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Post by rberman on Aug 29, 2023 17:58:48 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #180 “A Death for Diana!” (February 1969) Theme: Dr. No Plot & Dialogue: Denny O’Neil Art & Continuity: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Dramatis Personae Diana Prince, boutique owner Steve Trevor, hospitalized and disgraced Army officer I Ching, blind man, martial arts mentor Tim Trench, private investigator from St. Louis Dr. Cyber, criminal mastermind Maree, an assassin employed by Dr. Cyber The Story: As Diana and I Ching walk home after last issue’s adventure at the toy factory, they’re accosted by Tim Trench, who eventually is revealed as a good guy, a detective from St. Louis (not its DC fictional counterpart). But first there’s a Misunderstanding Fight, and then Trench helps them fend off a trio of attackers – “ Dr. Cyber’s sweeties” – who arrive in a motorcycle with not one, but two sidecars. We’re specifically told that the motorcycle comes from inside “Di Prince’s Boutique.” This the first issue that we’ve heard that Diana Prince even has a boutique, so don’t wonder how or why this wide-load motorcycle was waiting inside to bust through her front window. It just looks cool, OK? After some exposition with Trench and further yoga training with I Ching, Diana takes a cab to the hospital to visit Steve Trevor. She never makes it there; her cab driver is Maree, another of Dr. Cyber’s floozies and an Audrey Hepburn look-alike, who drives the cab into the East River, with Diana trapped in the back seat. Only Diana's recent yoga training allows her to hold her breath for the ten minutes it takes to escape, climbing into the trunk and expanding a wheel jack to pop the trunk lid open. Trench and I Ching use vague means to find the right pier, tussle with some more Cyber-floozies, and fish Diana out of the water. The idea of visiting Steve at the hospital has been forgotten. Dr. Cyber lures Diana to Fass Mansion, a stand-in for Hearst Castle and/or Charles Foster Kane’s Xanadu estate. Steve Trevor is there, and he quickly gets shot dead by Dr. Cyber’s floozies. In the fight that ensues, Trench is captured and spirited away to Dr. Cyber’s secret sub-oceanic base, while I Ching captures and hypnotically interrogates Maree. My Two Cents: The Bond films loom prominently in the backdrop of this issue, with its beautiful assassins, including Dr Cyber hatching plots from her undersea fortress. The plot structure follows cinematic conventions as well, with three set-piece fights (at the boutique, the pier, and the Fass mansion) separated by expositional sequences, scattered with cutaways to villainous Dr. Cyber cackling in her lair. Fashion Plate: At the end of the previous issue, Diana wore a green minidress with thigh high green boots. The start of this issue follows immediately and says she hasn’t been home yet, but she’s now wearing a yellow minidress and flat slippers. Detail, schmetail! During a training montage, she wears an orange gi (for karate practice against a thug with a billy club… what’s he doing in the dojo?) and a yellow bathing suit (during breath-holding training), and spends the last half of the story in a purple pantsuit with yellow racing stripes and matching yellow boots. The cover shows this last ensemble differently, making it a much tighter tracksuit, resembling the uniform of the Challengers of the Unknown. This color scheme would not have happened at Marvel, which put heroes in primary colors and generally reserved purple, orange, and green costumes for villains. Sexual Politics: As in the previous issue, Diana depends on I Ching’s knowledge and training. However, she does rescue herself from the deathtrap taxi, only accepting help to climb from the river afterward. Dr. Cyber is revealed as a female criminal mastermind, and all her goons are glamorous women as well. Steve Trevor is completely helpless throughout the story, functioning as the damsel whose safety motivates the hero. Yet Diana is, um, attached to him unilaterally. “Without Steve, my life is worthless!” Contrast that with Dr. Cyber’s utter disregard for the fate of her followers. Does She Cry? Yes, she cries when she gets a call from the hospital about Steve Trevor’s tenuous medical condition. Then she cries again when cradling Steve’s corpse at Fass Mansion, both on the interior and the cover. Body Count: Steve Trevor? Is he really dead? Diana thinks so at least. Lettercol: This issue has no series-specific lettercol, but it does have a text page “Wonderful World of Comics #7” analogous to Marvel’s Bullpen Bulletin. An unnamed editor (contrasting with the very prominent name of Stan Lee at Marvel) hypes Jay Scott Pike, the artist/writer for the recent debut of Dolphin in Showcase #79. He also announces New York Comicon (entrance fee: $4) at which one can buy old comics and see (but not buy?) original comic art. On to viewer mail: Various anonymous readers ask what happened to the likes of Rip Hunter and the Sea Devils. A fan named Barry Lee Zlochower asks why Robin and Supergirl don’t have their own books. The answer: Some series don’t sell well. Sometimes the creative team was retasked. Sometimes other books took precedence at the printer. Another anonymous reader asks about inconsistencies between Golden and Silver Age stories. The editor chalks it up to “Earth One vs Earth Two.” Meanwhile, in Justice League of America #69: Diana introduces herself to the team for the first time in her civilian guise, and reports that she must resign due to losing her super-powers. I am shocked to find Flash musing that she should marry Superman instead. I had no idea that concept was floated in the Silver Age, when Superman seemed firmly attached to Lois Lane. A reader named Jack Gergotz picked up on this surprising thought balloon as well, and commented negatively on it in a letter published in JLA #72. The Earth-2 version of Wonder Woman showed up in the annual JLA/JSA Crossover in JLA #73, requiring an editorial explanation of why this Wonder Woman still had her powers.
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Post by MWGallaher on Aug 29, 2023 19:16:27 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #180 “A Death for Diana!” (February 1969) Lettercol: This issue has no series-specific lettercol, but it does have a text page “Wonderful World of Comics #7” analogous to Marvel’s Bullpen Bulletin. An unnamed editor (contrasting with the very prominent name of Stan Lee at Marvel) hypes Jay Scott Pike, the artist/writer for the recent debut of Dolphin in Showcase #79. He also announces New York Comicon (entrance fee: $4) at which one can buy old comics and see (but not buy?) original comic art. On to viewer mail: Various anonymous readers ask what happened to the likes of Rip Hunter and the Sea Devils. A fan named Barry Lee Zlochower asks why Robin and Supergirl don’t have their own books. The answer: Some series don’t sell well. Sometimes the creative team was retasked. Sometimes other books took precedence at the printer. Another anonymous reader asks about inconsistencies between Golden and Silver Age stories. The editor chalks it up to “Earth One vs Earth Two.” As this run of WONDER WOMAN borrowed from DC's romance comics for its vibe, I'm convinced that the "Dolphin" feature was going the other direction: I think it was originally intended as a superhero-tinged ongoing feature in one of DC's romance comics that was abandoned when editorial decided such a thing wouldn't go over so well with the romance readers. That's why the story, which ended on a cliffhanger and was drawn by their top romance artist, was too short for the full issue of SHOWCASE where they finally dumped it, and so had to be backed up with an Aquaman reprint. Tim Trench got some unlikely back-up solo stories in DETECTIVE COMICS...one of the more obscure 70's DC backups, right up there with Melba, Tracey Thompson and Space Marshal.
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Post by Calidore on Aug 29, 2023 20:10:10 GMT -5
Answers that lead to more questions: I was curious what "nakadate ippon kin zuki" punch meant, so I gave it to Google Translate, which returned "I like one piece of gold". I found this: nakadate-ippon-ken middle finger, one-knuckle fist ippon-ken-zuki one-knuckle fist, second knuckle protruding Oh, so "ken" was probably just accidentally misspelled as "kin". That makes sense. So, making that change in Google Translate...I now get "I like medium-sized one-off tickets". Clearly those developers were channeling Monty Python.
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Post by MWGallaher on Aug 29, 2023 21:52:59 GMT -5
Since nobody's mentioned it yet, let me be the first to say that I always absolutely loved this new logo for Wonder Woman. It felt contemporary without being so tied to any of the late 60's fad lettering types that it would quickly feel dated. It was clear and readable, unlike the original logo in cursive. It was stylish and exciting, unlike the clunky 50's logo or the arc & horizontal block lettering of the preceding issues. It was unique among others on the newsstands of the time, and it fit neatly into DC's cover dress of the times, looking substantial without taking up excessive space.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 29, 2023 22:09:34 GMT -5
That purple suit is another instance of the Avengers influence, as this was Diana Rigg's wardrobe, in a few episodes, in 1967..... Her stunt double, Cyd Child, is revealed there, as she struggles with the weight of her stunt partner, when she goes for the fireman's carry. They did a whole fashion shoot of outfits for Emma, for the first color season..... Also, the St Louis connection for Tim Trench is no chance thing, as Denny O'Neil is from there. He later based The Question's Hub City on East St louis, IL, across the river.
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Post by zaku on Aug 30, 2023 8:56:01 GMT -5
Meanwhile, in Justice League of America #69: Diana introduces herself to the team for the first time in her civilian guise, and reports that she must resign due to losing her super-powers. I am shocked to find Flash musing that she should marry Superman instead. I had no idea that concept was floated in the Silver Age, when Superman seemed firmly attached to Lois Lane. A reader named Jack Gergotz picked up on this surprising thought balloon as well, and commented negatively on it in a letter published in JLA #72. Uh? Could someone remind me what Green Arrow or Batman's "powers" are? Rather than resign, I would have asked for the equivalent of (unpaid?) leave. In regards to a potential romantic relationship between WW and Superman, I think it was an idea that had somehow always floated in the Imaginary. Even Moore joked about it in his famous Annual. (In hindsight, don't you think Kal and Diana acted a little, well, out of character in this scene in regards to their Pre-Crisis characterizations..?)
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Post by rberman on Aug 30, 2023 17:35:47 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #181 “The Wrath of Dr. Cyber!” (April 1969)Theme: Dr. No, again Plot & Dialogue: Denny O’Neil Art & Continuity: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, boutique owner and unpaid adventurer Steve Trevor, dead and mostly forgotten I Ching, blind man, martial arts mentor Tim Trench, private investigator from St. Louis Dr. Cyber, criminal mastermind Maree, Valerie, and Betty, assassins employed by Dr. Cyber Raphael, maker of gadgets The Story: Picking up from the previous issue, Diana and I Ching return from Fass Mansion to her boutique in Manhattan with their captive, Dr. Cyber’s minion Maree. I Ching says it’s going to take him a while to hypnotize and then interrogate Maree. Boring! So Diana goes shopping for James Bond-type gadgets at the tenement apartment of her old (but hitherto unknown) friend Raphael, who plays the role of James bond's Q. The hypnotized Maree leads Diana and I Ching to a submarine which transports all three to Dr. Cyber’s undersea fortress. Detective Trench is Cyber’s captive, but she’s proud of her domain and can’t resist giving him a tour. He plays along, seizing on a chance to escape when Diana’s arrival provides a distraction. Check out the extreme dutch angle in the first panel below. The ensuing fracas damages the base’s oxygen supply, so Dr. Cyber decides to evacuate, leaving our heroes behind to die from “a small nuclear charge buried beneath the fortress.” Better than suffocating, maybe? Diana uses her new exploding earrings to blast through a bulkhead, then escapes in an empty submarine. Crimefighting doesn’t pay the bills, so Diana returns briefly to her boutique to earn some cash. Presumably the broken front window has been repaired since last issue’s fight. Tim Trench recalls overhearing Dr. Cyber mention the Nordic country of Bjorland, which apparently consists of a single village, so our heroes travel there, and sure enough, Dr. Cyber owns the whole place! Time to run, and Diana’s exploding earrings again come in handy for deterrence. But Dr. Cyber arrives and offers Trench a box full of gems. He turns his gun on Diana… and fires! My Two Cents: It’s a satisfyingly action-packed issue. Each segment occurs in a different extreme location, a pattern that often repeats in adventure films from Bond to Star Wars, etc. The cover promises a ski chase which sounds like a very James Bond sequence, and sure enough, there’s one in the 1963 novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, though the film did not arrive until 1969. In fact, there have been enough James Bond ski chases to fill a 25 minute YouTube video. Covers that lie: So about that ski chase... In previous review threads, we’ve seen that covers often contained not only higher quality art than interiors, but also more exciting scenes than the versions in the interior story. Contrary to the cover, O’Neil’s actual story has no actual ski chase, but a Cyber minion does wave ski poles menacingly at one point. Close enough? Fashion Plate: Six outfits in all: Purple pantsuit (from last issue), red poncho, laced jerkin with thigh boots, teal minidress, orange turtleneck with purple cloak, yellow Rorshach-print ski jacket Sexual Politics: “Never saw a chick who wouldn’t be dumb if you gave her a chance!” says Trench, who was captured himself by women. “She makes me ashamed that I’m a woman!” says Diana of Cyber. Diana also admits that old, blind I Ching is a better fighter than she is. This is the sort of thing that made feminist readers like Gloria Steinem upset with this series. Notice that Bjorland has men in Dr. Cyber’s employ as well as women, even before Trench switches sides. Does She Cry? Nope, not even when recalling the death of Steve Trevor last issue. In fact, she thinks about how quickly he’s fading from her affections in the face of Tim Trench’s manly charms. This makes Trench’s treachery all the more shocking on the final page’s cliffhanger twist. Body Count: I’m not sure how many of Cyber’s minions were shot by Trench with the machine gun he commandeered in the undersea lair. Or how many were left behind to die when the nuclear explosion destroyed that base. Probably some? But Diana only uses her explosives to damage structures, not people.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 30, 2023 19:16:38 GMT -5
Quite a bit of these early stories make me think they are looking at Modesty Blaise reprints, as well as Avengers episodes and Bond films. The Menomonee Falls Gazette carried the strips, but didn't start up until 1970. I've never seen any definitive information about the strip's syndication in the US market. reprint books started appearing in 1981, from Ken Pierce and Eclipse. However, the movie was in 1966 and I suspect O'Neil was pretty well acquainted, as I know Walt Simonson was, as Jim Holdaway was a major artistic influence on his work.
Modesty often used gadgets, created by partner Willie Garvin and traveled the globe adventuring, without needing to work, as she had retired with a fortune, from her crime boss days. It is certainly a similar template. Emma Peel always seemed to have money and didn't work a regular job, though she did much consultancy work. It was revealed in "The House That Jack Built" that she inherited her father's business, Knight Industries, and ran it, after his death, so there was that. Diana could have easily had a horde of precious gems and minerals, from Paradise Island, for all we know.
I doubt that Steinem actually saw many of these comics. She did an intro to a collection of 40s material and put WW in the cover of the first issue of MS; but I think she was more motivated by wanting the character to be Wonder Woman, superhero, rather than Diana Prince, adventurer, rather than anything related to the actual content of the issues. The main feminist focus in comics was with the women of the Undergrounds, more than anything else.
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Post by rberman on Aug 31, 2023 8:23:31 GMT -5
Modesty often used gadgets, created by partner Willie Garvin and traveled the globe adventuring, without needing to work, as she had retired with a fortune, from her crime boss days. It is certainly a similar template. Emma Peel always seemed to have money and didn't work a regular job, though she did much consultancy work. It was revealed in "The House That Jack Built" that she inherited her father's business, Knight Industries, and ran it, after his death, so there was that. Diana could have easily had a horde of precious gems and minerals, from Paradise Island, for all we know. This is where "what makes sense in Wonder Woman's story" (Diana living off the riches of Themyscira and funding her own fight against crime, like Bruce Wayne) runs aground on the "poor ingenue in the big city" trope into which O'Neil has dropped Diana. Thus she specifically says that she has neither home nor money, contrary to everything we've seen about her in the twenty five previous years of stories. She doesn't spend enough time at her boutique even to pay the rent, yet she has funds to buy exploding earrings. and plane tickets to Bjorland. The "ingenue" theme doesn't fit easily with the "globetrotting espionage" theme.
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 31, 2023 8:34:36 GMT -5
O'Neil mixing the worldly spy with ingenue tracks with the portrayal of female action heroes in TV of the 60s. For example, while Honey West was a confident, occasionally flirty crimefighter while on the job, when she was seen in her personal life (limited as it had been for a single season series), the character would switch to the "vulnerable" mode--not in the real sense that anyone is vulnerable when opening their heart / being real with someone else, but in the media trope of a woman falling back into certain male-generated stereotypes. Diana operating in both worlds just seems like O'Neil was influenced by the messaging of the period, or perhaps his editor wanted Diana to not be as "aggressive" as other changing female characters of the period.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 31, 2023 11:23:20 GMT -5
I think it is as simple as wanting to appeal to two different audiences: young girls, with the romance comic tropes, and young boys, with the adventure tropes, in an effort to sell more comics. The fact that it works at all, is down to the skill of the team and the enthusiasm that they have (at least Sekowsky, who probably found it a break from the JLA stories, and let him do more, as an artist. O'Neil probably was more interested in building a name, since he is still a relative rookie, as much as any enthusiasm for the character).
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Post by rberman on Sept 4, 2023 20:48:45 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #182 “A Time to Love, A Time to Die” (May 1969)Theme: Treasure hunt Plot & Dialogue: Denny (not “Dennis” this time) O’Neil Art & Continuity: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, boutique owner I Ching, blind man, martial arts mentor Tim Trench, private investigator from St. Louis, traitor Dr. Cyber, criminal mastermind Reginald Hyde-White, British playboy Won Lo, old friend of I Ching Mai Ling, servant of Won Lo Lady Rothwell, British socialite The Story: Last issue, detective Tim Trench switched sides and seemed to shoot Diana Prince dead in exchange for a box of jewels offered by Dr. Cyber. That turned out to be partly fakery because (1) it was only a warning shot, and (2) he’s betraying Dr. Cyber as well, grabbing the jewels and fleeing in her helicopter, which he apparently can pilot. Diana refuses to join Dr. Cyber’s legion. So Cyber sics a squadron of falcons on her and, in typical potboiler fashion, leaves before ascertaining that Diana is in fact dead. A handsome stranger comes to her rescue: British gentleman Reginald Hyde-White, who just happened to be passing by this village completely controlled by Dr. Cyber. Is he another of Cyber’s minions? What do you think? The story doesn't leave us guessing; we are immediately told he is a plant. Hyde-White is very generous! He charters a private plane to take himself, Diana, and I Ching to London. Then he takes her to Carnaby Street and buys her lots of clothes. Soon enough, she’s necking with him in a convertible in the shadow of Big Ben. Meanwhile, I Ching attempts to get information from his old buddy Won Lo, but Dr Cyber has planted an agent at Won Lo’s house, and a mis-timed bomb kills both the agent (posing as servant Mai Ling) and Won Lo, before I Ching can learn anything useful. He interrupts Diana’s make-out party. A stray word by the fake Mai Ling leads our heroes to the home of Lady Rothwell, who is hosting a scavenger hunt around London. Unfortunately, she is yet another of Dr. Cyber’s endless stream of flunkies, and she locks our heroes in the basement. Diana uses her hidden grappling hook to retrieve the dungeon keys from a nearby wall. Diana, I Ching, and Reginald follow Lady Rothwell’s trail around town, fighting her three minions at Hardwicke Square and again at Mincing Lane before being captured for a second time this issue. Sekowsky offers some serious fisticuffs throughout the issue. The gloating Rothwell explains her plan to steal the jewels of wealthy socialites participating in her treasure hunt. Diana breaks free and is about to capture Rothwell. Once again, Diana’s new male ally (this time, Reginald Hyde-White) pulls a gun on her. And once again, he also betrays Diana’s enemy but does allow Rothwell to escape into the night, albeit without the jewelry she coveted. Diana is furious and beats up Reginald severely, despite his protestations of love. I Ching restrains her from doing further damage, and she stalks off alone. My Two Cents: It’s another action-packed issue, this time clueing readers early that Reginald is a traitor. I’m reminded of the 1963 film “Charade” in which Cary Grant befriends Audrey Hepburn at a ski resort but turns out to have ulterior motives as they run around Paris looking for a treasure. As usual in such stories, the trickster falls in love with his mark in the middle of the ruse. Hyde-White does indeed drive a British car, with a wheel on the right, and a “boot” instead of a trunk. It might even be an Aston Martin, James Bond’s brand of choice. But he gives Diana a “raincoat” instead of a “Mackintosh.” Hey look! It’s Andy Warhol! Maybe? Covers that lie: The cover promises that Rothwell’s minions will attack Diana with swords, but instead they wrestle her to the ground and club her with the butt of a pistol. Fashion Plate: She wears six different outfits just on the two pages dedicated to her shopping trip on Carnaby Street. She spends most of the story in a hunter green turtleneck sleeveless pantsuit. Seems sensible for combat. Throughout the whole story, Hyde-White wears the same pin stripe shirt and plaid jacket as seen above. Seems a little odd. Maybe he's just on retainer from Dr. Cyber and is not true gentry. Diana doesn't notice, though. Rothwell’s minions all wear matching uniforms: Purple pantsuits over an orange blouse, with buccaneer booties, and a belt with an odd crotch strap. Sexual Politics: One running theme in this series so far is that men cannot be trusted. As expected, Diana mentions how she owes her fighting skills to I Ching. This issue has two special one-page features, entitled “Marriage a la Mode!” and “Wedding Forecast!” with explanations of courtship and marriage customs around the world. Did the story run short? Does She Cry? Yes, she cries her way through ten panels as she beats Reginald within an inch of his life and then “runs weeping into the cold, grey fog.” Hell hath no fury, etc. Body Count: Won Lo and the fake Mai Ling die in an explosion. Lettercol: “The New Wonderful World of Wonder Woman.” Reader Carolyn Watson gives a thumbs up to issue #179, in which Diana surrendered her powers. Thirty-two year old Drury Moraz writes that the change to Wonder Woman was essential to update her for modern times. Fifteen other readers (mostly women) must have written in negatively, because they receive an editorial plea not to quit buying the series. I wonder whether those negative letters played any role in the next few issues, which place Diana back in an Amazonian setting.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 5, 2023 21:14:09 GMT -5
Your Andy Warhol may actually be Denny O'Neil. It looks a bit like him. Hyde-White's car appears to be an E-Type Jaguar.... What I find interesting, is in your first image, upper right panel. Trench has a Japanese Nambu pistol.... You don't generally see those outside of war comics, in the hands of Japanese officers. Where you would most often find them is as souvenirs taken by soldiers, during WW2; but, no one with any sense actually would use one, for professional work, like a bodyguard or private detective. They had cumbersome features, a poor magazine feed system and a very under-powered bullet and pretty much anything made by Colt or Smith and Wesson was a better weapon, let alone European pistols. They were exotic looking and bore a strong resemblance to the German Luger but were nowhere near as well designed and manufactured, or produced in as many numbers. Wonder if Sekowsky chose it for its exotic looks, or thought he was looking at a Luger, when using a photo as reference or what. Generally, in comics, if you include something that distinctive, you usually make it either a period piece or have some character rationale for carrying it. Most artists drew generic weapons. If they took the trouble to include identifiable details it was usually either for a story purpose of they just thought it looked exotic and cool, like Manhunter's C96 Mauser (and Jon Sable's, and Dominic Fortune's and The Scorpion......). As far as the henchgirls of Dr Cyber, maybe chastity was important to the doc and they are modern chastity belts. Otherwise, I have no idea why Sekowsky included that design feature, unless he was confused by a codpiece or even a dance belt, either of which would be worn by men.
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Post by rberman on Sept 6, 2023 20:16:49 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #183 “Return to Paradise Island” (August 1969)Theme: Take me down to the Paradise City Plot & Dialogue: Mike Sekowsky Art & Continuity: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, depowered Amazonian princess I Ching, blind man, martial arts mentor Hippolyta, comatose Queen of Paradise Island, Ares’ daughter Ares, God of war Eris, Ares’ sister Phobos and Deimos, Ares’ sons The Story: Last issue ended with Diana fleeing sobbing from I Ching after Reginald Hyde-White led her on. An Amazonian messenger snaps Diana out of her funk with an urgent summons to return to Paradise Island. I Ching comes along, because apparently “No man may set foot there” isn’t a thing in this era. The Island stands in ruins, and Hippolyta is in a coma, all because Ares wants to reclaim Earth for the Greek Pantheon, but Hippolyta wouldn’t give him the secret of dimensional travel. Diana refuses to help Ares as well, so he stalks off, returning with an army. The Amazons barely win a massive battle, during which a small force of Ares’ warriors has kidnapped Hippolyta. Diana and a handful of Amazons reclaim her and hunker down in the mountains, knowing that soon Ares will come after them with another army… My Two Cents: I am far from a Wonder Woman expert, so I would love to know: Is this the single most serious and bloody Wonder Woman issue up to this point? O’Neil has departed, leaving artist Sekowsky holding the writer’s pen, and perhaps the editorial whip as well. He immediately leaves the James Bond/Emma Peel/Modesty Blaise genre behind for a serious mythological tale of intense bloodshed. Was this a response to negative reader mail, or just a story Sekowsky was eager to tell? This story established several key elements in the Amazonian mythos. First, Paradise Island exists in a separate dimension from our world now. Back in Denny O’Neil’s story in issue #178, that appeared to be an insurmountable barrier. But as Sekowsky tells, it’s no big deal, and Hippolyta can breach the barrier when she feels like it. Apparently Ares can’t, which is why he is attacking her now. Second, Ares (called by his Roman name of “Mars” up to now in WW lore) is Hippolyta’s father and thus Diana’s grandfather. He’s portrayed effectively as an imposing figure, half again the size of the Amazons. In contrast, Wonder Woman #1 (1942) held that Hippolyta had been formed by Aphrodite as a response to Mars’ abuses against women. Fashion Plate (mail): Diana starts the issue in the same green jumpsuit from last issue, then spends the last act in a bronze breastplate and shin guards. The Amazonian shields have a big “W” on them. Sexual Politics: Not much. Ares is a figure of masculine aggression, but his sister Eris is right beside him every step of the way. I Ching sits out the fighting but gives a good pep talk. However… Does She Cry? Oh yes, for two whole pages, while stressing out over Ares’ ultimatum. She also cries for two pages at the beginning over Reginald’s betrayal. “Being a human hurts!” Body Count: Untold numbers fall on both sides in the war. Hundreds? Thousands? The Comics-Code-approved captions don’t actually say that anyone died. They just say that the Amazons “tire,” which is why they’re strewn about the landscape like rag dolls. “Wonder Woman with a sword” seems like a pretty big tonal shift, a step into the Bronze Age.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 6, 2023 21:08:49 GMT -5
There might be some second guessing about the change in direction, leading to this story, to see if it sold better than the female adventurer gimmick did. Since they stuck with the adventurer, long term, my guess is that it didn't wow the audience. It could also be a filler plot, that maybe Sekowsky had suggested and they went with it, with O'Neil gone from the book, to stay on track. or maybe someone had been reading Bullfinch's mythology.
Marston always used the Roman names, probably due to a classic education that stressed the Latin literary traditions vs the Greek. A lot of English writers also used the Roman names, which makes sense, as the stories would have been passed on the Britain by the occupying Roman soldiers. I mean, who ever uses Herakles, instead of Hercules?
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