I'm isolating this particular selection because it reminds me of two features that struck me as noteworthy.
1. This is easily the hardest physique rendition I've seen of Diana.
I know it's struck some other people that way. I'm wondering, not for the first time, if one of the 52 writers was similarly impressed.
I don't mean the current DC Universe when I say 52, either.
I refer instead to the Countdown series.
There, some powerful villain managed to compel several versions of particular heroes to fight each other, often to the finish.
Wonder Woman was one such character, forced to fight different versions of herself to see which one was superior.
Despite having nothing that I can identify as true fight experience, this particular Wonder Woman, featured in the Elseworlds titled Amazonia, won. I cannot be sure, but I'm guessing the writer partly, perhaps even subconsciously, chose that result due to the way she is drawn here. She LOOKS physically stronger and harder than the bulk of many superheroines, almost like something carved of marble.
This is communicated despite the true warmth, joy, and deference Diana shows to nearly everyone that she is not absolutely obligated to battle in this story.
The artists did a remarkable job, visually.
2. On a note related to the above, the art does a remarkable simulation of "flamelit" lighting. Seems like it really WOULD be what observers from that angle would see watching a person onstage back then.
The illusion is dependent somewhat on size I note, however.
Enlargements, so useful for appreciating the work of other comicbook artists, don't work so well for the scans here.
I would go so far as to say that it loses some of its magic quality when you get too close ...
Of course, such is the case for many things related to real-life theatrical productions, too.
Source: Amazonia , DC, 1997, William Messner-Loebs, Paul Kupperberg and Phil Winslade
The main challenger to Amazonia's claim.
The artwork of Aaron Lopresti.
Aaron is one of the few pencillers who goes not for cheescake, but true athleticism. Diana here has the look of many a true and elite sports competitor. Many of the world class CrossFit participants, for instance, look a lot like this, and perhaps more than a few Olympic Event challengers.
You can BELIEVE Diana has what it takes to overcome tough challenges when seeing her body drawn this way.
A welcome sight; I'm hopeful Lopresti will get pencilling duties for the character again sometime in the future.
I mustn't get too lazy here. Here is the ref info for that construct-shatter scene:
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Source: Justice League #11, Volume 2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Jim Lee
Date: September 2012
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http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Justice_League_Vol_2_11
I discovered the identity of the model used in my "Diana the Hoplite" submission above. Seems very appropriate given my discussion of Aaron Lopresti, the models he seemed to preference when drawing Diana, and Olympian figures ...
Rachel Yurkovich at Hayward Field. Eugene, Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c35BBI8XrO4
I've done visual side-by-sides between characters before.
Not sure if I've done side-by-sides of the same character drawn by different artists.
I believe there were actually 2 artists handling Amazonia's sketches. Can't be sure if it were a tandem effort for each panel or if they divided overall selections between each other.
At any rate Paul Kupperberg and/or Phil Winslade Wonder Woman versus Aaron Lopresti Wonder Woman.
Chiselled, semi-classic, like unto marble on the left side.
Versus modern world-class CrossFit, in the style of, say, Miranda Oldroyd, Julie Foucher, or Annie Mist Thorisdottir, on the right.
Can't help but wonder where modern comicbook artists look to for their models nowadays. Lopresti's drawings are so much more realistic than that of most of his peers that I'm thinking he MUST have real-life people to refer to when he does this...