DC Relaunch: Wonder Woman

So I know this is late, but I decided to wait until all the books were up. And then I was busy yesterday. Anyway!

This next batch was announced shortly (and unexpectedly) after the Justice League reveal. The first of these that I'll be talking about is Wonder Woman (I am literally going in the order they appeared when announced).

Wonder Woman is interesting in that DC had just recently done some work to try and modernize her a bit. Most of that looks to remain the same, and most of that is visual anyway. There's a few points that remain constant. In fact, over the years, most of what has changed besides a few minor costume adjustments, has been whether or whether not she had an alternate identity. Most recently she has not had one, just FYI.

But what stays consistent is the juxtaposition of her Amazonian heritage, and her ties to divinity, against her unconditional love of humanity. I think that's important to the character, as is a certain amount of grace outside of battle. Now, on the other side of that she is and always has been a warrior. She is well trained, precise, and brutal. Now any number of things can actually happen in the comic, as you might imagine, but those are basics of her character.

The creators coming in on this are Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, who had previously worked together on a backup in Tales of the Unknown a few years back, which has been collected as Doctor Thirteen: Morality & Architecture. It came out after Infinite Crisis, which made some changes to the DC universe, and the mini poked a bit of fun at how some obscure characters can be left out when that happens. Despite starring obscure characters, it is easy to read if you have no prior knowledge of these characters (at the time I didn't).

Brian Azzarello is probably best known for his work with Eduardo Risso on the 100 issue crime epic 100 Bullets. He's also worked with Risso on an upcoming series called Spaceman, and numerous times on Batman, in the stories "Broken City," the currently running Flashpoint mini "Knight of Vengeance," and in a story serialized in the weekly effort, Wednesday Comics. Azzarello has also collaborated with co-publisher and new Justice League artist Jim Lee, on the year long Superman story "For Tomorrow."

Cliff Chiang is a dynamic artist who has been doing both interior and covers for DC for a few years. He notably has worked with Judd Winick on a run of Green Arrow/Black Canary (collected as "Family Business") and with Josh Dysart for Neil Young's graphic novel Greendale.

As far as my favorite Wonder Woman story is concerned, I am admittedly, a bit unfamiliar with the character. I did follow Gail Simone's run and have read the current story, "The Odyssey," and these are my favorites from those:

Wonder Woman - Ends of the Earth

Wonder Woman - Odyssey vol. 1 (vol. 2 is yet to be released)

While this goes out early this morning, late tonight I'll be posting on Aquaman. Stay tuned, and as always, feel free to share your favorite Wonder Woman stories in the comments!

DC Relaunch Daily, Part one: Justice League

As many of you who may stumble across this blog are aware, DC Comics is preparing a massive relaunch of their titles, with 52 new books being released to the general public (that's right they're not just for nerds anymore (p.s., they never were!)), not only in shops, but online the same day. For those of you aware, thanks for stopping by. Please link this blog to a friend who could potentially be interested in reading comics. Because that's what I want to do here.


I've decided that I want there to be more people reading. I like the idea of reading comics as something that people do because they enjoy it, not something we wallow in as nostalgia, whether it be people like myself who are regular Wednesday release readers, to the people who whenever I bring up comics they think back to something they read as a kid, and how much they loved it (but you couldn't get them to pick up a book if you tried). As comic book readers, we have a negative stigma. So invite those reading this to forget about that. DC has given you a way around the comic book shop. Comics are now released online. If you've ever been interested, even remotely, I'd like to help open the door. But, I'd imagine, you don't really know where to begin. So day by day, I'll be going over these books that DC is providing for you. By no means should you try to read them all! That way lies madness. But if something catches your eye, why not?



So I'll begin with the first title being announced, and that is Justice League by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee.


Here's the first cover that was released:


The Justice League has always been a team that handled the largescale threats to Earth that as individuals may have been a bit much. But together, they're the heaviest hitters Earth has to offer, and it's hard to get very far against that.



Most of these characters should be pretty familiar to you: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Aquaman. Depending on your age, it may even be safe to say that you're familiar with Cyborg, as he was one of the main characters of Teen Titans (which was a great show for young and old, in my opinion). These are your Big 7, as they're usually referred to. The core of the Justice League. As you might imagine, being the biggest and most important characters in the DC Universe is a busy job in itself. A few members aside, these are protectors of their respective cities. So as per usually, there's a few more members that have yet to be revealed. Geoff Johns, the writer, has stated the League will boast up to about 13 members. So there's room for everyone.


I'd like to now talk about the creators working on the book, which can be, for many, as important as who the book is about.


Geoff Johns is a writer who's been working at DC Comics for sometime. Currently, in addition to writing, he is Chief Creative Officer at DC. He's well known for long runs on the comics The Flash, JSA (and later published as Justice Society of America), Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., Action Comics, and for his very long run in revitalizing Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, and expanding the Green Lantern franchise into multiple books and soon to be a movie. His works are known for having hints and seeds throughout a long run, while still being accessible to new readers jumping into the latest story. I myself started reading his Green Lantern about 25 issues in.


Jim Lee is an artist who has been in the comics industry for a long time. Part of the teams responsible for the immense popularity of the X-Men in the early 90s, he left Marvel Comics with other artists to start Image Comics. After a time, Lee took his properties and studio Wildstorm on its own, separate from Image. After a time it became enveloped as a line all its own within DC, publishing his Wildstorm Universe, licensed properties, and various creator owned works such as Alan Moore's ABC line of comics. Recently he was named with Dan Didio the co-publisher for DC Comics.



Just a few works by these two creators I'd like to recommend:


Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver
The Flash: Dastardly Death of the Rogues by Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul, & Scott Kolins
Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank
Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee


And a few of my personal favorite Justice League storylines (excluding Justice League International, more about that later):



JLA by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter (vols. 1-4)
JLA: The Obsidian Age by Joe Kelly & Doug Mahnke (Books 1 & 2)
Justice League Elite by Joe Kelly & Doug Mahnke (vols 1 & 2)



Being as these are my personal favorites, I'd hardly say they are the easiest or the most representative of what you'll be reading in the new Justice League title. Merely representative of what I liked before. If you are interested in reading further, these suggests are here, and if any readers would like to further those, please do so in the comments! But I should say, do not feel pressured into reading these books as a primer for the new title. It should stand on its own.



Tomorrow, we'll be getting into the first of the solo titles announced, Wonder Woman!