Logo Study: WONDER WOMAN Part 4

Oct 15, 2026 | 07:38:47 AM | Ilke Hincer

Logo Study: WONDER WOMAN Part 4

This entry was posted in Logo Studies on January 21, 2008. 

The DC series CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS in 1985-86 brought an end to the previous Wonder Woman continuity, making way for a fresh start. This came from writer Greg Potter and plotter/artist George Perez, who took charge of the revamp, bringing in lots of research on Greek mythology. Potter soon dropped out, and Perez charted Wonder Woman’s course for over 60 issues in a fan-favorite run, the first of which is shown above.

The new logo for this series was designed by letterer Ken Bruzenak from an idea probably by DC art director Richard Bruning. The logo still needed to incorporate the relatively new Wonder Woman emblem of stacked W’s, and a row of six stars, another feature of her costume ran in a wide open bar to either side of that. Below, another smaller bar was added. The letter forms were sans-serif block composed only of straight and circular elements, similar to the font called AvantGarde, and probably many others. Following a similar plan to past logos, the W’s were larger, but here for the first time the letters were on one line and overlapped, which helped conserve space. With such classic forms that didn’t create any problems with readability. The overall arc of the logo and it’s depth took up quite a lot of space on the cover, and while it’s not the case here, it would be bound to overlap detailed artwork by Perez in many cases, so a thin outer shape around everything made a color-break between the logo and the art.

Ken Bruzenak doesn’t have much good to say about this design. He feels it’s too busy, with elements that serve no purpose and uninteresting letterforms. I see his point, but I don’t think it’s all that bad. For one thing, the name is clear and easy to read, and if the lower elements get covered by art, it doesn’t matter. For another, the level of detail is a good match for George Perez’ detailed artwork. I think a simpler, bolder logo might have overpowered the art. Certainly there were times when getting this very tall logo onto the cover must have been a problem, and on a few issues they just gave up and used type instead, as here (Wonder Woman #45)