Wonder Woman: The Circle by Gail Simon, Terry Dodson and Bernard Chang

Wonder Woman, also known as Princess Diana of Themiscyra, was not truly born of her mother, the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. Instead, she was sculpted of clay and animated by the forces of the gods themselves. But she was also gifted with a soul.

Her birth did not pass unremarked among the Amazons, however. Before Diana was born or concieved in the mind of her mother, Hippolyta chose four personal quardswomen from among the Amazons. There were not the most beautiful, feared or skilled, but four women chosen from among the Huntresses, Fisherwomen, Keepers of the Royal Menagerie and one woman, only one, was Captain of the Royal Guard.

Isolation from men had an effect on the Amazons. Most of them craved children, and some were driven almost mad by the lack of progeny. For even as they were warriors, they were also women, and craved to be mothers. But other Amazons disdained children and those among the Amazons who wished for them. Seeking after children, they felt, would destroy the Amazons. Sadly, the Amazons the Queen chose for her Royal Guard felt that way. So when the Queen petitioned the Gods for a daughter, they viewed it as an abomination, something that would destroy the Amazons, and the child as a demon.

When Hippolyta showed the Amazons her child, her personal guard made plans to kill the child. But Hippolyta foiled their plans and imprisoned the women beneath Themiscyra. Every year, she visits them to see if they will repent their views. But they will not, preventing the Queen from forgiving their crime.

Now, forces of the Nazi regime, led by Captain Nazi, have landed on the island, since the Amazons, except for Queen Hippolyta, have been banished from Themiscyra. Wonder Woman is also banished, and she petitions many Gods for aid in reaching her homeland. But none will help her, some because they are afraid of the Greek Gods, others because they are simply not powerful enough to help, until she goes to Kane Miohai and pledges to serve him above all other gods and be his champion when he asks her to be. And he agrees to aid her, lending her his token and a magical Scallop shell to become a boat that will take her anywhere she needs to go.

Diana lands on the island with several intelligent Gorillas from Gorilla City, who were lied to by General Grodd and attacked her. But she befriended them and now they are fighting on her side. Meanwhile, Hippolyta has been fighting to defend the island on her own, and been shot down just before her daughter's arrival. But can Diana reach her mother in time?

Even if she can, she will have to fight her mother's former personal guard, freed by the Nazis to help them take over the island and fight Diana. And unlike the Nazis, who merely wield laser guns and cannons, the former guardswomen are fighting with weapons constructed by the Greek Gods, unbreakable by ordinary means. Can Diana overcome them and make them see the error of their ways?

Then, Diana is approached by the Khund for help. Recently, a ship burrowed into the center of their homeworld, causing many deaths and putting their world at risk. They beseech Wonder Woman, in their own way, to help them against this threat. But the threat is real... and they are the ones who have caused it. Can Wonder Woman deal with an extremely pissed-off Green Lantern and make peace between him, the aliens and the Khunds, before the Khunds destroy their own home world to get rid not only of the aliens and the Green Lantern, but also Wonder Woman, one of their greatest foes?

This was a really wonderful graphic novel, with Diana portrayed exactly as she should be. Like Mercedes Lackey, the writer who wrote the foreword to the book, I, too, had problems with Wonder Woman when I was growing up. She was almost literally a Goddess, but when she was in her secret persona of Diana Prince, she turned into a glorified secretary to a man, Steve Trevor, and had to prop up his male ego by saving him when he was knocked out or in some other way incapacitated.

This graphic novel goes a long way towards redeeming Wonder Woman, and turning her back into the Goddess she was meant to be. Diana is as ruthless in battle as any Amazon could hope to be, but she is not completely ruthless to the point of killing her enemies. She would rather redeem them with love and forgiveness, even if they have harmed her. But even when she does so, she does it without seeming weak or wishy-washy, and if her offer is spurned, she will continue to hold out hope for peace.

Even the Nazis are allowed to surrender and leave the island, and she tries to make peace with her mother's former bodyguards, but as they did with her mother, they reject the offer. But like her mother, she simply imprisons them, and they will again be offered the chance at redemption once a year, even if they refuse it time after time.

I like this Princess Diana, and even the man she is falling in love with, a fellow agent who treats her as both someone who is just as good as he is and as a woman who is his equal. And while most of the romances among her people are between two women, she and her love must learn to adapt.

For revivifying and returning the Amazon Princess to the sort of woman she ought to be, I salute Gail Simon, and this graphic novel, which has managed to turn Diana Prince into a woman to be proud of, but also Etta Candy, no longer the "fat girl", but another female operative who can kick butt with the best of them. And for that, I heartily salute them both!