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One of the very first female superheroes, Wonder Woman stands as a paragon of virtue and compassion in a world full of lies and exploitation. Many of her greatest stories involve her trying her best to make the right choices for the sake of both her Amazonian sisters and for humanity.
10) “Paradise Lost”
A storyline encompassing several great tales, “Paradise Lost,” has Wonder Woman face several major threats. The first crisis is that several of Batman’s most notorious villains, the Joker, Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy, had their abilities significantly enhanced by the cruel Greek gods Phobos, Deimos, and Eris. Diana teams up with the Bat-Family to take on the god-powered villains who are wreaking havoc in Gotham City. Things go from bad to worse, however, when Themyscira breaks out into civil war, and Diana desperately tries to end the conflict. Not only does “Paradise Lost” present a storyline in which the stakes continually escalate, but it also offers a fascinating analysis of who Diana is as a person and her role in the world.
9) “The Circle”
In this fascinating storyline, “The Circle,” takes Wonder Woman back to her roots and offers an interesting shift in her role as an agent of the Department of Metahuman Affairs, where she meets her new love interest, special agent Tom Tresser. The story presents an intriguing new perspective on the period leading up to Diana’s birth. The titular Circle is an alliance of Amazons who believed that Diana’s creation would doom Themyscira. In the modern day, Diana’s role in the DMA leads to fighting Neo-Nazi who have invaded Themyscira. However, upon returning to her homeland, Diana finds herself confronted by the Circle, who won’t rest until she’s dead. “The Circle” is a wild and captivating ride that examines Diana’s relationship with her mother, Hippolyta.
8) “The Twelve Labors”
Like Hercules, Wonder Woman herself must undertake twelve impossible labors. After a previous storyline in which Diana lost and eventually regained her powers at the expense of her memories, the Amazon questions if she’s worthy of rejoining the Justice League. Diana asks her former teammates to observe her over the subsequent twelve missions to see if her memory loss has affected her ability to fight crime. What follows is twelve epic challenges in which Diana must use her strength and wits to prove herself to her fellow superheroes while also trying to reclaim her lost memories. It’s a fun story that cleverly modernizes the classic Greek myth in a superhero setting, while also showing off why Wonder Woman is one of DC Comics’ strongest and most determined heroes.
7) “Challenge of the Gods”
Since Ancient Greece, countless women have fallen victim to Zeus’s lust, and Wonder Woman eventually finds herself the latest target of the god’s depraved affection. Naturally, Diana spurns Zeus’s advances and proposal for marriage, which enrages the King of Olympus. In retaliation, Zeus forces the Amazonian hero to battle all manner of demons and monsters, including the Hydra and Hecatoncheires. “Challenge of the Gods” also introduces the third and greatest Cheetah of all time, Barbara Ann Minerva, who quickly cements herself as one of Diana’s most fearsome adversaries. This storyline has Wonder Woman face her most significant challenges in a battle of mythical proportions that has a long-lasting effect on her lore.
6) JLA: A League of One
In one of the best stories that emphasizes why Wonder Woman is an integral member of the Justice League, the Princess of Themyscira must battle her friends to save them from destruction. When Diana learns of a prophecy where the members of the Justice League will all die facing a powerful dragon, she takes matters into her own hands. To spare her friends’ lives, she incapacitates them one by one, leaving only herself to battle the dragon. Diana is fully prepared to die fighting the mythical beast if it means that the rest of the Justice League members get to live. It’s a fantastic story of sacrifice that perfectly encapsulates the selfless hero Wonder Woman is.
