Les Daniels's Wonder Woman: The Life and Times of the Amazon Princess was reviewed in the 'Books in Brief' section of the New York Times Book Review on Sunday, Dec. 24^th, where it received the prominent central position as well as an illustration. Published by Chronicle Books, this volume is not a graphic novel, but rather an illustrated history of the first popular female superhero comic book character whose media career encompassed radio and television as well as the comics.    

It's available in three editions at a range of price points to appeal to all segments of the audience.  The regular hardcover edition retails for $29.95.  There's a Previews Exclusive edition of 3000 available from Diamond featuring gorgeous Alex Ross cover art and an extra sixteen-page signature at a $34.95 price point.  And for the collector looking for something special, Dynamic Forces has produced a $74.95 edition (also including the extra sixteen pages) of 500 signed and numbered by Ross. 

Reviewer Eric P. Nash credits Daniels with unearthing all the sensational elements of bondage and gender ambiguity infused into the character by her creator, Harvard-trained psychologist William Moulton Marston.  Marston created the Amazon Princess in 1941-42 as 'psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world.'   As Daniels points out, the parallel between Wonder Woman's all-female Paradise Island and the mythic island of Lesbos are quite obvious, and the Amazing Amazon's favorite exclamation is, after all, 'Suffering Sappho!'  The licensed Wonder Woman-shaped scissors might appear frightening in this context, but  paradoxically, Marston maintained that 'Women enjoy submission,' and the classic Wonder Women comics are replete with ingeniously varied examples of bondage.

Although the quality of Wonder Woman comics has ebbed and flowed over the years, the story of this anomalous female superheroine and her quirky creator is never less than fascinating, and the superb visual production values that Chronicle provides this type of pop culture iconography make this volume a winner with fans of all genders.   The positive exposure created by this review in the widely read Times Book Review should create interest in this volume with its strong appeal to several otherwise disparate groups of consumers.