Wonder Woman: Black & Gold is a six issue mini-series published in 2021. Made to commemorate Wonder Woman's 80th anniversary, Black & Gold is an anthology, each issue containing four short stories written and drawn by multiple different writers and artists - each story is colored in the titular shades of the mini-series.
Looking across all six issues, there are several stories that are the best written, the best drawn, and which best capture Diana's essence as a character.
10 What Doesn't Kill You By Nadia Shammas, Morgan Beem, Ariana Maher, & Diego Lopez
In Black & Gold's debut issue, What Doesn't Kill You shows Wonder Woman facing a pair of past foes, one's she failed to turn onto a better path: Medusa and the goddess for who Diana is named. After vanquishing these two again, they turn out to be illusion conjured up by a disguised Circe, who questions if she's as loving as she presents herself. However, in the end, Diana proves just how true the title of this issue is.
9 I'm Ageless By John Arcudi, Ryan Sook, Michael Heisler, Jamie S. Rich, & Brittany Holzer
The following story in Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #1 is another highlight. I'm Ageless opens during WW2 before flashing to the present. Batman questions if an immortal like Wonder Woman truly values human life.
Diana delivers an incredible burn: "well Bruce, I get the feeling somebody in this room thinks of people as bugs." Diana fights for mankind not in spite of our lives being fragile, but because of it. The briefness and fragility of human life makes it precious. She visits the grave of a soldier she once fought alongside. Sook also draws the cleanest, crispest art in the issue, perfectly suited for the action beats.
8 A God With No Name By Che Grayson, Corin Howell, Wes Abbott, And Diego Lopez
Brian Azzarello's run on Wonder Woman is a contentious run. Longtime Wonder Woman fans felt the run's depiction of the Amazons was a betrayal of William Moulton Marston's vision and that Diana herself was marginalized by a supporting cast of Greek Gods. The villain, the First Born of Zeus, was also a dull character. A Good With No Name, featuring the First Born as a villain recounting his origin, and ending with his sweet defeat, can't help but feel like a refutation of Azzarello's run.
7 Homecoming By Tillie Walden, Jordie Bellaire, Jamie S. Rich, Brittany Holzer, & Bixie Mathieu
Comics are a medium of images - words help, but a talented storyteller can spin a tale without them. As a mostly speechless 8-page story, scripted and drawn by Tillie Walden, Homecoming is proof. Diana flies home to Themyscira, but finds it abandoned and herself reverting to a child's body. There isn't much explanation for what's happening, beyond the final reveal that it's all a dream. Usually this would be a cop-out, but it feels appropriate since Walden gives Homecoming the style and quality of a great bed-time storybook.
6 Espionage By Robert Vendetti, Steve Epting, Diego Lopez, & Andworld Design
Wonder Woman was created in the shadow of war; part of the character's radicalism was she was a woman directly fighting the Nazi's. Espionage in Black & Gold #3, set in 1970, acknowledges this part of the character's history. Diana is a seeming captive of a foreign power.
Under interrogation, she recalls her Amazon heritage to help keep it together. Once her target, General Markon Tigol, arrives to check the progress of the interrogation, she frees herself and easily escapes with him captive. Steve Epting's work recalls his Captain America art, and the traces of yellow in the black-and-white color scheme add so much beauty.
5 The Stolen Lasso Of Truth By Aimee Garcia, Sebastian Fiumera, Becca Carey, Jamie S. Rich, Brittany Holzer, & Bixie Mathieu
The true power of superheroes lies not in their strength or bravery, but how they inspire those qualities in those who follow their stories. A young girl named Mija is witness to one of Wonder Woman's battles, and when Diana leaves behind her Lasso of Truth, Mija picks it up. In The Stolen Lasso Of Truth, fans see Mija with its power, becoming more confident and assertive. Even when she has to return the lasso, Diana tells Mija her own truth - that courage was inside her all along.
4 Prayer By Andrew Constant, Nicola Scott, Annette Kwok, Dave Sharpe, & Brittany Holzer
More than a few stories in Wonder Woman: Black & Gold have environmental themes. The best and most unique is Prayer, the opening of Issue #4. Diana slays a Griffin which was attacking a camping family, but mourns the loss of animal life. She gives the Griffin a funeral pyre, and as it burns (flames rendered in beautiful gold) prays to Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Nicola Scott's pencils are the star - her classical, realistic art style grounds the story and anchors the emotion. Scott is no stranger to drawing Wonder Woman comics. Reading Prayer, it's easy to see why.
3 Whatever Happened To Cathy Perkins? By Sina Grace, Leo Romero, Pat Brosseau, Jamie S. Rich, & Bixie Mathieu
The late 1960s up to the early 1970s were a dark age for Wonder Woman, both comic and character. Diana was stripped of her superpowers and this left writers uncertain of which direction to take the character. Thus, Diana became a Karate-chopping boutique owner.
It took Wonder Woman's appearance on the cover of Ms. magazine's debut issue and the 1977 TV series to return Diana to her old esteem. Most writers have forgotten this era, but Whatever Happened To Cathy Perkins? story acknowledges it - the titlular character is a young runaway who Wonder Woman once saved and who nows owns the boutique Diana once did.
2 Beyond The Horizon By Sanya Anwar, Pat Brosseau, Jamie S. Rich, & Bixie Mathieu
Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #5 contains the best story in the entire mini-series. Beyond The Horizon is adventurous, epic, and emotional. While sailing with her fellow Amazons, Wonder Woman encounters an enormous, aquatic phantom. Determined to know more of it, Diana learns the creature is the spirit of Eleanor Chapman, a young kidnapped girl who drowned at sea. Diana helps her pass on to the next life. Anwar wisely keeps the story colored almost completely grey, so in the final panel, when Eleanor passes on with a gust of golden flower petals, the colors stand out all the more.
1 Role Model By Marguerite Savage, Wes Abbott, Brittany Holzherr, Mike Cotton
It comes at the beginning of Issue #6, but it’s a better concluding note for the series, Role Model refers to Wonder Woman's greatest purpose - to inspire young women to realize their full potential. Diana spends most of the issue meeting with an "old friend," a composite of all the woman she's motivated. Role Model ends with a promise that Diana will always be there as a role model, frozen in time like a clay statue while generations give way to generations.