Wonder Woman: Lifelines

Wonder Woman (1987) (Single Issues) #105-108

by John Byrne, Bob Kahan (Editor)

When a grief stricken scientist attempts to recreate his dead son as a computer program, Wonder Woman inexplicably finds herself battling Doomsday, Sinestro, and the original Flash, three powerful beings who are no longer alive. Facing off against her former fallen ally, Green Lantern's deceased archnemesis, and the creature that killed Superman, Princess Diana tries to piece together what is behind these miraculous resurrections. But even the answer to their mysterious return might not be enough to save Wonder Woman from the combined onslaught of these deadly adversaries.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Wonder Woman, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.

Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.

Reviews

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not too bad. Liked seeing Wonder Woman. Also nice to see cameos from Superman and the supervillains.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a bit more fun with this than with the previous volume of Byrne's Wonder Woman, but it still isn't exactly my cup of tea. Wonder Girl fans will want to take a look at it: it has Cassie's first outing as Wonder Girl. And I thought I didn't like her New 52 outfit...

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 2 out of 5]

On one hand, it was significantly better than Second Genesis on a lot of levels.

On the other, the bar to clear was exceptionally low.

I really have little positive to say about this - the artwork was still poor, the writing uninspiring, and many of the same problems from Second Genesis persist here. I'll just look for the next Wonder Woman volume and move on.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watching Wonder Woman take on heroes and villains outside of her normal purview was a real treat, and the ending was entirely and classically Wonder Woman.

[Maythavee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another fantastic volume! Byrne did a great job with this arc. The introduction of Helena and Cassandra Sandsmark was lovely. It's always nice to see Diana interacting with other female characters. Cassandra fangirling over Diana was adorable! I'm loving their relationship so far. It reminded me of Diana and Vanessa. Diana having a job at the Gateway City Museum of Cultural Antiquities as a visiting lecture on Greco-Roman mythology made so much more sense than having her work at a fast food restaurant. The other supporting characters in this arc were also great! I really enjoyed seeing Jason Blood (Etrigan), the Phantom Stranger and Diana working together to fight Morgaine le Fey. One of the things I liked about Byrne's works was the way he set up his next story arc within the current story in a seamless way. It's very clever!

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great writer can make any character seem interesting. John Byrne was in cash-cow mode here (writer/penciler/ inker/ letterer), and as such, the quality of his artwork was not up to his '80s prime. Still, there is a fluidity to his storytelling that made this a blast to read, and below par Byrne is still better than firing on all cylinders Bendis.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Not great. More of the same. Good plot points, but the story and drawing is lackluster.

[Yehmehneh · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprising issues #106-112 of Wonder Woman, John Byrne takes the iconic character and gives her dozens of secondary characters and a sidekick of sorts (Cassandra Sandsmark, soon to be Wonder Girl).

This is strange, because Byrne usually focuses on the title character. In the first story, a mysterious tapestry draws the attention of Morgaine LeFay and The Phantom Stranger. Jason Blood/Etrigan makes an appearance as well, but there’s little room for Wonder Woman in all this (even Diana remarks at one point how little she knows about the tapestry and its time period). The artwork is flashy and large, but there’s little in the way of dialogue.

In the second story, we get cameos from clones of the Flash, Sinestro, and Doomsday, as well as a newer hero calling himself Champion. But the story doesn’t really gel, and it seems that Wonder Woman is a guest star in her own comic. Only if you’re a diehard fan of the character; otherwise, give this a pass and read Greg Rucka’s or Gail Simone’s take on the legendary Amazon.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byrne's run on Wonder Woman was fun because he took a step back and said 'Yeah, all the mythical stuff is cool, but she's a super hero.' and pushed her back into the DC Universe and had her tangle with super villains and mad scientists.

Lots of big action, less sub-plot and angst and a good reminder that WW is pretty kick ass.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw it at the library and decided to give it a try. Wonder Woman is a pretty cool super hero, it just seems like the people around her are lame in her own series. I really liked her in the Injustice books, but this just seemed so campy and goofy. Glad I checked it out, not my cup of tea. Other writers have done much better with her character in other stories.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much better than the previous volume. The story was a little more together, and the guest stars didn't hurt any. Jason Blood and Phantom Stranger are always interesting and a Superman cameo never hurts. I enjoyed the battles with fake Flash, Sinestro and Doomsday as well.

[Mary Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Byrne did a nice relaunch, providing excellent art and story. Not necessarily a classic comic, but still a good read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good action, decent story. Always good to see Phantom Stranger in action. The artwork was fairly lackluster.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

All over the place, with plot elements thrown in randomly and rarely explained. Might have been better if they had left out random cameos, and pointless foreshadowing.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just love John Byrne anything. This is no exception. Dialogue somewhat corny but it fits the characters.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Quinto y último tomo de esta colección de Zinco.

[Elizabeth]

Okay, this was an improvement on Second Genesis. And now I'm interested in the Phantom Stranger.