I've spoken elsewhere about how crappy and unloved DC's Secret Files were, but I have affection for them because of all their quirky, value-added qualities. See, the JLA could and often did support a yearly edition, between all their members, tie-in books, and the like. Characters like Green Lantern and the Flash had more trouble, based on singular series with fewer satellites, but they were popular enough that the demand was there. I expect the Wonder Woman editions were based more around some sort of moral imperative. The main series was selling less than 40K a month, and her second SF&O only brought in half that.
An initial edition was easy, since it was the first round of profile pages for the Amazing Amazon and her cast since the early '90s, before characters like Artemis and Cassie Sandsmark had even been created. Here's a tour guide of Paradise Island, there's a timeline of post-Zero Hour history, and why not a feature on the new invisible spaceship. That one sold as well as a regular issue, but I guess John Byrne's faithful 20,000 readers left with him the following year.
New writer Eric Luke was revisiting the Titans of legend, so reintroductions and a lot of splash pages filled out a lead story. The Wonder Woman profile page seen above, written by Joanna Sandsmark with art by Phil Jimenez, basically summarized the previous year's storyline. There were a few new villains, a look at the Wonderdome (don't ask,) and a stroll through Donna Troy's messed-up continuity (which could have been a volume unto itself.) You kind of knew they were running out of steam when the last page was a pin-up and a corny passage on the "Code of the Amazons." It's a shame that Wonder Woman SF&Os excluded the mini-Chase continuation by co-creator D. Curtis Johnson, featuring his DEO agent investigating the DCU.
It took three years to reach #3, with a lead written by Jimenez re-retelling the story of the Amazons with the many retcons that had been invented inserted into the chronology. The profile ballooned to two+ page spreads heavy on text, possibly inspired by Jimenez's work on the big hardcover DC Encyclopedia. It was quite comprehensive, and it's no surprise Jimenez finally became involved with a Wonder Woman encyclopedia (which is awesome, by the way.)
Origins of Secret Files
- Aquaman @ The Aquaman Shrine
- The Atom @ Power of the Atom
- Doctor Fate @ Tower of Fate
- Firestorm @ Firestorm Fan
- Green Lantern @ The Indigo Tribe
- Hawkman @ Being Carter Hall
- Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
- Renee Montoya @ Who is the Question?
- Phantom Stranger @ I Am The Phantom Stranger
- Steel @ DC Bloodlines
- Suicide Squad @ Subject: Task Force X
- Supergirl @ Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
- Zatanna @ Justice League Detroit
Mount Etna. Hephaestus opened his arsenal up to Diana, but found her choices of blades and armor archaic. “It’s how I was raised…” Lennox and Eros were ready to join her in storming the underworld, but were refused, if for no other reason than as a safeguard if she and her escort Hermes failed to return. Against Eros’ protestations, Hephaestus took his golden twin automatics. “She’ll bring them back. Won’t you… Wonder Woman?”
Diana and Hermes were surprised to find themselves in a seemingly desolate replica of London with gloomy red skies. “The underworld is governed by Hades’ whims and imagination. As they change, so does his realm.” So the underworld was never the same twice over Hermes’ many visits. Further, all the matter in this realm were made up of the souls of the dead, laid down like brick and mortar. Most were serene about the matter, but some statues shed their metal shells to become skinless centurions riding muscle-horses to charge the intruders. The hands of the souls making up the streets grabbed at Diana and Hermes’ ankles. The god didn’t need help from the Amazon, and so sent Diana to find her missing friend Zola while he held off Hades’ forces. Wonder Woman was too busy facing a swarm of Hades’ proxies to get far, so the duo fought their way to a brief respite before continuing on together.
Following a light, the heroes found a dark reflection of Zola’s farm, which she was prepared to defend by shotgun. The friends were reunited, but because of the difference in the passage of time in the underworld, Zola was much further along in her pregnancy than when she left Earth. Hades arrived, demanding that he be given a queen he’d been promised in an earlier negotiation, preferably Hera. Diana had lied about that, but Hades offered her forgiveness and free passage for Zola and her unborn child in exchange for Eros’ love guns. Diana agreed, only to be struck by a bullet that passed through her guarding bracelet and into her chest. Hermes and Zola departed, while Hades stated his intention to marry what was left of Diana…
“Casting Shadows” was by Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang. I can see what all the fuss is about this book. The art is very pretty, and the story is solidly cinematic. I just don’t care for the choices the writer has made with regard to interpretations of characters established three quarters of a century before this run. Also, the storytelling is decompressed to the point where even if I did like the places being traveled to, I'd still whine after each briskly read issue “are we there yet?” I’ve said it before, but once again, Wonder Woman chopping up a Bodyworlds exhibit and having an adolescent with a candle for a head plotting conjugal relations with her corpse is not the book I’m looking for.
New 52's Day
