Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman stand as the absolute pinnacle of heroism in DC. They are called the Trinity, the three most important and influential heroes of all time. It stands to reason that, as the three heroes pushed to stand above all the rest of DC’s incredible cast, that they would have some of the best stories. At the very least, they would have stories that are able to tell you who they are, stories that capture the heart of their character in such a way that every fan can point to it and say that this is the story that shows why they love this character. Batman and Superman have these universally acclaimed and beloved stories in spades, but somehow, for some reason, Wonder Woman lacks this kind of comic.
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Superman and Batman have plenty of stories each that capture the essence of their character in such a way that it changes how everyone looks at them, and all future stories try to emulate the version of the character present within those pages. For the Man of Steel, the most obvious and immediate answer is All-Star Superman, which may very well be one of the greatest comics of all time. It captures the humanity and care Superman has so beautifully, and all Superman media looks to it in reverence. Similarly, if I were to name every defining Batman story we would be here all day and night. To name just the most popular, there are The Killing Joke, Batman: Year One, and The Dark Knight Returns, all of which are stories that show Batman at his most dark and caring, which is the purest embodiment of his character. These stories represent everything the characters stand for, and none of Wonder Woman’s stories have anywhere near this level of iconicness.
Wonder Woman’s Best Stories Don’t Measure Up
This is not to say that Wonder Woman lacks good or even great stories, but even the best among her catalogue pale in comparison to the level of grandeur the World’s Finests’ stories have. Whenever this question is brought up the same several contenders are mentioned, and for good reason, but each of them lacks something vital that pushes it over the edge from great to legendary. The Legend of Wonder Woman is a fantastic modern retelling and rework of Diana’s earliest Golden Age adventures set in World War II, but for a large portion of its criminally short run Wonder Woman was way too passive of a character. Wonder Woman: Year One is widely regarded as one of the best tellings of her origin, and while there is truth to that, the plot of the story very much feels like a watered down version of George Perez’s landmark run and is too rushed. Justice League Dark volume two is a great story led by Wonder Woman, but it’s far from a Wonder Woman focused story as she shares the spotlight with plenty of other characters.
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The closest thing people agree on as being the definitive Wonder Woman story is George Perez’s post-Crisis Wonder Woman volume two, which set the stage for how everyone would view the character forever onward. Its first arc, “Gods and Mortals” is as cited as the place to start reading the character. However, while this run is undeniably important for Wonder Woman’s history and mythos, it is also undeniably dated. Its storytelling structure is very, very text heavy in a way that only 1980s comics can be, and even ignoring that, sometimes it makes weird choices. Like how it aged-up Steve Trevor and made him into a father figure for Diana when every other version of the character has him as her main love interest, which is just bizarre and a little bit gross. And even then, this is an entire run, not one definitive story like the Batman and Superman ones mentioned above.
Why Doesn’t Wonder Woman Have an Iconic Story?
Despite her insane popularity and importance to the DC Universe, Wonder Woman seems incapable of having a story as iconic and defining as her contemporaries. Unfortunately, there may be a reason for that. If I were to ask a random person off the street what Batman or Superman’s origin story is, they could tell me most of the details with next to no issue. However, if I did the same with Wonder Woman, I am confident that I would be met with a lot more blank stares and non-confident guesses. Superman and Batman are deceptively simple characters with incredibly defined starting points. Just by looking at how the characters started you know exactly what they want and how they plan to achieve it, and from those starting points you can tell any number of stories because you know exactly who they are. Even when continuities are rewritten, their origins are so set in stone that nobody needs to retell them, we all already know.
Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has her origin retold and fundamentally changed what feels like every other year. Much like the other two, Wonder Woman is a character with clear and simple desires; she is a woman who embodies sisterhood, love, and the endless pursuit of peace in a world that tries to convince her it is not worth saving. And yet, every origin she is featured in keeps contradicting others and trying to one-up them. Wonder Woman’s stories keep poking and prodding at each other in an attempt to agree on why she is how she is, which keeps them from ever thinking about moving beyond that and showing us who she is. Nobody can agree on her past and some even argue over who she is, so nobody can charge ahead boldly with her future.
Of course, that can’t be the only reason keeping Wonder Woman from having this iconic story she deserves. But I don’t know what other reason there could be, aside from DC itself not being willing to invest in Wonder Woman as they should. She is one of their Big Three, a superhero who has inspired millions and can change the world with her stories, but she still doesn’t have the defining story that shows people who she is. Absolute Wonder Woman is shaping up to be just that, but I can’t in good conscience give that book the title, no matter how incredible it is, because it’s so fundamentally different from the main Wonder Woman. At the end of the day, Wonder Woman deserves a fantastic story, and we all need to take up arms and shout it from the rooftops until it happens.
