My Favorite Panels: An Alternate Origin for Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman turns 70 this year, and as a comic book icon she has received many retellings of her origin over the years. Despite its many iterations, that origin largely follows certain constants (except, oddly, in her blockbuster movie): Themiscyra holds a contest to choose a champion to visit the outside world, Princess Diana dons a disguise to enter the competition after her mother has forbidden it, she wins and becomes the ambassador of her people. The details change, but the general theme stays the same. But of all the different retellings of this origin, one of my favorites comes from Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman #4.

My Favorite Panels: Sonja is Everybody’s Type

Red Sonja is one of my favorite sword and sorcery characters. Her adventures have a similar feel to Conan the Barbarian’s, but I feel like she has more wit and wile as a character. Part of that comes from her status as a woman in a genre that has a lot of inherent misogyny. In the Robert E. Howard motif, women can be victims or rewards for dashing heroes, but very rarely get to be heroic themselves.

However, there has traditionally been a major problem with Red Sonja, and it is unfortunately tied to her origin story.

My Favorite Panels: Lex’s Realization

Comics are a visual medium, and one panel can leave an impression that lasts a lifetime. With that in mind, I thought I would run through some of my favorite comic book panels of all time.

I begin the journey with one of my favorite comics ever, All Star Superman. I think it’s the best Superman story ever written, and it may be one of the best comics ever. Any given page of this 12-issue series is a work of art, but my favorite panel is rather understated.