I know these books are a little controversial because no traditional Wonder Woman costume and her powers are removed. But I like WW trying on groovy new outfits. I also like how much harder she fights. She doesn’t worry about her personal welfare, she cares about saving Steve and stoping Dr. Cyber. I love the colors in these editions. While I love the bracelet and lasso warrior, I do like that she quickly transitioned to mortal interactions. It’s funny that some of the comic is a step by step disarmament how-to guide: Real self defense moves for women. I admire that she forfeited her powers and her family to try and help the outside world.
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Wonder Woman (1942) 178 - The cover proudly tells us to “Forget the old… The New Wonder Woman is here!” An interesting statement considering this issue only plants the seeds for the “New Wonder Woman”. We see Diana Prince get a new wardrobe but within pages Wonder Woman is doing her thing with the Lasso of Truth. Nothing felt “new”. I know changes are coming in the next issue or two but it was weird to see that eye-grabbing phrase on the cover. I have not read the issues leading up to this issue so I am not sure if “hippie-speak” is present in those issues. WW 178 definitely featured the hippie jargon and it was as awkward as the tourist coming to San Fransisco to see the hippies in their natural habitat. I don’t know if Dennis O’Neil spent time with hippies or where he lived during this era but the jargon used was anything but “cool”. In fact, I would make the argument that using this kind of language might run off any counter-culture readers Wonder Woman might have had during this time. The story wasn’t bad. I am willing to say, this was a lot of fun to read. Seeing Wonder Woman try to decide if Steve can love a regular woman and not her is an added layer to her character. The villain was kind of lame but he served his purpose in keeping the story moving. After all, the meat of the story was Steve being found guilty of murder and Wonder Woman proving his innocence. The last page asks the reader, “The New Wonder Woman, how different is she going to be?” Lucky for the World of Wonder, we will soon find out!
Wonder Woman (1942) 179 - This issue brought us to Paradise Island, for the last time? Gave us a glimpse into Diana’s psyche as she relinquishes her powers. I did find the first few pages to be funny, considering the tough job Diana had of proving Steve Trevor’s innocence only in the last issue to have him become a traitor. There is a lot to unpack with this issue. I enjoyed WW 178 more but this had its moments. For beginners, WW 179 has the first appearances of I-Ching, Doctor Cyber, and Tim Trench. I-Ching and Doctor Cyber were both casualties of Crisis On Infinite Earth’s but Tim Trench lasted all the way to 52 (2006). Each of these characters has appeared a little over 30 times. That isn’t bad considering they debuted in 1968 and lasted for 20+ years.
Back to Diana Prince. I am enjoying the path that she is on. Even if I didn’t have as much fun with this book as I had with the previous book, there was a lot less of that hippie jargon. I also like what would have been a montage with sweet 80s music in a movie of her training. However, I find it odd that she doesn’t know how to fight without her powers. Sure, she might not be as strong but she should know how to fight, right?
Wonder Woman (1942) 180 - Picking up where WW 179 left off, we find Tim Trench meeting Diana Prince and I-Ching meeting for the first time. They agree he is a good guy so they allow him to tag along for most of the story. Seeing Steve Trevor die in Diana’s arms at Doctor Cyber’s doing was pretty crazy. I will give them credit, they are really shaking up the Wonder Woman universe in these issues, for better or worse. There is a lot of action in this book and it was used to move the story forward, ranging for Diana showing off her martial arts skills to Tim Trench or Diana being in a car that was driven off of a pier.
Overall, I am enjoying this era of Diana Prince. While it might have been forgotten or looked down upon, there are aspects that have stayed with Diana, even after COIE. One example is her being Black Canary’s martial arts sparring partner in a Birds of Prey book and I don’t think she would have been without this era. Another, as mentioned earlier, was the 2006 story after Infinite Crisis in the One Year Later initiative where she was wearing the white costume and was a secret agent.
strange, well at least they had the great Denny O’neil rest in peace
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In some documentary either about comic books or Wonder Woman specifically, he laments the direction he took.
THe story moves and feels like a roller coaster… I would like to see some aspect of the hero’s journey. To lose one’s gifts/abilities only to find them again, optionally that already came from within…
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I did my homework, and I want the credit darn it! So, let my permanent record reflect that while I went in ready to fight this change every step the way, I kinda liked it. No, I don’t want Wondy stripped of her powers, at least not for an extended time but if you go with the flow this is a fun trip.
Holy smokes, she should just squish this guy
I’m sorry, if my wife had heard me say this to some random ‘chick’ I would not have survived the experience
Another sign of the times, no way would today’s Wonder Woman say this if she had an alter ego
Now, the Wonder Woman WAL crew loves to dish on fashion. One of the delights of this run is Diana’s outfits. and she is gorgeous, changing outfits at the drop of a very stylish hat.
Correction Diana, Snoopy fought the Red Baron he wasn’t the Red Baron (though love a Peanuts reference)
Not if that chick is the great Diana Prince!
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I may have missed something or week 55 is late. If it is a miss, then i will eventually find it.
But if it ain’t only makes me concerned. As long as it’s whatever RL everyday work hassle(s) consuming the time and/or energy of our wonderful leader and not something more dire or health threatening or just plain bad news.
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Like I said, I read one issue of this run that was put in as a back up for the 70s issue of the Wonder Woman Retroactive series (as I recall, it was one of the few issues of that time period that had Catwoman in it), but I never read these issues.
My perception before reading these issues were…neutral, I suppose? Like, I was sure that there was going to be some good to it, but I also figured that this era is likely not considered prime, iconic Wonder Woman material for a reason.
After reading the issues, I feel like my assumption was right on the money. It’s well drawn, it works as a sort of crime/kung-fu book. I think there’s some interesting story potential to Diana losing her powers and having to fight with her own mortal wits and guile. But the character here just…didn’t feel like Diana to me. She felt like a generic martial artist woman and not really Diana.
I did like I-Ching as a character, though, and the art was all around incredible.
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