The definitive Wonder Woman origin story
Wonder Woman Gods and Mortals collects Wonder Woman issues 1-7 by George Perez. After Crisis on Infinite Earths DC wanted to reinvent Wonder Woman for new readers and maintain classic elements of the character, but they didnt know exactly how to do that until George Perez gave a pitch for the new version of Wonder Woman. Here George Perez takes much of the Golden Age Wonder Woman and expands and builds on them and really fleshes out the world. This story I would describe as mythological and operatic in tone and scale. The story begins with giving the backstory for the Amazons and the creation of Diana. After Diana has become an adult, the gods call for the Amazons to choose a champion to stop Ares as he grows stronger. Queen Hippolyta hosts a tournament to determine the strongest of the Amazons which Diana participates in against her mother's wishes. Diana wins the tournament and is given the tools to go on her quest to stop Ares on his quest to destroy humanity. This story I would say is a perfect origin story for the character as it does a great job of establishing the world the character lives in as well as her character. It does a great job with the fish out of water premise for the character as she doesnt know about modern technologies and is unable to understand the people as she only understands Greek. I also liked that the supporting characters felt very fleshed out and real characters. I also enjoyed the villains in the story especially Ares as he was powerful and manipulative and carried this sense of gravitas to him. Though perhaps the aspect I liked most about this was how it felt both mythological and also like a superhero comic. The story was very engaging and felt very fresh and new despite being over three decades old though that may just be me. The art was great as this is George Perez and it seems to have this classic and timeless quality to it. The only real problem I had with the comic was the decision to make Steve Trevor older and not Wonder Woman's love interest. Though this is just a problem with me and not with the story as I view Steve Trevor as the definitive Wonder Woman love interest. I can also see people having an issue with how wordy some of the dialogue is. If you're someone who prefers comics with simpler dialogue that allows for smoother reading then Id say that you may have an issue with this. Other than that I would say if you're looking for a great Wonder Woman story check out Gods and Mortals. It is a great origin story that has great action and story and an awesome villain in Ares.