Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Wonder Woman

What Was Wonder Woman Really Up To In 1984?

by Leave a Comment

Wonder Woman has been around for a really long time – since 1941, in fact! Yet, there are huge swathes of her comic book history that modern readers know next to nothing about. Diana, Princess of Themyscira, is a character that spent a notable portion of her history being written by writers that didn’t seem to fully click with her, which makes revisiting her vintage era a pretty dubious prospect for even her most ardent fans.

Yet, it is also true that a lot of the less-remembered comics of DC’s Silver and Bronze Ages are full of underrated gems, so it’s always at least worth a look. With the release of Wonder Woman 84, it got me wondering – what exactly was Diana up to in 1984? For that, dear reader, we have to look to Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #311-322. [Read more…] about What Was Wonder Woman Really Up To In 1984?

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth Review!

by Leave a Comment

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is a DC Black Label book by writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, and Rus Wooton, and it’s a weird comic book. The premise is very straight forward: Princess Diana of Themyscira wakes up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and has to uncover the mystery of what went wrong and protect the remains of humanity. On the surface, the hook isn’t really all that different from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Last Knight on Earth, but what really set it apart was Daniel Warren Johnson spearheading this book.

Johnson’s Shonen influence and work on Murder Falcon and Extremity really make him an exciting artist; his work conveys an over the top momentum and action that is a really fresh presence on a big two book. And objectively, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is a visually stunning book and plays so perfectly into Johnson’s strengths as an artist. The story and plot are where it gets a bit dicier. At its core Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, is a story around the notion of second chances told really effectively, but its problems come when the story is put within the context of DC Comics’ fascination with overly grim settings, and the broader mythology of Wonder Woman & her meta-textual themes and context in the real world. [Read more…] about Wonder Woman: Dead Earth Review!

Wonder Woman Historia Part Nine: Fables and Falls

by Leave a Comment

Historia is a brand new bi-monthly series that will be examining The Amazing Amazon’s rich history. The feature will span the war-haunted Golden Ages in which she was forged, through the sweeping currents of The Silver Age, the shifts of The Bronze Age, the trials of The Dark Age, all the way to The Renaissance and The Prismatic Age of the modern century.

We’ll be looking at and discussing the various influences and archetypal antecedents that underlie the Wonder Legend, the power of the conceits it upholds, the politics of the whole enterprise, the terrifying nature of myths and narratives, and how the character and property have changed, evolved, or even regressed. What is this curious little experiment that began under a polyamorous polymath psychologist that became an icon of the feminist movement and a vital corporate symbol? Let’s dig in.

[Read more…] about Wonder Woman Historia Part Nine: Fables and Falls

Crackin’ Crisis: DC’s 1st Anti-Crisis Event — Death Metal #1 Review!

by 1 Comment

Dark Nights: Death Metal is the sequel to 2017-2018’s Dark Nights Metal, one of my three favorite comic book events of all time, bringing back the creative superteam of Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and collaborators, amplifying everything that made the original a success to 11. Death Metal’s ambitions are impossibly grand, seeking to unify the history of DC’s Crisis events and the particularly discordant recent years into one epic saga.

Today I’ll answer:

  • How does Death Metal fit into the legacy of DC Crisis events?
  • What makes this an Anti-Crisis?
  • What are the Watchmen Connections to Death Metal?

[Read more…] about Crackin’ Crisis: DC’s 1st Anti-Crisis Event — Death Metal #1 Review!

Wonder Woman Historia Part Eight: The Regeneration

by

Welcome! Historia is a brand new bi-monthly series that will be examining The Amazing Amazon’s rich history. The feature will span the war-haunted Golden Ages in which she was forged, through the sweeping currents of The Silver Age, the shifts of The Bronze Age, the trials of The Dark Age, all the way to The Renaissance and The Prismatic Age of the modern century.

We’ll be looking at and discussing the various influences and archetypal antecedents that underlie the Wonder Legend, the power of the conceits it upholds, the politics of the whole enterprise, the terrifying nature of myths and narratives, and how the character and property have changed, evolved, or even regressed. What is this curious little experiment that began under a polyamorous polymath psychologist that became an icon of the feminist movement and a vital corporate symbol? Let’s dig in.

[Read more…] about Wonder Woman Historia Part Eight: The Regeneration