Wonder Woman #1
Wonder Woman #1 (vol. 2, 1987) marks the complete post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reinvention of DC's most enduring superheroine, wiping all prior continuity and building an entirely new mythological foundation rooted in serious scholarship of Greek legend. George Pérez and Greg Potter reframed Diana not merely as a superhero but as an emissary of Amazonian ideals into a violent patriarchal world, a thematic shift that elevated the character's cultural weight and made this run the artistic benchmark against which every subsequent Wonder Woman creative team has been measured. The issue introduced a cluster of new supporting characters — Philippus, Menalippe, and Aella — who became enduring pillars of Themysciran society, and its clay-born origin for Diana became the definitive version for decades of readers, filmmakers, and adaptors. DC has returned to this issue twice with facsimile editions (2020 and 2023), a testament to its status as the foundational text of the modern Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman #1 (1987) kicks off with a mythic origin as the Olympian goddesses craft the Amazons to guide humanity, only for their purpose to be twisted by Ares. When Queen Hippolyte longs for a child, she shapes one from clay—animated by the gods and named Diana—and raises her on Themyscira. As Diana grows, she is chosen to become the Amazon champion, sent into the outside world to face Ares’ latest threat. With George Pérez’s dynamic art and a bold new creative team, this landmark issue redefines Wonder Woman’s mythos with rich storytelling and striking visuals.
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The genesis of this series began not with Pérez but with writer Greg Potter, who spent months in pre-production with editor Janice Race developing a post-Crisis direction before Pérez — fresh off his co-creation of the New Teen Titans and his landmark work on Crisis on Infinite Earths itself — joined as co-writer and sole artist. Potter departed after issue #2, leaving Pérez as plotter with Len Wein scripting finished dialogue; editor Karen Berger, who would later shepherd DC's Vertigo imprint, shaped the book's feminist and humanist underpinnings through direct creative conversations with Pérez. Pérez has described the research investment publicly, noting his shelves filled with reference works on Greek mythology, armor, hairstyles, and period attitudes, and he included a personal editorial on the interior front cover of the original printing to frame his intentions for readers. What was initially projected as a six-month commitment grew into a nearly five-year run that extended through issue #62.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: February 1987; actual on-sale date: October 14, 1986 (DC vol. 2, #1). Story title: 'The Princess and the Power!'
- Creative team: written by Greg Potter and George Pérez; pencils and inks by George Pérez; colors by Tatjana Wood; letters by John Costanza; edited by Karen Berger; wraparound cover art by George Pérez.
- First in-continuity Post-Crisis appearance and complete origin retelling of Wonder Woman (Princess Diana) and Queen Hippolyta — all prior Wonder Woman continuity was erased by Crisis on Infinite Earths before this issue launched.
- First appearance of Philippus (Queen Hippolyta's chief general and Amazon military commander, created by Pérez and Potter) and first appearance of Menalippe (the Amazon oracle who serves as the gods' conduit to Hippolyta).
- First appearance of Aella, an Amazon warrior of Themyscira, in Post-Crisis continuity.
- The issue provides the origin of the Amazons as a whole: the goddesses Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Hestia, and Demeter pool their power to reincarnate the souls of women slain by men into adult Amazon bodies; Hippolyte and Antiope are the first reborn and are gifted golden girdles as marks of leadership.
- Theseus appears alongside Heracles in the key flashback sequence depicting the sacking of Themyscira — the issue establishes that Ares manipulated Heracles into the attack, with Theseus pursuing Antiope during the betrayal.
- The issue has been reprinted multiple times: in the 2000 Millennium Edition, the 2004 trade paperback 'Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals,' the 2015 George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 1, 'Wonder Woman: A Celebration of 75 Years' (2016), and two DC Facsimile Editions (December 2020 and October 2023).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Supermán #40 (1988), Wonder Woman #1 (1988), Justice League [Lega della Giustizia] #1 (1990), Justice League [Lega della Giustizia] #2 (1990), Millennium Edition: Wonder Woman #1 (Second Series) #[nn] (2000), Spécial DC #21 (2003), Wonder Woman #1 (2004), Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus #[1] (2015), DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection #51 (2016), Wonder Woman by George Pérez #1 (2016), Wonder Woman: A Celebration of 75 Years #[nn] (2016), Wonder Woman 1 (1987) Facsimile Edition #[nn] (2020), Wonder Woman 1 (1987) (Facsimile Edition) #[nn] (2023)
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