The anthology issue actually opens right on its front cover with art by Julian Totino Tedesco. The comedy inherent in the Lasso of Hestia is the basis for its own clever, little single-panel comic strip. The penultimate issue in the stylish Wonder Woman Black and Gold anthology series explores various moods, from traditional superhero tales to an epic journey to a haunting emotional drama and more. Writers included in the fifth volume include Sanya Anwar and Kurt Busiek. A range of art styles grace the pages of the anthology, including colorist John Kalisz.

The first tale in the issue has Wonder Woman going to Hades and back to help a friend. Elsewhere there's a ghost ship that's been causing problems for Themyscira. Deep into the volume, there is the tale of Wonder Woman's origin as seen through the eyes of Antiope. Closer to the present, Diana calls upon the women in a school to aid in the capture of a powerful villain. Artist/writer Trung Le Nguyen draws on a style that echoes back to Diana's early years...the Wonder Woman of her first couple of decades with writers like Marston, Hummel, and Kanigher. Nguyen explores Diana's friendship with a princess of another planet.

Between this anthology and a few other series throughout the past couple of years, Wonder Woman has shown remarkable versatility in some very short one-shot narratives. Written by Sanya Anwar, the second story in the issue is a perfect example of this. Diana investigates the Amazons' problems at sea in a very emotionally engaging ghost story that mixes adventure and drama. The most interesting entry in the fifth issue might be writer Kurt Busiek's "How the Wonder Woman Was Brought Low by a Mouse but Captured the Stars," is an interesting twist on a standard superhero-versus-supervillain story narrated rather endearingly like a Rudyard Kipling Just So Story. 

As with previous issues, the stories of the penultimate entry in the series cover a wide array of different styles. Nguyen delivers a thoughtful beauty to the page in warm drama. His work and the dynamic art of Carlos D'Anda are some of the most impressive in the issue. D'Anda powerfully delivers a story of young Diana as told from the perspective of Antiope. John Kalisz's coloring on Diana's trip into Hades in the first story is beautiful in places. The gold takes many different forms: shining in metal, glowing radiantly in the lasso and combusting in fire, and so on. The gold in her eyes in the first couple of pages feels a bit demonic, though.   

The many lives of Wonder Woman find a graceful home in quick, little flash fiction narratives that have been summoned into existence to celebrate Diana's 80th anniversary. It's been an entertaining journey. There is one issue remaining in this anthology before DC turns its attention to a larger, more integrated tapestry of different titles that will come to define the character in the next year and beyond.

Grade: A