Wonder Woman #17 (June 1988)

With 2021 on the way, I found myself wondering what comic I should talk about for my first review of 2021. 2020 was easy, but this year, not so much. Luckily, providence provided some inspiration. Wonder Woman 1984 had just released, so I figured "Why not look at another Wonder Woman comic"? I did spend the last year looking at her Twelve Labors, but I didn't think the stories were that great. So, it was another opportunity to return to an era of greatness for the Amazing Amazon: The George Perez era. As such, let's join the Amazing Amazon as she returns to the homeland of her gods' worshippers in Wonder Woman #17! 

The cover is a George Perez piece, and it's pretty spectacular. It depicts Wondy throwing up the Amazon salute in a Greek temple. What's unique about this cover is that it's done in front of a...sunrise? Sunset? Either way, it's composed to cover Wonder Woman and the temples in shadows.

"Traces"
Writer: George Perez
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Karen Berger
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins on a cold winter morning at Wakefield, Massachusetts. 

Our heroine is getting ready for a nice trip to Greece. Sun, sand, surf, and of course, the gyros! I wanna try a gyro...wrapped lamb meat...

Any way! Diana is able to go thanks to a special passport from the U.N. provided by Etta Candy. The two discuss their feelings towards Steve Trevor. Etta mistakenly believed Diana had a thing for him, but it turned out that was hardly the case. Diana admits she herself was a bit envious of Steve. Upstairs, young Vanessa Kapatelis is chatting to her friend Eileen. Teen girl gossip, that kind of thing.

Their gossip is over a teenage boy named Barry. Eileen is trying to warn her that Barry is only into her because he wants to meet Wonder Woman. Yup, teenage romance in a superhero universe. You gotta love it. Steve Trevor returns from packing up the car, where he found a little feathered friend.

It's a messenger pigeon, coming all the way to Boston from Themyscira. It brings some mail from Hippolyta, Wondy's mother. Things are fine in Themyscira...well, except for a weird storm that ended as quick as it came. Their oracle Menalippe had sensed some unease from Olympus, but she said Di herself was okay.

The Amazons have also been debating where they should open up Themyscira to the world. They've learned quite a bit about the outside world thanks to Diana sending them pictures and books from Man's World. Honestly, I would have suggested that she send them Kurt Busiek/George Perez Avengers. That alone would convince them that Man's World is worth talking to.

Steve Trevor hopes that Hippolyta's forgiven him for nearly bombing the island, and Diana's like, "She knew Ares screwed with your head, so she's cool about it." Etta Candy is curious about something. How was Hippolyta able to write so much on such a small parchment. It turns out the Amazons have a pictogram-based alphabet. By arranging certain symbols and using colored inks, they can literally say a lot with two characters.

That's some language. Diana writes back a response. And with that, Steve and Etta see our heroine off to Greece, accompanied by Vanessa Kapatelis. So, remember when Menalippe sensed some unease from Olympus? How are the Greek Gods doing?

"We should've just given Darkseid his money..."

Yeesh. What did they do last night?! Well, basically Darkseid brought his idea of a party to Olympus. And by "party" I mean he attacked and wrecked the place. This happened in Action Comics #600 (May 1988). Heracles wants to fight back, but Zeus warns him that despite his great strength, even he can't face the tyrant of Apokolips alone. The Gods debate on what to do next, but Hermes is seemingly more interested in Earth at the moment. Maybe he's feeling a bit of cosmic ennui, he's feeling a bit tired of being a god...

Back on Earth, Di and Nessie arrive in Greece, where Nessie's mother Julia and a friend are waiting for them. The friend is Stavros Christadoulodou, a noted epigraphist. Basically, he studies writing. Yes, that's an actual thing. Diana is going to have a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister and attend a diplomatic banquet, do some speeches, talk with the press, yada yada yada. But after that, Di can go do what she wants.

A nervous man carrying a rolled-up piece of paper is watching Diana. He has to reach the Amazing Amazon. He has to tell her something very important...but he's being watched.

Giving Mittens Olympian catnip was a horrible mistake...

Beasts. Beasts with red eyes. Eyes matching the blood they seek. They pursue the man and manage to reach him. I think your imagination can fill in the rest. Back in Boston, Mindy Mayer (Remember her from my review of Wonder Woman #20?) is summoning her assistant Christine "Chrissie" Fenton.

Mama needs her liquor! Mindy's been having some troubles with her firm. Fenton believes "Skeeter" LaRue is behind the firm's problems, but Mindy won't hear a word of it. Elsewhere, a man named Mikos is talking to a mysterious woman about Diana. The woman is worried that Diana may be an actual Amazon, and that she's heading to the Ionian island of Cephalonia. Mikos assures her that if our heroine does show her face in the woman's domain...she'll be leaving in pieces.

The next morning, Diana is at the Acropolis, presumably the one in Athens. Diana feels the presence of the gods in the Parthenon. Seeing the ruins gives her a sense of understanding of the loss the gods felt when man moved away from worshipping them. 

Our heroine continues on through her tour of Greece. She looks over the various ruins of temples and shrines to her gods and goddesses. She and her party take a boat through the Ionian Sea, which allows her and Julia Kapatelis to bond a bit. Julia and Vanessa visit Greece every year because Julia is Greek by birth. She even married her late husband, an archaeologist named David, in Greece. Diana notices one of the islands. She asks if that's Cephalonia, but Julia says it isn't. It's a private island owned by a reclusive billionaire. The Amazon princess senses something odd about that island. There's something there, beckoning her, and making her feel...cold. Very cold.

The feeling makes Diana collapse like a house of cards.

Caffeine affects Amazons...differently...

Stavros glances at the island and mutters the word "magia", meaning "curse". The woman watches the boat, saying that was the Amazon's first warning. On Cephalonia itself, a group of shepherds find the body of a dead man. He looks like he was mauled by a wolf. But there are no wolf tracks nearby, just the footprints of the men and their sheep. But one of the sheep...looks a little odd...

"Coming this Summer. The Gyros...eat YOU."

I've read the issues after this one, and I think I have something to look at for Halloween 2021...

I really liked this issue. George Perez is given lots of due credit as an artist, but I think this series shows that he could write pretty well, too. We get some nice character moments, and some great setup for a potentially very scary mystery. We also get plenty of bonding moments between Julia and Diana, and we also get to learn a but more about the past of Diana's first post-Crisis human friend. What's also neat is that we get a peek into the Amazons' culture. It's really neat learning that the Amazons communicate through a form of pictogram. It would have been cool if they managed to release a actual language like they did with Interlac.

And as always, Perez turns in some spectacular art. I don't think I can say anything that everyone else hasn't already said about it. It's fantastic.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we join the Avengers in their biggest adventure...