#i had my problems with the movie this is just a General Rebirth WW Guide

[ziyal]

Hey so I heard y’all like Wonder Woman, maybe

OKAY SO based on a conversation with a friend I thought I’d make a post that’s like, a brief guide/primer on what’s going on in current Wonder Woman comics, for anyone who enjoyed the recent movie and wants to get into her comics incarnation but might be confused about what’s different from the DC movie-verse. It got kind of long but I hope this helps people.

HOW ARE THE CHARACTERS DIFFERENT

Unlike the movie, this version of Diana hasn’t been around in man’s world for decades; she left Themyscira and became Wonder Woman only about 5 or 6 years ago (it’s not specifically stated but it seems like it’s been about that long). She also doesn’t have a secret identity as “Diana Prince”, she’s just known as a public figure.

Steve Trevor is a modern soldier. He and Diana just recently started dating, although they’ve been friends for a while. For a while, Diana was dating Superman, but then that relationship ended because Superman, uh, sort of died but actually merged with an alternate-universe version of himself who is married to Lois Lane? because comics, man. (Don’t actually worry about this, it’s not important in WW)

Steve, along with Etta Candy, is an agent of ARGUS, a military organization that acts as support for the Justice League. They also just introduced modern versions of Steve’s three buddies from the movie, who are on his secret agent team.

Besides the comics canon versions of Dr. Poison and Ares, who appeared in the film, some of the other supervillain foes of Wonder Woman in this run include: The Cheetah (a former friend of Diana’s who was cursed by an evil god to turn into a cat monster lady), Doctor Cyber (a computer genius whose brain was uploaded into an evil A.I.), Veronica Cale (an amoral businesswoman who is sort of like Wonder Woman’s version of Lex Luthor), and Phobos & Deimos (the sons of Ares).

If you (like me) are always looking for that good gay/wlw representation in yr comic books I will point out that not only is Barbara Minerva (my personal fave supporting character) in a relationship with Etta Candy, but we also see flashbacks to Diana having an Amazon girlfriend.

HOW DO I GET STARTED READING

The current Wonder Woman comic relaunched in 2016 as part of DC Rebirth (a sort of company-wide soft reboot). It was published alternating between two storylines, one set in the present (in the odd-numbered issues) and one a few years in the past (in the even-numbered issues). Yes, this is kind of dumb and confusing, I know.

The first arc of the past storyline is called Year One, and it was published in issues #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. It deals with Diana’s origin, how she was introduced to man’s world, and how she became Wonder Woman. You can get it in TPB (link).

The first arc of the present storyline is called The Lies, and it was published in issues #1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. It’s about Diana in the present, having now been a superhero for some time, discovering that some of the things she thought were true about her past, are actually deception. You can get it in TPB also (link).

The present storyline has this plot about Diana having false memories of a different version of Themyscira. On one hand, she remembers her real home, where she was raised among loving sisters, but she also remembers another past where the Amazons rejected and shunned her. The “false” Themyscira is the version from the New 52 reboot of the comic, and this story is a way of retconning away that version of Diana’s backstory. You don’t really need to have read New 52 WW to understand this plot, and I personally don’t recommend it, as I found it to be very unpleasant and sexist, and am glad of the retcon.

The next arcs to read are Godwatch (past storyline; #16, 18, 20, 22, 24) and The Lies (present; #13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25). They’re not collected in trade yet.

So basically, you can either read the current Wonder Woman series in the order I described, or if you want you could go from 1-25 straight through and just be mindful of the switching between timelines.

After the current arc finishes, starting from issue #26 the series is going to stop the timeline-jumping, and the upcoming story will just go forward from there in each issue. There will also be a new writer, with Greg Rucka (who is an excellent writer I am sad to see go) stepping down in favor of Shea Fontana (whom I am nevertheless excited about, based on her past work with DC).

Also, make sure to pick up the Wonder Woman Annual #1, and the Wonder Woman Steve Trevor Special, both of which came out recently and are in continuity with Rebirth.

OKAY BUT WHAT SHOULD I READ NEXT ONCE I GET CAUGHT UP

If you liked Diana’s interactions with her fellow superheroes in BvS and want to see her on a team, she’s currently starring with Batman & Superman in the Trinity ongoing series, which also has some appearances by the full Justice League. (I personally am not a fan of the current Justice League comic, but she is in that too if you’re interested.)

If you want to dive into some older comics from before the current reboot, the current writer, Greg Rucka, had an earlier run writing for Wonder Woman about ten years ago, which is very good. Also check out Gail Simone’s run.

If you want to read some fun Wonder Woman stories not tied into current continuity, Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman was an anthology series that ran a few years ago, with various artists and writers doing self-contained stories, many of which were excellent.

If you have any questions or want more recommendations feel free to ask me! I have read so much Wonder Woman you guys, she is my fave and I am glad to see people getting excited about her