Wonder Woman #178 (October 1968)

When it comes to long-running comics, things are bound to happen that will shake up the status quo of a series. These status quo changes can happen for a numerous amount of reasons. Sometimes the creatives want to shake things up a bit. Sometimes, it's done to try and get a series' sales up. After all, comic book companies are first and foremost businesses. If a series isn't making money, it's going to get cancelled.

Wonder Woman's book was having that problem back in the late 1960s. Despite the fact that her book was one of the very few superhero titles to remain publishing after the end of the Golden Age, and is considered part of DC's "Trinity" alongside Superman and Batman, her book's sales were suffering. They had gotten so bad that DC was seriously considering axing the book. Under then-new editor Dennis O'Neil and then-new writer Mike Sekowsky, it was decided that Wonder Woman needed a shake-up, and perhaps a bit of a updating for the swinging 1960s. So, how did it start? Let's find out in Wonder Woman #178!

The cover is a Mike Sekowsky, Dick Giordano, and Gaspar Saladino piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts Wonder Woman in mod fashion standing with a can of paint in her hand. She used it to paint an X over a pair of images of herself in her Wonder Woman costume and her uniform she wears as Diana Prince. It really helps send the message that we're going to be seeing something a bit different here in this issue. 

"Wonder Woman's Rival"
Writer: Dennis O'Neil
Penciler: Mike Sekowsky
Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Unknown
Letterer: Unknown
Editor: Jack Miller
Executive Editor: Carmine Infantino

The story begins with the police paying a visit to Wondy's long-time beau, Col. Steve Trevor. 

"Just the facts, Steve."

The police want to know where he was last night, in particular, between 10 PM and 1 AM. Trevor explains that he was a place called "That Tangerine Trolley" with a girl. He doesn't remember her name. he wants to know what this is all about. Well, it turns out that a man named Alex Block was murdered. Before he died, he and Trevor had a fight. The police consider him the prime suspect. 

Trevor is arrested and put on trial. A prosecutor asks him to recall the events of the night of Block's death. You know what that means.

Exactly. We look back on that fateful night. Col. Trevor and Wonder Woman was throwing a farewell party for Block's business partner Roger Seely. 

"TAKE IT AWF!"

Block had himself a few too many at the party.

In his drunken stupor, Block mocks Wonder Woman's superpowers and tries to get her to have a drink with him. Yeah, make fun of the woman who could tie your spine into a knot by looking at you, buddy. Real smart.

Steve gives Block a well-deserved KO in the form of a Mighty Punch.

The two then leave, as they have to drop Roger off at the airport. After doing so, Steve apologizes for his behavior at the party, but calls Block a rat. Wonder Woman isn't bothered. The two share a kiss, then Wondy goes off to save the world. Meanwhile, he heads off to the "Tangerine Trolley". It's a hippie club (remember, this was the 1960s). 

Steve meets a pretty blonde there, but she doesn't give her name. He does notice that she has a rather funky-looking ring on her finger.

"I got it in a cereal box."

The blonde explains that the ring is a gift. But before she can tell him who it's from, she suddenly feels uncomfortable and leaves. Steve then went home. The prosecutor says that nobody remembers seeing Steve or this girl at said club. He then calls Wonder Woman herself to the stand. The prosecutor plays up the idea of Steve Trevor being Wondy's resident "Distressed Dude". He's needed her help in the past, but she's hardly ever needed his. 

The prosecutor points out that he may not be able to protect her from supervillains, but he can take down a regular drunk jackwagon like Block. Diana admits Steve called him a rat. Steve is hurt by this, but Diana says she had to tell the truth. Which...yeah. She had to on the stand or get charged with perjury. Anybody who has watched an episode of Law and Order understands this. 

Evidently, there was so much proof that Steve was guilty that he gets convicted. This utterly breaks Diana's heart and convinces her that perhaps Alex Block was right about her. That she is a freak. She vows to prove Steve's innocence. As Diana Prince, not as Wonder Woman. 

The next day, she visits Steve in prison. Even though he's only been there for a day, he's already doing the "bitter loner" act, pointing out it's Wonder Woman's fault he's in here. His only hope is the girl he met at the Tangerine Trolley. Diana vows to find her. Better hurry, Diana. If he's like this after one day in prison, he'll likely rip someone's spine out if he spends another day there.

Diana decides to get a hippie makeover so she can fit in at the Trolley. 

"Groovy."

Diana's lookin' groovy!

Being a head-turner worth of Aphrodite in her own right, quite a lot of the men (and presumably some women) are entranced by the Amazon. She asks around about the girl with the cat ring, but nobody claims to have seen her. One man seems rather bent on getting Diana out of the club. This naturally gets Diana's alarm bells going. Thankfully, a new friend comes by to help her out.

"I had nothing better to do, ma'am."

Meet Buck and his scooter. He takes Diana to a cemetery. A bunch of hippies hang out here. He heard that Diana is looking for Cat Ring Girl. A couple months earlier, someone offered Buck a bunch of money to make her...disappear. And it turned out the cops were after her as well. 

My thoughts exactly. Diana asks who hired him, but says it's too dangerous to say. He can tell her where the girl is, though. He tells her she needed a bit of cash, so she pawned her cat's head ring. Any further discussion is tabled by a biker gang called the Stompers riding up and raising some Cain. They make off with some of the girls from the hippie party. Diana is able to stop them, but then finds Buck dead.

Diana would discover later that he was only slightly dead.

Awww, dang it! Not Buck! I liked Buck and his scooter! They should have become regular members of Wonder Woman's supporting cast. God knows that Amazon needs more friends besides Steve and Etta Candy! James Gunn, I want Buck and his scooter in the next Wonder Woman movie! It's not a complete loss. Diana knows the mysterious blonde pawned the ring, so she can just look into any pawn shops in the area. Buck also said "the fuzz" was after her as well. As such, she could ask the police. After all, they probably wanted to ask her about Steve Trevor. As she returns to her apartment for the night, Diana gets some good news.

Roger Seely had heard about Steve's predicament, and he's on his way to visit. The next morning, the Amazing Amazon goes to visit all the pawn shops in the city. After a while, she's able to find the name of the girl that pawned the cat's head ring. She heads home to find Seely waiting for her.

"Just hangin' out, enjoying a smoke..."

She goes to find the girl, asking him to call the warden of the prison so Steve can be updated to what is going on. Seely seemingly agrees to do so, but actually fakes making the call. Once that's done, he and Diana visit the girl.

"Also, this is an ugly ring."

We learn the girl's surname is Carvan. Diana informs her Buck is dead. Carvan implies she's some sort of agent, as she reveals that Buck had told her to stay undercover. Diana wants to know why she didn't come forward to testify at Steve's trial some months back. Carvan reveals she didn't know about the trial, as she's been cooling her heels in her home, engaging in her love of painting. Wait, she didn't watch any TV or read any newspapers during that time?!

Diana takes her to the DA's office to sign a statement. On the way there, Seely pulls out a gun. Seely then explains what his was all about. You see, Seele is a paranoid sort, for good reason. It turns out that he was embezzling funds from his company. He was the man behind Buck's death, for some reason. He also was responsible for Alex Block's death, as Block was the one who discovered his activities. He used an actor to take his place on the flight...because reasons. 

He makes Diana drive the car off the cliff. He jumps out of the car, while Diana becomes Wonder Woman and saves the car and Carvan. The Amazing Amazon spots Seele flying away, but is able to capture him. With Seele caught and Carvan's testimony, Steve Trevor is freed. The story ends with the two cuddling on the couch. Steve compliments Diana Prince for her efforts (He's not aware that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman are one and the same...despite Wondy not concealing her identity in any way), and this gets Wondy worried. She fears Steve will fall for another woman. Yeah, your guess is as good as mine. She's going to have to make a change...

Yeah, this comic to me is a bit...weak. The most intriguing thing about the comic is the mystery of Steve's frame-up, but I can't help but feel that was handled badly as well. I'm guessing part of the problem was the length. This was trying to do quite a bit in one issue. The ending is also rather, well, kind of dumb. Why doesn't Diana just tell Steve that she's Wonder Woman? I mean, I can't imagine that would hurt things between them that much. But then again, I'm surprised he hasn't figured it out at this point myself. 

One positive I can give the comic is Mike Sekowsky's art. It's very well done. One detail I did think was clever was the panels. When the story was at the Tangerine Trolley, the panels were not square-shaped. My scanner made them square when I scanned a couple of them, that's why they look a bit...odd. I also liked that Sekowsky gave Wonder Woman a new hairstyle when she's acting as a civilian. That's a cool detail, and it's something I think all other Wonder Woman artists should have done afterwards.  

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Wonder Woman: Diana Prince Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash you hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Wonder Woman Special #1 (May 1992)

When Wonder Woman got rebooted after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, her book fell into the hands of Len Wein, Greg Potter, and George Perez. However, the comic would end up being a Perez production. George Perez's run on the book would end up being one of the most beloved and acclaimed runs on the character. But all great things have to end at some time. Perez would leave the book with issue #62, after the War of the Gods storyline. Behind the scenes shenanigans would result in Perez distancing himself from DC Comics for several years after this. But the book still needed a writer. Enter William Messner-Loebs.

Loebs was a regular presence at DC at this time. He had earlier written for the Wally West Flash's book (where he and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Wally's future wife Linda Park and reintroduced the Pied Piper as a reformed villain and as one of DC's first major gay characters), Dr. Fate's book, and also wrote for the Batman newspaper strip. Was Messner-Loebs's debut on the Amazing Amazon a strong start? Let's take a look at Wonder Woman Special #1! 

The cover is a Jill Thompson piece. It's pretty cool, depicting Diana and Deathstroke the Terminator fighting in what looks like a castle as they are getting shot at. The type "Amazon vs. Assassin" is a bit misleading, though. Slade is in this story, and he and Diana are at odds, but he's not the antagonist of the story. You'll see what I mean. 

"Operation Cheetah: Part One"

Writer: William Messner-Loebs
Penciler: Jill Thompson
Inker: Jay Geldhof

Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Letterer: Albert DeGuzman

Editor: Dan Thorsland

The story begins with Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah, fleeing through some snow. The narration of the comic talk about how she shouldn't have come back there. How she should have realized that she had fallen into a trap. Cheetah does have an advantage out here. Her sharp senses allowed her to pick up their scent, hear the crunching of snow from their boots. But it seems like these men may be magical, as they are able to recapture her.

The scene then shifts to Boston, where our heroine is helping rescue a cat from a tree.

The little kitten is Archimedes, the pet of Vanessa Kapatelis. She, her mother Julia, and Diana end up getting a visitor: one Ed Indelicato. He's a happy boy because he gets to be the bearer of good news.

The Cheetah has been captured in a country called Pan Balgravia. Presumably a Baltic state, it recently overthrew its Communist government. However, the new government isn't much better. There's been rumors of torture, anti-semitism, even devil worship. The Kapatelises are not exactly sympathetic to the Cheetah's plight, and understandably so. Minerva's menaced Diana several times at this point, stolen her lasso, and killed people out of feral rage and power lust. Diana sees her as a sister however, despite Cheetah not having any issue with killing her. The Amazing Amazon packs her bags, including her costume and lasso. She also needs another resource, which she'll have to meditate to get.

"Heraaaa...I want a cheese sandwich..."

She finds herself going down into what looks like an endless ocean. She ends up in front of a cave that holds the river god Proteus, god of sea change. The comic describes him as the son of Oceanus and Antibe, but according to mythology, he was the son of Poseidon and a princess named Phoenice. Yeah.

"What you want?! I was enjoyin' my Matlock!"

Diana convinces him to share his wisdom with her. Afterwards, Julia tries to explain to Diana that Pan Balgravia is a tyrannical place with secret police, tapped phones, the works. This isn't just a simple slugfest. Diana is prepared, as Proteus gave her a boon. 

Proteus makes a mean fake ID.

With her new secret identity of Diane Prince, Diana can now make her way around the country to find Cheetah. Ed decides to go with her. Diana realizes on the way that she's going to need a little extra help. Someone who knows the region, someone who can handle themselves if a fight breaks out. So, who does she go to?

"You have no grudge with me, Diana. The Crisis made sure of that."

Yup, Deathstroke the Terminator. Diana tells him she wants to hire him to help her get Cheetah out. He initially refuses until he realizes that she's talking about Pan Balgravia. He readily agrees to help...too readily. Later, she arrives at the airport where he's waiting for her, and it's hilarious.

Diana was regarded as an underrated actress.

Channeling her late friend Mindy Mayer, Diana maintains her act until they get on the plane. And with that, she, Ed, and Deathstroke fly to Pan Balgravia. On their way to the hotel, Deathstroke explains that he knew Pan Balgravia's new President, a Von Nastraed. Thing was, the man hated the Communists that ran the country before him, but the man also was someone who ultimately always had his own agenda. We then check in on Cheetah.

"WHERE'S MAH KIBBLE?!"

The feline femme fatale doesn't look good. She has no idea how long she was trapped and chained up. She knows she was tortured. A blond man and a redheaded man named "Mr. Drax" visits her. Cheetah spits that she'll never tell them where the dagger is. She's presumably talking about the dagger she used to gain her Cheetah powers. The blond man tells her they already have it, because she told them.

Drax points out to the blond man, whom he calls "Baron", that she's too weak for the ceremony. The Baron lets Drax do as he will. We don't see what he does, but the Cheetah's power leaves Barbara, and the Baron remarks that Drax broke her. 

Deathstroke, Ed, and Diana drive up to a castle that the mercenary's sources tell her Cheetah is locked up in. Deathstroke provides Diana with a Kevlar suit for some extra protection. As Ed guards their car, the two make their way in. The two dispatch their guards in their own way. They make their way into the palace, but Diana can't help but feel that they're going into a trap. The two manage to dispatch some more guards, and they argue over what to do with one surviving guard. Diana holds off a bunch of goons so Deathstroke can escape. The Terminator makes his way out and tasks Ed with an important job.

Deathstroke had a girlfriend here he had to get this chocolate to.

Deathstroke then threatens the guard, but Diana admonishes him for torturing the guard. He doesn't even need to, as her lasso can make him tell the truth. Under the lasso, the guard reveals that the Cheetah was moved to a hidden palace deep in the mountains. It's in the palace that the Baron performs some real creepy ceremonies with...special guests. To keep people from finding his prisoners...or their graves...the Baron had several fake prisons set up. Diana and Slade had just raided one of them. The guards screams that a "Joyful One" is coming for him, described as a horned man. And his head explodes.

This leads to Diana and Slade arguing over his methods, but Ed's appearance forces them to table it. After all, they have a dinner to attend. Mmm...dinner...

The three dine at the Baron's supposed favorite restaurant. Ed spots the Baron, and Diana arranges for a bottle of champagne to be sent to his table. The Baron pays her a visit, and then Diana goes into her tourist act. She pretends to be intimidated a bit by the Baron's supposed masculinity. He asks if she likes it, and she says he does. He then invites her to a place in the mountains that would...appeal to her. In private, he discusses Diana with Drax, and allows him to make the preparations for...the "transfer". 

The three drive away, but Slade wants something from the trunk. Ed tries to convince our heroine that Slade is running his own game. Slade suits up in his Deathstroke gear and tells them he's going in. They can do whatever they want. Diana tries to get him to stop, even using her lasso. It doesn't work, as Slade knows what he is. It ends up degenerating into a fight.

The Amazing Amazon may be tough, but Slade is no slouch. He's fought teams of superhumans before. She takes him down with a hard punch to the gut, then locks him in the trunk. She then hears a loud alarm from the mountain palace. She tells Ed that if she's not back in an hour, she won't return. Diana easily makes her way in, having the feeling she's walking into a trap again. She demands the Baron hand over the Cheetah. He snaps his fingers, and a group of men ambush her. Their strength appears to be mystically enhanced. She asks what is going on and who they are. Drax shows them.

Man, this American Werewolf in London remake is weeeeird...

The demonic Drax takes down Wonder Woman with one blast. Thirty minutes later, Ed checks on Slade. Hopefully, some time in the trunk has calmed him down a bit. He pops it open, but Slade is gone. What is he, magic now? Well, no. Slade is tough. He recovers quick. He just had to find some friends.

"I figured these hunters would be helpful, Ed."

At times, even Deathstroke gets by with a little help from his friends.

I honestly enjoyed this adventure. The highlight is really the team-up between Diana and Slade Wilson. It was an interesting team-up. Their conflict really helped show their characters. Diana is a warrior who avoids killing wherever possible, whereas Slade is a ruthless mercenary who does whatever he has to do to get the job done and get paid. It's also neat seeing Diana engage in a bit more espionage. To me, Wonder Woman is more of a high fantasy-styled superheroine, so seeing her do spy work is rather interesting. I got a good chuckle out of her acting like an airhead at the airport. 

Because of the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Diana's history was rebooted and that meat her connections to Donna Troy was severed. That was a shame, as I can imagine that if those connections remained, things between Diana and Slade would have gone a lot differently. But that's not this comic's fault. 

The comic does show its age with the fictional country of Pan Balgravia. It's clearly meant to be modeled after the post-Communist Eastern European bloc. But that can't be helped, it's a feature of comic books. They're going to reflect their time of publication, for better or worse. And Jill Thompson does turn in some good work. I think she was one of the first women to draw the book, so that's pretty cool. Not much I can say about it. I like how she drew the fight between Diana and Slade. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2020 trade paperback Wonder Woman Book 1: The Last True Hero. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Wonder Woman #17 (June 1988)

With 2021 on the way, I found myself wondering what comic I should talk about for my first review of 2021. 2020 was easy, but this year, not so much. Luckily, providence provided some inspiration. Wonder Woman 1984 had just released, so I figured "Why not look at another Wonder Woman comic"? I did spend the last year looking at her Twelve Labors, but I didn't think the stories were that great. So, it was another opportunity to return to an era of greatness for the Amazing Amazon: The George Perez era. As such, let's join the Amazing Amazon as she returns to the homeland of her gods' worshippers in Wonder Woman #17! 

The cover is a George Perez piece, and it's pretty spectacular. It depicts Wondy throwing up the Amazon salute in a Greek temple. What's unique about this cover is that it's done in front of a...sunrise? Sunset? Either way, it's composed to cover Wonder Woman and the temples in shadows.

"Traces"
Writer: George Perez
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Karen Berger
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins on a cold winter morning at Wakefield, Massachusetts. 

Our heroine is getting ready for a nice trip to Greece. Sun, sand, surf, and of course, the gyros! I wanna try a gyro...wrapped lamb meat...

Any way! Diana is able to go thanks to a special passport from the U.N. provided by Etta Candy. The two discuss their feelings towards Steve Trevor. Etta mistakenly believed Diana had a thing for him, but it turned out that was hardly the case. Diana admits she herself was a bit envious of Steve. Upstairs, young Vanessa Kapatelis is chatting to her friend Eileen. Teen girl gossip, that kind of thing.

Their gossip is over a teenage boy named Barry. Eileen is trying to warn her that Barry is only into her because he wants to meet Wonder Woman. Yup, teenage romance in a superhero universe. You gotta love it. Steve Trevor returns from packing up the car, where he found a little feathered friend.

It's a messenger pigeon, coming all the way to Boston from Themyscira. It brings some mail from Hippolyta, Wondy's mother. Things are fine in Themyscira...well, except for a weird storm that ended as quick as it came. Their oracle Menalippe had sensed some unease from Olympus, but she said Di herself was okay.

The Amazons have also been debating where they should open up Themyscira to the world. They've learned quite a bit about the outside world thanks to Diana sending them pictures and books from Man's World. Honestly, I would have suggested that she send them Kurt Busiek/George Perez Avengers. That alone would convince them that Man's World is worth talking to.

Steve Trevor hopes that Hippolyta's forgiven him for nearly bombing the island, and Diana's like, "She knew Ares screwed with your head, so she's cool about it." Etta Candy is curious about something. How was Hippolyta able to write so much on such a small parchment. It turns out the Amazons have a pictogram-based alphabet. By arranging certain symbols and using colored inks, they can literally say a lot with two characters.

That's some language. Diana writes back a response. And with that, Steve and Etta see our heroine off to Greece, accompanied by Vanessa Kapatelis. So, remember when Menalippe sensed some unease from Olympus? How are the Greek Gods doing?

"We should've just given Darkseid his money..."

Yeesh. What did they do last night?! Well, basically Darkseid brought his idea of a party to Olympus. And by "party" I mean he attacked and wrecked the place. This happened in Action Comics #600 (May 1988). Heracles wants to fight back, but Zeus warns him that despite his great strength, even he can't face the tyrant of Apokolips alone. The Gods debate on what to do next, but Hermes is seemingly more interested in Earth at the moment. Maybe he's feeling a bit of cosmic ennui, he's feeling a bit tired of being a god...

Back on Earth, Di and Nessie arrive in Greece, where Nessie's mother Julia and a friend are waiting for them. The friend is Stavros Christadoulodou, a noted epigraphist. Basically, he studies writing. Yes, that's an actual thing. Diana is going to have a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister and attend a diplomatic banquet, do some speeches, talk with the press, yada yada yada. But after that, Di can go do what she wants.

A nervous man carrying a rolled-up piece of paper is watching Diana. He has to reach the Amazing Amazon. He has to tell her something very important...but he's being watched.

Giving Mittens Olympian catnip was a horrible mistake...

Beasts. Beasts with red eyes. Eyes matching the blood they seek. They pursue the man and manage to reach him. I think your imagination can fill in the rest. Back in Boston, Mindy Mayer (Remember her from my review of Wonder Woman #20?) is summoning her assistant Christine "Chrissie" Fenton.

Mama needs her liquor! Mindy's been having some troubles with her firm. Fenton believes "Skeeter" LaRue is behind the firm's problems, but Mindy won't hear a word of it. Elsewhere, a man named Mikos is talking to a mysterious woman about Diana. The woman is worried that Diana may be an actual Amazon, and that she's heading to the Ionian island of Cephalonia. Mikos assures her that if our heroine does show her face in the woman's domain...she'll be leaving in pieces.

The next morning, Diana is at the Acropolis, presumably the one in Athens. Diana feels the presence of the gods in the Parthenon. Seeing the ruins gives her a sense of understanding of the loss the gods felt when man moved away from worshipping them. 

Our heroine continues on through her tour of Greece. She looks over the various ruins of temples and shrines to her gods and goddesses. She and her party take a boat through the Ionian Sea, which allows her and Julia Kapatelis to bond a bit. Julia and Vanessa visit Greece every year because Julia is Greek by birth. She even married her late husband, an archaeologist named David, in Greece. Diana notices one of the islands. She asks if that's Cephalonia, but Julia says it isn't. It's a private island owned by a reclusive billionaire. The Amazon princess senses something odd about that island. There's something there, beckoning her, and making her feel...cold. Very cold.

The feeling makes Diana collapse like a house of cards.

Caffeine affects Amazons...differently...

Stavros glances at the island and mutters the word "magia", meaning "curse". The woman watches the boat, saying that was the Amazon's first warning. On Cephalonia itself, a group of shepherds find the body of a dead man. He looks like he was mauled by a wolf. But there are no wolf tracks nearby, just the footprints of the men and their sheep. But one of the sheep...looks a little odd...

"Coming this Summer. The Gyros...eat YOU."

I've read the issues after this one, and I think I have something to look at for Halloween 2021...

I really liked this issue. George Perez is given lots of due credit as an artist, but I think this series shows that he could write pretty well, too. We get some nice character moments, and some great setup for a potentially very scary mystery. We also get plenty of bonding moments between Julia and Diana, and we also get to learn a but more about the past of Diana's first post-Crisis human friend. What's also neat is that we get a peek into the Amazons' culture. It's really neat learning that the Amazons communicate through a form of pictogram. It would have been cool if they managed to release a actual language like they did with Interlac.

And as always, Perez turns in some spectacular art. I don't think I can say anything that everyone else hasn't already said about it. It's fantastic.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we join the Avengers in their biggest adventure...

Wonder Woman #222 (March 1976)

The time has come at last! Every month this year, I've taken a look at one of Wonder Woman's Twelve Labors, twelve adventures she's underwent to prove her worthiness to rejoin the Justice League. Sadly, most of them have not been the most enjoyable comics I've ever read. Hopefully, this final issue will allow the Labors to end on a positive note. With that, let's take a look at Wonder Woman #222!

The cover is an Ernie Chan piece. I kind of like it. You got Batman standing next to an image of Wonder Woman hanging on to a Ferris wheel as she is kicking herself. The Dark Knight is asking us to help him decide which Wonder Woman is the real one. Why are you asking us, Bats? You're the detective! You figure it out!

"Will the Real Wonder Woman Please...Drop Dead!"
Writer: Martin Pasko
Penciler: Jose Delbo
Inker: Tex Blaisdell
Colorist: Unknown
Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins with Batman making one demand before he explains the mystery of the two Wonder Women.

It makes sense he'd want to have the entire JLA at the time together for this. After all, this is Wonder Woman's final labor. After the Dark Knight makes his report, the JLA will vote on whether Wonder Woman should be allowed to rejoin the JLA. I personally think this is a bit unnecessary. Anyway, what did the Caped Crusader observe? Well, he was taking his Bat-Plane to the United Nations. Diana had just returned from her adventure in the Catskills, and was about to deliver her report on it to her boss Tracy Morgan. However, it seemed someone had beaten her to the punch.

Huh. Evidently Diana has a twin sister that even she didn't know about. Anyway, she pursues her mysterious double and engages her. It turns out that the duplicate Diana is just as tough and has just as much skill in the martial arts as she does. While this is happening, someone is preparing a disaster.

The dupe Diana spots the plane about to hit the building, and switches to Wonder Woman...just like the real Diana would do. The fake Diana uses her lasso to whip herself onto the plane, knocking its wing downwards. The real Diana pursues with the same lasso trick. The fake Diana rips off the plane's door to get the pilot...only to find it was a dummy. 

Wonder Woman decides that enough is enough. She's going to get the truth about who this imposter is, and she's going to do it with her magical lasso. She asks if the imposter is Diana Prince, and the fake Diana tells her she is not. The real Wonder Woman expected this, as that's how she would have answered the question. However, nobody can lie when they're under the lasso's power. Not even Wonder Woman herself.

The two Wonder Women tussle on the plane, until the dupe Diana is able to get control of Wondy's robot-plane. She tries to flee, and Diana follows her using the plane the two were fighting on. They end up on their way to...a theme park of all places.

Yes, Dazzleland! The Most Joyful Place on Earth! Dazzleland was the big dream of Wade Dazzle. Dazzle was a children's writer, who created some of the most popular fictional characters in the DCU: Jerry Gerbil and Harriet Hamster. He also created Mike Mallard, who is huge in Italy. I joke, but yeah. Dazle is basically a pastiche of Walt Disney. Wondy arrives and finds herself meeting Harriet Hamster, who is packing heat. Wondy isn't intimated. After all, Harriet is a short hamster whose gun looks morel like a gumball dispenser. She switches back to her Diana Prince guise and looks around the place.

She spots her double in an area of the park called "Disasterland". It includes rides that are based on the destruction of the Hindenburg and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Yeah, because that's what kids love, rides based on horrific disasters.

Anyway, Diana heads towards the Chicago Fire attraction. As part of the attraction, she has to put on a special "fireproof" suit. The ride is all special effects, the suit is just part of the illusion. She notices that she and one of the tour group has been brought away from the other. A green mist overcomes the two, and Wondy witnesses a real-life horror of the theme park.

Much like what'll happen to Barry Allen in about a decade, the man crumbles to dust. Wonder Woman then hears a voice inviting her to come visit, and all will be explained. Batman was able to catch up with her, but she ends up disintegrating as well. Diana is turned into vapor, and rematerializes in front of what seems like Wade Dazzle himself, standing in front of a curtain. However, the park has one final secret.

Remember how I said earlier that Wade Dazzle was a pastiche of Walt Disney? Well, this is a nod to an urban legend regarding Disney. The legend said that after he died of lung cancer in 1966, he was cryogenically frozen. In actuality, Walt Disney was cremated after he died. Anyway, it's explained that Dazzle had contracted a disease that medical science could not cure yet, so he was frozen until a cure could be found.

Thing is, the machinery needed to keep Dazzle in suspended animation needs a special fuel to work: The life forces of other people. People are chosen at random in the park, and their life forces are drained to keep the machine going. This energy is also used to create duplicates of the victims so that nobody notices that anyone is missing, so what does that have to do with Wonder Woman? Well, Wonder Woman is immortal. As such, she has a infinite amount of life forces that can be tapped by the cryogenic machinery used to keep Dazzle alive. 

The machine begins to tap into Diana's life force, but she's able to use her lasso to break free in a rather...explosive matter. 

The explosion wrecks the machinery used to keep Dazzle alive. Diana escapes and engages her duplicate. The duplicate Dazzle tries to use the Mt. Vesuvius ride's lava to kill Diana. The "lava" used there contains a powerful acid that is used to dispose of the remains of the victims of Dazzle's life-draining device. He realizes that the dupe Wondy will die as well...and the Dazzle dupe can't let that happen. She was one of his creations, and she shouldn't die for anything Wondy did. He calls to her to get out of there. The real Wonder Woman weaves her lasso into a screen to protect herself, but the two duplicates are not so lucky, being reduced to yellow blobs.

She spots Batman, who explains that Wade Dazzle was already dead. How does he know this? He's Batman, the Mary Sue of the DC Universe, that's how. The two look over the schematics of the bio-duplicates and note that they were designed to imitate people to the pint that they even can imitate human bodily functions. The Crisis Bureau will have to figure out a way to detect and track them down. 

Back in the present day, Wonder Woman realizes that since the duplicate was the one that battled Chronos in Wonder Woman #220, she only actually completed 11 labors, not twelve. Batman suggests that since the duplicate did such a perfect job imitating Wondy, it be counted anyway, rendering this whole duplicate thing utterly pointless. 

The votes are cast, and Wonder Woman is readmitted into the JLA. And there was much rejoicing.

Agh, I hate to say this. I really do. But this issue made Wonder Woman's Twelve Labors end with a whimper, not a bang. And that's sad. What irked me the most about this issue was the whole thing with the duplicate Wonder Woman revealed to have done one of the Labors. What was the point of that if the JLA were just going to count it anyway? It felt like incompleted editing. I did get a good laugh out of the whole Dazzleland thing. It's kind of hilarious that a theme park that's meant to be a pastiche of a place that is supposed to be "family-friendly" would have rides and exhibits based on horrific disasters. I wonder if there was a "Sink in the Titanic" ride in Dazzleland. 

The biggest positive of the issue is the art. Jose Delbo does some good work here. I really like it. 

The Labors themselves are, in my opinion, not Wonder Woman at her best. I think the biggest problem they had was the rotating creative team. This storyline had four writers on it and seven pencilers. It made the overarching story feel very uneven. I think if the Twelve Labors would have been a lot better if there was a constant creative team. There was potential to make a really good epic story here. Shame it turned out the way it did. 

I do get the impression from this that Wonder Woman's book was not really seen as a high-priority book for DC at the time. Which is kind of sad and baffling, considering her significance as one of the first female superheroes, and her increased presence in pop culture thanks to the TV show.

I would only recommend the Twelve Labors if you're a hardcore Wonder Woman fan, or have a nostalgic connection to these stories. If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend checking out the 2012 trade paperback Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we look at the first issue of a cosmic superhero...