Bloody expensive purchase well spent.
It was only a matter of time before I took a look at George Pérez's rewriting of Wonder Woman's origin story after the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' event, which was made to reboot and retool the DC Universe in 1985. My collection of the superheroine's comics is growing more and more, and though I feel I already know her inside and out and as intimately as any fangirl can dream of, without worrying about not being considered a "true" fan or some such bollocks - still, essential reading is essential. And after seeing the pleasant surprise that is the 'Wonder Woman' summer blockbuster this year - finally made seventy-five-plus years after her creation - I was pumped to get back into the stories of this phenomenal, original and wondrous superwoman.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals' turns out to be really interesting.
Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage, and the complex history of her fellow sisterhood before arriving on Themyscria and Diana's blessed birth from clay, remains the same as it was originally in the 40s. Only this time the mythos is given more depth and detail. Feminism - or the eighties second-wave feminism - is presented with pride, and issues such as male entitlement, toxic masculinity, and the archaic patriarchal society lingering on as an excuse to hate and fear women, are explored. Ignorance and hatred are clearly shown as bad things, like with the Amazons originally being made by the female Greek gods (idea and leadership by my dear Artemis!) from the souls of women who were killed by men. Misogyny takes on many forms. This social sickness has always been around and it continues even more insidiously in our "enlightened" times, and it cannot be allowed to thrive further and win, for everybody's sake.
Greek mythology is also front and center in this comic; every deity has a purpose and a personality. The characters - the Amazons, the mortals, and the gods, even, as it turns out (thanks to Diana), including the obviously evil Ares - struggle and deal with so much suffering. The reader really gets a feel for them as people, more so than Wondy herself.
I think the only weakness in 'Gods and Mortals' that matters is Diana's characterization. She's kind, caring, thoughtful, and a badass as always; however, I feel that she isn't given quite enough of a presence in her own comic, leaving less of an impact and impression compared to the other, stronger characters. I like that she is mostly in the dark about what is going on in her journey - as is common for a supposed protagonist whom the reader follows - as she leaves her home island to stop Ares from destroying the world via manipulating men and women to launch nuclear weapons. She is learning from each of her experiences (including speaking better English in man's world), being guided by gods and humans alike. But her naivete wears thin after a while. What I found to be most interesting about the warrior princess, aside from how she uses her Lasso of Truth in battles, is her fear of guns, after barely deflecting bullets in her final trial at the Amazon tournament on Themyscira. Maybe this - an inkling of Diana's stance against, and fear of, war and violence? - gets explored further in the later issues.
But it is a hero's journey Wonder Woman takes, with MacGuffins and everything. She does fly - there is no need for an invisible jet! She will not resort to brute force to defeat her enemy, and save the world from nuclear war. Wonder Woman is the name the American press gives her (Superman is mentioned in this!) after she defeats a monster of decay that terrorized the city she is staying in. They already admire and respect her enough to give her her own unique identity, in the public eye, without making her a female version of Superman, an established male superhero. She is love, decency and hope. She is truth.
Steve Trevor is probably at his blandest here. I barely remember what he did; we don't even see Diana take him into hospital for his burning-plane-above-Themyscira injuries, once she is teleported by Hermes to man's world. That is how little Pérez seems to care about him. Steve fights and is framed for murder in his own army base, but that's all that stands out about him. No romance is present in this volume, not properly. Thank Hera. Though I am confused as to how Steve's fate, his destiny, is said to be tied with Diana's - according to a prophecy - when they barely talk to each other! It comes out of nowhere and it makes Steve appear even more superfluous in the story. It's not like the other soldiers are useless.
I love Etta Candy in this version of Wondy's origin. She's a brave, motherly lieutenant and a foil to Diana's view of feminine beauty standards; no wonder, since all her life she has only been around women whose fitness ideal equals tall and skinny. Etta is an equal to the men in her field, is unpretentious, and a Mama Bear: she will do anything to protect her loved ones. Professor Julia Kapatelis, a reluctant mortal guide to Diana, is an actual mother, and a smart and fantastically capable woman - a middle-aged woman at that. Her daughter Vanessa gets infected by the decay monster and is on the brink of death, so the stakes are more personal for her to help Diana on her mission. Julia, whom Diana calls a sister, is another credit to feminism,
The artwork is typical eighties comic books, nothing special. Let's conclude this.
'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters' is a fun and soulful superhero origin story. The mythology, the wide array of truly strong female characters, the political intrigue, and the action are all well-integrated and balanced in their places in the comic. The layering of the divided worlds of the Greek gods and the modern day mortals - and Wonder Woman as the saviour of both - is written excellently, and so is the pacing. While it is not the strongest starting point to getting to know Wonder Woman as a character, nor for new readers to understand why she is so popular, there is enough here about her and her iconography and values that nothing important is missing.
I'm super glad I read it. History is important. The past a vital learning curve and experience.
Final Score: 4/5
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