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Wonder Woman
The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess
A definitive A-to-Z guide to the action-packed history of Wonder Woman, high-flying feminist icon and twenty-first-century movie star
She’s as wise as Athena and as beautiful as Aphrodite, stronger then Hercules and swifter than Hermes. Blessed at birth by the gods themselves, Princess Diana left an idyllic island paradise ruled by wise and brave women to bring the peace, love, and nobility of the Amazons to the tumultuous world of humankind. In January 1942, Wonder Woman took the world of comics—and its pantheon of superpowered males—by storm.
Wielding her impervious silver bracelets and golden Lasso of Truth, she’s battled forces of evil from the Axis powers to a slew of super-villains worldwide, teamed up with the likes of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, and transcended comics and film to become a pop-culture superstar. It’s all here in more than 400 fact-filled
• Wonder Woman’s origins, as imagined and reinterpreted by generations of comics writers—including her groundbreaking creator, William Moulton Marston
• biographies of every major character in Wonder Woman’s universe, including her mother, Hippolyta; sister, Donna Troy; and mortal ally Steve Trevor—as well as such classic foes as Ares, Cheetah, Hades, and the members of Villainy Inc.
• classic black-and-white comic book artwork throughout
• two sixteen-page full-color artwork inserts—plus a dazzling original cover illustration by fan-favorite artist Adam Hughes
Written by veteran Wonder Woman artist and writer Phil Jimenez and comics historian John Wells, The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia is the ultimate archive, proving that her die-hard devotees don’t have to visit Paradise Island for a taste of heaven on earth.
She’s as wise as Athena and as beautiful as Aphrodite, stronger then Hercules and swifter than Hermes. Blessed at birth by the gods themselves, Princess Diana left an idyllic island paradise ruled by wise and brave women to bring the peace, love, and nobility of the Amazons to the tumultuous world of humankind. In January 1942, Wonder Woman took the world of comics—and its pantheon of superpowered males—by storm.
Wielding her impervious silver bracelets and golden Lasso of Truth, she’s battled forces of evil from the Axis powers to a slew of super-villains worldwide, teamed up with the likes of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, and transcended comics and film to become a pop-culture superstar. It’s all here in more than 400 fact-filled
• Wonder Woman’s origins, as imagined and reinterpreted by generations of comics writers—including her groundbreaking creator, William Moulton Marston
• biographies of every major character in Wonder Woman’s universe, including her mother, Hippolyta; sister, Donna Troy; and mortal ally Steve Trevor—as well as such classic foes as Ares, Cheetah, Hades, and the members of Villainy Inc.
• classic black-and-white comic book artwork throughout
• two sixteen-page full-color artwork inserts—plus a dazzling original cover illustration by fan-favorite artist Adam Hughes
Written by veteran Wonder Woman artist and writer Phil Jimenez and comics historian John Wells, The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia is the ultimate archive, proving that her die-hard devotees don’t have to visit Paradise Island for a taste of heaven on earth.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Phil Jimenez
597 books48 followersPhilip Jiménez is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work as writer/artist on Wonder Woman from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, and his collaborations with writer Grant Morrison on New X-Men and The Invisibles.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 10, 2013
Indeed essential to any Wonder Woman fan. I got it since I already had the Essential Batman and soon it will be out the Essential one of Superman so I can have the trinity on Essential guides. This guide about Wonder Woman is totally complete. Excellent option to have it if you have as me the guide of Wonder Woman from DK Publications.
January 26, 2024
The definitive guide to the world of the amazing Amazon. It took quite a while to meander through it, and it was enjoyable. Not only divided by subject, but also by period in the DC Universe, covering most if not all of the characters Wonder Woman has encountered over the past 80 years. Especially useful for figuring out her history whether on Earth-1 or 2, pre or post-crisis, pre or post-infinite crisis, etc., as it gives different entries or sections within entries based on which world/time frame is being discussed. Plenty of black and white art within, as well as two groups of color photos suitable for framing (I’ve always wanted to say that). This is the book to settle arguments about Wonder Woman.
June 13, 2015
The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia
Author: Phil Jimenez and John Wells
Publisher: Del Rey/DC Comics/Ballantine Books
Published In: New York, NY
Date: 2010
Pgs: 485
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
The beauty of Aphrodite, wisdom of Athena, strength of Hercules, agility of Hermes, blessed at birth by the gods of old, Princess Diana left her home of Themyscira, the so called Paradise Island, and ventured forth into the world of men, an ambassador of the Amazons to the modern world. This is an A to Z guide to the print history and adventures of the Amazon princess.
Genre:
Adventure
Comics and graphic novels
Fiction
History
Multiverse
Mythology
Science fiction
Short stories
Superheroes
Sword and sorcery
War
Why this book:
I love comics and the characters who came from them. I don’t necessarily love every story ever written featuring the characters, but my love survives.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Wonder Woman
Kung. The Earth-2/WW2 villain who fought Wonder Woman and The All Star Squadron. Love the beastiamorph...insectimorph power set.
Character I Most Identified With:
Wonder Woman has always been all duty and honor and faith. DC’s great failure has been not positioning her as DC’s answer to both Captain America and Thor in the modern parlance, sticking to it and outdoing, raising the pot every chance they get. I feel like lip service has been paid to the idea that she is part of the Big Three, The Trinity. And the character deserves better than lip service. The George Perez run on the character was incredible. The Trials of Wonder Woman where she was trying to “earn” her way back into the Justice League were great, all those many years ago. Whereas there have been real “go for it” moments in both Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman’s last real big moment was when she broke Maxwell Lord’s neck, years and years ago.
The Feel:
I’m not as familiar with Wonder Woman’s publishing history as I am with Superman’s, Batman’s, Aquaman’s, etc. This is a great deeper primer on all things Amazonian.
There’s tons in Wonder Woman’s published history that suggests innuendo and metaphor for the dirty minded and the socially unconscious.
The Boiling Man. A volcano beast whose head is an open flaming volcanic pit that may erupt at any time and destroy Paradise Island. At the same time, Steve Trevor’s plane is about to crash. Wonder Woman uses her “breath” numerous times to keep Steve “aloft” while tying her lasso around the volcano beast’s “head” to keep him from “erupting” and throwing him into an iceberg that she earlier “freed” the Merman from to quell the Boiling Man before “tossing him” into space.
...right? That’s not all Freudian at all. It was published in 1965. But it seems like this metaphor-apalooza should have raised some eyebrows even then.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
With the concept of “Loving Submission” being one of the Amazonian tenets that were used in the Gold and Silver Age, it’s a wonder that Wonder Woman survived as a concept.
“To the Amazons, bondage at the hands of a loving dominator was both pleasurable and desirable, and imprisonment at th hands of a well intentioned jailer could be both rewarding and emotionally transformative.”
This concept found its onus in the Venus Girdles that they placed on criminals who they then kept as slaves on Paradise Island.
“The Amazons kept many female prisoners and forced them to submit to their loving.”
Now in modern comics, they’ve tried to slant this idea to mean fealty to the Amazon Royal Family and the concept of community among the Amazons, but the past of the ideal still hangs over it.
Hmm Moments:
Adjudicator. I remember reading the original story. The summary makes him seem much cooler. I would love to see him escape his confinement at the interstellar/interdimensional asylum and come again to menace the Earths of the DC multiverse.
The Air Pirates sound like cool villains. They could return today in an updated form, even update, the target of one of their thefts, Professor Chemico and his Atom Pill.
Bitterland. A land of blue skinned seal men separated from a utopian society called Eveland by a River of Destruction. The seal men raid Eveland for slaves and sacrifices to their walrus god. That’s great science fiction and fantasy right there...from a 1945 comic book.
Maximus. Wealthy industrialist. Owns his own mountain. Has a computer or scientific aide-de-camp that opens teleportals for him to move about the world. Sends robotic duplicates out to do his bidding. Could fire targeted black lightning blasts from his Hollow Mountain complex. I can remember reading this comic. Had a great cover image of Wonder Woman trying to lasso a black lightning bolt as it slammed down toward New York City.
The Time Master’s connection to the Time Trapper. Awesome. Giving Wonder Woman a connection to the Legion of Superheroes is long overdue. This should be played up at some point in modern comics after one of the incessant reboots and retcons.
The Twelve Trials of Wonder Woman was one of my favorite runs on the book. I wish they would release them as a trade paperback.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
I love these guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias of fictional characters. The backstory that you pick up reading them is incredible.
Author Assessment:
Well put together.
Editorial Assessment:
Tightly done.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
real genre classic
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
South Campus
Dewey Decimal System:
741.5973 WON
Would recommend to:
genre fans
______________________________________________________________________________
Errata:
Author: Phil Jimenez and John Wells
Publisher: Del Rey/DC Comics/Ballantine Books
Published In: New York, NY
Date: 2010
Pgs: 485
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
The beauty of Aphrodite, wisdom of Athena, strength of Hercules, agility of Hermes, blessed at birth by the gods of old, Princess Diana left her home of Themyscira, the so called Paradise Island, and ventured forth into the world of men, an ambassador of the Amazons to the modern world. This is an A to Z guide to the print history and adventures of the Amazon princess.
Genre:
Adventure
Comics and graphic novels
Fiction
History
Multiverse
Mythology
Science fiction
Short stories
Superheroes
Sword and sorcery
War
Why this book:
I love comics and the characters who came from them. I don’t necessarily love every story ever written featuring the characters, but my love survives.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Wonder Woman
Kung. The Earth-2/WW2 villain who fought Wonder Woman and The All Star Squadron. Love the beastiamorph...insectimorph power set.
Character I Most Identified With:
Wonder Woman has always been all duty and honor and faith. DC’s great failure has been not positioning her as DC’s answer to both Captain America and Thor in the modern parlance, sticking to it and outdoing, raising the pot every chance they get. I feel like lip service has been paid to the idea that she is part of the Big Three, The Trinity. And the character deserves better than lip service. The George Perez run on the character was incredible. The Trials of Wonder Woman where she was trying to “earn” her way back into the Justice League were great, all those many years ago. Whereas there have been real “go for it” moments in both Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman’s last real big moment was when she broke Maxwell Lord’s neck, years and years ago.
The Feel:
I’m not as familiar with Wonder Woman’s publishing history as I am with Superman’s, Batman’s, Aquaman’s, etc. This is a great deeper primer on all things Amazonian.
There’s tons in Wonder Woman’s published history that suggests innuendo and metaphor for the dirty minded and the socially unconscious.
The Boiling Man. A volcano beast whose head is an open flaming volcanic pit that may erupt at any time and destroy Paradise Island. At the same time, Steve Trevor’s plane is about to crash. Wonder Woman uses her “breath” numerous times to keep Steve “aloft” while tying her lasso around the volcano beast’s “head” to keep him from “erupting” and throwing him into an iceberg that she earlier “freed” the Merman from to quell the Boiling Man before “tossing him” into space.
...right? That’s not all Freudian at all. It was published in 1965. But it seems like this metaphor-apalooza should have raised some eyebrows even then.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
With the concept of “Loving Submission” being one of the Amazonian tenets that were used in the Gold and Silver Age, it’s a wonder that Wonder Woman survived as a concept.
“To the Amazons, bondage at the hands of a loving dominator was both pleasurable and desirable, and imprisonment at th hands of a well intentioned jailer could be both rewarding and emotionally transformative.”
This concept found its onus in the Venus Girdles that they placed on criminals who they then kept as slaves on Paradise Island.
“The Amazons kept many female prisoners and forced them to submit to their loving.”
Now in modern comics, they’ve tried to slant this idea to mean fealty to the Amazon Royal Family and the concept of community among the Amazons, but the past of the ideal still hangs over it.
Hmm Moments:
Adjudicator. I remember reading the original story. The summary makes him seem much cooler. I would love to see him escape his confinement at the interstellar/interdimensional asylum and come again to menace the Earths of the DC multiverse.
The Air Pirates sound like cool villains. They could return today in an updated form, even update, the target of one of their thefts, Professor Chemico and his Atom Pill.
Bitterland. A land of blue skinned seal men separated from a utopian society called Eveland by a River of Destruction. The seal men raid Eveland for slaves and sacrifices to their walrus god. That’s great science fiction and fantasy right there...from a 1945 comic book.
Maximus. Wealthy industrialist. Owns his own mountain. Has a computer or scientific aide-de-camp that opens teleportals for him to move about the world. Sends robotic duplicates out to do his bidding. Could fire targeted black lightning blasts from his Hollow Mountain complex. I can remember reading this comic. Had a great cover image of Wonder Woman trying to lasso a black lightning bolt as it slammed down toward New York City.
The Time Master’s connection to the Time Trapper. Awesome. Giving Wonder Woman a connection to the Legion of Superheroes is long overdue. This should be played up at some point in modern comics after one of the incessant reboots and retcons.
The Twelve Trials of Wonder Woman was one of my favorite runs on the book. I wish they would release them as a trade paperback.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
I love these guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias of fictional characters. The backstory that you pick up reading them is incredible.
Author Assessment:
Well put together.
Editorial Assessment:
Tightly done.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
real genre classic
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
South Campus
Dewey Decimal System:
741.5973 WON
Would recommend to:
genre fans
______________________________________________________________________________
Errata:
January 14, 2018
From Abernathy to Zumac this encyclopedia covers almost everything in the scope of Wonder Woman in comic books—sorry, but there is no Lynda Carter Wonder Woman information in this book. Just shy of 500 pages, you can guarantee this beast of a book is jam-packed with information about the good, the bad, and the ugly characters that graced or faced-off with Wonder Woman’s star-spangled spandex.
https://geekdad.com/2017/05/stack-ove...
https://geekdad.com/2017/05/stack-ove...
May 17, 2010
A very good reference book on one of comic fandom's favorite characters - Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman from DC Comics. Although you might find yourself with information overload at the first sitting, my advice is this: read the book like the encyclopedia it is - just look up information on one specific topic at a time.
August 13, 2013
I think is an amazing reference book and great addition to my collection of all things Wonder Women. I hesitated to give 5 stars due to the fact that an encyclopedia should reference all facts. This was missing mention of the TV show starring Lynda Carter and the one person who invented Wonder Woman, Dr. William Moulton Marston (psychologist/feminist theorist).
November 26, 2014
this book was like reading the new york times black and white tiny tiny print. and nothing to attract the reader to keep them reading. i had to just flip through it. not as good as i thought that it was going to be
September 7, 2010
All the info on the Amazing Amazon and her allies that you could ever hope to imprint on your fanboy brain.
February 5, 2015
Very good encyclopedia but I would expect nothing less from Phil Jimenez.
November 27, 2015
This book is a huge work of knowledge for any Wonder Woman fan. Great information that is very extensive and thorough. I love all the information that was provide.
June 14, 2016
Includes everything an encyclopedia should, a plethora of information on and around WW, though not as many colored pages as one would find in a book. This is an encyclopedia after all.
July 6, 2015
Recommended for Wonder Woman fans.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews