The Great Wonder Woman Readathon

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #223
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Tex Blaisdell



Synopsis: Okay, with the 12 Labors finally over, just what does Marty Pasko have in store for Diana? Well, a bunch of exposition and flashback. That's because there has been no character development at all for Wonder Woman for two years, so first Marty has to remind readers what was happening way back in #212 when the Labors began, namely that Wonder Woman had some memory loss. NOw, the labors over, she finally decides to go back to paradise island to get the rest of her memories back.

When she gets there, though, the island is under attack by a bunch of male paratroopers. One of them lands on the island, and Diana's Amazonian pals begin aging at an incredible rate and turning to dust. Something, by the way, that was not at all mentioned when the secret of Paradise Island's anti-man law was revealed just a few issues earlier in #216. Diana realizes something is wrong, though, and determines that most of the men are actually clay automatons. That in turn suggests that they must have been made by Wonder Woman's mother, who created Diana herself out of clay. Sure enough, it turns out that Wonder Woman's mom crafted these things as a 13th trial because she thought the 12 labors were so stupid she figured she'd have to administer one herself to make sure Diana was truly ready to resume her place in the world.

For some reason, her plan involved resurrecting Steve Trevor as well. She's about to turn Trevor back to dust when Diana pleads for his life. Wonder Woman's mom is like, hmm, that would be pretty cruel even for me, to bring him back and then kill him again. So she lets Steve live and the reunited couple heads back to New York.

Notes: Boy, Diana's mom comes across as really capricious here. PLus, I have to ask: Why in god's name did they bring back Steve Trevor? He has to be one of the most useless love interest types around. You'd think he'd be cool, what with being a medal of honor winning military man, but gosh, he's annoying. I just don't see what the draw is to resurrect him. Plus, the method of bringing him back is a little weird to say the lest. As far as I can tell, this Steve Trevor is actually a claymation man created by Didan's mother and imbued with life -- just as Diana was -- by Aphrodite. So he's not exactly Steve Trevor, is he? He's just a really clever duplicate.

I really don't get what Pasko is thinking with this or where he is going with it. I'm wondering if this is a "return to the status quo" editorial mandate. If so, it's very funny and ironic considering this run is cut off via editorial mandate so quickly that nothing actually happens (as we will see shortly).

My Grade: D+. Half the issue is exposition, the other half is pointless and mean-spirited fighting (particularly Diana's mom faking her own death in front of Diana's eyes). And then they bring back Steve Trevor for no good reason. You have a blank slate to work with and this is what you come up with?

[Cei-U!]

one of those exceptions was the I-Ching Wonder Woman which was dumped to make room for the 12 labors!

Not exactly. There's a whole years' worth of issues between the last Sekowsky issue and the start of the 12 Labors arc, featuring the return of Robert Kanigher as editor/writer. Over half of these consisted of redrawn Golden Age stories which were wildly out of keeping with contemporary reader tastes. Kanigher's callous hackwork exacerbated the title's sales woes, necessitating the Schwartz team's rescue attempt.

Cei-U!
I summon the Magic Sphere!

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Yes, Kanigher's Wonder Woman threw the monkey wrench into the works--as his version of WW contradicted the Sekowsky/O'Neil run right before it. If the Schwartz issues had followed right after O'Neil, the transition would be a lot smoother and they wouldn't have had to patch up a lot of plotholes.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #224
Marty Pasko, Curt Swan and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: Wonder Woman is surprised to find herself being protested after a U.S. Air Force jet apparently crashes into Paradise Island. After being accosted by protesters, she turns herself into authorities as a sign of goodwill and to prove her innocence. of course, it's actually just a PR stunt, because after giving an interview to Lois Lane, Diana creates a fake Wonder Woman to take her place in the cell and then escapes. Yes, that should prove her innocence.

Rushing to Paradise island, Wonder Woman discovers that there's a gorup of Amazons who are in revolt against her mother. They are being goaded by an astronomer who was caught in an accident that destroyed her manacles. Due to the magic of paradise Island, any Amazon who is freed from her manacles goes crazy, so with her manacles gone, she begins fomenting rebellion, breaking other Amazon manacles to get more crazy women on her side. Diana defeats the rebellion and turns the instigator over to the U.S. government as a sign of goodwill between their people.

Notes: The president shows up at the end to give a speech about how it's sad that one of their pilots died, but hey, at least they got Wonder Woman out of the deal and that's pretty damn good. The most interesting thing about this is that the president is Gerald Ford, making it one of his very few comic book appearances as president.

Meanwhile, Steve Trevor is apparently having a Steve Rogers moment. He feels like a man out of time, unable to fit into 1976 society, especially since he's, you know, dead. Diana basically tells him she's too tired to worry about that crap right now and blows him off. I'm not sure why he's so discombobulated, as he's only been dead for a few years. I know Watergate was a big deal, but was 1976 really that different from 1970? He only shows up in a couple scenes, which I guess is good, but I still don't get why they brought him back. The man out of time thing seems a little forced given the tiny time difference involved.

Also, Paradise Island is revealed to be in the Bermuda Triangle and is blamed for all the other wackiness there. Now that's a real 70's reference there.

My Grade: B-. Not bad, I liked the Amazonian rebellion thing even if their big plan -- to start war with America in order to convince Diana's mom to loosen up -- was a really, really stupid plan.

[Scott Harris]

Not exactly. There's a whole years' worth of issues between the last Sekowsky issue and the start of the 12 Labors arc, featuring the return of Robert Kanigher as editor/writer. Over half of these consisted of redrawn Golden Age stories which were wildly out of keeping with contemporary reader tastes. Kanigher's callous hackwork exacerbated the title's sales woes, necessitating the Schwartz team's rescue attempt.

Cei-U!
I summon the Magic Sphere!

Yeah, I was playing fast and loose a little bit with the time stream. But my main point is just that the I-Ching era was interesting and provocative and as far from standard DC superheroics as you could get. Dumping it to return to the status quo is a disappointment from my point of view.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #225
Elliott S! Maggin, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: In her role as UN Crisis manager, Diana gets a call from her boss and is told that some weird signal is disrupting communication between nations, which could lead to war and catastrophe. Something needs to be done! So she sets out to do it, while a bitter and bored Steve Trevor, tired of sitting in a hotel room with his thumb up his butt, eavesdrops via magic Amazonian thought-machine and decides to do something about it himself as well.

Meanwhile, a rich guy named Maximus tries and fails to impress his date by being super rich. But that's okay, because he gets a call from a mysterious friend that Wonder Woman is attacking his secret mountain fortress. Wonder Woman has traced the signals to Central America, you see, so Maximus launches a weird black-light lightning bolt at her. She harnesses it and diverts it to where some dudes are building a canal, saving them weeks of labor. You go, Wonder Woman!

The ffort knocks her out, though, so Maximus has his legion of creepy robot doubles scoop her up and take her to his man cave. They tie her up as Maximus teleports in from new York. He has a surprise visitor, though: Steve Trevor, who has hoked up with a random spy agency and piggy-backed on the teleporter beam. Is he going to save Diana? Well, no. Actually, she doesn't need saving, because while she loses her powers when she's tied up by men, robot doubles don't count, so she breaks free and smashes everything. Which is just as well, because Maximus' plan was epically dumb: He was planning to drain Diana of all of her charisma and have his machine inject it into him and his robot doubles so he would be more likeable. Are you effing with me?

Anyway, Diana and Steve tie him up with a lasso and fly back to New york, where they turn him over to authorities. Steve -- under his new name, Steve Howard -- joins the new spy agency, which is an agency that spies on other spy agencies. The end!

Notes: Oh god, where do I even begin with this. So, Steve Trevor gets some development here, only I don't quite get what the point is. Okay, so he's now a spy. great. He still doesn't actually do anything when he follows Maximus to his base; Steve just chats with the guy until Diana breaks free and saves herself. Good job? Then there's Maximus, who has to be one of the saddest villains ever. He built robot doubles of himself and sent them all over the Earth to try and make friends. And when that didn't work he decided to use a big machine to steal someone else's charisma and give himself a personality injection? That's just amazingly pathetic. Editor's notes promise we'll be seeing more of Maximus, but I can't think of why anybody would want to see more of this loser. Holy smokes.

My Grade: C-. Unintentionally funny bad guy still can't save the story from itself. Plus: Steve Trevor reaches new levels of uselessness.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I do think Steve Trevor was brought back by mandate, because he was on the Wonder Woman TV show--witness the hair colour change. Also the Wonder Woman pilot before that (with Cathy Lee Crosby) had a Steve Trevor, as well, and he was in the spy game. Ultimately, editorial must've decided to go over completely to the TV model.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #226
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: So right up front we get some long-delayed character development between Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman. Basically, they get in a big fight because Steve feels like she's ignoring him and acting all weird about his return (which she totally is) while she feels like he's not the same man she once loved (because he's really a clay automaton). He's got a new name and has dyed his hair and everything. Meanwhile, she's gotten a new job (off panel), though still at the U.N. Pasko is working hard to set up his new status quo, though as we'll see, that's actually a giant waste of time sadly.

Anyway, as they fight, a big fire engulfs the apartment! Diana tries to put it out but can't, until she deduces that somehow her emotions -- her fight with Steve -- is fanning the flames. So she does the only logical thing: She punches herself in the face so hard she knocks herself out. WHAM!!



That does the trick.

Anyway, once she revives, Diana explains that this is the work of the lame god Hephaestus, who has created a device that causes fires based on emotional energy. So if people get upset near one of these devices, everything bursts into flames. he made this to help Mars/Ares cause more war. Having explained this to Steve, Diana rushes off to her new job as UN liaison lady, which in this case for some reason means she is working on a movie set alongside a fading actress who has anxiety. The actress turns out to be really good, though... so good, she causes everyone watching to get verklempt, which sets off the emotion-matches and causes everything to burst into flame.

Luckily, Diana is there and she quickly puts out the fires and makes short work of Hephaestus' legion of robot women. Hephaestus himself creates a wall of fire and flees, leaving Diana to wonder what his next move will be.

Notes: This is the first part of a two-parter. It's also of note because, besides giving Steve and Diana some actual characterization, Pasko spends time developing the character of Julie, the actress. It's basically the first character work in the entire series since the beginning of the 12 Labors.

It's also sadly pointless, because this two-parter turns out to be the end of the current status quo, as the series switches to Earth-2 after this story. So for those following along at home, Wonder Woman changes to the I-Ching series for #178-204; reverts to a weird pseudo-golden age version from #205-211; goes through the 12 labors from #212-222; and then has a new status quo that lasts all of five issues -- #223-227 -- before being changed again to an Earth-2 version with #228. And that version of the status quo doesn't last all that long either. it's amazing the series continued to be published through all of this considering what a complete and utter aimless wreck editorial clearly was at the time.

Anyway, at least Pasko gets to do one story with his new status quo before he has to dump everything again, so we'll see the end of this tale in the next issue.

Oh, and one more thing. Diana's new job has a note saying it will be explained in the next issue. Which it is... in the lettercolumn. And then the series switches to Earth-2. So again, wtf, DC?

My Grade: B-. Finally, some characterization! Pasko must have been tearing his hair out at the editorial interference.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #227
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: This more or less starts where the last issue left off. Diana is running around the city putting out fires started by Hephaestus. At one of these, she battles one of his robot women and defeats her. Then she triggers a switch on the robot's back which resets the robot. Turns out the robots all have emotions but they are being repressed by a device implanted in them by Hephaestus. And they all loathe Hephaestus, so the robot agrees to help Wonder Woman. She does this by explaining that Hephaestus has rigged the local theater with his emotion flares and when Julie, the actress from the last issue,l gives her big performance, fires will start up and consume everyone.

Wonder Woman rushes to convince Julie not to perform, which she does by revealing her secret identity. but Julie syas that if she doesn't perform, everyone will get anry and the anger will set off the emotion bombs anyway. So Diana compels her with the lasso to give a performance, only make it really lame so nobody cares one way or the other. Julie says she's not sure she's capable of doing that.

And, in fact, she's not, because even under Diana's geas, her voice is so powerful it moves the audience to tears and everything bursts into flames. Wonder Woman and her new robot assistant battle Hephaestus and Wonder Woman finally wins. Then she goes to talk to Julie only to discover that the actress is dead. She used her incredible singing voice to create such overwhelming emotion that all the fire was drawn to her and away from the crowd, only she was then consumed in the blaze. Diana sheds a tear for the noble actress who has given her greatest -- and final -- performance.

Notes: This is a pretty good issue. Finally, a story that revolves around characters and their personalities. I did have one problem with the story: Even after Diana discovers the robots are sentient and enslaved, she still goes ahead and destroys the ones still under Hephaestus' command. That just doesn't seem right to me. Diana also shows no compunction against forcing people to do her will with her lasso, which feels a bit weird in this post-Identity Crisis world.

Pasko again shows here some signs that he may be an actual writer with some ideas to explore. but just as he seems to have been derailed already by editorial fiat (see: The needless return of Steve Trevor being shoe-horned into the book), he's about to be completely derailed again next issue when the entire series is yanked out from under him and a new Earth-2 status quo is imposed. I wonder what Pasko might have done if he wasn't getting jerked around all the time? Or, who knows, maybe some of this was his idea? But it doesn't read that way.

Also, on a design note, check out how much cleaner the cover looks this issue after they ditched the bar across the top. This look would last all of this single issue, as next issue the DC logo will be replaced by the more modern DC logo that was just phased out a couple years ago. Ditching that hideous bar and adding the new DC logo makes this series look infinitely more modern just in the course of two issues time.

My Grades: B. This story shows the promise of the Pasko era, if you can call five issues (one of which had a guest writer) an "era."

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I don't know if it affects the enjoyment of this two-parter, but the character of Julie is based on Judy Garland. My favourite thing, besides all the dialogue interplay, was the golden handmaiden who helps out Wonder Woman--she looked like a character who could have gone places.

For me both these issues rank in the A range. Maybe that's more because of the promise they showed for what could be done and what I hoped to see developed further. These two issues, the Sekowsky run, and the original Marston issues are what made me a Wonder Woman fan. Imagine my disappointment then, when I picked up the next issue.

[Scott Harris]

I don't know if it affects the enjoyment of this two-parter, but the character of Julie is based on Judy Garland. My favourite thing, besides all the dialogue interplay, was the golden handmaiden who helps out Wonder Woman--she looked like a character who could have gone places.

For me both these issues rank in the A range. Maybe that's more because of the promise they showed for what could be done and what I hoped to see developed further. These two issues, the Sekowsky run, and the original Marston issues are what made me a Wonder Woman fan. Imagine my disappointment then, when I picked up the next issue.

I agree that Hesione seemed like a character that could have potential. That's one reason I was a bit taken aback when Diana just up and smashed all of the other robots. Seemed a bit callous considering she knew at that point that they were sentient and enslaved.

These issues were definitely a step up from the others, no question.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #228
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: Diana is minding her own business when a Nazi jet plane appears out of nowhere and almost collides with an airliner. She averts the accident, much to the surprise of the armor-clad Nazi piloting the jet. He's really taken aback at Wonder Woman's presence, because he's from the past and he assumed she must be dead by now. before she can figure out wtf this dude is rambling about, a big green energy hand grabs them all and pulls them back to 1943.

That's where we learn through some exposition to his pet cat that the Nazi is in fact a scientist guy who called himself the Red Panzer. he built a time machine in order to change the future -- or the past, or something -- to keep the Allies from winning. But he accidentally overshot D-Day by, you know, 32 years or so. Now he's still confused over how Wonder Woman could have come back with him, as he thinks two versions of the same person in the same place will cause a paradox.

We learn the truth, though, from Diana herself, as she runs into the World War II version of Wonder Woman. It's simple: They are now on Earth-2. The two Wonder Women then travel to Red Panzer's lair and send the Earth-1 Diana back to her own planet. She disappears just in time for Red Panzer to show up and attack Earth-2 Diana. They fight and Wonder Woman wins, but just then, the Panzer's jet re-appears from its trip to Earth-1 and clocks her. To be continued!

Notes: So, yeah. Just five issues after the status quo was changed up with the end of the 12 Labors and the return of Steve Trevor, all of that is dumped in favor of the ongoing WWII exploits of the Earth-2 Wonder Woman. The reason is simple: DC has no clue what they are doing. I mean, the reason is simple: At this point, the Wonder Woman live action TV show had started and become a hit, and during the first season it was set in World War II. So in order to try and get some sales boost synergy from the TV show, they decided to scrap everything and switch to the Earth-2 version.

Of course, in the lettercolumn they paint this like it's a great thing, as you can still follow the Earth-1 Diana in the pages of Justice League of America. And honestly, in a way, they are right, because Wonder Woman had been so completely bereft of character development for years that you basically didn't lose anything at all by dumping her series.

Still, it's clear that DC was just completely flailing around at this point, trying to find anything that would stick. It should be noted that his issue is cover dated February, 1977. The last I-Ching issue was cover dated December, 1972. So it had been over four full years of randomness since the end of the I-Ching era without anything gaining traction. it's kind of a miracle the series lasted throughout all this nonsense.

Also, note again the new cover design. The new (and to me, classic) DC logo and simplified design makes this issue look far, far more modern than the series had just two issues earlier which is ironic since it now takes place in World War II.

My Grade: B for the story, F- for the fact that the story exists. I actually kind of liked Red Panzer, but really, DC, editorial crap like this is why you imploded.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #229
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: It's World War II! The title now features the Earth-2 Wonder Woman! Everything you ever knew is a lie!

Including, apparently, the thing about Diana losing her powers if she is tied up by a man, because Red Panzer ties her up with her own lasso at the start of the comic and she just kicks him in the bread basket, breaks free and continues the fight. Huh? They fight until she loses her powers in a completely different way: He accidentally fuses her bracelets together, and this causes her to lose her super powers. Does the Earth-2 Wonder Woman work under a different set of rules than the Earth-1 Wonder Woman or something?

Anyway, Steve Trevor happens along and scoops her up, which is the source of some consternation at the military office where Etta Candy works. Etta Candy! They are going all-out with the WWII setting and with no introduction to who these characters are whatsoever. Hopefully you've been reading the reprints in those giant-sized issues. Anyway, Steve discovers that Etta had some secret plans regarding Red Panzer's hideout, only she wasn't supposed to tell him. Armed with thos eplans, Steve races to save the day and, of course, gets his butt kicked eight ways from Sunday by Red Panzer and his legion of Nazi stooges. Diana appears to save the day and once again is tricked into having her bracelets fused, which drains her of her powers. Am I missing something?

I guess I am, because this time she lets a missile blow the manacles off her (which seems like a fairly risky plan, but whatever) and once the manacles are off, she... goes into a blind murderous berserker rage. Wait, what? Just a couple issues earlier, in #224, it was established that Amazons go insane when they lose their manacles, but here she instead becomes a killing machine. it's not really the same thing.

Anyway, berserker Wonder Woman beats the hell out of Red Panzer, but before she can kill him, Steve slaps a manacle back on her, restoring her reason. She then chucks a missile right into Red Panzer's grill, knocking him out for the count. And America is again saved from time-traveling Nazis in armor! The End!

Notes: Honestly, I'm hardly an expert on Wonder Woman's powers, but the stuff in this issue just seemed random and contradicts what was just established a couple issues earlier. It may very well be that Earth-2 has different rules, but if so, they didn't explain that any better than they explained who Etta Candy was. Even with the set-up from last issue-s crossover, this WWII story seemed disjointed and out of place. Also, I'm really beginning to dislike Steve Trevor. He just doesn't have any personality. All he is is a guy who either gets captured so Diana has to save him, or saves Diana when she gets captured. That's it. There's nothing else too him at all. It's amazing to say this, but I think the New 52 Steve Trevor is more interesting.

Also, return of the bondage cover!

My Grade: C-

[Reptisaurus!]

Not exactly. There's a whole years' worth of issues between the last Sekowsky issue and the start of the 12 Labors arc, featuring the return of Robert Kanigher as editor/writer. Over half of these consisted of redrawn Golden Age stories which were wildly out of keeping with contemporary reader tastes. Kanigher's callous hackwork exacerbated the title's sales woes, necessitating the Schwartz team's rescue attempt.

Cei-U!
I summon the Magic Sphere!

But Nubia!

Yeah, I dunno. I really like Nubia. I don't understand it either. I have a Nubia Heroclix on my computer.

[Scott Harris]

Wonder Woman #230
Marty Pasko, Jose Delbo and Vince Coletta



Synopsis: Pasko does a smart thing here, figuring that if you're going to be stuck doing World War II stories, at least you can use Golden Age Wonder Woman's best supervillain. hence the return of The Cheetah (who, it should be said, was also appearing in SuperFriends at the time).

Here's the tale: Diana and Steve are attending an event at the White House when one of the other guests tries to murder FDR. Naturally, Wonder Woman saves him. Her appearance, however, sends another guest into a fit, because this other guest is secretly The Cheetah. The twist is, she doesn't know she's the Cheetah; she only turns into her evil alter-ego when she sees Wonder Woman. Otherwise, she's a nice, normal young gal.

Now, though, she's turned evil again. And she has a cunning plan. Tricking Wonder Woman into fighting her, The Cheetah scratches Diana with a special claw that leaves an infrared mark. Using this, she determines that Diana Prince is Wonder Woman's alter ego and she sets a trap. She sends a letter to Diana Prince inviting Wonder Woman to film a special PSA, except she also rigs one of the cameras to explode. Foolproof, right?

Except, when Cheetah goes to sleep, she turns back into her good self. And her good self doesn't want to kill anybody, so she tracks down Diana Prince herself and hypnotizes her into forgetting she's Wonder Woman. That way, Diana won't show up at the movie set and she'll also never trigger the transformation into The Cheetah again. Foolproof!

Except, with Wonder Woman gone, Steve Trevor decides to film the PSA himself. Not wanting Trevor to die, the Cheetah's good self snaps Diana out of her trance; Diana turns into Wonder Woman, grabs the camera and heaves it out the window just before it blows up. Then she has to fight the Cheetah, because her appearance caused the transformation again. Diana wins and she lassos up Cheetah, deciding to take her to Paradise Island to get treatment. The end!

Notes: This was an interesting issue, mainly because The Cheetah is a cool and interesting character. I liked the alter-ego twist, with the good girl battling against her secret supervillain alter-ego. Steve Trevor was once again useless. On the plus side, though, I really like this cover a lot; for my money, it's the best cover the series had had since #209. All in all, a step in the right direction. Still not much going on in terms of characterization or subplots, but if you're going to do straight up superhero stuff, having a really good villain is key.

My Grade: B+