Saturday, July 11, 2009

10 Missed Opportunities for Wonder Woman



Over at Thirty Five Minutes Ago, my dear friend listed his 10 favorite stories involving Wonder Woman. In response, I have decided to list my 10 missed opportunities in Wonder Woman, in no particular order:

1. The Greg Rucka run - Greg Rucks did an amazing job writing Wonder Woman and set up some interesting dynamics. With the matriarchy abolished and Hippolyta dead, Themyscira was ruled by Artemis and Phillipus. Diana's ambassadorial role was played up as she frequently spoke at the United Nations or attended functions at the White House. While this was going on, Athena used Diana to stage a coup on Olympus, making her the Queen of the Gods and Ares as the Lord of the Underworld. The stage was set for some incredible storytelling. Unfortunately, Infinite Crisis got in the way and Rucka was forced to tie up all loose ends and exit the book. I will always wonder what would have happened if Rucka had stayed on another year or two...

2. Themyscira Civil War - Phil Jimenez' love of Wonder Woman is well documented. Unfortunately his run was marred by crossovers and editorial mandates. There were several times he had an arc that started off well, only to be trumped by an approaching crossover. The Civil War is a great case in point. The Bana-Mighdall amazons and the Themyscirans became embroiled in a civil war. To add to the excitement, George Perez came on board the title to lend a hand. Of course, Our Worlds at War was coming up, so we got a 2 issue arc in what could have been a year long conflict involving amazons and gods. I think that had Jimenez been left alone long enough, we would have seen some spectacular stories. His final issue has always been one of my favorites.

3. Donna Troy as Wonder Woman - although Diana will always be the one true Wonder Woman to me, when the title was relaunched after Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy had taken over the mantle. What did she do with her newfound title? Get beat up and used as a necklace for Giganta. We are led to believe Donna had been Wonder Woman for a year. What I wouldn't give to read some tales from Donna's time in the tiara.

4. The Goddess of Truth - I am not a big fan of the John Byrne run on Wonder Woman, but I did like the idea of Diana as a goddess. I would like to have seen her in that role a little while longer.

5. 52 - We knew where Bruce Wayne was, we knew where Clark Kent was. Where was Diana? I would like to have seen more of her than just that brief scene with Renee Montoya.

6. Rise of the Olympian - Read my last blog post, you will understand.

7. Amazons Attack - According to memory (and help me out if I am wrong), Amazons Attack was originally going to be a mini-series tied into Infinite Crisis, and written by either Greg Rucka or his wife. Rucka's set up would have been ripe with possibilites. The story we actually got was so out of character for almost everyone involved that it is a blemish on the Wonder Mythos.

8. Renumbering - Wonder Woman has been in continuous print since 1941. Her numbering should reflect that. Look at Batman and Superman.

9. Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman/Wonder Girl team ups - I know there were a few and most of this has to do with Donna Troy's convoluted origin, but I would love to have seen more of the relationship between Diana and Donna.

10. Of course, The Live Action Movie - GET WITH THE PROGRAM ALREADY, WARNERS!!!!!

This list is not out of spite or pettiness. I love Wonder Woman and I always will. I just wish a few things had been handled differently.