Fun story with gorgeous, sexy artwork. Very '90's. ( )

William Messner-Loebs & Mike Deodato, Jr.’s Wonder Woman: The Contest collects issues nos. 90, 0, 91-93 of Wonder Woman volume 2. George Pérez began volume 2 of the title in 1987 after the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot and handed off the title to Messner-Loebs with issue no. 63, which appeared four months after Pérez’s issue no. 62. As the architect of this series, Pérez would return for nos. 168-169, but Messner-Loebs wrote the series full-time from issue no. 63 through no. 100 (with Joey Cavalieri guest-writing issue no. 65, Christopher Priest guest-writing issues nos. 88-89).

The story picks up after events in which Diana nearly destroyed Boston to save Vanessa Kapatelis (in issues 85-87). Meanwhile, Circe tricked the Lost Tribe of the Amazons into attacking Themyscira before turning on them and sending the entire island nation into a demon dimension. The two Amazon tribes joined forces and fought the monsters they found there before Themyscira was returned. Time, however, passed differently in the demon dimension. Diana had been cut off from Themyscira for months, while ten years passed for the Amazons.

After their experiences, Queen Hippolyta allowed the Lost Tribe to remain on Themyscira, but only in a portion of the island. Feeling that Diana has failed to uphold her duties and keep true to the Themyscirian values of peace, Hippolyta calls for a new Contest to determine who will be the Wonder Woman. Initially, she bans the Lost Tribe from participating, but Diana convinces her to give them a chance. Artemis, on of their leaders, brings Diana to a shrine to the Lost Tribe’s founder, Antiope, who looks exactly like Diana. When Diana begins having visions, she doubts her mother’s version of Themyscirian history and, despite her best efforts, loses the Challenge. Artemis becomes the new Wonder Woman while Diana turns her back on home, returning to Boston to find a way to help people without being Wonder Woman.

Messner-Loebs’ story establishes that the title of Wonder Woman is transferrable to others, similar to the “Knightfall” storyline that appeared between 1993 and 1995 in which Jean-Paul Valley became Batman. Messner-Loebs continued to portray Artemis as Wonder Woman for the remainder of his time on the title, with Diana wearing a modified version of her costume consisting of biker shorts, bralet, and jacket. Later, Hippolyta herself would become Wonder Woman. Messner-Loebs also took the opportunity to retell parts of Wonder Woman’s origin, with issue no. 0 featuring a flashback of the first Challenge in which Diana won the right to travel to Patriarch’s World as Wonder Woman. His changes to the Amazons’ history similarly differentiate his work from that of Pérez, while Deodato, Jr.’s art typifies the style prevalent in the early- to mid-1990s, with heavy shading and hyper-detailed musculature. Further, his depiction of the Amazons and their garb breaks from Pérez’s efforts to interpret ancient Greek clothing, instead featuring more pin-up looks that highlight his Amazons’ long legs, narrow waists, and large busts. The style was particularly popular in the 1990s and Deodato, Jr. executes it well, though it may be jarring to see such a different style after the one Pérez established on the title. Volume 2 changed writers several times, however, and each took their own approach with the character.

Wonder Woman volume 2 continued until 2006 under a handful of different writers: John Byrne took over writing with issue no. 101 and continued through no. 136; he was succeeded by Eric Luke, who wrote issues no. 139-152 and 156-159 (Christopher Priest guest wrote nos. 137-138 Mark Millar guest-wrote no. 153, and Doselle Young guest-wrote nos. 154-155). Following Eric Luke, Brian K. Vaughan wrote nos. 160-161 and Ben Raab wrote nos. 162-163. They were succeeded by Phil Jimenez, who wrote nos. 164-188, co-writing 164 with J.M. DeMatteis, co-writing 168 with George Pérez (who wrote 169 solo), and co-writing 170 with Joe Kelly. Walt Simonson wrote nos. 189-194 and Greg Rucka finished out volume 2, writing nos. 195-226.

Wonder Woman: The Contest will be of interest to Wonder Woman collectors as the story remains a fan-favorite and, even after subsequent reboots, several of these characters remain in continuity. The individual issues are difficult to find, so this will be a good way for fans to get most of the story. A modern collection would likely include more of the issues leading up to and following this particular 5-issue storyline. ( )

It's your average 90s DC story. Not a bad one, but also, now, a decade plus later it just seems a bit off (something that doesn't happen with the really, classic stories, this one isn't a classic).

So Hippolyta decides that Diana isn't doing the whole 'Wonder Woman' thing 'right' in the man's world, and so she has a new contest to see who goes back to the patriarch's world. And Artemis, and Amazon from a 'lost' tribe that got banished to Earth and recently came back to Paradise Island, is Diana's biggest competitor.

The story was okay, if a little hokey, but with the art nearly all the Amazons' faces looked the same and that drove me quite crazy. ( )