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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 7, 2023 7:23:19 GMT -5
I see there were five more issues of sword-slashing fantasy in this run after this, making it a bigger portion of the Diana Prince era than I remembered. It does indeed anticipate the much more serious attention to the Amazon culture that would feature in the Bronze and and pervade post-Crisis. Impressive showing by Sekowsky, who was indeed the editor as of this issue. Who would have guessed he had it in him, based on his JLA reputation? Not me! I assume that the no-men-allowed prohibition applied only to isolate Paradise Island from masculine intrusion while it was on Earth.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 7, 2023 20:44:35 GMT -5
Why is it everyone that wears a plaid sportcoat in the DCU is evil?
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Post by rberman on Sept 7, 2023 22:18:29 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #184 “The Last Battle!” (October 1969)Theme: Journey to Camelot Art & Story: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Lettering: John Costanza Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, depowered Amazonian princess I Ching, blind man, martial arts mentor Drusilla, Amazon Ares, God of war Hippolyta, comatose queen, daughter of Ares Roland, El Cid, Siegried, Lancelot, King Arthur, Brunhilde, heroes of olde The Story: Diana’s forces need help to fend off the next attack by Ares. She and her assistant Drusilla use Hippolyta’s dimension-bending amulet to travel to Camelot, where a great contest of warriors is underway. But they’re all tired of real fighting, not at all eager to help Diana. When Diana mocks the lounging heroes, Siegfried lays a hand on her, leading to a duel. Diana is doing OK until her sword breaks; Brunhilde steps in to save her, and promises to lead her army of Valkyries against Ares. Returning to Paradise Island, the Valkyries find the Amazons in the middle of a pitched battle, and win it. But the next day brings an even larger battle against Ares’ forces. Things are looking grim until the other heroes of olde show up and win the day. Apparently King Arthur also knows the secret of dimensional travel? Seems like a plot hole. After the battle, Diana can’t be found. Eventually, Ares shows up, carrying her unconscious on her shield, and praising her valor. He threatens to return another day, though. My Two Cents: Am I imagining an allegory about Vietnam here? You might think Ares would represent the evils of war. But the Amazons’ path to peace is through superior firepower, and Sekowsky’s take-home message is that the people who are tired of war need to get off their butts to intervene in another land’s conflicts. It is their responsibility! Not exactly a Catch 22 statement about violence. Time must pass differently in this dimension. Diana sticks around after the battle long enough for Paradise Island to be rebuilt. I Ching announces his intention to stay even longer and study Amazonian culture. The coloring on this issue has an awful lot of monochrome. Maybe the deadline was short. It also softens the gore of the war scenes. Fashion (Breast) Plate: Diana wears a bronze cuirass and blue cloak throughout the entire issue. No time for haberdashery! Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting: I Ching's only contribution is to state the obvious, that the Amazons need reinforcements. He's written out of the story - for now - on the last page. Captions on two consecutive panels do mention Diana as having "karate" skills, but she doesn't credit I Ching. Sexual Politics: Feminists may not have been pleased that Diana’s solution to her plight is “go find some men to bail her out.” Yet the “heroes of olde” don’t come off too well here themselves, except for Brunhilde. Does She Cry? Yes, when talking to her comatose mother. Just for one panel though. Bond Girl: DC started showing helpless women on the cover a whole lot more during this era, especially after the revision of the Comics Code. This one is relatively mild since Diana is unconscious but not immediately threatened. Body Count: This time we are specifically told that there is indeed a massive pile of corpses after each battle. Lettercol: “What have you done?” complains Randall Way. “You have taken the ‘wonder’ out of Wonder Woman,” decries Peggy Sarokin. But Debbie Frick dubs her “positively great,” and several other letters agree. Sekowsky plays agent provocateur with fans, calling the old Wonder Woman “dowdy, grim, short, fat, square, frumpy” and Steve Trevor “just too dumb and boring for the new Wonder Woman.” Editors and fans alike refer to the company as “National Periodical Publications” or “NPP” and not “DC Comics.” I’m surprised that the DC brand wasn’t better established in their minds by 1969.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 7, 2023 23:18:54 GMT -5
Why is it everyone that wears a plaid sportcoat in the DCU is evil? Plaid sport coats, by definition, are evil. Exhibit A
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 8, 2023 11:37:29 GMT -5
Editors and fans alike refer to the company as “National Periodical Publications” or “NPP” and not “DC Comics.” I’m surprised that the DC brand wasn’t better established in their minds by 1969. That was still a year or two in the future. They didn't take "National Comics" off the covers until the October 1970 issues,
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Post by rberman on Sept 8, 2023 18:48:58 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #185 “THEM!” (December 1969)Theme: Leather Goddesses of Manhattan Art & Story: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Lettering: John Costanza Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, boutique owner Top Hat, Moose Momma, and Pinto are “THEM!” Cathy Perkins, blonde teen runaway Mingo, scuzzy associate of THEM Mr. Petrucci, handsome and helpful neighbor. His mom also appears. The Story: Diana returns from Paradise Island to her boutique in Manhattan and finds Cathy Perkins cowering inside the locked building. The pair are beset by a trio of BDSM lesbians (at least, that’s how I interpret their appearance and behavior) who demand that Cathy and Diana wear collars and become their slaves. Instead, Diana beats THEM up, and THEY flee with a “You haven’t heard the last of us!” They stand outside Diana’s window all night, chanting “Soon!” "Weirdo" in the early 20th century meant not just "strange" but also "unsavory, deviant." I'm not sure whether it still had that connotation in 1969. Things escalate from there. Creepy Mingo harasses Diana while she buys groceries. Clothing in her boutique is vandalized, and then the whole shop burns down in the night. Cathy can’t handle the pressure; she slips away to resume a life of slavery under THEM. Finally Diana confronts THEM on the street. At each encounter, a handsome neighbor named Mr. Petrucci arrives from nowhere like a guardian angel, assisting Diana. After Diana and Petrucci beat up THEM and their allies, the police arrive, and Diana gets a reward for the recovery of some missing jewelry hidden in Top Hat’s top hat. Good thing, since ditzy Diana failed to take out fire insurance on her boutique and badly needs the cash. Cathy’s parents belatedly arrive and agree that she should live with Diana to become a recurring character. My Two Cents: Mike Sekowsky wants to dramatize the problem of sex trafficking but can’t say so, due to the Comics Code. The closest he can come is to have Cathy say she’s so ashamed of what THEY made her do, even though the only details given are “They made me clean their house, and then beat me.” The collar trope has a long history in Wonder Woman comics, reflecting her creator's personal interests. "Bracelets of Submission" were integral to her costume. Women, usually Diana, were constantly getting chained and led around by collars. Sometimes it was a ruse to gain information, and sometimes not. Grant Morrison leaned heavily into this element of her backstory in his 2016 series Wonder Woman: Earth One.Fashion Plate: Diana starts in an orange sun dress and sandals, then an orange minidress with orange leggings, then a black blouse with white jacket and pants. Cathy initially dresses in boyish army surplus because THEY had confiscated her clothing. Diana dresses her in stylish starry pants with a pink blouse. Top Hat has a glamorous face and hands but dresses like a Victorian man, or a twentieth century pimp stereotype. Moose Momma is a hulking hippie androgyne without breasts or waist. Pinto has her own odd cowpoke-themed dress sense and a non-feminine face, from an artist who certainly could have given her one if he wished. She reminds me of Paul Smith’s rendering of Callisto in X-Men, modeled on Tom Petty. Check out that trippy diagonal word balloon in the splash page below! Sexual Politics: “Diana vs Sex Traffickers” seems like the most appropriate Wonder Woman theme ever, hearkening to that topic’s handling way way back in Wonder Woman] #1 (1942) as we discussed with issue #183. Sekowsky blunts that theme, while raising the luridity factor, by making the slavers androgynous women. And what are we to make of the mysterious Mr. Petrucci, who arrives at the most convenient moments over and over in this single issue? He even lets Diana and Cathy crash at his mom’s house after the arson, and we get a hint that his own sister has befallen some tragedy. Last issue Diana went toe to toe with the legendary Siegfried, but this time she can’t defend a bag of groceries from a hobo without the help of a man. Does She Cry? No, but Cathy Perkins does briefly, when donning the collar. Bond Girl: Nothing for Diana this time; there’s not even a remote chance she will agree to be collared. However, domineering Pinto leads submissive Cathy around by a collar in the story’s climax. For that matter, Diana commands Cathy to undress and bathe (yes, mistress!) before choosing her new clothes. Was this the series’ first bath scene? We also get a single panel of Diana changing into her action clothes, a staple of “Rose and Thorn” stories a couple of years later. I’m going to guess this was a first for this series since Diana usually did the spinny quick-change into her Wonder-bustier. Body Count: Nobody dies, even when Diana’s shop burns to the ground. Lettercol: Shirly Gorman favorably compares WW to “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Jeff Qualls apologizes for initially doubting how good this new series was. Colin Robertson inquires about Wonder Woman’s blood type, but Sekowsky only says, “It’s very very rare.” Larry Stout notes that we didn’t see WW resign from the Army or attend Steve Trevor’s funeral.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 8, 2023 20:42:02 GMT -5
I recall hearing something about this issue, when I first started buying up the Diana Prince, Wonder Woman issues, after finding the first several for a very reasonable price. I forget where it was mentioned (maybe Will Jacobs & Gerard Jones' The Comic Book Heroes?) and it sounded a lot weirder than it actually was, though it gets weird enough. The Code definitely blunts a lot of that and DC was still pretty squeamish about adult themes. When First Issue Special published the Lady Cop issue, it is rather obvious that a teenage girl in the story probably has a venereal disease, but it is never outright said. There is a lot of couched language; but, that was the inference I got, from what was said. You can almost feel the writers chafing to be able to right more adult stories to match the more mature readers they were encountering, especially as comics move away from newsstands and into comic shops (which by then, they had enough alternatives, if DC and Marvel balked at the story).
First time I read the story I debated, in my head, if they were all women or not. On the one hand, I think Sekowsky is influenced by some of the tropes of lesbian pulp fiction, of the 50s and 60s; but, can't be that overt about it, though he goes with lesbian=masculine appearance. That was no more true then than every gay man acted like Paul Lynde.
It is interesting to see Sekowsky try, after a fashion, to return to some of the thematic roots of Wonder Woman, but without getting them too much heat, like in the 50s. It's definitely a more positive attempt than the outright fetishism that appeared on many WW covers, before and after (and during, in the later stages) this era of the character.
The impression I had from this story was the top hat and Victorian/Edwardian feel was to invoke Dickens and the Artful Dodger and the other kids, under Fagin.
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Post by rberman on Sept 10, 2023 16:16:49 GMT -5
Lois Lane, Superman’s Girl Friend #93 “The Superman-Wonder Woman Team!” (July 1969)Theme: More like, the Superman-Wonder Woman romance Writer: Robert Kanigher Pencils: Irving Novick Inker: Mike Esposito Lettering: John Costanza Editors: Mort Weisinger and E. Nelson Bridwell Dramatis PersonaeSuperman, two-timing hero Lois Lane, reporter, cuckold Diana Prince, the other woman Ar-Ual, Kryptonian criminal The Story: Lois has a nightmare about Superman marrying Wonder Woman. So she’s delighted the next morning to see a magazine cover announcing that Diana has lost her super-powers. Now Superman definitely would never marry her! Diana appears on TV inviting Superman to participate with her in a charity circus. She also has Lois obtain an antigravity “Mercury Stone” for her from the Metropolis Science Museum, so she can fly during the circus. At the circus, Superman and Diana do tricks and then, egged by the crowd, kiss on the lips. Lois has more bad dreams about it that night. Diana and Superman spend the following day together flirting. Superman gets so hot and bothered at a dance club that his feet set the floor on fire! Everyone agrees they should get married – everyone except Lois, of course! Lois hits the gym so she can physically compete with Diana, and that night dreams about besting her in combat. But the actual fight the next day goes quite differently. With the aid of an Amazonian bracelet, Diana even exhibits super-strength and invulnerability, righting a tipping rocket and surviving a nuclear detonation. Also, Diana is rich! She buys a mansion and goes antiquing with Lois to deck it out. But Diana swoons when Lois covertly exposes her to Kryptonite. Something’s fishy here! Exploring the mansion’s basement, Lois finds the real Diana imprisoned. But the fake Diana, a Kryptonian refugee named Ar-Ual, imprisons Lois too. Superman arrives, throws Red Kryptonite at Ar-Ual, and carts her off to his Phantom Zone projector. He had already decided not to marry Diana after all. Whew! My Two Cents: This issue of Lois Lane was published just at the end of the first Dr. Cyber arc in Wonder Woman, right before Diana returns to Paradise Island. It can’t fit there in Wonder Woman continuity. The hardback compendium covering this era of Wonder Woman placed this issue of Lois Lane after the “THEM!” story, and I have done the same. Fans debate when the Silver Age turned into the Bronze Age. Was it the death of Gwen Stacy? Jack Kirby moving to DC? Stan Lee stepping down as Editor-in-Chief? But it would be better to recognize that different books shifted sensibilities at different speeds. Some may have seemed Silver even up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wonder Woman’s tone changed as soon as Denny O’Neil started writing. To see the contrast, read issue #177, a thoroughly Silver Age story by Bill Finger and Win Mortimer, in which an alien dictator compels Wonder Woman and Supergirl to fight each other, but they team up to defeat him. There’s plenty of action, but it’s obviously a ruse concocted to protect Earth. This issue of Lois Lane, though contemporary with Sekowsky’s Bronze work on Wonder Woman, is very much an artifact of the Silver Age. The action moves incredibly quickly, throwing much exposition at the reader in short order. Its take on the depowered Diana is very different than Sekowsky and O’Neil’s take. She’s not an impoverished Manhattan shop owner. She lives in Metropolis and more importantly is a wealthy celebrity who graces magazine covers, gives TV interviews, and signs autographs for her legion of fans. As was often true with the goofy stories of the Silver Age, this one is filled with improbabilities. To name a few: • Lois having easy access to antigravity materials and even Kryptonite, with a lead-lined compact mirror. • Ar-Ual fooling everyone with a Diana mask. Remember that she kissed Superman while wearing it. Plus she’s mastered hipster slang and is totally at home operating Diana’s boutique or dancing at a groovy nightclub. • Ar-UaL threatens Lois and Diana with a ray gun, because Kryptonian powers are not dangerous enough. • Ar-Ual gets three full pages of flashback. On Krypton, she happened upon an alien spacecraft filled with compact dehydrated food. She wanted to monetize her discovery and destroyed it rather than share with the Kryptonian government. For this vandalism, she was sentenced to fifty years in the Phantom Zone. OK, but her stated motive is to withhold the miracle food so she can sell it at the right time to desperate, starving people. Does Krypton have desperate, starving people? Seems like an element intended for a story in Strange Adventures.• The United Nations has “patrol planes” which carry nuclear bombs, and those bombs sometimes fall out of the fuselage due to “turbulence” and explode in mid-air! It doesn’t even scratch Diana’s pantsuit though. Maybe one of those little A-bombs? • There’s a quick moment of hand-waving concerning Red Kryptonite. Normally, Gold Kryptonite has the ability to permanently remove a Kryptonian’s powers, while Red Kryptonite causes completely unpredictable effects like turning Superman into “King of the Ants” or whatever. But in this story, Superman has a stash of Red Kryptonite with the specific power of temporarily removing Kryptonian powers, and to which he is immune due to previous exposure. Is that a thing? And how did Superman know to bring this Red Kryptonite dust with him to Diana’s mansion? It seems to me that the editors were asleep at the wheel for this story, and Kanigher needed to wrap the story up quickly after Ar-Ual’s ruse was discovered. • Did I mention that this issue features a totally unrelated alien invasion? It’s only one panel long, because the alien warship accidentally explodes before it can conquer Earth. This explosion in outer space punctures the space-time continuum, allowing Ar-Ual to slip out of the Phantom Zone, just like in the Superman II film. How often did this happen in comic books? Basically, consistency with story and characterization took a back seat in the Silver Age to a barrage of images and ideas. Fashion Plate: Novick put in plenty of effort in this department. Diana (but really Ar-Ual) wears a sleeveless orange pantsuit with a coin belt, an olive drab jumpsuit (in Lois’ dream), a wedding dress, a green minidress with black tights, leather pants and a pink minidress with a funky print, a purple pantsuit with long necklace and hip-slung belt with danglies (see cover, it's really something), and an orange blouse with black slacks and white booties. In her circus show she has a wacky orange open tunic with thigh boots. Perfect for gymnastics! “Real Diana” in the mansion’s basement wears a brown sleeveless blouse over a black bodysuit. Lois wears a black bodysuit under a green minidress, a green blouse with a pearl necklace, a sleeveless green dress with a white turtleneck… was all this green supposed to imply she was jealous? Also a yellow jumpsuit (in her dream), a red minidress with built-in belt and net hose (see cover), and a blue minidress. At the gym she wears a black leotard. Sexual Politics: Where to begin? As usual for this era, Lois is completely obsessed with marrying Superjerk. Kal El comes off pretty badly. He was completely duped by Ar-Ual, delighting in the kissing and dancing and flirting every step of the way. At one point when “Diana” beats up Lois, Superman leaves her sprawled on the ground in pain and flies away! Not a dream. Not an imaginary story. Lois is accustomed to watching Superman chasing every skirt that crosses his path, though. Thus in Lois Lane #97: Only at the last minute does he get cold feet about marrying Diana because, “I care too much for you, Lois!” Ar-Ual’s stated reason for trying to marry Superman was “As his wife, I’d never be suspected of ruling the crime world!” which doesn’t make any sense but gives a thin pretext for this whole story. Does She Cry? Not Diana. Lois cries twice over Superman. The second time she might also be crying because Diana just severely kicked her butt. Considering she was actually sparring with a Kryptonian, Ar-Ual must have really been holding back. Covers that Don’t Lie: For once the cover (beautifully rendered by Curt Swan and Neal Adams) accurately recreates a scene from the interior, even putting the characters in the correct (and very specific) clothing. Look at that grin on Superjerk's face! Also seen in the interior panel image just above. He is sincerely enjoying Diana (or so he thinks) beating up Lois. Body Count and Bond Girl: Not in a Silver Age story, silly! File this issue under the zillion DC stories with a 1950s relational focus, namely “Why is my friend/boyfriend being so cold toward me?” Lettercol: Lois Lane #97 contained reader reactions to this issue. Edna Peden noticed that “Ar-Ual” backwards is Laura, “the name of Superman’s real mother.” No no no, say the editors. His mother was “Lara” not “Laura.” Completely different! Eight college girls want to know how much of a fight Diana put up against Ar-Ual. Not much considering Diana has no powers. Duh! Andrew Fox is an “avid karate student” who noticed numerous inaccuracies in the stances and training curriculum Lois uses to try to improve her combat skills. “No wonder she lost the fight,” say the editors.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 10, 2023 17:30:14 GMT -5
Obviously, Ar-ual was the wife of Tre-bor, a writer for Krypton's favorite variety show, Wohs Ydarb Nala Eht, who works alongside Yd-dub and Yl-las and for producer Le-M.
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Post by zaku on Sept 10, 2023 17:34:25 GMT -5
Gosh!
So, it was common knowledge WW lost her powers..?
It isn't exactly something I would made pubic...
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Post by Chris on Sept 10, 2023 17:46:56 GMT -5
• There’s a quick moment of hand-waving concerning Red Kryptonite. Normally, Gold Kryptonite has the ability to permanently remove a Kryptonian’s powers, while Red Kryptonite causes completely unpredictable effects like turning Superman into “King of the Ants” or whatever. But in this story, Superman has a stash of Red Kryptonite with the specific power of temporarily removing Kryptonian powers, and to which he is immune due to previous exposure. Is that a thing?Yes. Longer answer... I don't know if a story featuring that specific type of Red Kryptonite was ever published, but the idea of it having that effect can be filed under "unpredictable yet temporary effects" easily enough. There were other stories where Red K had effects that specifically impacted their powers (such as allowing them to retain their powers under a red sun, which would normally render them powerless). And it was mentioned in a number of stories that once a Kryptonian was exposed to a particular piece of Red K, that same piece could not affect them again. But since the story was edited by Mort Weisinger - and more importantly, since E. Nelson Bridwell was involved - there's a strong chance that such a story did appear at some point. Nelson didn't let stuff like this slide. This explosion in outer space punctures the space-time continuum, allowing Ar-Ual to slip out of the Phantom Zone, just like in the Superman II film. How often did this happen in comic books? I think it did happen at least once, but I'm blanking on details. I could be wrong though, and confusing it with other Macguffins that allowed Zoners to escape.
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Post by rberman on Sept 12, 2023 6:00:14 GMT -5
The Brave and the Bold #87 “The Widow-Maker!” (January 1970) Theme: Go, Speed Racer Art & Story: Mike Sekowsky Inking: Dick Giordano Dramatis PersonaeDiana Prince, Grand Prix qualified driver I Ching, blind man, interpreter of German Bruce Wayne, playboy, Batman Willi Van Dort, German racer, son of a Nazi general The Story: Bruce Wayne has entered the Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco. Makes sense for a billionaire! Diana Prince and I Ching are there too, hanging out in the racetrack pit, because Diana is a Grand Prix qualified driver. This makes zero sense, but roll with it. Diana discovers that the German team led by Willi Van Dort plans to attack Bruce Wayne that night. She and I Ching ambush the ambush, inadvertently preventing Bruce from defending himself since he has to pretend he’s not a Batman-level fighter. Bruce already knows Diana’s identity, but she doesn’t know his. Bruce ends up in the hospital with a concussion, but he’s not badly wounded, so he pretends that Batman is going to be his substitute driver in the Grand Prix. Diana is miffed; she was hoping to be the substitute driver. Sekowsky gives us a moment of equal-opportunity beefcake to match the scene of Diana changing clothes that was saw in a previous post: As a consolation, Diana and I Ching follow the race’s path in their own rented car, smacking down a gauntlet of assassins which the Germans have positioned along the route. The German driver also uses the expected dirty tricks we all know from Mario Kart, like spiked hubcaps, blinding flares, and oil slick release. Even a bomb at the end of the race can’t stop Batman from emerging victorious, and the Germans are arrested. In a last second comedy plot twist, Diana is arrested for commandeering the wrong car. She takes it in stride, and the incident is never mentioned again. My Two Cents: I suspect this issue’s inspiration came from John Frankenheimer’s 1966 hit film Grand Prix, starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, and Toshiro Mifune. Sekowsky conceived and executed the whole issue himself, so naturally its tone fits well with his work on the main Wonder Woman book -- so much so, that one wonders whether this story was originally intended for Wonder Woman but moved to Brave and the Bold to fill a schedule vacancy created by the departure of Neal Adams. Sekowsky takes liberties with the racecourse so that Diana has plenty of room to do her thing on the sidelines while Batman races around the track. The real Monaco Grand Prix circuit is entirely urban, and ridiculously hairpin, leaving no opportunity for hay bales dumped on a rural section of the track. The German Grand Prix team uses American Sign Language to communicate, spelling out each word (but in German) alphabetically rather than using any full-word gestures. That’s not how sign language works. But it was fun for Diana to do the translation from sign language to letters, and then have I Ching translate the German words into English, because of course he knows German. It's a nice opportunity for teamwork. Sekoswky loves drawing the vehicles, which will also be a focus of his three part “Jason’s Quest” mini-series which runs in the Showcase anthology title around this time. Willi Van Dort, the German driver, is the son of General Van Dort, a Nazi whom Batman had defeated in Detective Comics #343 (1965). Sekowsky had nothing to do with that story, so I wonder whose idea it was to connect the two German characters. It doesn't really impact the current story since Willi was going to use the same dirty tricks on anyone who tried to win the race. Fashion Plate: White minidress. White pantsuit with jacket. White racing togs over black shirt. The more interesting fashions are on runway models doing a bizarre fashion show in the racecar pit. Sexual Politics: Diana shows strong agency throughout the story, constantly helping Batman in ways he’s unaware of. I Ching is more of a sidekick than a mentor. Early in the story, Bruce Wayne interrupts the German racecar driver who is about to give Diana some attention. Bruce tells himself that he is “rescuing” Diana, but really he’s hitting on her as well. Bruce alludes to his playboy reputation. Does She Cry? Yes, when she thinks Batman is going to be killed by a bomb at the race finale. Body Count: None. Bond Girl: The interior has a scene in which a goon holds a gun on Diana and I Ching. She kayos him in a moment of distraction. Pretty mild stuff. But the cover inflates this moment into “Diana is tied spread-eagle to the ground, and Batman comes roaring to her rescue,” a classic example of Covers That Lie. Lettercol: Surprisingly, only one letter in issue #90 dealt specifically with issue #87, and it was a complaint. Rob Maisch asks of the cover’s lurid pose, “Why must every cover be so sensational? Why do you sometimes exaggerate a minor event by giving it the dimension of a cover?” In other words, why publish Covers That Lie? The Editor responds that they’ll do anything that will boost sales. At least they’re honest about dishonesty!
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 12, 2023 10:24:47 GMT -5
The Brave and the Bold #87 “The Widow-Maker!” (January 1970)
Sekowsky conceived and executed the whole issue himself, so naturally its tone fits well with his work on the main Wonder Woman book -- so much so, that one wonders whether this story was originally intended for Wonder Woman but moved to Brave and the Bold to fill a schedule vacancy created by the departure of Neal Adams. That sounds like a very reasonable hypothesis. Batman is more like a guest-star in this issue, Wonder Woman and I Ching are clearly the leads. That might be chalked up to Sekowsky's preferential treatment of his main charge at the time, but I'd think if this were generated at B&B editor Murray Boltinoff's direction, Batman would have had a stronger presence. And in fact, the letters page does note that it was conceived by Sekowsky: One could read between the lines here and deduce that Boltinoff is saying that "the editorial consensus" was actually that this Wonder Woman issue could easily pass for an issue of B&B. And the mention that Neal Adams was drawing a new issue--presumably the Batman/House of Mystery story that would be published a year later--suggests that Adams might have left them in the lurch.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 12, 2023 20:27:26 GMT -5
Those panels work really well if you speak or imagine the dialogue spouted in a fevered pace, like the Speed Racer cartoons. Does that make I Ching Spritle or Chim-Chim? Batman is definitely Racer X.
Sekowsky pulls a boo-boo in the dialogue, referring to the Princess of Monaco as "Her Grace." I suspect he was confused by the name of the princess (Princess Grace, the former Grace Kelly). A princess should be "her highness".
Or "Hey, toots!"
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Post by berkley on Sept 12, 2023 21:42:21 GMT -5
Why is it everyone that wears a plaid sportcoat in the DCU is evil?
Herb Tarlek must be practically the Devil Incarnate.
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