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Title: Wonder Woman: Paradise Lost by J.M. DeMatteis, Phil Jimenez ISBN: 1-56389-792-X Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Sensory Overload ala' Perez!
Comment: I got both volumes of Phil Jimenez's "Wonder Woman" stories on the same day and read them back to back. After that I had to lie down for three days. The work here in "Paradise Lost" and in the second volume, "Paradise Found", is a feast for the eyes. You'll spend days gazing into the details of each panel that you'll literally suffer from sensory overload after that. That wasn't a complain. In fact, I absolutely LOVE Jimenez's art in this book. He's the closest thing to having George Perez draw this book again (and in many ways, Jiminez's art is even better). We live in a time where big-panels and in-your-face, action-oriented splash pages are the norm. In fact, I'm one of those who complain about how expensive comicbooks are and how short a time it takes to read one these days. Not so with Jimenez. His "Wonder Woman" takes *forever* to read. There's just so much to savour in his 12-16 panels-per-page comics.
This first volume contains three storyarcs. The first has the return of Ares' children to Earth - this time taking over the bodies of Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Joker. The Wonder-Woman-Family and the Bat-Family team up to take them down.
The second story is a civil-war, politically-heavy story that finally ties-up all the long-standing issues from George Perez's previous run on the title. Phil Jimenez successfully balances the "super-heroic" Byrne version of Wonder Woman with the myth/politics-heavy Perez version in these stories. We finally see the resolution to the whole Themyscrican/Bana-Mighdall conflict. (There's also a short insert featuring a more streamlined origin of Donna Troy that served as a kind of Prologue to this arc.)
The third story is the best of the bunch. It features a day in the life of Diana, as chronicled by Lois Lane. Joe Kelly co-writes this tale and brings much-needed "humanity" to our beloved Amazon.
Despite the whole story being rather "continuity-heavy", I'd still recommend this book to a new reader. The beauty and obvious passion of the work is enough to suck anyone in.
Rating: 5
Summary: All hail George Perez's heir!
Comment: For too many years since George Perez revitalised her in 1986, Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of the Amazons and heir to the throne of Themyscira, has been treated shabbily, turned into a sex goddess, and denied her uniqueness as a character firmly rooted in Greek mythology. Phil Jimenez tries hard to remedy years of mistreatment and return Wonder Woman to greatness. He largely succeeds, crafting stories that involve the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece within the often underrated context of comic book super heroics. "Paradise Lost" reprints his first seven issues as the writer and artist of the monthly Wonder Woman comic book, and opens with a four-issue story arc that involves the War God, Ares, and his children, Deimos (Terror), Phobos (Fear) and Eris (Strive). Ares' three children have descended upon the earth and taken possession of the bodies of three of Batman's worst enemies, namely the Joker, the Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. The mad gods plan to bring Ares' reign of terror back to earth by raising the Areopagus right in the middle of Gotham City with the help of Maxie Zeus, a small-time criminal purporting to be descended from Zeus himself. Diana intervenes despite Batman's warning for her to stay away from his city, and the supporting casts of both superheroes (Troia, Wonder Girl, Artemis, Nightwing, Robin and the Huntress) soon get into the action. The adventure gets off to a jolly good start with guest appearances by two monsters from Greek mythology, the Chimaera and the last surviving Gorgon, Stheno. After the first story arc, Jimenez crafts a short story that explains the origin of Diana's twin sister, Donna Troy (Troia, named by the Titans of Myth after the city of Troy). Next, trouble hits Paradise Island as Ariadne returns to exact vengeance on the Amazons by manipulating rival factions into starting a devastating civil war. (Note: Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, who betrayed her father by helping Theseus to defeat the Minotaur. Theseus later abandoned her on the island of Naxos on his journey back to Athens, and married Antiope, Queen Hippolyta's sister. Ariadne hates the Amazons with a passion for this slight.) The closing story shows us what a day in the life of Diana is like, and introduces a potential love interest in the form of UN humanitarian aid worker, Trevor Barnes. Jimenez excels at handling a large number of characters at the same time but his writing is often uneven. For example, it is difficult to believe that the characters would talk so much in the middle of a battle - in some cases, they make whole speeches about duty and honour and other some such nonsense. However, there is no question that he is a wonderful artist - he started off in the early 1990s imitating George Perez, but has since developed his own similar, yet distinctive, style. Diana and her supporting characters have never looked better. Jimenez's two-year run on the monthly Wonder Woman comic book ended recently, and he will be sorely missed.
Rating: 5
Summary: Finally ... Wonder Woman the way she should be written
Comment: This trade paperback collects Wonder Woman #164-170, and a Donna Troy bio from Wonder Woman Secret Files #2.
Phil Jeminez's interpretation of Wonder Woman is the best I have read thus far. Ever since John Byrne completely destroyed her (making her into a sex object with nothing much to say), Wonder Woman has slowly been reconstructed into that DC icon that stands for innocence, truth, respect and honor. Jeminez's interpretation of her, along with the art of Andy Lanning, is still very sexy, but she is sexy not because she wears skimpy clothing and because she frequently sticks her breasts and rump in the readers' faces, but because she is very intelligent and witty and just downright beautiful. She has poise.
The first story collects the "Gods of Gotham" storyline. This is, without a doubt, the most intelligent and the most exciting Wonder Woman story I have ever read. Jeminez, already keen on Wonder Woman, proves that he can write Batman just as well. At the end of the story, there is excellent dialogue between the two heroes, and Batman shows a lighter (or shall I say, less dark) side of himself to Wonder Woman. It is very sweet. The pairing of the Huntress with Artemis was downright ingenious. Artemis and Huntress verbally spar on the faith and God issues, but everything ties back to something Wonder Woman said in the beginning: "Faith, in the end, [is] our greatest weapon."
The "Paradise Island ... Lost" storyline is very short, but still very exciting. It's really only exciting if the reader understands a lot of the Wonder Woman folklore, but the bios at the front of the trade help out somewhat.
The greatest moment in the trade is the last story featuring Lois Lane's interview with Diana. Lois, I suppose, resolves her issues with Diana and her former relationship with Superman. They come to a full appreciation of one another.
Jeminez has sculpted Diana (another "made from clay" pun) into a great role model for any boy or girl. She's honest, strong, compassionate and kind, but she, despite her godhood, is still a woman with very human feelings. And this makes her sexier than any previous T'n'A interpretation of her. This is a very intelligent read with wonderful art and colors. If one were to read any Wonder Woman trade, I would recommend this one. Bravo!
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Title: Wonder Woman: Paradise Found (Wonder Woman (Graphic Novels)) by Phil Jimenez ISBN: 1563899566 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia (Wonder Woman (Graphic Novels)) by Greg Rucka, J. G. Jones, Wade Von Grawbadger ISBN: 1563899140 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Wonder Woman : Mythos (Justice League Of America) by Carol Lay ISBN: 0743417119 Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 31 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Wonder Woman: The Contest by William Messner-Loebs, Jr. Mike Deodato ISBN: 1563891948 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals (Wonder Woman (Graphic Novels)) by Len Wein, Greg Potter, George Perez ISBN: 1401201970 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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