Why is the Perez run so epic?

Seriously, jettisoning some of the campier elements of the character (although I still disagree with getting rid of Steve Trevor), giving her real threats, being accurate to mythology and expounding upon it (i.e. the awesome Bana-Mighdall stuff), and having some of the best "very special" issues, such as the one concerning Nessie's friend committing suicide. Why in the heck has this not been completely collected?

I know right! I just started reading it and its great.

It's even better than the Luke, Rucka, Simone, and Azzarello runs.

Perez made her more human and gave her relevant stories. He retconned away the secret identity which made her more vulnerable than any gimmick. He let her fly instead of depending on an invisible plane.

I hated that he didn't use a younger Steve Trevor and Etta Candy.

Perez WW was a young woman clearly from a different world to whom characters could warm and wanted to be around. She was naive but intelligent. And look at how well her villains were crafted and handled with distinction and full backgrounds which played heavily into stories. His Circe was a threat to all DCU at one point.

I'm plowing through this run at the moment (on no. 40) and it really is the best Wonder Woman stuff I've read. They've collected the first 24 in TPB, but vol. 1 is out of print, I believe. I guess not enough people bought it for them to continue. It's a shame because Perez's run is always the first thing I point to when people ask if there are any good Wonder Woman stories.

@sinisteri: HIs villain stuff is some of the best updating I've ever seen.

perez showe how wonder woman an her villans should be,it's the best wonder woman's run until these days,it has great stories,great action and connection between the characters,perez's run ha so much potential,DC should have tried to push it more,it woould have been a even bigger hit than it was.

Perez simply wrote a good story without all this current concern about filling a certain quota of dark, gritty, relatable, tragedy, drama, grounded in reality etc ... The more you try to double-guess and triple-guess, while inverting everything, the more it loses freshness and spontaneity.

I just collected the first 7 issues they've been a blast. I especially loved how Perez truly made Wonder Woman an opposite to Ares beliefs and the way she defeated him. Had DC treated Perez's run the equivilant to Miller's Batman year one Wonder Woman would have had the same love as Batman and Superman's popularity. But oh well DC screwed up as always