Wonder Woman: Gods and Goddesses

John Byrne's Wonder Woman tends to inspire great passions, either pro or con. So did the creative team before Byrne. And those that tended to love the early series of stories tended to hate beyond reason almost everything Byrne did with the character once he took over. For me (and contrary to earlier reviewers here), the earlier run was weak, inconsistent, too slick, and featured too much skin. This present compilation of Byrne's first story arc shows why I greatly prefered his tenure on the comic book. His Wonder Woman was strong, decisive, and had human sized breasts. He showed a willingness to really shake things up... which again I liked but some people felt uncomfortable with. My feeling is that for general, or casual readers who just want to read a good Wonder Woman story, that this should fit the bill. Characters are well developed and there is an epic feeling to the story. Partisans aside, most should enjoy this.

I only found this book by accident. After reading Wonder Woman: Gods and Goddesses I was shocked. This book is wonderful! I was not a great Wonder Woman fan, but this book changed that. Mr. Byrne's story is very engaging. We learn a lot about the heroine, and about the world as it may be if such a heroine were to exist. The story elements dealing with society's fears and insecurities translate very well to our world. I was always a fan of Mr. Byrne's comics work, but I have learned to love his novel as well. This book ranks with the best books of this genre.

Anyone familiar with Byrne's work (mostly super-hero comic books and horror novels) knows what to expect: lots of action illustrating deeper philosopical questions. Here, Byrne tackles whether or not there is a God -- all in a super-hero context. Unconventional? Sure, well that's Byrne. Boring? Nope. And the ending will surprise you...