By Sharon Gosling

Titan Books, out now

A stunning souvenir of the blockbuster film…

Director Patty Jenkins provides the foreword for Sharon Gosling’s in depth look at the making of the movie that’s finally breathed life into the DC cinematic universe. Appropriately using comic book art for its interior cover pages, the book acknowledges the wealth of material that was available to the film makers from 75 years of stories, with everything from 1940s illustrations to Alex Ross portraits emphasising the link.

After an introduction that covers the basic setting up of the movie, the first section covers Themyscira, Wonder Woman’s paradise home, and the various concepts that were drawn up and incorporated with the live action footage shot in Southern Italy. There’s plenty of input from production designer Aline Bonetto, whose knowledge of the original DC comics clearly helped the transition from the printed page to the screen, as well as other key production personnel. After the various locations on the island are discussed, Gosling turns her attention to the people, starting with Diana herself (including the younger version), and their armour, before dealing with a couple of the big stunts – the cliff jump and the beach battle. Concept art, behind the scenes shots and final frames are very well amalgamated – Amazing 15 once again demonstrating their talents – with nothing feeling overexposed or underused.

The trip to London follows (still not explaining how long it takes or quite why Themyscira is – something Nancy Holder similarly glosses over in her novelisation) with some interesting revelations about why certain digital replacements were made. This is the right place for the proper introduction of Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor, as well as Lucy Davis’ Etta Candy. The book changes tone here to match the colour palette of the movie – far darker and greyer – as Diana enters the War Rooms and meets Sir Patrick and the team that will accompany her and Steve on the mission.

We also finally get to meet the other side at this point, with information on the real General Ludendorff, as well as the fictional Dr Poison, one of Wonder Woman’s earliest enemies in the comic books. Gosling then charts the rest of the movie (including confirmation regarding the sword Diana wears at the gala!), although everything after the gala is dealt with quite quickly. This may avoid spoilers for those who’ve yet to see the film but it means there’s no discussion of the key plot points, and makes the ending feel rather rushed.

Verdict: Engagingly written and beautifully presented, this is a great memento of the movie. 9/10

Paul Simpson