The legend of Wonder Woman

*Starred Review* From her youth on the myth-soaked shores of Themyscira, to wartime America, where she's a stranger in a strange land, to the battlefields of WWII, where she will face climactic decisions that prove her compassion and heroism, Wonder Woman is afforded here a scale and scope usually reserved for her male cohorts. Collecting twenty-seven chapters of online material, this spacious, even epic, story affords room for both legend building and healthy doses of action, the supernatural, romance, and humor. While the dialogue is unusually crowded, this helps establish the charm and accessibility of the supporting cast, particularly the exuberant, thousand-words-a-minute Etta Candy. Diana herself is fully explored through her battles not just with her enemies but also with the various forces that seek to shape her destiny, giving her a nuanced and poignantly melancholy emotional life. The art has a slick digital sheen that gives the manga-influenced characters a modern glow, where a more classical style might have served the historical milieu better. But the contemporary feel will appeal to many, and the styles and backgrounds are well researched and authentic. It is the emotional authenticity, though, that enables Wonder Woman not simply to assume heroic traits that have been traditionally attributed to males, but to boldly transmute them into truly universal qualities.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2017 Booklist