Wonder Woman (1987) #1-2

Wonder Woman #1-2

Originally released in 1987

Written by Greg Potter and George Perez

Art by George Perez

Crisis on Infinite Earths was a major turning point for DC - it was a full reboot for the brand, more or less, as an attempt to simplify DC's continuity, which had gotten rather tangled over the roughly fifty years since the release of Action Comics #1.  In the process, most franchises were rebooted as well (though there were some exceptions), with this serving as Wonder Woman's debut in this new post-Crisis universe.

George Perez handled both the writing and the artwork here, and while he does a fantastic job with both, the artwork is a highlight.  That's not to downplay the writing, which gives the events of the issue a mythological grandeur, but the art gives us the gorgeous sun-soaked shores of Paradise Island, the cloud-top palace of Mount Olympus, the darkened caves of Hades's realm, the blood-red ruins that Ares calls home, and the uniformity and sterility of a modern military base in these first two issues alone.  The characters are all drawn well, with Hippolyte and Diana being the highlights.  Given her backstory, where she goes from the joy of living in paradise to the anguish at being held as a prisoner (and, it's heavily implied, sexual slave) of Heracles (who is portrayed here as sexist, arrogant, a heavily-implied rapist, and easily manipulated), to her fear and nervousness at Diana wanting to venture into the wider world, Hippolyte's emotions are clear through the story's art.

As someone whose main familiarity with Wonder Woman comes from the movies and the DC Animated Universe, it was different to see Zeus (Wonder Woman's father in the movies and New 52) and Hades (heavily implied to be Wonder Woman's father in the DCAU) barely playing a role in this.  Zeus's response to the creation of the Amazons is one of annoyed indifference, while Hades doesn't physically appear at all, even though his realm contains the souls that are used to create the Amazons.  Instead, various Greek goddesses (and Hermes) play a part in Diana's creation, with Gaea giving the final touch and bringing life to Diana's clay form.

The second issue ends with Diana leaving Paradise Island behind to enter the wider world.  Interestingly, rather than taking place in World War 2 (like her classic origin) or World War 1 (like in the 2017 film), it seems to take place in the then-present day of the late 1980s. (no specific dates are mentioned, though Steve Trevor is a Vietnam veteran)  There is still mentions made of Ares being strengthened by a great war, though, so presumably, he is plotting to turn the Cold War into a more conventional one. (I'm not sure if his scheming will be brought down by Diana using the Lasso of Truth and forcing him to see that, if everyone dies from nuclear weapons, there will be nobody left to worship him)

It's a good start and an excellent reimagining of Wonder Woman's origins.  I mainly know George Perez as an artist, from his works on Marv Wolfman's New Teen Titans, Crisis On Infinite Earths, and Kurt Busiek's run on the Avengers, so it was interesting where he had written it (or at least written part of it; I'm not sure of how it was divided up between him and Greg Potter) as well as drew it.  I'm not sure if this story will cause continuity issues further down the line (since by my understanding, the aforementioned New Teen Titans continued post-Crisis without any changes, even though Donna Troy, Diana's adopted younger sister, was a member of that team, and Donna is never mentioned in this book), but that seems par for the course with DC reboots.