Joe Phillips

Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 3 collects Wonder Woman nos. 46-62, 168-169, 600, and War of the Gods nos. 1-4 featuring art primarily by Pérez and Jill Thompson. This volume begins on a more somber note than the other two, though it includes a celebration of sorts in Wonder Woman no. 50 before events begin building toward the War of the Gods. Pérez expertly builds toward this massive, DC-wide conflict while tying together various threads from his run, including the lost Amazon show more tribe of Bana-Mighdall, Circe, and Dr. Psycho to build to a massive conclusion in celebration of Wonder Woman’s 50th anniversary.

The War of the Gods ostensibly pits the Greek gods against their Roman counterparts, but soon the gods of various cultures as well as the New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips are drawn in by Circe’s magic. Only the actions of Wonder Woman and the Earth’s magicians can prevent the destruction of reality. This omnibus only collects the four War of the Gods issues and the Wonder Woman tie-in issues, though the story extended to include Superman: The Man of Steel, Hawkworld, Flash, Batman, and others. Editors’ notes and dialogue help to fill in the gaps. To further celebrate Wonder Woman’s anniversary and show the character’s significance to the DC Universe, Pérez boldly killed her during the conflict with Circe. While she naturally returned from the dead to give the story resolution, this precedes The Death of Superman by more than a year and the aftermath was handled better. In a good connection with Crisis on Infinite Earths – which Pérez illustrated – Harbinger and Pariah play a role in these events.

In this volume, Pérez draws upon the full repertoire of characters he created for his post-Crisis Wonder Woman series in these final issues as well as Donna Troy (Troia) from his other seire,s New Teen Titans. The various Amazons and Dr. Julia Kapatelis and her daughter, Vanessa, play key roles in Wonder Woman’s life and in the coming of conflict. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor and Etta Candy offer insight into the growing paranoia surrounding the Amazons in Patriarch’s World. Inspector Ed Indelicato helps to give the everyman’s perspective, while villains Ares, Circe, Cheetah, and Silver Swan all get their due. Pérez handed off writing to William Messner-Loebs after Wonder Woman no. 62, but he gave a good send-off, seeing Steve Trevor and Etta Candy get engaged, all return to normal with Julia and Vanessa, and WW attend Vanessa’s junior high graduation. The message of turning the page and looking to the future pervades and strikes the right note on which to end.

This volume includes three additional stories with Pérez’s involvement. Phil Jimenez worked with Pérez to plot the stories in Wonder Woman nos. 168-169, which focus on the repercussions of reuniting the Amazons of Themyscira and Bana-Mighdall. This story also tacitly references the Mighdall Amazons’ part in the events of the War of the Gods. Gail Simone wrote the story for Wonder Woman no. 600 with inspiration and art by Pérez. It’s a small vignette with Wonder Woman and various women superheroes finishing a battle before WW heads off to see Vanessa’s high school graduation and echoes the note on which Pérez ended Wonder Woman no. 62. This third omnibus also includes character profiles and pin-up art from Brian Bolland, Cynthia Martin, Linda Medley, and others.

Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 3 is a must-read for fans of both WW and of George Pérez. Jill Thompson’s art is stunning, evoking the best of the comic book medium and the perfect compliment to Pérez’s mythical prose. show less

Uninspiring retread of two TOS episodes, using the new 2009 cast and ship instead of the originals. Aside from a few small details, you might as well just rewatch the original versions of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "The Galileo Seven."

This is exactly why I don't want to see the next movie feature Khan, the Guardian of Forever, tribbles, or any other plot that Shatner's crew has already tackled. Boldly go where no TOS episode has gone before!

It’s nice to see comics coming back into fashion. There are so many new titles this year and Star Trek is one that promises to keep on coming. (Okay the titles may not be exactly new since so many of the lines seem to be based on popular shows/movies/games but you know what I mean.)
Based on the latest Star Trek movie, Mike Johnson continues the story with the characters as we know them from JJ Abrams imagining of the popular series.
I have to say that I’m not sure I like James T Kirk in show more this one. There’s nothing wrong with him except that he’s an arrogant idiot who really needs to pay more attention but then again he may have always been that way.
Any reader is going to guess what is going to happen when the Enterprise comes across a distress beacon out in space. The reports on the beacon claim there’s something out there and what does Kirk do but ask the crew to pick up the beacon and move forward at full speed. (You know right now what’s going to happen, don’t you?) I hate stupid people.
Aside from that, this is a good start to a new series. Not sure I’ll be in a hurry to pick up the next one but I did enjoy it and will most likely enjoy future issues. show less

These are neat tie-in novels to the Nu!Trek movies. They take episodes from the original series and revamp them to fit the new universe. It's great to see Gary Mitchell in the first story arc, and Janice Rand in the second. This volume is composed of the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and the "Galileo Seven" story lines. Read more after the page break.


Gary Mitchell was a year ahead of Captain Kirk in this continuity, and his friend at the Academy. When Kirk was suddenly promoted to be show more Captain of the Enterprise, he asked for both Mitchell and Kelso - also from this episode originally - to be transferred to the Enterprise. It's a clear set up for the story to take place as it did in the series.

And it really does. It's actually kind of odd that other than that bit about the Academy, everything is the same as the episode as far as I recall. The art is quite good, although Pine-as-Kirk's lips get big and weird, and kinda feminine.

Galileo Seven, on the other hand, departs from the episode, and it's all compliant with what has happened in the movies. It's a nice surprise, and stays quite true to the episode itself. Some scenes - and by some I mean 'many' - are lifted directly from the episode itself. The art gets kind of funky, though, and it distracted me. The characters change appearance slightly, and Spock is a little more puffy cheeked than Quinto. It's where the minus half star went, actually. Rand gets really weird at some parts in this, too!

Overall, good fun that stays true to the spirit of the original series, while being Nu!Trek compliant. I had a couple hours to kill in a Barnes and Noble, and this was a great way to spend half of that time. show less