I’ve already RetroSmacked two DC comic series, being Green Lantern and Warlord. This one has a much more important role in the history of comics and superheroes in general. Wonder Woman isn’t just another costume-wearing heroine; she’s a feminist icon, fighting for justice, love, peace and sexual equality. My experience with Wonder Woman comics goes no further than reading the first year or so of the New 52 series a few years back. After trying out all 51 other comics on offer, Wonder Woman turned out to be one of my favourites. The thing I loved most about that series was the mythological aspect. I just happened to be working my way through a course on Greek and Roman Mythology at the time, so was able to make a lot of connections I wouldn’t have otherwise. I had hope that this aspect of Wonder Woman was a prevalent part of the series overall, and not merely an invention of recent years. Whether or not that hope was realised will be revealed over the next few paragraphs, as I do a quick wrap-up of the character pre-1977.
The New 52 Wonder Woman: Filled with mythological references and characters.
Wonder Woman was created by psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in December 1941 in All Star Comics #8 before featuring the next month in Sensation Comics #1. Wonder Woman, then called Princess Diana of Themyscira, was an Amazon, living on the secluded Paradise Island with her all-female tribe. The Princess’ world was turned upside down when a man named Steve Trevor crash-landed his fighter plane on the island. She nursed him back to health, falling in love with him in the process. Steve’s presence on Paradise Island caused quite a stir (being male and all), and Diana’s mother Queen Hippolyte eventually decided it would be best if he were returned to “Man’s World”. He would not go alone though, as the Queen had obviously been affected by what she now knew about the world’s battle with Nazi Germany. She held a tournament for the very best of the Amazonians, with the winner leaving Paradise Island to assist the United States in their fight against the Nazis. Given her feelings for Steve, Diana was eager to enter the competition, but her mother forbade it. Not willing to accept the ruling, Diana disguised herself with a mask and won the tournament, defeating her last opponent with an awesome display of bullets and bracelets (deflecting bullets with nothing but two indestructible bracelets).
All-Star Comics #8: I’m pretty sure I’d recognise my own daughter in that mask, but whatever.
Queen Hyppolyte was shocked to find that the winner of the tournament was Diana, but she crowned her champion nonetheless. Diana was gifted with a special dress, and with her bulletproof bracelets, magic Lasso of Truth and invisible plane, travelled with Captain Trevor to America as Wonder Woman. Steve was still well and truly in recovery at this point, and realizing she needed a way to look after him without drawing attention, Wonder Woman looked for a valid identity. She came across a nurse named Diana Prince (as opposed to Princess Diana), who happened to look very similar. The nurse was upset because she’d not had enough money to travel to South America to be with her fiancé. Seeing the opportunity, Wonder Woman paid her the money she needed and took over her identity. Six months after this origin story, Wonder Woman received her own comic book. She spent the rest of the Golden Age of Comics (which ended in the early fifties) helping Steve fight against the Nazis and other villains such as The Cheetah, Baroness Paula Von Gunther and Doctor Psycho, whilst working as his assistant in the War Department as Diana Prince. Wonder Woman utilised an ever-growing kit of useful tools to achieve her goals, including earrings that allowed her to breathe in space, a tiara that was an unbreakable boomerang, and a two-way radio to Paradise Island that was installed in her bracelets.
Wonder Woman #6: Who cares about the Cheetah? What’s that red-headed thing in the background?!
During the Silver Age of Comics (generally considered from 1956 to around 1970), Wonder Woman underwent quite a few changes. She was even given a revamped origin story in issue #98, which revealed that her powers were given to her by the gods. After receiving the deities’ blessings whilst just a baby, Princess Diana was destined to become as “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury.” Since World War II was now a thing of the past, Wonder Woman’s connection to it was phased out, and she gained the ability to “glide on air currents” (aka fly). In issue #179, Woman Woman made a critical choice to stay with Steve, rather than travel to another dimension with the departing Amazons. This resulted in Wonder Woman losing all of her powers, instead relying on martial arts and weapon skills taught by a Chinese mentor named I Ching. This change was a purposeful attempt to buy in on the success of The Avengers TV show, and in particular the character of Emma Peel. Steve Trevor was surprisingly killed off, and Wonder Woman spent a number of years engaging in espionage missions in a variety of jumpsuits.
The New Wonder Woman: I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Finally we reach the Bronze Age of Comics (1970 to 1985), which is the age that 1977 firmly belonged to. By now the DC Multiverse had been established, which separated the Wonder Woman of the Golden Age from the Wonder Woman of the Silver Age and beyond. The Golden Age Wonder Woman had existed (and still existed) on Earth Two, whereas the Wonder Woman seen since #98 existed on Earth One. This meant there was opportunity for the two Wonder Women to meet. Our Amazon heroine regained her costume and powers in issue #204, in which writer Robert Kanigher also killed off Diana’s trainer I Ching. I’ll be joining the series with issue #227, which was released a few months after a major story arc that followed Wonder Woman’s attempts to regain admission into the Justice League of America (which she’d quit when her powers were removed). She was successful in passing twelve trials, and Steve Trevor was resurrected by Aphrodite at their conclusion. He adopted the identity of Steve Howard and once again held a position (at the United Nations) alongside Diana Prince, only this time he’s aware of her true identity.
The New Adventures of the Original Wonder Woman: Can you clarify which original Wonder Woman you mean?
With that quick trip through 226 issues of Wonder Woman complete, it’s time to talk about the 12 issues dated 1977 that I’ve read over the last few days. Once again I managed to accidently jump onboard the series at an opportune time. Issue #227 was pretty much what I expected going in, with Wonder Woman facing off against Hephaestus, the Olympian God of Fire. I was happy to see that the mythological aspect I enjoyed so much in the New 52 series was well and truly present around 1977. It was a very wordy issue written by Martin Pasko, but it packed a surprisingly emotional punch at the end, with a character sacrificing herself to help save others. The artwork by Jose Delbo and Vince Colletta was decent, and there was action aplenty. I was satisfied, but little did I know that the series was about to throw a massive curve ball.
Wonder Woman doing what she does best.
With the gorgeous Lynda Carter playing the role of Wonder Woman, the popularity of the Wonder Woman TV series that launched in 1975 was growing every week. Unsurprisingly, DC wanted to make the most of its success, deciding the comic should follow a similar format to pull in a new audience. The only problem was that the TV show was set during World War II, which is something the comics had left behind during the shift from the Golden Age to the Silver Age (and therefore from Earth Two Wonder Woman to Earth One Wonder Woman). How could DC bring World War II events back into play now? Martin Pasko knew the answer. In Wonder Woman issue #228, Pasko had Earth One’s Diana transported through a rift created by the villain Red Panzer, arriving on Earth Two at the time of World War II. She doesn’t remain there very long, heading back through the rift after a confrontation with Earth Two’s version of herself. However, rather than being transported back through the rift to Earth One, the reader’s perspective remains on Earth Two to follow the exploits of the Golden Age Wonder Woman. The comic book series would now be known as The New, Original Wonder Woman. Confused? I don’t blame you really.
Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman: I’ll definitely be watching the show…for blog purposes of course.
The New, Original Wonder Woman: Well that explains everything!
As enjoyable as reading these old comics is, reading the letters sections at the back is just as good. I have to give kudos to the editors of the time, as they seemed perfectly willing to include both positive and negative fan reactions. Some of the reactions to switching Wonder Woman to Earth Two were filled with vitriol, with many feeling cheated that the character they knew and loved had been ripped away from them. To make matters worse, characters took on the look and feel of their TV counterparts, even if that meant changing aspects of their appearance to match the actors on the show. As for me, well the first few issues in this transformed series were good enough for me to wonder what all the fuss was about. Issue #230 saw the reintroduction of the classic villain Cheetah. Having a normal everyday girl uncontrollably transform into a villain whenever Wonder Woman is present makes for great drama, and this issue was undoubtedly the best of the 12 I read. It was quickly followed by another decent story, this time involving an alien called Osira, who was awakened from her slumber within an Egyptian pyramid determined to bring peace to the world through any means necessary (more dangerous than it sounds). I was totally into the series at this point, and the inclusion of the original Justice Society of America team to proceedings merely added to my enthusiasm.
Wonder Woman #230: Cheetah aggressively campaigned against the war.
Jose Delbo was taken off the book from #231 (he was working on several other titles already), but his replacement Bob Brown impressed me greatly with his striking and attractive pencils. Brown was a veteran of comics, having worked in the industry since the early 1940s. I was happy to discover that he’d signed on to pencil the Wonder Woman series indefinitely, and was shocked and saddened to read in the letters section the very next month that he’d died of Leukaemia between issues. This tragedy coincided with a dramatic decrease in the quality of Wonder Woman (for at least the remaining six or seven 1977 dated issues that I read). Martin Pasko was replaced by writer Gerry Conway, and new artists were introduced week in week out before Delbo was finally reinstated from issue #235.
Wonder Woman #231: I really enjoyed Bob Brown’s work on #231. Such a shame we didn’t get to see more.
Conway’s narration was very heavy handed, attempting to bring in important issues for emotional impact. In my opinion he simply didn’t have the subtlety or flair to pull it off, making his descriptions seem pretentious and hollow. One thing that really bothered me was how many times Wonder Woman was captured by her enemies, only for them to stupidly let her escape. Her bracelets were tied or fused together by men on three occasions, which causes her to lose her powers. The indestructible bracelets were also removed (and even broken) a couple of times, causing Wonder Woman to go berserk, destroying anything and everything around her. To top things off, she was even wrapped in her own lasso twice, putting her under the command of her opponent. It’s important for superheroes to have flaws and weaknesses, but consistent villain ineptitude doesn’t make for a rewarding read. I ended this run feeling a little underwhelmed. I like the character too much to jump off though, and I think Brown’s unexpected death played a role in the year’s inconsistency.
Wonder Woman #233: I was happy to find that the WWII setting still made room for both mythology and the supernatural.
Wonder Woman #236: Wonder Woman becomes a serious threat to the innocent when her bracelets are removed or broken. Makes you question just how good she really is.
Wonder Woman #237: This issue was nice enough to give me a flashback origin sequence.
The Wonder Woman (1977) RetroCard has now been added to the RetroCard Shop. It’s a common card, so therefore costs 10 smacks and has a limited release of 120.
Featured Image Credit: Comic Vine (original source unknown)
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