Just Imagine: Stan Lee and Jim Lee's Wonder Woman

Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee Creating Wonder Woman
Writer: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jim Lee
Inks: Scott Williams
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Cover: Jim Lee, Williams, Sinclair

“On the Street”
Plot: Michael Uslan
Dialogue: Stan Lee and Uslan
Pencils: Gene Colan
Inks: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Editor: Mike Carlin
Released: Aug. 15, 2001

Round 2 of DC's Just Imagine series brings us Stan Lee's version of Wonder Woman alongside Jim Lee, an artist I would call a legend except that I was reading comics when he burst onto the scene and that makes me feel old.*

Speaking of legends, the story opens with Manco Capac, a figure from Incan mythology, emerging from Lake Titicaca** to search for the destined location of the city of Cuzco. He does this by placing a golden staff into the ground because a) that's how the legend goes and b) in Lee's design, his eyes are covered, so I guess he can't just look for the right spot.

The story flashes forward to contemporary Cuzco, a series of ruins being pillaged by the wealthy Armando Guitez. There we find our main character, Maria Mendoza, whose alliterative name was no doubt stipulated in Stan's contract. She's warned to leave by Steve Trevor, an archaeologist working for Guitez but also attempting to make sure any artifacts recovered go to museums to be properly preserved. Trevor thinks there's something even more sinister than Guitez at the site, and we get a hint he's right.

Maria pleads with her father, the local judge, to stop Guitez, who is abusing local farmers as well ass the historic site. The judge recalls how Maria's mother was murdered by bandits working with local law enforcement and admits he's turning a blind eye to Guitez's activities to protect his daughter. But when the judge does express his displeasure, Guitez has him taken away.

Trevor helps Maria get into Guitez's compound, where she watches him gun down her father. Guitez declares that Maria is now his. As she tries to escape, Trevor is shot and drops an artifact, releasing a demonic creature that merges with Guitez, making him twice the villain he already was.

In the ensuing chaos, Maria discovers a walking stick that is actually the mystical hammer Mjolnir... wait, sorry, she finds the golden staff of Manco Capac, transforming her into an Incan sun goddess. A dying Trevor tells her she is now the protectress of of Earth.

With a crash course in her new powers (flight, super strength, etc.) and the staff from a disembodied voice, Maria heads to Los Angeles, where a demonically transformed Guitez is seeking two other artifacts sent there by Trevor. She's spotted by a tabloid editor named Mike Willard, who will go on to write the article naming her Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman wields her staff with expert ability, leading her to question whether she's actually the first incarnation of her new identity. She defeats Guitez by impaling him on a steeple and blasting him with energy from her staff.

The next three pages establish the status quo for this Wonder Woman: alone in L.A., she decides working for a tabloid like the National Exposer is a great way to get the information she'll need for superheroing. She walks into the offices, where Willard is in need of an assistant and hires her because she's so darn attractive. But I guess it's not potential sexual harassment since she thinks he's pretty dreamy too? Her primary assignment: Help him track down Wonder Woman.

A backup story follows, showing the impact Wonder Woman is having in the city, not just fighting crime but changing lives through the mystical light she wields. In one sequence, she runs afoul of the wrong Rev. Dominic Darrk, who we met in the Batman issue.

The story ends at a museum, where the artifacts sent by Trevor are examined by... Diana Prince and Carter (I presume Hall?). Prince cites legends that say if these sculptures of a Hawk-man and Hawk-woman were broken, they would bestow powers upon the colleagues. They decide not to test it out.

Stan continues to build L.A. as the Just Imagine equivalent of Marvel's Manhattan. As with the previous story, some of this feels rushed and a bit forced, but the broad strokes Stan's painting promise an interesting and fun saga, should it ever be followed up on.

The art is classic Jim Lee, with Maria rendered in a manner that makes it completely understandable that Trevor, Guitez and Willard are all hopelessly infatuated with her.

The recognizable DC names like Steve Trevor, Diana Prince and Carter Hall are enjoyable Easter eggs, although it emphasizes a little more that this isn't Stan and company creating these versions from scratch. The staff's ability to become a lasso or bracelet and turn invisible when she's flying all call back to the original Wonder Woman's powers.

Then again, it's Stan Lee and a group of tremendous artists (Gene Colan on a backup story?Come on!) playing in the DC sandbox and building a new one at the same time, so my heart's not in picking at these nits. The sequence with Hall and Prince has the feel of a Marvel Cinematic Universe credits scene, albeit seven years before Nick Fury told Tony Stark he was “part of a bigger universe.”

Up next: Stan and John Buscema tackle Superman.

* - Plus, in 2001, I think he was still technically a superstar,
not achieving legend status until a few years later.

** - Stop it. It's a real place.