Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories

Recently I was in Wal-Mart and I came across a trade paperback of Wonder Woman comics tying with the next Wonder Woman movie. The movie is set in the year 1984 but at this rate may not be released until 2084. 

The book was called Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories and features the glorious Gal Gadot in the golden armor Wonder Woman will wear at some point in the film.

While I am loyal to my local comic shop (Acme Comics of Greensboro, the best comic book shop in the whole wide world), I do like to buy comic book stuff when I find them out in the wild. It is important for the health of the comic book industry (both currently and in the future) that people can still find comics in general retail outlets. 

The book listed a price of $12.99 but at the cash register, the price was $10.64 so hey, that's cool. 

But when I really paid attention to what I bought, I realized that I already owned every single story in this book.   

The first story comes from Wonder Woman #329. At the time, I was not buying Wonder Woman on any kind of regular basis but this issue was a tie in to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman was going to finally marry Steve Trevor, it had a gorgeous cover by José Luis García-López and it was the book's final issue.

Yes, the title that began with Wonder Woman#1 in the summer of 1942 was going to end. 

It was kind of a big deal. 

Wonder Woman wouldn't stay gone long and would re-launch with a new #1 about a year later. 

The next story in Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories is issue #9 from that relaunched series. I had Wonder Woman on my pull list because I was a big fan of George Perez.  

Since the new movie will feature the Cheetah, this story gives us a good ol' Wonder Woman/Cheetah throw down.  

The problem with reprints from the modern era is that stories are very rarely self-contained. There are various references to events in previous issues and set ups for things that will happen in forthcoming issues. 

The next two stories in this volume are more Wonder Woman/Cheetah match ups but with others from the Justice League. Page 1 starts with Wonder Woman and Superman passionately kissing each other. 

Before you run off to tattle on them to Lois Lane or Steve Trevor, well, it's complicated. The stories from  Justice League #13-14 (2012) are from the New 52 era where the status quo with WW, Steve, Supes and Lois were all messed up. 

Superman and Wonder Woman would even get their own ongoing team up title.  

OK, we had a story from Wonder Woman#9. Up next is a story from Wonder Woman#10. 

Except...

This run of Wonder Woman was from yet another relaunch during DC's Rebirth initiative in 2017. Greg Rucka was the writer for this series which is why I had WW on my pull list. 

The odd numbered issues took place in the present day while the odd numbered issues took place in the past, during Diana's first foray into man's world. Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and Barbara Ann Minerva (future Cheetah) help Diana learn more about America by taking her to the mall, oh my God! 

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories also includes a Steve Trevor solo story. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is back in the new Wonder Woman movie which is a neat trick since Trevor blowed up real good in the first movie. 

With the focus on a returned Steve Trevor in the movie, it makes sense to include Trevor's one-shot solo comic.  

Cover art on the left by Paul Renaud
On the right is a variant cover by Yanick Paquette

Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor#1 was a competently told adventure where Steve Trevor leads a secret mission to protect a hidden society.  

Our last story is another Rebirth era story from Rucka as the Cheetah has a mad on at both Wonder Woman and Veronica Cale. 

Veronica Cale is Wonder Woman's Lex Luthor. Cale is a super smart, super wealthy sociopath. 

As I said, I own every single one of these issues but having them all in one package made for some interesting reading, particularly the first two stories which were from a more innocent time in my comic book reading habit. And man, did Gerry Conway and Len Wein know how to crank out some seriously heavy duty purple prose.  

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories is a helpful reminder that Wonder Woman Is Also A Comic Book Character!

Until next time, remember as Wonder Woman would have us do, be good to one another.