem with Hades, Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon, who are all a bit upset with Athena, and therefore our wonderful warrior. Before it all gets sorted out, there is some carnage, and backstabbing, deity-style. The battles and the backgrounds are livened up by superior artwork--Ares looking particularly impressive, and Wonder Girl looking--well, I like her! The resolution cleans up some loose ends from this tale as well as previous stories, and that will teach Hades to be so arrogant.
All in all, a blindfolded Wonder Woman is still a splendid Wonder Woman, showing her best on a grim trek to try and solve many dilemmas plaguing her and her friends. Very entertaining reading.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When is a wish or a desire the reason for risking your life for?, November 3, 2006

By 

Suzako-Akemi "radarvictory" (WA, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead (Comic)

I found this to be an intriguing story of why someone would risk their life to fullfil a hidden wish or desire to be something other than you already are. Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl and Ferdinand work together to rescue Hermes from the Underworld. The art and story were excellant and the ending is not what you expect but the true lessons learned are be careful what and how you ask for something; the end result may not be what you may request.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Issue!, November 27, 2009

By 

Dora (Memphis) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wonder Woman: Land of the Dead (Comic)

Very suspenseful issue with WW going into Tartarus to save the day again! Great artwork as usual, the colors really popped in this paperback. ;)