By Landry Q. Walker

DK Books, out now

A broadly chronological guide to Wonder Woman’s lives and times.

With the superhero movies coming thick and fast this year, DK are keeping up with guides to the comic books upon whom they’re based, and after the recent Guardians of the Galaxy, we switch universes to DC with Landry Walker’s detailed examination of Wonder Woman.

Rather than simply relay events in order, Walker has something of a thematic approach, using key personnel, villains, storylines and issues to highlight how much of Wonder Woman has stayed constant across the decades since she was created, but yet how much has altered. Is she a fighter for peace or a warrior, willing to take steps that neither Superman nor Batman will? Is she part god, or something completely different? The multiple changes in the DC timelines over the years are explained concisely (in fact, this has one of the best quick guides to the Crisis, Flashpoint and the New 52 that I’ve read) and the relevant deviations in the “established” storyline delineated.

It’s by no means dry text – one character’s powers are described as “being awesome” – and Walker has ensured that there’s a strong narrative thrust so that, like Wonder Woman’s followers across the years, you want to know what happens next.

Verdict: A very useful and well-constructed guide. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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