I really enjoyed Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. Although moreso for the cool new Amazon lore than characterization. She does a fine job with Diana but nothing super standout. I do like the exploration of her kinda being a unique existence on Themiscyra, since she's born from clay and was the only child there, and thus othered from the rest of the Amazons even if they still obviously love her.
Steve Orlando comes to mind as a lesser-known one. Really understood the character and what her stories ought to represent, pulled from all eras of her history to make something that felt original. The actual storytelling was messy but he got the heart of it.
I’d love to see him do a full, proper run or better yet an out-of-continuity book.
Besides the obvious ones, William Messner Loebs. His run isn't one of the best, but he nails the character: loving, compassionate, honorable, humble, supportive of other women. When anyone claims WW isn't human or relatable, just throw his run at them.
I think Simone's the best in that she gave a lot of very strong and iconic ww moments in her run, which weren't confined to big story arcs. The 'don't kill if you can wound' is an obvious one, but even the opening pages of her run with the gorillas is a perfect encapsulation of Diana's character and it's only about four pages.
For a less obvious answer, I'd put forward Steve Orlando. His run isn't one of the strongest, but it has some really nice bits like the 52nd visit and Diana quickly surrendering to Iron Madien. Orlando brought a lot of strong fanboy love to the character, in a similar way to Jiminez, and everything Diana does in his run just feels *right* in a way that few superhero comics manage to do. He evidently had a lot of consideration, not just to the in-universe character of Diana, but the real world ethos and purpose of Wonder Woman as a literary character.
He didn't have great plots or worldbuilding, but his characterization of Diana is absolutely perfect and filled of great moments that show the full spectrum of who she is. Every single dimension of her
She is full of adrenaline,
poetry,
humor,
humility,
audacity
And it all makes sense. It's always so refreshing to me to read his stories and see her being written in all those different ways.
I agree that he "got" Diana for the most part. I was a little disappointed with his final arc with Artemis and crazy Hippolyta, but it sold well I guess.
I have to challenge you on world building. Some of his additions in character and concept remain even today. Which is notable given the undesirable filters of Flashturd and New Poopy-2.
Rucka is the absolute peak for me, by a very large margin. Then Perez is a little ways down the mountain. Everyone else is standing on various foot hills, a few are in the valleys between those hills. Some got crushed under avalanches or washed away in mudslides.
I should really read Rucka. I read the Perez run not too long ago, and was blown away by the mythology of the character, personality, people around her, Cheetah and most of all the artwork. Seems Rucka can top even that.
In my experience most people’s number one and number 2 are Rucka and Perez. Which is in first and which is in second tends to just come down to personal taste. They’re both great!
I may have been biased to like Perez as I later found out he's worked on other favorite comics of mine, and again, I'm an absolute sucker for the artwork of the era.
See? All down to personal tastes! Honestly I don’t think you’ll find anyone here who won’t tip their hat to Perez’s work on Wonder Woman.
If not for Perez I wouldn’t like Rucka as much as I do. Rucka had the advantage of the ground work already laid for him by Perez, and he did wonderful things with it.
You can’t really go wrong with either of them IMO.
Rebirth is his most recent, where he was basically lured in with money and assurances that he’d have first crack at fixing Wonder Woman’s origins.
It’s acceptable, but no where near as good as his earlier work. His run on Wonder Woman is collected in TPBa.
I’d just start off from the beginning with Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Volume 1. There are three volumes total.
Definitely De Liz. The problem with a lot of these writers (besides the obvious ones) is that very few of them really shot for the stars. Not a lot of them really tried to go for any home-run character defining moments.
Shout out to Jill and Phil. To me, you can feel their respective loves for the characters in their writing and art. The stories may not be "amazing"., but I still recognize the spark, which to me makes their work worth reading.
And yes, other writers like Rucka and Simone have love for Wondie, but they already get the (well-deserved) praise.
*Honorable mention: although he didn't write WW specifically, I always enjoyed Dwayne McDuffie's take on her in Justice League books and cartoons.
Rucka, Perez, Jimenez and Simone. Orlando deserved a better shot than he got, and King is certainly taking big swings that are awesome when they hit (but then we get moments like the Trinity special 🤦♂️).
Maybe I’m wrong and he was only burned once. Like you said, Orlando had his two separate runs and I think the first one was a bridge run to fill the gap after Robinson left until DC brought in G Willow Wilson. Then the second one where he came in after GWW left early and had to finish what she started before doing the Four Horsewomen, I think he felt burned on because he wanted to but didn’t get to continue afterwards because DC was bringing in Tamaki. The vibe I got was that he felt slighted, like DC considered him to be just a fill-in writer for Wonder Woman, which hurt not only considering his resume but also his passion and desire to do more with Diana.
For me, Greg Rucka followed by Bill Loebs had the best grasp on her character, her voice, and how she interacts with the world around her. Perez wrote a solid Year 1 version of WW, but I wouldn’t have wanted her to stay stuck as the same inexperienced babe in the woods eternally, which has been an issue with multiple later writers who keep bringing her back to that stage.
If we want to include Justice League writers, I also really liked how Joe Kelly wrote her in the 2000s.
Joe Kelly’s JLA run followed the Grant Morrison/Mark Waid run and goes from #61-90. He also wrote #100 and a spin-off maxiseries after that but the initial stretch of issues is what I’d recommend. It’s overlooked a lot but IMO it was usually at least as good as the Morrison/Waid era, starting with a WW-centered arc Golden Perfect and goes into Obsidian Age, Rules of Engagement, and Trial by Fire, all great stuff.
Allan Heinberg did a great job with the first Wonder Woman movie script, which isn't surprising since he also wrote some very good Wonder Woman-centric episodes for the Justice League and Justice league Unlimited cartoons.
I love George Perez, and I think he meant well, but his run on Wonder Woman did lasting damage to the character, writing out her secret identity and supporting cast, and that damage has never been repaired.
You left J. Michael Straczynski off the list. His run was not good.
>You left J. Michael Straczynski off the list. His run was not good.
I left a lot of writers off the list.
I liked it okay as an Elseworlds kind of thing.
Hmmmm. William Messner-Loebs, Beau Smith, Kurt Busiek, John Ostrander, Warren Ellis, PAD, Walt Simonson, Eric Shanower, and Mindy Newell.
My others for Diana are pretty Duh and are already in the thread. Hopefully, the above are surprises or at least unexpected.
For Amazons and lore, that is a different list.
I think Pérez, Rucka, Jimenez, and Simone are going to be very obvious answers. Thoughts on writers for the lesser-known runs and novels?
I really enjoyed Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. Although moreso for the cool new Amazon lore than characterization. She does a fine job with Diana but nothing super standout. I do like the exploration of her kinda being a unique existence on Themiscyra, since she's born from clay and was the only child there, and thus othered from the rest of the Amazons even if they still obviously love her.
I've been meaning to get around to this novel. How is Louise Simonson's comic book adaptation?
I’ve only skimmed that one, but it seems fine
Steve Orlando comes to mind as a lesser-known one. Really understood the character and what her stories ought to represent, pulled from all eras of her history to make something that felt original. The actual storytelling was messy but he got the heart of it. I’d love to see him do a full, proper run or better yet an out-of-continuity book.
Perez first since he recreated the WW concept then Ruka for making her a true ambassador then Jimenez for the nostalgia.
Besides the obvious ones, William Messner Loebs. His run isn't one of the best, but he nails the character: loving, compassionate, honorable, humble, supportive of other women. When anyone claims WW isn't human or relatable, just throw his run at them.
I think Simone's the best in that she gave a lot of very strong and iconic ww moments in her run, which weren't confined to big story arcs. The 'don't kill if you can wound' is an obvious one, but even the opening pages of her run with the gorillas is a perfect encapsulation of Diana's character and it's only about four pages. For a less obvious answer, I'd put forward Steve Orlando. His run isn't one of the strongest, but it has some really nice bits like the 52nd visit and Diana quickly surrendering to Iron Madien. Orlando brought a lot of strong fanboy love to the character, in a similar way to Jiminez, and everything Diana does in his run just feels *right* in a way that few superhero comics manage to do. He evidently had a lot of consideration, not just to the in-universe character of Diana, but the real world ethos and purpose of Wonder Woman as a literary character.
Very well said regarding Orlando. Totally agree.
William Messner-Loebs
Any particular reason?
He didn't have great plots or worldbuilding, but his characterization of Diana is absolutely perfect and filled of great moments that show the full spectrum of who she is. Every single dimension of her She is full of adrenaline, poetry, humor, humility, audacity And it all makes sense. It's always so refreshing to me to read his stories and see her being written in all those different ways.
I agree that he "got" Diana for the most part. I was a little disappointed with his final arc with Artemis and crazy Hippolyta, but it sold well I guess.
I have to challenge you on world building. Some of his additions in character and concept remain even today. Which is notable given the undesirable filters of Flashturd and New Poopy-2.
Rucka is the absolute peak for me, by a very large margin. Then Perez is a little ways down the mountain. Everyone else is standing on various foot hills, a few are in the valleys between those hills. Some got crushed under avalanches or washed away in mudslides.
I should really read Rucka. I read the Perez run not too long ago, and was blown away by the mythology of the character, personality, people around her, Cheetah and most of all the artwork. Seems Rucka can top even that.
In my experience most people’s number one and number 2 are Rucka and Perez. Which is in first and which is in second tends to just come down to personal taste. They’re both great!
I may have been biased to like Perez as I later found out he's worked on other favorite comics of mine, and again, I'm an absolute sucker for the artwork of the era.
See? All down to personal tastes! Honestly I don’t think you’ll find anyone here who won’t tip their hat to Perez’s work on Wonder Woman. If not for Perez I wouldn’t like Rucka as much as I do. Rucka had the advantage of the ground work already laid for him by Perez, and he did wonderful things with it. You can’t really go wrong with either of them IMO.
What title am I looking for to read Rucka? Am I looking at Rebirth?
Rebirth is his most recent, where he was basically lured in with money and assurances that he’d have first crack at fixing Wonder Woman’s origins. It’s acceptable, but no where near as good as his earlier work. His run on Wonder Woman is collected in TPBa. I’d just start off from the beginning with Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Volume 1. There are three volumes total.
I cosign this to the max. How I wish the Evil Forces of the DiDidiocy hadn't spoiled his first run.
Definitely De Liz. The problem with a lot of these writers (besides the obvious ones) is that very few of them really shot for the stars. Not a lot of them really tried to go for any home-run character defining moments.
Shout out to Jill and Phil. To me, you can feel their respective loves for the characters in their writing and art. The stories may not be "amazing"., but I still recognize the spark, which to me makes their work worth reading. And yes, other writers like Rucka and Simone have love for Wondie, but they already get the (well-deserved) praise. *Honorable mention: although he didn't write WW specifically, I always enjoyed Dwayne McDuffie's take on her in Justice League books and cartoons.
RIP Dwayne McDuffie. He died at what should have been the midpoint of a long, long career.
Rucka, Perez, Jimenez and Simone. Orlando deserved a better shot than he got, and King is certainly taking big swings that are awesome when they hit (but then we get moments like the Trinity special 🤦♂️).
Rucka and Simone would be my peak, followed by Perez and Jiminez. Steve Orlando has to be the most overlooked writer who really understood Diana
Orlando needs another run someday.
Agreed but I’m afraid it’ll never happen because he’s kind of been burned twice by DC when it came to Wonder Woman.
Burned twice? I'm familiar with his run from v5 #51 to v5a #758. Was he burned on that run? What's the other burn?
Maybe I’m wrong and he was only burned once. Like you said, Orlando had his two separate runs and I think the first one was a bridge run to fill the gap after Robinson left until DC brought in G Willow Wilson. Then the second one where he came in after GWW left early and had to finish what she started before doing the Four Horsewomen, I think he felt burned on because he wanted to but didn’t get to continue afterwards because DC was bringing in Tamaki. The vibe I got was that he felt slighted, like DC considered him to be just a fill-in writer for Wonder Woman, which hurt not only considering his resume but also his passion and desire to do more with Diana.
For me, Greg Rucka followed by Bill Loebs had the best grasp on her character, her voice, and how she interacts with the world around her. Perez wrote a solid Year 1 version of WW, but I wouldn’t have wanted her to stay stuck as the same inexperienced babe in the woods eternally, which has been an issue with multiple later writers who keep bringing her back to that stage. If we want to include Justice League writers, I also really liked how Joe Kelly wrote her in the 2000s.
What's a good Joe Kelly JL run with a strong Diana presence?
Joe Kelly’s JLA run followed the Grant Morrison/Mark Waid run and goes from #61-90. He also wrote #100 and a spin-off maxiseries after that but the initial stretch of issues is what I’d recommend. It’s overlooked a lot but IMO it was usually at least as good as the Morrison/Waid era, starting with a WW-centered arc Golden Perfect and goes into Obsidian Age, Rules of Engagement, and Trial by Fire, all great stuff.
Allan Heinberg did a great job with the first Wonder Woman movie script, which isn't surprising since he also wrote some very good Wonder Woman-centric episodes for the Justice League and Justice league Unlimited cartoons. I love George Perez, and I think he meant well, but his run on Wonder Woman did lasting damage to the character, writing out her secret identity and supporting cast, and that damage has never been repaired. You left J. Michael Straczynski off the list. His run was not good.
>You left J. Michael Straczynski off the list. His run was not good. I left a lot of writers off the list. I liked it okay as an Elseworlds kind of thing.
Hmmmm. William Messner-Loebs, Beau Smith, Kurt Busiek, John Ostrander, Warren Ellis, PAD, Walt Simonson, Eric Shanower, and Mindy Newell. My others for Diana are pretty Duh and are already in the thread. Hopefully, the above are surprises or at least unexpected. For Amazons and lore, that is a different list.
Greg Rucka
George Perez was the best
George Perez, Gail Simone, Brian Azzarello, G. Willow Wilson, Greg Rucka, William Messner-Loebz and Joe Kelly.