We continue the countdown of YOUR picks for the greatest Wonder Woman stories ever told! We continue with stories #45-41!
45. Down to Earth (Wonder Woman Vol.2 #196-200)
In Greg Rucka's first story arc as the regular writer on Wonder Woman (following an issue that introduced the new set-up, which was a sort of West Wing riff showing the goings-on at Wonder Woman's embassy and all the staffers who work for her there), he introduced Wonder Woman's new book and the woman who wants to destroy Wonder Woman, Veronica Cale, both in the media with some PR attacks on Wonder Woman's book (and then physically through Doctor Psycho)...
Drew Johnson and Ray Snyder were the art team and they did an amazing job. Check out this awesome sequence where Wonder Woman learns about an emergency from a bird...
So cool. The whole "Down to Earth" part came from how Paradise Island, which had been a floating city for a while, now came back...down to Earth. This was an awesome opening arc to Rucka's acclaimed first run on Wonder Woman.
44. Swan Song (Wonder Woman #288-289 plus a preview story)
One of the big gets for DC in the early 1980s was bringing Roy Thomas over from Marvel Comics. With this storyline, Thomas began a short run on Wonder Woman with another Marvel export, Gene Colan (inks by Romeo Tanghal). Their initial story arc also introduced Wonder Woman's new costume, as she gained the famous W insignia on her chest to replace the eagle she had worn for decades. Their opening arc also introduced the new Wonder Woman villain, the Silver Swan...
Man, Gene Colan always had the most fascinating panel designs.
43. Her Mother's Daughter (Wonder Woman Vol.2 #172)
Towards the end of Phil Jimenez's run on Wonder Woman (as writer and artist) he delivered this powerful tie-in with the "Our Worlds at War" crossover event. Imperiex had declared war on the universe and Wonder Woman teamed up with other superheroes to take on the various Imperiez probes that were killing millions. Diana was badly hurt in the previous issue, and so her mother, Queen Hippolyta, took her place and headed out to save hundreds of thousands of people from an Imperiex probe...
Tragically, Hippoltya lost her life in the battle, but not before we got some touching flashbacks by Jimenez.
42. Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story OGN
Trina Robbins, Colleen Doran and Jackson Guice collaborated on this striking graphic novel that examined how the history of Wonder Woman involved a great deal of violence against women. In this story, Wonder Woman translates some tablets found by an archaeologist couple working with Wonder Woman's friend, Julia Kapatelis. The story of the tablets tell a tragic story of domestic violence, which is then contrasted with the modern domestic violence occurring between the two archaeologists (Doran's storytelling in this story is staggeringly good). Be forewarned, there's some graphic domestic violence in this sample, so you might want to skip this one and just go to #41.
The ancient story ends up having a bit of a triumphant ending, but is it too late to inspire the modern woman to make a change before it is too late?
41. Trinity (Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity #1-3)
Matt Wagner really excels at stories set in the early days of DC's superheroes (all of his excellent Batman miniseries set in the past certainly show that) and he expanded that influence to show the first team-up between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. What set this miniseries apart from most (besides Wagner's stunning artwork) is the way that Wagner really makes the book all about the interactions between the three heroes and less about the overall plot of the story (like Batman and Superman's first visit to Paradise Island)...
The villain of the series is Ra's Al Ghul, who is working with a rogue Amazon.
Okay, that's it for this time! Check back later for the top 40!