Customer Reviews

Wonder Woman: Lifelines

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

 

 

My rating is harsh because the only things that interested me about this trade are the art and the fact that Wonder Woman was featured. I mean featured in that this really wasn't her story at all. This trade contains seven comics; if a comic's struggle wasn't resolved, then Wonder Woman has some sort of aid from a guest character. And this trade has plenty of them (Sinestro, Barry Allen, Doomsday), but these were all just clones. Superman appeared, but he never met with Diana; I guess he was just there so that Superman fans might pick up the book. The Phantom Stranger and Etrigan the Demon also appear; even though both are very interesting characters, John Byrne doesn't make them that way.

Yes, the art is flashy and large, but there is no story and very little dialogue. There are more one- and two-page panels than you can count with both hands -- fifteen panels. Large art and no dialogue steal from story space. When there is dialogue, Byrne resorts to a small portrait of the speaker's head, and the art becomes boring. It's as if Byrne thinks story development through words is boring. Not all comic book readers think this way. There is simply not a healthy balance between art and story as I believe there should be in a comic book.

Development of supporting characters is lackluster, as well. Helena Sandsmark (mother of Cassie, the new Wonder Girl) never truly behaves like a mother. When Cassie spontaneously rushes off to help Wonder Woman in battle, the only thing Helena can do is shout for her to return. She doesn't attempt to follow. She seems more concerned with the wounded man by her side. Cassie, herself, is quite annoying. Mike Schorr? Have no clue who he is, although the book states that he is a character of some import.

This is not the way that Wonder Woman was meant to be written. John Byrne's interpretation of her is at worst THE worst interpretation of Diana. The interpretation is at best confused (I don't think he knows how to write about a heroine, or any female for that matter).

So, in my opinion, buy this book only if you are a die-hard Wonder Woman fan. If the comics are missing from your collection, don't worry. You're not missing much.

Normally I enjoy reading John Byrne's take on classic comic characters. He is well-read regarding Golden- and Silver-Age comics, and he has the amazing ability to incorporate a character's legendary status into his writing. In other words, he focuses hard on the title character, writing Superman AS Superman, or Spider-Man AS Spider-Man, instead of making each just some other moron in tights. This is not the case with his run on DC's Wonder Woman, however... because it really can't be called Wonder Woman's story.

WONDER WOMAN: LIFELINES contains 7 issues of Bryne's run as writer/artist. Reading it, I don't understand what Byrne's objective was with this character. The majority of the stories focus on supporting characters who likely will not appeal to the reader. Helena, Cassie, Mike, Champion... what's the fuss? Why are their stories more important than WW? Not only that, but these stories are LOADED with guest appearances, as if WW doesn't have any drawing power of her own - Flash, Sinestro, & Doomsday (all clones); Etrigan, Vandal Savage, Arion, & General Immortus (essential to the plot of the first story but glossed over); and Superman (doesn't even meet WW). The art is questionable as well. It's what I call "sloppy Byrne": scratchy renderings with no depth, almost as if they were taken from sketchbooks. Typical Byrne character types are present, including the one I hate the most - the short-haired-androgynous-teenage-girl... what is his obsession with this? The vague backgrounds are certainly not helped by the washed-out color. I've never seen so many pastels in his work. Visually boring stuff.

So what was the point of Byrne's run on WW? To pay the bills? To stay on the fan radar? I think either of these could be the reason. Or perhaps he REALLY had some grand finale planned where all of the random plot lines would come together in a brilliant display of artistry never before seen in comics... not likely.

This is a fun collection of great stories. They're very much in the vein of SuperFriends, which I and many other people liked. There isn't heavy development nor is this a collection of visionary, breakthrough comics.

The Art- This is some of John's best despite the fact it's a little sloppy. The layouts are great. The characters for the most part do a good job communicating feeling with expressions and body language.

The Writing- These stories are fun and exciting. They are more action fights than anything else, but that is valid. Sometimes a comic's just got to be fun.

The Characters- John Byrne thinks he's the grand master of comics, because he's been doing this so long and has worked on almost every mainstream character. He has made this title his own and ignored a lot of other interpretations he didn't like. The characters were true to particular interpretations.

There are a lot of guests stars who pop in and pop out which is kind of obnoxious, but again, this is written in the SuperFriends vein.

I recommend this for fans of John Byrne, fans of Wonder Woman, fans of SuperFriends, and fans of fun, semi-thought out comics.

like i said: "a must have for WW fans". these events in the tpb relate to many of the WW themes and such now-a-days. although i find that Byrne wrote the character oddly(not following previous events in the past) he still writes well. the art is not great, but its decent. i recommend reading WW: the contest,the challenge of artemis, second genesis, gods and goddeses, and the life of wonder woman. these books deal with wonder woman differently, but show good aspects of her many great qualities.

I will never get tired of a good, old-fashioned John Byrne story. He is always able to take and insignificant book/character and give it cosmic importance. Where many writers and/or artists have failed to craft an interesting story--John Byrne consistently SUCCEEDS! When you read a John Byrne story, you never want it to end. Thank you, Mr. Byrne for all the years you put into the industry elevating your craft.

John Byrne has done some excellent work in his time as a writer artist, this is not one of those times. His art is excellent, but the story is well below average. Except for the introduction of Wonder Girl (Who had to rely on a reboot by Peter David & Geoff Johns to become a true character) there is nothing of distinction in this collection. I know the character well and unlike the Wonder Woman/Artemis storyline or any of Rucka's work, Byrne just doesn't seem to truly understand the character.

If you've read my review of the previous volume ("Wonder Woman: Second Genesis") collecting the earliest issues of John Byrne's work on the Amazing Amazon, you'll notice that I wasn't very impressed with the man's work. However, this volume ("Lifelines") is a vast improvement over the previous volume. Firstly, the layouts are so much clearer and Byrne's inking (that was quite shoddy in the previous volume) sees great improvement here. Secondly, Byrne is trying to be Byrne here. He's not trying to out-write George Perez and neither is he trying to be a clone of other writers. Byrne is best when he is giving us straight-forward comic-book fun. And that's what you'll find in this volume - fun comics with a touch of the "Silver-Age" feel.

Guest-stars include Etrigan the Demon, the Phantom Stranger, Barry Allen (a clone), Sinestro (another clone) and Doomsday (the final clone). Superman plants a tree and drops by Gateway City but never did meet up with Wonder Woman! Hey, that's not a complain - it's always nice to see Byrne draw Supes again. Overall, nothing very deep or splashy here. Just pure comic-book fun!

A must for all Wonder Woman fans. Great Art and story lines