The All-New, All-Mod Wonder Woman, issue by issue
Aug 27, 2023 13:04:59 GMT -5
shaxper, MWGallaher, and 9 more like this
Post by rberman on Aug 27, 2023 13:04:59 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #178 “Wonder Woman’s Rival” (October 1968)
Writer: Denny O’Neil
Pencils: Mike Sekowsky
Ink: Dick Giordano
Dramatis Personae
Wonder Woman and her alter ego, Diana Prince
Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman’s boyfriend
Roger Seely, Steve’s old friend
Alex Block, Roger’s business associate
Buck the middle-aged hippie
The Stompers biker gang
Miss Carvan, blonde clubgoer, abstract artist
Theme: Perry Mason
The Story: At a party, drunken creep Alex Block gropes Wonder Woman. Steve Trevor decks the guy. My hero!
Steve and Wonder Woman go parking and neck until WW gets called for an emergency. Steve heads to the Tangerine Trolley club and propositions a blonde eventually known as Miss Carvan, but she ducks out. Alex Block is found dead, Steve Trevor is placed on trial, and Wonder Woman goes undercover as a hippie to find the blonde to serve as Steve’s alibi. The trail leads to a cemetery, where a drum circle is interrupted by a biker gang, then to a pawn shop, then to Carvan’s apartment. On the way to testify, Carvan is nearly killed by Roger Seely, Block's business partner, who is actually behind the frame-up. Wonder Woman saves the day, and Steve is released from jail. While cuddling on the couch with Wonder Woman, Trevor muses aloud that what he’d really like to do is take Diana Prince on a date. Ouch!
My Two Cents: Wonder Woman had not been a big seller at DC for a long time, but an ongoing less-than-monthly series helped maintain her trademark for purposes of merchandising and intellectual property protection. Throughout the 1960s, she and her younger versions (Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot) fought Comics-Code-friendly giant monsters and aliens, befitting her Superman-level powers. In issue #176, Robert Kanigher suggested a different path forward, with a story about June 18, the previously unknown day on which Wonder Woman lost her powers for 24 hours every year. This could open the door to more down-to-Earth adventures, maybe ones that wouldn’t be seen as silly sci-fi by the older readers that Marvel had and DC coveted. An advertisement at the end of issue #177 teased the changes to come:
Sekowsky’s art responds to the mood of the story, with regular rectangular panels for pages featuring law and order, and lots of diagonal borders on pages depicting the hippies at play. He also gives Diana a distinct widow’s peak which is obscured by Wonder Woman’s tiara and serves to separate the two identities visually. Sekowsky also breaks panel borders with a foot or head a few times throughout the issue.
Fashion Plate: The new writer/artist combo of O’Neil and Sekowsky drop Diana straight into the counterculture of what seems to be San Francisco, full of funky fashions, longhairs, and hairpin mountain highways. Youth slang abounds: luv, real groovy, fab, blow this scene. The slang goes on and on for the second half of the issue after Diana doffs her star-spangled biker shorts for a constant array of costume changes- seven different dresses in eleven pages, most in psychedelic stripes. She still has her powers, but they are only occasionally useful for this whodunnit story; most of her success comes from going undercover as a good-time girl. She declares her make-over long overdue:
Diana conveniently quick-changes to Wonder Woman, in the spirit of Lynda Carter’s spinning transformation. Was this a staple of 1960s Wonder Woman?
Sexual Politics: Steve comes across as a real jerk. He instantly seeks another woman to “loosen up” with as soon as WW is called to work. She takes his philandering in stride, deciding that she needs to become more interesting than a super-powered Amazonian if she wants to keep him. Going back to this issue’s title, I guess Diana is the “rival” in question, not Miss Carvan, who is never seen again after Wonder Woman rescues her car from going off a Northern California cliff.
Plus, he lambasts Wonder Woman for telling the truth on the witness stand, that he did hit Alex Block at the party. He expected perjury, I guess? Trevor’s days are numbered in this series, and Diana will soon have a string of leading men cut from the cloth of 1960s cinematic leading men like Steve McQueen, Rock Hudson, and Cary Grant.
Does She Cry? Yes, twice, over the thought of “Darling Steve” being incarcerated.
Body Count: The Comics Code was loosening and would be officially revised in a couple of years. This issue features two dead humans, not a typical feature previously in this adventure-oriented series. Alex Block’s death sets the plot in motion. The other stiff is Buck, an old hippie who helps Diana find the graveyard drum circle where Miss Carvan had recently been seen. He’s killed off-page, apparently by Alex Block or someone in his employ.
While not a murder, the Stompers biker gang enact a disturbing plan to kidnap young women for a good time (on their part).
Index:
Denny O'Neil stories
#179 "Wonder Woman's Last Battle" (Diana surrenders her powers and meets I Ching)
#180 "A Death for Diana" (The death of Steve Trevor)
#181 "The Wrath of Dr. Cyber" (Diana tracks Dr. Cyber to a Nordic village)
#182 "A Time to Love, a Time to Die" (Diana hunts Dr. Cyber in London and falls in love)
#199 "Tribunal of Fear" (bodyguard for Fellows Dill)
#200 "The Beauty Hater!" (prisoner of Doctor Cyber)
#201 "The Fist of Flame" (with Catwoman in Tibet)
Mike Sekowsky stories
#183 "Return to Paradise Island" (Amazons vs Ares)
#184 "The Last Battle" (Wonder Woman seeks allies against Ares)
#185 "THEM!" (Diana vs sex traffickers)
#186 "Morgana the Witch!"
The Brave and the Bold #87 “The Widow-Maker!” (Grand Prix)
#187 "Earthquaker!" (Dr Cyber in Hong Kong)
#188 "Cyber's Revenge!" (Hong Kong part two)
#189 "Red for Death!" (vs Chinese army)
#190 "Detour" (captive in Chandalor)
#192 "Assault on Castle Skull" (siege on Chandalor)
#193 "Angela" (Diana vs drug dealer)
#194 "The Prisoner" (Prisoner of Zenda)
#195 "The House That Wasn't" (ghost story)
#196 "Target for Today?" (assassination threat)
Reprint issues
#191 "Detour 2" (reprints #179 with six new frame pages)
#197 reprints #181 and #182
#198 reprints #183 and #184
Other writers
Lois Lane, Superman’s Girl Friend #93 “The Superman-Wonder Woman Team!” by Robert Kanigher
#202 "Fangs of Fire!" by Samuel Delaney (with Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser)
#203 "The Grandee Caper!" by Samuel Delaney (department store spokeswoman)
The Brave and the Bold #105 "Play Now... Die Later!" by Bob Haney (The Spanish Prisoner)
#204 "The Second Life of the Original Wonder Woman" by Robert Kanigher (return to status quo)
Writer: Denny O’Neil
Pencils: Mike Sekowsky
Ink: Dick Giordano
Dramatis Personae
Wonder Woman and her alter ego, Diana Prince
Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman’s boyfriend
Roger Seely, Steve’s old friend
Alex Block, Roger’s business associate
Buck the middle-aged hippie
The Stompers biker gang
Miss Carvan, blonde clubgoer, abstract artist
Theme: Perry Mason
The Story: At a party, drunken creep Alex Block gropes Wonder Woman. Steve Trevor decks the guy. My hero!
Steve and Wonder Woman go parking and neck until WW gets called for an emergency. Steve heads to the Tangerine Trolley club and propositions a blonde eventually known as Miss Carvan, but she ducks out. Alex Block is found dead, Steve Trevor is placed on trial, and Wonder Woman goes undercover as a hippie to find the blonde to serve as Steve’s alibi. The trail leads to a cemetery, where a drum circle is interrupted by a biker gang, then to a pawn shop, then to Carvan’s apartment. On the way to testify, Carvan is nearly killed by Roger Seely, Block's business partner, who is actually behind the frame-up. Wonder Woman saves the day, and Steve is released from jail. While cuddling on the couch with Wonder Woman, Trevor muses aloud that what he’d really like to do is take Diana Prince on a date. Ouch!
My Two Cents: Wonder Woman had not been a big seller at DC for a long time, but an ongoing less-than-monthly series helped maintain her trademark for purposes of merchandising and intellectual property protection. Throughout the 1960s, she and her younger versions (Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot) fought Comics-Code-friendly giant monsters and aliens, befitting her Superman-level powers. In issue #176, Robert Kanigher suggested a different path forward, with a story about June 18, the previously unknown day on which Wonder Woman lost her powers for 24 hours every year. This could open the door to more down-to-Earth adventures, maybe ones that wouldn’t be seen as silly sci-fi by the older readers that Marvel had and DC coveted. An advertisement at the end of issue #177 teased the changes to come:
Sekowsky’s art responds to the mood of the story, with regular rectangular panels for pages featuring law and order, and lots of diagonal borders on pages depicting the hippies at play. He also gives Diana a distinct widow’s peak which is obscured by Wonder Woman’s tiara and serves to separate the two identities visually. Sekowsky also breaks panel borders with a foot or head a few times throughout the issue.
Fashion Plate: The new writer/artist combo of O’Neil and Sekowsky drop Diana straight into the counterculture of what seems to be San Francisco, full of funky fashions, longhairs, and hairpin mountain highways. Youth slang abounds: luv, real groovy, fab, blow this scene. The slang goes on and on for the second half of the issue after Diana doffs her star-spangled biker shorts for a constant array of costume changes- seven different dresses in eleven pages, most in psychedelic stripes. She still has her powers, but they are only occasionally useful for this whodunnit story; most of her success comes from going undercover as a good-time girl. She declares her make-over long overdue:
Diana conveniently quick-changes to Wonder Woman, in the spirit of Lynda Carter’s spinning transformation. Was this a staple of 1960s Wonder Woman?
Sexual Politics: Steve comes across as a real jerk. He instantly seeks another woman to “loosen up” with as soon as WW is called to work. She takes his philandering in stride, deciding that she needs to become more interesting than a super-powered Amazonian if she wants to keep him. Going back to this issue’s title, I guess Diana is the “rival” in question, not Miss Carvan, who is never seen again after Wonder Woman rescues her car from going off a Northern California cliff.
Plus, he lambasts Wonder Woman for telling the truth on the witness stand, that he did hit Alex Block at the party. He expected perjury, I guess? Trevor’s days are numbered in this series, and Diana will soon have a string of leading men cut from the cloth of 1960s cinematic leading men like Steve McQueen, Rock Hudson, and Cary Grant.
Does She Cry? Yes, twice, over the thought of “Darling Steve” being incarcerated.
Body Count: The Comics Code was loosening and would be officially revised in a couple of years. This issue features two dead humans, not a typical feature previously in this adventure-oriented series. Alex Block’s death sets the plot in motion. The other stiff is Buck, an old hippie who helps Diana find the graveyard drum circle where Miss Carvan had recently been seen. He’s killed off-page, apparently by Alex Block or someone in his employ.
While not a murder, the Stompers biker gang enact a disturbing plan to kidnap young women for a good time (on their part).
Index:
Denny O'Neil stories
#179 "Wonder Woman's Last Battle" (Diana surrenders her powers and meets I Ching)
#180 "A Death for Diana" (The death of Steve Trevor)
#181 "The Wrath of Dr. Cyber" (Diana tracks Dr. Cyber to a Nordic village)
#182 "A Time to Love, a Time to Die" (Diana hunts Dr. Cyber in London and falls in love)
#199 "Tribunal of Fear" (bodyguard for Fellows Dill)
#200 "The Beauty Hater!" (prisoner of Doctor Cyber)
#201 "The Fist of Flame" (with Catwoman in Tibet)
Mike Sekowsky stories
#183 "Return to Paradise Island" (Amazons vs Ares)
#184 "The Last Battle" (Wonder Woman seeks allies against Ares)
#185 "THEM!" (Diana vs sex traffickers)
#186 "Morgana the Witch!"
The Brave and the Bold #87 “The Widow-Maker!” (Grand Prix)
#187 "Earthquaker!" (Dr Cyber in Hong Kong)
#188 "Cyber's Revenge!" (Hong Kong part two)
#189 "Red for Death!" (vs Chinese army)
#190 "Detour" (captive in Chandalor)
#192 "Assault on Castle Skull" (siege on Chandalor)
#193 "Angela" (Diana vs drug dealer)
#194 "The Prisoner" (Prisoner of Zenda)
#195 "The House That Wasn't" (ghost story)
#196 "Target for Today?" (assassination threat)
Reprint issues
#191 "Detour 2" (reprints #179 with six new frame pages)
#197 reprints #181 and #182
#198 reprints #183 and #184
Other writers
Lois Lane, Superman’s Girl Friend #93 “The Superman-Wonder Woman Team!” by Robert Kanigher
#202 "Fangs of Fire!" by Samuel Delaney (with Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser)
#203 "The Grandee Caper!" by Samuel Delaney (department store spokeswoman)
The Brave and the Bold #105 "Play Now... Die Later!" by Bob Haney (The Spanish Prisoner)
#204 "The Second Life of the Original Wonder Woman" by Robert Kanigher (return to status quo)
Both were born in 1915. 
