The Great Wonder Woman Readathon

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #306
Dan Mishkin and Don Heck
backup: backup: Joey Cavalieri, Michael Hernandez and Rick Bryant



Synopsis: Diana shows up at her apartment, where Etta is talking to their landlord. He has a heart attack. While Diana does CPR, Etta calls... Steve at the Pentagon. When he arrives, Diana demands to know why the hell Steve ordered Etta to call him instead of an ambulance. Steve tells her to shut her trap. Diana is not pleased.

Turning into Wonder Woman, Diana follows Steve as he takes the landlord to a military hospital. Suddenly, a bunch of armed thugs attack! Diana takes them out, but when she tries to get them to spill their guts with her lasso, Steve tells her not to. She is even more suspicious.

Diana goes to visit the landlord at the hospital. Steve shows up and isn't happy to see her. He does, however, suggest this is a good time to have whatever little talk she wanted to have with him. She's like, are you kidding me? The takl being, of course, her revealing her secret identity. She tells him this isn't the time. So instead he goes in and starts grilling the landlord about why people are trying to kill him, while the guy is lying in a hospital bed from a heart attack.

Diana gets pissed and tells Steve he's acting like a tool, which he is. He says that he's just trying to protect her. You see, the landlord apparently once gave the Russians some secret information in return for a cure for his wife's illness. The cure didn't work, so the landlord had turned traitor for nothing. Now with him apparently being appointed to another security position, it seems as though that indiscretion was coming back to haunt everyone. Diana is like, oh, well, thanks for thinking of me I guess.

Then, out of nowhere, Aegeus appears in a puff of smoke and stabs Steve! What the hell?! To be continued!!

Backup story: The dangerous lunatic wing of the asylum gets free and goes berserk! Huntress gets out of their way as they chase down the dirty doctors who were experimenting on them. However, the big brute who has kicked her ass twice during this storyline already kicks her ass again, which isn't hard since she's in a straightjacket. Just then, an inmate shows up and clubs the dude over the head, saving Helena. Turns out he's a cop who got stuck in here with a bunch of other not-crazy gang members that the docs were just screwing around with. he frees Huntress and the two of them make a break for it... except she suddenly vanishes. Also, meanwhile, the media lynch mob demanding Huntress be arrested goes ot he police commissioner, who caves because he has no backbone. To be continued?

Notes: For Mishkin, this issue is pretty densely plotted, what with the political intrigue stuff. I do have some problems with it, namely what a knob Steve was being about not telling Diana the landlord was a former traitor. He said he did this to protect her because he knew it would upset her. Um, what? Okay, a) the landlord once sold Etta to a demon, so who gives a crap? b) he told Etta what was going on, so apparently he doesn't care one bit how she feels about the landlord, he's only worried about Diana's feelings and c) Diana is a freaking intelligence officer! her whole job is to know this sort of thing! Treating her like a child is just obnoxious and patronizing. If I were Diana I would have slugged him right in the nuts.

Also, the surprise ending, I don't know whether to give props to Mishkin for this cliffhanger or deduct points for cheating, because really. Aegeus was last seen teleporting to a mystery location at the end of #299 and now, literally out of nowhere, in the middle of a totally unrelated storyline, he appears from midair and stabs Steve?! I'm all for stabbing Steve, but this was so random. I just can't decide if it's random good or random bad.

Out of nowhere, the gene Colan era is apparently over. He's replaced by fellow 60's Marvel stalwart and refugee from the Jim Shooter regime Don Heck. I know a lot of people don't like Don Heck's stuff, but he's grown on me since I was a kid and I appreciate his art more now than I used to. I also think it is more suited to superhero stuff than Colan's work, so we'll see how it pans out.

Jose Luis Garcia Lopez does the cover, which is another symbolic shot of Diana and also introduces the new logo. This logo is modular, as we will see, being rarranged into variuos configurations over the next issues, but this is the logo we will have until the series ends with #329.

As for the backup story, it wasn't terrible. Helena again basically left the bad guys to suffer whatever fate they suffer, but she wasn't in much of a position to help them. She continues to be a punching bag, saved only by the introduction of a new random cast member to help her escape. Cavalieri is obviously going somewhere with this media hounding of the authorities over the supposed death of Pat pending, which has been a subplot for the last few issues. I'm not sure how it is going to play out, but I'm almost kind of sort of interesting. But not really.

Last issue the lettercolumn had a review of Wonder Woman #43. This issue, someone writes in regarding #257 and 258. yet there still are no letters about #300! The other letters in this lettercolumn are about #299 and #301. I'm beginning to wonder if we will ever see feedback on #300.

My Grade: Main story gets a B- for being a little contrived and convoluted with the Steve-is-hind-something angle. Backup gets a C for existing.

[berk]

One thing I don't like about these WW covers in general : no matter how well or how poorly drawn or composed they might be, they're almost all set against oppressively light and/or bright backgrounds. Lots of white and pale blue. For example, #299 looks like it could have been a decent cover, but the white background and pale blue clouds makes it all feel a little lightweight and reduces the drama of the confrontation. Maybe the effect is exaggerated because I'm seeing so many covers together in this thread, but I wonder if this was a deliberate editorial decision or just an unconscious feeling that WW was a girls' series and shouldn't be too heavy, dramatically.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #307
Dan Mishkin, Don Heck and Sal Trapani
backup: backup: Joey Cavalieri, Michael Hernandez and Frank Giacoia



Synopsis: Aegeus attacks and stabs Steve! Diana battles him, but in the process, he smashes one of her bracelets and cuts her lasso, something that has never happened before. Apparently since his last appearance, Aegeus has retrieved Vulcan's Daggers to replace Zeus' Lightning Bolts, which he used up. They can cut anything and obey his mental commands.

On the verge of going berserk on account of her missing bracelet, Wonder Woman grabs Aegeus, flies him up into mid air and then piledrives him into the ground. In order to save himself, Aegeus spins his daggers really fast and burrows into the earth, at which point Diana just floats off and leaves him trapped at the bottom of his new pit. Sucker!!

Diana visits Steve, then goes to the Pentagon for a confab, which doubles as exposition to explain what happened last issue. The landlord's daughter shows up and it turns out she's a newscaster. Griggs posits that revealing the landlord's traitorous past may be a good idea because it removes any reason to kill him once the secret is out, plus they can spin it however they want. the daughter agrees.

Later, though, as Diana and Griggs visit Steve again, something he says in his delirium makes them realize that they are being played. Someone wants them to reveal the info in order to destabilize the new arms talks. Diana rushes to the senator's hospital room just in time to catch Aegeus trying to murder him. She defeats Ageus, scooping up all his magic knives (except the one lodged in Steve's shoulder, which mortal science cannot remove).

Just then, though, Griggs shows up with some dilweed in tow. Turns out this guy Griggs captured is a rogue American agent who was trying to provoke things with the Soviets because he was sure they would break any treaty anyway. And now... for no apparent reason that is explained, it turns out that Aegeus was working for this guy. So Griggs says they have to let Aegeus go, because if they keep him locked up and bring him to public trial, the landlord's secret will be revealed and the talks will be sabotaged just as the bad guys planned.

Diana reluctantly agrees to free Aegeus, but only if he takes the knife out of Steve's shoulder first. He agrees and does so and the issue ends with Diana and Steve getting ready to finally (theoretically) have that heart-to-hear about her secret identity he's been promising for the last 7 issues.

Backup story: The Huntress goes on a total bender, the drugs she was injected in finally kicking in. She imagines all sorts of nonsensical stuff, which boils down to being attacked by nightmare representations of her parents, Batman and Catwoman. With batman, she has to face the fear that she will never live up to him and escape his shadow, while with Catwoman she has to face the fear that she will give in to her own dark side and become a criminal like her mother. Finally she comes out of it and reunites with random cop X from last issue. To be whatevered!

Notes: This is probably the most complicated issue yet from Mishkin, and while I sort of liked the political maneuvering, it got a little away from him. there was no explanation given why Aegeus was suddenly working for a rogue CIA agent. He certainly didn't seem to be int he first half of the issue, but then he was in the second half. Why? What's his motivation? Sure, he once was a terrorist, so maybe that's it> Did this CIA guy just happen to find him stuck in the pit and cut a deal with him in exchange for a ladder? I don't know and it's a major oversight.

Griggs continues to be an interesting addition to the cast. He seems to have effectively replaced General Darnell in many of these stories, which makes sense, as Darnell is a desk jockey and not a field operative. It's Griggs that comes up with the various political maneuverings in this issue as well, which adds a new dimension to their team. I will say that letting Aegeus go in order to avoid the bad political fallout from the landlord's treason does not seem like a real Wonder Woman thing to do. I would think she would have some other plan to ensure justice was served. Maybe haul him away to paradise island for judgment before Hippolyta? That seems fitting. Just letting him go for political reasons is something I have a little bit of a hard time seeing Diana do.

I hope to golly that Diana and Steve finally have that damn conversation next issue.

Don heck remains as artist here, though he's joined by Sal Trapani on inks, who totally butchers Joe Staton's pencils a few issues ago in the backup. It's not so bad here but I think Heck looked better self-inked last issue. Gil Kane returns for the cover, which again is symbolic, though it kind of suggests some elements of the story. Steve does appear to be taking a large bite out of Diana's ass. Also, the Superman III logo kind of mars what otherwise is a cool cover. I really like the subtle colors.

The backup was actually interesting this time around. We get a good look at Helena's psychology. it's way, way overdue for her to address these things, or should I say, for this backup feature to show them. Also, this was drawn as total fan service, as about halfway through Helena becomes totally naked for no reason and remains naked for the rest of her dream. Naked Huntress fighting a furry Catwoman dream avatar is probably somebody's ultimate fantasy.

The lettercolumn is interesting. Someone writes in and asks who Wonder Woman's arch enemy is. The options given by the editor are Mars, Duke of Deception, Angle Man, Dr. Psycho and Mouse Man. Okay, sure. Someone is a joker I guess. Also, there's a tidbit here explaining that when William Marston had t give up the book because of illness and Shelly Mayer anted to leave to do something else, Robert Kanigher took over the book. This was in 1947 and he remained on the title until the I-Ching era began in 1968. No wonder he just does whatever the hell he wants when given the chance with this book. Lastly, there's a big blub at the end where the editor emphatically announces that this is NOT a new Wonder Woman, because they've had too many of those already. It's just the same Wonder Woman it's always been. Not sure what this is in response to, but goon on ya, mate.

My Grade: Main story gets a B- for being confusing and convoluted, though at least ambitious. Backup gets a B for actually exploring helena as a character. And making her naked for no reason.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I first encountered Don Heck's art at the back of Detective Comics when he was doing Batgirl which morphed into Jason Bard. And even though his work was not my usual cup of tea, I really enjoyed those times. And I have a certain respect for Heck, who was committed to his own style (like many other artists I respect that didn't neatly fit in the mainstream). But at the same time, as I'm sure DC's editors knew how most readers felt about Don's art, whenever they put him on a feature it was like they were saying we no longer care about this feature and we're not going to waste one of our top people on it, so here's Don Heck. I'm sure a lot of those editors loved Don and wanted to find work for him--but they could only get away with giving him the assignments that nobody else wanted. So it shows where Wonder Woman ranked at this moment in time for the management. Also, by this time the Crisis was probably in the early planning stages.

[VDCNI]

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying this thread, Wonder Woman 293 was the first comic I ever read so I always had a soft spot for this era. I've also read most of the earlier stuff since and would generally agree with you that apart from the Conway run post from 269 it's mostly terrible. Even the Twelve Labours which has a decent reputation - hence the recent TPB - is just a succession of pretty ordinary stand alone stories.

One thing though Perez didn't create the post crisis Artemis - that was Messner-Loebs.

[The Darknight Detective]

I first encountered Don Heck's art at the back of Detective Comics when he was doing Batgirl which morphed into Jason Bard. And even though his work was not my usual cup of tea, I really enjoyed those times. And I have a certain respect for Heck, who was committed to his own style (like many other artists I respect that didn't neatly fit in the mainstream). But at the same time, as I'm sure DC's editors knew how most readers felt about Don's art, whenever they put him on a feature it was like they were saying we no longer care about this feature and we're not going to waste one of our top people on it, so here's Don Heck. I'm sure a lot of those editors loved Don and wanted to find work for him--but they could only get away with giving him the assignments that nobody else wanted. So it shows where Wonder Woman ranked at this moment in time for the management. Also, by this time the Crisis was probably in the early planning stages.

Unfortunately, I agree with all of this.

[shaxper]

Just want to say that I'm amazed by your output, Scott. I've never pulled off a reviews thread with this level of speed. 11 reviews in a single day? I don't know who your Coke provider is, but he's getting you quality stuff

[shaxper]

And now, a few words about DC Comics Presents #41.

Now, I don't actually own this comic yet, though it is on my checklist. I do however think this has to be one of the weirdest and most back-asswards promotions I've seen. Basically, editor Len Wein brought in the new creative team of Roy Thomas and Gene Colan to take over Wonder Woman. As part of this, they redesigned her costume (replacing the eagle on her chest with a stylized WW symbol). it's not a full reboot like in #269-271, but it is a new era and is designed to be a jumping on point for new readers.

All of which is fine, except for this key part: The first issue of this new era of Wonder Woman isn't even in Wonder Woman, it's randomly stuck in an issue of DC Comics Presents, which as you can see features a story about Superman teaming up with The Joker.

Make no mistake, this is a) a full Wonder Woman issue (at 16 pages, it is just one page shorter than the 17-pages stories being run in Wonder Woman) b) introduces the new creative team and new status quo for Wonder Woman. So the fact that c) it doesn't even take place in an issue of Wonder Woman is beyond perplexing.

I can almost kind-sorta see what they were thinking here. they probably figured that readers of Wonder Woman would go buy Dc Comics Presents #41 to see what the new team was all about (#287 had a two-page ad for it and also mentioned it in the lettercolumn), while readers of DC Comics presents would be exposed to the new Wonder Woman series.

but if you are trying to get new readers to check out Wonder Woman for the first time, it just doesn't make any sense to debut the new status quo in some other random comic. The result is that Wonder Woman #288, which is the first real issue with Thomas and Colan, starts in the middle of a story -- continued from DC Comics presents #41 -- and has to spend several pages of flashback to catch readers up. So instead of a jumping on point, the first issue of the new team becomes just as or more confusing than basically any other issue of the series. It's a self-defeating effort here.

This isn't the only comic they did this with at the time; Roy Thomas, who clearly had just jumped over from Marvel and was given several titles, also had All-Star Squadron begin in an issue of Justice League of America, leading to the very odd circumstance where the first issue of a brand new title begins mid-story with flashbacks to a previous issue of a different series. but whoever's idea it was, I'm telling it, it was a really damn dumb idea.

Anyway, here's a brief rundown of the issue, based entirely on the lengthy flashback sequence in Wonder Woman #288. Which we are going to just have to assume provides all the information we need, just as new readers trying to jump aboard the new era would have had to have done at the time:

DC Comics Presents #41
Roy Thomas, gene Colan and Romeo Tanghal



Synopsis: Steve and Diana are escorting a secret briefcase full of... something... I dunno, Marcellus Wallace's soul? -- when they are attacked by enemy agents. Steve is injured in the fight, but Wonder Woman gets the briefcase, which she hides for safety. She then meets up with a women's group called the Wonder Woman Foundation which presents her with a new costume which they hope will promote equality for all women. She takes the costume and goes to paradise island for advice, only to find that the gods are there and have re-enslaved the Amazons. Wonder woman attacks, taking out Hermes and Hercules and frees them, re-acquiring the belt of strength for her mother. She then returns to America to see how Steve is doing.

Notes: That seems like a hell of a damn lot of stuff to miss by stowing it in some random title.

My Grade: Incomplete for the story since I didn't read it, F- for the truly stupid idea to stick the first issue of a new era in a completely random unrelated series.

Wow. This has to be one of the stupidest editorial moves I've ever heard of. It made sense for debuting new titles (ex: New Teen Titans), but not for changing the course of an existing one!

[MDG]

One thing I don't like about these WW covers in general : no matter how well or how poorly drawn or composed they might be, they're almost all set against oppressively light and/or bright backgrounds. Lots of white and pale blue. For example, #299 looks like it could have been a decent cover, but the white background and pale blue clouds makes it all feel a little lightweight and reduces the drama of the confrontation. Maybe the effect is exaggerated because I'm seeing so many covers together in this thread, but I wonder if this was a deliberate editorial decision or just an unconscious feeling that WW was a girls' series and shouldn't be too heavy, dramatically.

I'll admit--and apologize--that I'm really only skimming this thread, but the run of generic covers in the early 300s seems to indicate that for a while they weren't sure what they were going to do with the title, since the covers are usually done in advance of the rest of the book.

[The Darknight Detective]

I think it's just shadowing. If anyone is trying to get something by the CCA thogh I doubt it's Staton; after seeing how completely different his art looks depending on who inks him, I'd have to put this on the inker, as his pencils don't seem to be strong enough to command fidelity.

Hmm... maybe, Scott, but color me skeptical. However, you're probably right that it was the inker and not Staton himself at any rate.

[Scott Harris]

I'll admit--and apologize--that I'm really only skimming this thread, but the run of generic covers in the early 300s seems to indicate that for a while they weren't sure what they were going to do with the title, since the covers are usually done in advance of the rest of the book.

I think you're right that they weren't sure what direction they were going in for a while -- unfortunately, that while began in 1972 and lasted until the book ended in 1986.

[The Darknight Detective]

Steve does appear to be taking a large bite out of Diana's ass.

LOL. That was real funny. Of course, could you really blame Steve?

The backup was actually interesting this time around. We get a good look at Helena's psychology.

Instead of just her anatomy.

Also, this was drawn as total fan service, as about halfway through Helena becomes totally naked for no reason and remains naked for the rest of her dream. Naked Huntress fighting a furry Catwoman dream avatar is probably somebody's ultimate fantasy.

I would estimate that at least 95% of these comic book scenes are just the fantasies of the writers and artists and not for the integrity of the story itself. Even as a teen when I was more susceptible to these ideas myself, I always felt that the vast majority of the panels featuring scantily-clad female characters were unnecessary. Of course, I got over it quickly back then.

[berk]

I'll admit--and apologize--that I'm really only skimming this thread, but the run of generic covers in the early 300s seems to indicate that for a while they weren't sure what they were going to do with the title, since the covers are usually done in advance of the rest of the book.

Sounds plausible. The execution of the cover to #307 isn't that great (though a good idea), but the darker background is a relief after all those white, pale blue, or bright orange/yellows that dominate so many of the others.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Ed Hannigan pencilled a lot of covers for DC beginning around this time and he also did a lot of cover designs that were handed off to other artists as guides for completion. The use of logos and symbols in the covers is one of the things I associate with Hannigan, although usually his use of logos was more innovative. Still it's possible he had the initial idea for these.

Backing this up is the fact that Hannigan designed the skull-robot style Brainiac, although Gil Kane drew the actual story that introduced this change. So it wouldn't be unusual for Gil Kane to work from a Hannigan design.

I don't mind the light backgrounds. It's a logistical thing working with WW's costume colours, all of these double Ws, and trying to find a background colour that will support that. Although my favourite covers always have purple backgrounds, an ape, and a dead body.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #308
Dan Mishkin and Don Heck
backup: backup: Joey Cavalieri, Michael Hernandez and Frank Giacoia



Synopsis: Wonder Woman is on Paradise Island, doing a ritual before Athena to her her lasso and bracelets fixed. The new gal, Sofia, secretly watches and after Diana leaves, she overhears Hippolyta mention to Athena that Steve has now been brought back from the dead twice. Naturally, Sofia is puzzled.

Meanwhile, Black Canary sees a woman chasing a guy and stops the lady with her Canary Cry. But it turns out that the guy is acutally an evil Nazi scientist with weird monsters at his command. Canary tries to take him out, then something weird happens...

Back on Paradise Island, Sofia speaks with Wonder Woman and mentions the whole Steve back from the dead thing, and it gives Diana an odd magical confusion. Sofia drops it, realizing something bizarre is going on.Diana heads to the JLA satellite, where she finds Elongated Man has had his butt kicked... by Black Canary. She's still on the satellite, though, so Wonder Woman captures her and discovers that the woman Canary accidentally stopped from taking out the Nazi was actually a gypsy mutant and she's used her psychic powers to switch bodies with Black Canary.

That means that the real Black Canary is stuck in the gypsy's body, which unfortunately is being held captive by the Nazi scientist. Dinah manages to get loose and discovers that tha Nazi has strapped a bunch of psychic gypsy children to a big machine and is using their brain power to do all sorts of crappy Nazi things, including mutating some of them into his monster henchmen. Then the Nazi announces he is going to kill her and... to be continued!

Backup Story: Huntress breaks up a drug deal only to find they aren't dealing drugs, but human babies. Meanwhile, we meet the TV reporter who has been leading the witch hunt against Huntress and discover she is a raging beyotch.

Notes: This is the only Wonder Woman arc I have read before (other than the GA and Black Canary issues of the 12 Labors) because I bought it for my Black Canary collection. Honestly, the main story with the gypsies and the psychic brain switcher and the Nazi scientist is okay, but not that interesting.

However, I do like what Mishkin is doing here. Several subplots begin to come together or build here; Sofia's presence on Paradise Island begins to pay dividends, and it's going somewhere interesting I think as she tries to figure out what's wrong with Diana's memory and the truth behind Steve's rebirth. Also, there was a brief scene where Darnell gave Griggs a key new assignment which I think may be the beginning of showing why Griggs was added to the book. All that was interesting.

Elongated Man is hyped on the cover, which you'll note is the first since 301 that actually shows the story inside the comic. But he's barely in the comic and all he does is get punched out by Black Canary. Not exactly a great payoff if you're a Ralph fan who bought the book because of the cover.

The backup story just starts a new arc, so I guess that last arc is over? I feel like I must have missed something, because it kind of didn't seem over. But here we are, with some new insight on this TV biznatch who has been (somewhat unrealistically) drumming up hate of Huntress, so I guess that's progress? The baby thing is new too. Not that I actually enjoyed this story, so don't get me wrong. I still feel like this backup has blown its potential entirely for a long time now.

The lettercolumn finally has a couple comments on #300, but they are just excerpts of letters, most of which have been trimmed to the point of being cryptic. They are almost presented as though they are compliments, but I kind of don't think they are, and we're seeing some editorial trickery. The quote from T.M. Maple, who you now wrote a full ass letter, goes like this: "I'm at a loss at what to say. Issue 300. I do congratulate you on reaching that milestone. A noteworthy achievement." Another writer's comments are trimmed down to this: "All I can say is that issue 300 reflects the talents of the writer." That... oh, that's kind of a good one, don't you think?

There is one letter that praises the art, anyway, without reservation.

My Grade: Main story gets a B-, elevated by the subplots. Plus I like Black Canary. Backup gets a C-, I just don't care.