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  1. #136
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phoenixx9 View Post
    When WW goes to the circus, was that when she lifted up the elephant off the Burmese man trapped underneath it? If so, I remember that story. Besides winning the tournement, I believe this was WW's first big strength feat.
    It was Elva who was trapped under the elephant, but yes, Diana does raise up a dead elephant there.

    She does have a couple other strength feats earlier, mainly breaking chains or doors. She lifts and throws a huge anchor in Sensation Comics #3, tears open the pressure hull of a submarine in #5, and forces open a bank vault door in #8.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  2. #137
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    It was Elva who was trapped under the elephant, but yes, Diana does raise up a dead elephant there.

    She does have a couple other strength feats earlier, mainly breaking chains or doors. She lifts and throws a huge anchor in Sensation Comics #3, tears open the pressure hull of a submarine in #5, and forces open a bank vault door in #8.
    One of my favorite feats from earlier on was grabbing a submarine which was going at full power in the opposite direction and pulling it backwards and dragging it up onto shore

  3. #138
    Ultimate Member Phoenixx9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzy Mittens View Post
    One of my favorite feats from earlier on was grabbing a submarine which was going at full power in the opposite direction and pulling it backwards and dragging it up onto shore
    And people say Wonder Woman is not that strong compared to the Supers and the Marvels! Diana is right up there with them!

  4. #139
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    We get back on track to Sensation Comics #10 in ”The Railroad Plot”! Feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on this story! Next Saturday, 4 May, we will go on to Sensation Comics #11 and ”Mission to Planet Eros”.

    Steve pines for Wonder Woman, his beautiful angel, and seeks solace in the arms of Dolly, a redheaded beauty. Diana is disgusted and sets out to stalk and pursue Steve, in the process bodily harassing a black train attendant. Outside Washington she catches up with the train to New York and confronts Steve, but has to leave when Dolly turns up. In New York, Dolly turns out to work for a stereotypically depicted and menacing Japanese spymaster, while Diana confronts Steve in his hotel room at the Baldorf Wasporia, only for him to lock her into her room. I have absolutely no idea how he managed to procure her key; it is at least 45 years too early for him to get lessons from Harley Quinn on how to filch things from Diana. Or did Harley Quinn get lessons from Steve?

    A mere hotel door is a small obstacle for Diana, but I wonder who will pay for the repairs? She notes a group of masked men searching Steve's room, and follows them as she goes into the railroad tunnels under Park Avenue, where she finds a goup of German and Japanese spies holding a conference, chaired by the Japanese spymaster. They have mined the railroad tunnels under New York, and intend to blow them up when American high command is on a train in them.

    They discover Wonder Woman—apparently she isn’t that good at this sleuthing stuff now, but she easily escapes, choosing to protect Steve over capturing the spies. She then notices that Dolly is the star of ”Manhattan Scandals”, and joins the show herslef performing her lasso tricks and forcing men to tell the truth. When she tries to nab Steve he runs away, and then she follows Dolly to her home. She sadly comes to the conclusion that Dolly doesn’t know any new vamping methods, but Dolly nevertheless manages to finagle a secret code key from Steve. Steve leaves, spies enter and get the code key and decipher a secret mesage, and leaves, before Wonder Woman rushes into the room. I guess the spies all have access to the Speed Force.

    Diana chases them via the private elevator in Dolly’s room, but the steel-walled basement is empty. Meanwhile, the Japanese spymaster is back to Dolly’s room and provides her with a knockout perfume. Wonder Woman instructs the Holliday girls, who fortitously just arrived in New York to watch Dolly’s apartment house. She climbs back up to Dolly’s apartment only to be knocked out by Dolly’s perfume.

    The Japanese spymaster has apparently been told by Paula von Gunther how to handle Wonder Woman, so has a captive welder to weld chains on her bracelets, and then she is subjected to electrical torture, turning her into a giant lightbulb but still not hurting her, since she managed to switch the apparatus to give her direct current rather than alternating current. Then it turns out the welder was female, and Wonder Woman immediately frees herself, blows all the fuses in the tunnel control station, and punches out the spies with the help of the Holliday girls and Steve’s men from military intelligence.

    It all ends with Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman in each others arms.

    This plot mainly seemed to consist of Diana running around in circles, and she comes across as more than a little jerkish and incompetent. But I like her sassy attitude to the electrical torture. Wonder Woman is also apparently cuter than a pink elephant.

    Characters introduced: Dolly,

    Concepts introduced: Jealous and stalkerish Diana

    Expressions: "cheap chorus cutie", "muscle-bound blunderbuss”, ”spear of Athena”

    Bechdel / Reverse Bechdel tests: Yes / Yes
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  5. #140
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    Re: Sensation Comics #10

    Typical WW vs Axis spies tale. A few things did stick out to me as I read through it again. I think this is the first story where we have a Japanese spy. Up until now, it’s only been Nazis, right? The Nazi spy in this story mentions that Paula Von Gunther told him about WW’s weakness. And at the end Steve tells WW that he only “made love” to Dolly in the line of duty. Ah, the classic, “she didn’t mean anything to me” line. Interesting that Steve uses the term “made love.” I’ll bet that caused some pearl clutching back in 1942! It was also a little disconcerting to see WW use the derogatory slur for Japanese people. Yes, it was published in war time, but it just seemed out of character for her.

    Re: Sensation Comics #11
    This is a sequel to a story that appeared in “All-Star Comics” #13 a month earlier. That story was also adapted by Roy Thomas in “All-Star Squadron” #57 in 1986 (Post-Crisis.) One of the great things about having a subscription to the DC Universe is now that they’ve added their entire digital library, you can go back and read all of these stories. The “All-Star Comics” #13 story has never been included in any of the WW Archives or Omnibuses, so when Diana mentions that she has been to Venus before for the JSA, I was able to pull up that story and go back and read it. It’s not essential to understand and enjoy the “Sensation” #11 story, but it was nice to have that little extra slice of history going into this story.

    This feels like a very Marston-eque story to me. We have space travel via astral bodies, women who enjoy being in prison and object to the thought of being released and of course, when men take over things just to go hell and WW has to come in and save the day!

  6. #141
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The I.A.D.C. View Post
    Re: Sensation Comics #10

    Typical WW vs Axis spies tale. A few things did stick out to me as I read through it again. I think this is the first story where we have a Japanese spy. Up until now, it’s only been Nazis, right? The Nazi spy in this story mentions that Paula Von Gunther told him about WW’s weakness. And at the end Steve tells WW that he only “made love” to Dolly in the line of duty. Ah, the classic, “she didn’t mean anything to me” line. Interesting that Steve uses the term “made love.” I’ll bet that caused some pearl clutching back in 1942! It was also a little disconcerting to see WW use the derogatory slur for Japanese people. Yes, it was published in war time, but it just seemed out of character for her.
    We have had several Japanese before. Wonder Woman #1 had more Japanese foes (spies, saboteurs, and invaders) than German ones, and Sensation Comics #9 had a Japanese spy. I guess they were written just after Pearl Harbor.

    Quote Originally Posted by The I.A.D.C. View Post
    Re: Sensation Comics #11
    This is a sequel to a story that appeared in “All-Star Comics” #13 a month earlier. That story was also adapted by Roy Thomas in “All-Star Squadron” #57 in 1986 (Post-Crisis.) One of the great things about having a subscription to the DC Universe is now that they’ve added their entire digital library, you can go back and read all of these stories. The “All-Star Comics” #13 story has never been included in any of the WW Archives or Omnibuses, so when Diana mentions that she has been to Venus before for the JSA, I was able to pull up that story and go back and read it. It’s not essential to understand and enjoy the “Sensation” #11 story, but it was nice to have that little extra slice of history going into this story.

    This feels like a very Marston-eque story to me. We have space travel via astral bodies, women who enjoy being in prison and object to the thought of being released and of course, when men take over things just to go hell and WW has to come in and save the day!
    Thanks! I'm a little behind on my reading right now, but will probably cover it tomorrow. I had heard about Diana's short tenure with All-Star Comics and that Marston apparently didn't like how she was written there, but then he nevertheless made a sequel to it.

    And yes, this one felt like the most fetish-y story so far in its setup.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  7. #142
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Sensation Comics #11 brings plenty of new themes with the ”Mission to Planet Eros”! Feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on this story! Next Saturday, 11 May, we will go on to Sensation Comics #12 and ”America’s Guardian Angel”.

    Sorry for not writing this up earlier, and I won’t do so much of a recap this time. This is mainly some scattered thoughts.

    Structurally, this is another example of Marston’s use of flashbacks: opening with Colonel Darnell inquiring about Diana and Steve, then we go back to Diana being called on a mission by Queen Desira, then another backstory tale on how Rebla’s rebellion (get it?) was causing disaster on Eros, back to Wonder Woman on the planet, and then ends with Diana, Steve, and Etta back on Earth.

    There were also a couple of plot holes that I discovered were covered over when I did a second reading, the primary one being how Rebla came to be imprisoned by the men under her. It’s more a case of Marston failing to give sufficient emphasis to a central turning point of the plot. As I think I’ve said before, I don’t see much as a natural storyteller.

    It is also interesting in that Marston here goes even deeper into his themes of bondage and the superiority of women as leaders. Bondage (here used with prisons as analogue) is presented as really fun and healthy, as long as it is voluntary and in the proper hands. Men, on the other hand, cannot be trusted with that responsibility, either as leaders or in bondage.

    I like it that the story picks up on the Texas theme for Etta Candy, that was introduced in Wonder Woman #1. But she plays a very small role in the story otherwise. Steve Trevor, on the other hand, is instrumental in freeing both himself, Rebla, and Wonder Woman from their captivity.

    Characters introduced: Queen Desira (previously introduced in All-Star Comics #13), Marya, Rebla

    Concepts introduced: Magnetic earrings, astral bodies, planet Eros, happy prisons, man-fishing, paralysis ray, men messing up

    Bechdel / Reverse Bechdel tests: Yes / Yes
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  8. #143
    Mighty Member Fuzzy Mittens's Avatar
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    I can't help but speculate what the 'Trans mountains' are supposed to be. (the region Rebla was to rule over)

  9. #144
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzy Mittens View Post
    I can't help but speculate what the 'Trans mountains' are supposed to be. (the region Rebla was to rule over)
    Following the pattern of other regions, it's the area beyond the mountains, and the mountains are likely those that Wonder Woman and her group were ambushed in.

    Compare real-world regions like Transsylvania ("beyond the forest") and Transcaucasia ("beyond the Caucasus").
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  10. #145
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    We have had several Japanese before. Wonder Woman #1 had more Japanese foes (spies, saboteurs, and invaders) than German ones, and Sensation Comics #9 had a Japanese spy. I guess they were written just after Pearl Harbor.
    Wow! I must not have been paying attention! Or maybe we just got one Japanese spy for every ten Nazi spies, so the Germans seem much more prevalent in the series at the moment.


    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    I had heard about Diana's short tenure with All-Star Comics and that Marston apparently didn't like how she was written there, but then he nevertheless made a sequel to it.
    I've been looking though the issues of "All-Star Comics" that came out the same time as these issues of WW and Sensation that we're reading. It looks like the main story is broken into chapters focused on a different character and at the end of that chapter there's a promotional line saying "Hawkman appears every month in Flash Comics" or "Wonder Woman appears every month in Sensation Comics." When the story of WW's first trip to Venus (the prequel to the story in Sensation #11) was re-told in "All-Star Squadron" #57, there's a box that says "Based on a story by Gardner Fox, William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter." which leads me to think that Marston had a hand in this story. It definitely reads like he wrote it! I'd say he was not pleased with the framing sequences where they used her and maybe he didn't get a say in how she was written in those? It will be interesting to see how that develops as we progress.

  11. #146
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Interesting background there about All-Star Comics, and that Marston might have been engaged in that particular story. Of course, I think the main issue was not the story itself, but the role that Wonder Woman got to play in the team.

    Of course, my headcanon is that Wonder Woman wasn't the secretary of the Justice Society of America, but rather the Secretary General. But I'm not sure how well-supported it is.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  12. #147
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    It’s time for the movies with Sensation Comics #12 and ”America’s Guardian Angel”! Feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on this story! Next Saturday, 18 May, we will go on to ”The God of War” in Wonder Woman #2.

    Wonder Woman (and Diana Prince) goes to Hollywood to star in a movie of her exploits. One of her earlier adventures is even named here, as ”Burial at Sea”, which I guess is the story named ”Wonder Woman Versus the Saboteurs”. I’m a little chuffed it wasn’t named ”Burial at Sea” in this volume: it’s a much better name.

    Diana is introduced to Wonder Woman’s maid Yvette, who she quickly discovers is one of Paula von Gunther’s slaves. Due to the bracelets, Yvette also thinks that Diana is a slave.

    After a huge welcome parade, Wonder Woman pretends to be drugged by Yvette but captures her instead. However, Yvette immediately works out that Diana and Wonder Woman are the same person, because she recognises the bracelets. I have no idea how everyone else managed to miss this, but I guess it’s the French eye for fashion. However, upon capture Yvette immediately poisons and kills herself, so Wonder Woman’s secret is still safe, though Diana regrets the price.

    Anyway, Diana gets to do her Houdini act: stuffed into a trunk attached to a mine (supposedly inert, but in reality live, as she works out), then tied up by two actors speaking a hilariously bad German accent, and her arms tied to the detonator for the mine, and the rope connected with her leg so she couldn’t free herself without risk of strangling herself. We get a whole page of detailed death trap management, and then she’s lowered into the sea.

    Of course, Diana manages to free herself, ties the mine to the winch, and when the trunk is winched up the mine detonates, letting her fly up like a rocket.

    Meanwhile, Steve Trevor investigates a Chinese laundry that he notes is run by Japanese. I have no idea on how he manages to determine that. He pursues them to a small remote island, but then discover them gone. He consults Wonder Woman with Diana’s help, who tells him to go back with plenty of backup.

    He does so, except he’s not bringing the backup. Instead he is captured by the Japanese on the submersible island.

    Wonder Woman lets herself be captured by a crowd of Hollywood extras, that turns out to be Paula von Gunther’s slaves, who is in cahoot with the Japanese. But she sent the Magic Lasso to Etta Candy, instructing her to capture and interrogate Ben Black. Why she couldn’t do it herself, I have no idea.

    Etta and the Holliday girls do their job and invade the submersible island. This time, Paula hadn’t managed to successfully depower Wonder Woman—again I have no reason why—and she frees herself, but Paula shows Steve in another death trap. However, Etta manages to disable the death trap and she and the Holliday girls capture Paula von Gunther and her slaves.

    Steve then disallows Wonder Woman from taking care of Paula von Gunther, leaving her free to escape from prison, and Wonder Woman asks to be let out from participating any further in the movie. At least she didn’t put it on hold definitely, as she would do in Simone’s later story.

    This was a rather fun story, though Steve suffers from at least two big Idiot Ball moments (going alone, and then at the end). The continuity was also lacking a bit with Paula not being aware of Wonder Woman’s weakness. And the stereotypical depiction of the Japanese continues to be quite racist.

    ETA: Yvette offers Wonder Woman a Blue Moon cocktail and a mild cigaret, but Wonder Woman says that she doesn't indulge. So Diana abstaining from alcohol (like she does in Batman v Superman goes back to the very beginning of the character.

    Characters introduced: Yvette (deceased), Ben Black

    Expressions: ”Great trident of Neptune”

    Concepts introduced: Diana abstaining from alcohol, Etta being awesome due to candy

    Bechdel / Reverse Bechdel tests: Yes / Yes
    Last edited by kjn; 05-12-2019 at 06:37 AM.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  13. #148
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Another thing that I've noted during this reread is Diana's speech patterns and way of talking. Back when G Willow Wilson took over writing Wonder Woman, over on Twitter she talked on the contrast between Wonder Woman and Ms Marvel:

    IT'S SO DIFFERENT! Ms Marvel is constantly chatting to the reader in a way that almost breaks the 4th wall. Wonder Woman is a lot more somber. No, somber is the wrong word. Restrained.
    But Marston wrote a quite different Wonder Woman in this regard, and arguably a lot closer to Kamala Khan than how Wonder Woman is written in modern times: at least from Pérez forward. It doesn't have much of that in the start, but there are a few in Sensation Comics "3 and then they start to take off in Sensation Comics #3. It's not necessarily breaking or leaning on the fourth wall, but she gives lots of quips, comments, and jokes about the ongoing action and how she perceives it.

    Sensation Comics #12 gives some good examples with the mine explosion, when she first quips that "Now I know what it feels like to be a rocket!" and then, as she lands on director Black, "I just dropped in to say thanks for the buggy ride!".
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  14. #149
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    Sensation #12 was a fun story. Reminded me of the last episode of the first season of the TV show where Diana and Steve (and Drusilla for some reason) go out to Hollywood to work on a movie to boost morale and Diana learns what the word "slinky" means.
    As I was reading, I did find myself wondering why Wonder Woman never got a cheap, Saturday matinee movie serial of her own like Batman, Captain Marvel and Superman had back in the '40s. Captain Marvel (Shazam!) had one in 1941 and Batman's first (of two) came out in 1943. Wonder Woman was at the height of her popularity around this time, but she never made the cut. Probably had more to do with studio politics and views towards women back then more than her popularity in the comic books. But, it would have been fun to see something like that. There was a one-shot comic called "Realworlds" that came out in 2000 that told the story of an actress in the '40s who was portraying Wonder Woman in one of those serials. I'll have to see if I've still got that. From what I remember it was a fun read and would be interesting to go back and read again in the context of this story.

  15. #150
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Sorry for being a bit behind on my reviews and analysis, but here is one thing I just noticed as I read the first story in Wonder Woman #2 to tide you over: Marston has a preference for female names ending in a "la" sound or similar. We have Mala the Amazon, Lila the secretary, Paula the spy, Elva the circus princess, Rebla the rebel, and now Tiva the Martian girl.

    The other female names I've noted so far are Eve, Helen, Molly, Gloria, Pepita, Dolly, Althea, Marya, Yvette, and of course Etta. I'm also a bit surprised that none of the other Holliday girls have been given names so far.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

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