Good Wonder Woman during World War II stories? (other than original Golden Age)

[Jim Kelly]

DC labelled some of their comics as DCTV--but not WONDER WOMAN. They gave the DCTV label to the SUPER FRIENDS comic and it had its own continuity which fit with the cartoon show. Granted, with E. Nelson Bridwell writing it--he being such a nut for continuity--he brought in all kinds of deep continuity that even the regular DC books never had the time for. Nevertheless, the SUPER FRIENDS title was very much in its own world and never overtly acknowledged in the regular DC titles.

SHAZAM, WELCOME BACK KOTTER and ISIS were other DCTV titles. ISIS and SHAZAM! crossed over with each other--and SHAZAM was in continuity with the previous Earth S! stories--but the other titles didn't cross over with each other or other titles. Although the thought of a WELCOME BACK KOTTER and SUPER FRIENDS crossover is a stunning idea. If WONDER WOMAN had been labelled as a DCTV title--and even better if it had E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon working on it--then all my objections would have fallen away and it would probably be one of my favourite comics of all time. It only exists in Lucien's library, I guess.

[MajorHoy]

. . . I'd love to see a nice complete collection of the 1977-78 issues mentioned in the original post. Complete with the WW vs Superman story and the WW SPECTACULAR along with a nice introduction page by Lynda Carter.

Yeah, that would be nice.

[MajorHoy]

from World's Finest Comics #244 (cover-dated April-May 1977)


from World's Finest Comics #245 (cover-dated June-July 1977)


from World's Finest Comics #246 (cover-dated August-September 1977)

[MajorHoy]

from World's Finest Comics #247 (cover-dated August-September 1977)


from World's Finest Comics #248 (cover-dated December 1977-January 1978)


from World's Finest Comics #249 (cover-dated February-March 1978)

[Largo161]

But I don't know how well that would have worked, either. Mind sets forty years ago as to publishing / buying comic books were totally different then.
And, by the way, is there any real "continuity" within the Wonder Woman '77 comic books? I haven't read any, so I don't know. (Also, I'm assuming they are only focusing on the "modern day"/CBS/Seasons 2 and 3 episodes and not any of the 1940s/ABC/Season 1 episodes from 1976-77?)

If by “real continuity” you mean do the books follow the scenario set up by the TV series universe, then the answer is yes. In fact, the WW ‘77 and Bionic Woman crossover mini has a plot intentionally spun out of TV storylines. And the Batman ‘66/WW ‘77 miniseries had a chapter that took place in the 40s/ABC era and it addressed WW’s time spent “back on the island” between the two eras.

[MajorHoy]

If by “real continuity” you mean do the books follow the scenario set up by the TV series universe, then the answer is yes. In fact, the WW ‘77 and Bionic Woman crossover mini has a plot intentionally spun out of TV storylines. And the Batman ‘66/WW ‘77 miniseries had a chapter that took place in the 40s/ABC era and it addressed WW’s time spent “back on the island” between the two eras.

What I meant by "real continuity" was whether the stories built upon previous stories written by any other writers in that comic book series, or do they just deal more with being set within the same surroundings as the TV show when it was on CBS.

[bat39]

Slightly off-topic but I recently read the Batman '66/Wonder Woman '77 and I thought it was brilliant. I quiet took a liking to this version of WW, so I might even check out the other Wonder Woman '77 comics and the TV show too!

That said, I find it interesting how, of DC's 'Trinity', Wonder Woman is the only one who still remains a lot closer to her WW2 origins. Superman and Batman are seldom depicted during WW2 anymore, except for the odd flashback/throwback to the Golden Age (Fleischer's Superman shorts in particular remain an iconic image for the character).

Whereas with Wonder Woman, no matter how much time passes and how many modern reinventions there are, there is always an effort to honour her Golden Age/WW2 origins.

As this thread so meticulously documents, there have been numerous efforts throughout the 60's and 70's to tell Wonder Woman stories set during WW2. The TV show chose to turn back the clock and set the first season during WW2. Post-COIE, Wonder Woman was restored to WW2 through Hippolyta travelling back in time, and thus, we had a Wonder Woman in the JSA again. The Legends of Wonder Woman comic has her debuting during WW2. And now, most recently, we have the movie - while its set during WW1 rather than WW2, the idea of setting Diana's origin in the past during a World War is clearly a nod to the Golden Age again.

So, of the Trinity, what makes Wonder Woman so intrinsically tied to WW2 in a way that Superman and Batman don't seem to be? Or is it just that someone got the ball-rolling on WW2 Wonder Woman stories back in the 60's so somehow the idea of her being tied to that period continued to stay alive through the decades?

[kjn]

That said, I find it interesting how, of DC's 'Trinity', Wonder Woman is the only one who still remains a lot closer to her WW2 origins. Superman and Batman are seldom depicted during WW2 anymore, except for the odd flashback/throwback to the Golden Age (Fleischer's Superman shorts in particular remain an iconic image for the character).

I think there are several reasons.

One, both Batman and Superman appeared just before the Second World War started in Europe (spring 1939 and 1938), so their origin stories are set in a USA at peace. Second, Wonder Woman's origin story is not only set after the United States joined the war, but explicitly mentions the war. Her big motivation in going to Man's World was also to help the United States to fight the war, and she also includes explicitly patriotic elements in costume.

A better comparison for Wonder Woman here is arguably Captain America, who also reguarly gets tied to the Second World War.

[bat39]

I think there are several reasons.

One, both Batman and Superman appeared just before the Second World War started in Europe (spring 1939 and 1938), so their origin stories are set in a USA at peace. Second, Wonder Woman's origin story is not only set after the United States joined the war, but explicitly mentions the war. Her big motivation in going to Man's World was also to help the United States to fight the war, and she also includes explicitly patriotic elements in costume.

A better comparison for Wonder Woman here is arguably Captain America, who also reguarly gets tied to the Second World War.

Hmm...never thought of it that way!

Though its worth noting that WW's background hasn't always been tied to WW2 the way Cap's has. There have always been versions of her origin set in the present-day. Also, unlike Cap who is very much a US soldier and as such a living symbol of the war effort, Wonder Woman, colors of her costume notwithstanding, has always been first and foremost a representative of another (superior) culture.

But yeah, the fact that her very first origin explicitly involved WW2, as did many early stories, might just have played a part in influencing subsequent generations of writers.

[kjn]

Hmm...never thought of it that way!

Though its worth noting that WW's background hasn't always been tied to WW2 the way Cap's has. There have always been versions of her origin set in the present-day. Also, unlike Cap who is very much a US soldier and as such a living symbol of the war effort, Wonder Woman, colors of her costume notwithstanding, has always been first and foremost a representative of another (superior) culture.

But yeah, the fact that her very first origin explicitly involved WW2, as did many early stories, might just have played a part in influencing subsequent generations of writers.

Yes, there are of course differences, partly due to the different ways that Marvel and DC are working, and the publication history. I guess the largest difference here is that Captain America wasn't published during the 50s, and then Stan Lee time-skipped him by flash-freezing, which made it much easier to keep his Second World War origin around and simply prolong the freezing when needed. To that add his strong emphasis on being a soldier.

(Though I'm a big fan of the idea that Steve Rogers moved in far left and progressive circles during the 30s, and the reason Steve Rogers was so adamant about joining the war was that he had friends who fought and died in in the Spanish Civil War in the Lincoln Brigade. The song dearest to him would be "Jarama Valley".)

[Jim Kelly]

While I'm a big advocate of the idea that Wonder Woman must be active in World War II, I have to correct the record and tell you that Wonder Woman came to Man's World before the USA got involved in the war. ALL-STAR COMICS No. 8 (cover dated December 1941 - January 1942) went on sale October 25, 1941--well before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, December 7, 1941.*

Of course, everyone else was already at war. It was just the isolationist United States that stayed out of the war. So WW II was very real, when Princess Diana brought Steve Trevor back to Washington, in SENSATION COMICS No. 1 (January 1942), on sale November 7, 1941.

*edit: When I posted this, I made sure to put December 7--I told myself this, make sure you put December 7, not December 8. I was very careful about it--but my fingers had ideas of their own.

[Largo161]

While I'm a big advocate of the idea that Wonder Woman must be active in World War II, I have to correct the record and tell you that Wonder Woman came to Man's World before the USA got involved in the war. ALL-STAR COMICS No. 8 (cover dated December 1941 - January 1942) went on sale October 25, 1941--well before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, December 8, 1941.

Of course, everyone else was already at war. It was just the isolationist United States that stayed out of the war. So WW II was very real, when Princess Diana brought Steve Trevor back to Washington, in SENSATION COMICS No. 1 (January 1942), on sale November 7, 1941.

Can I just say you have rocked my world with this bit of trivia? I have read ALL-STAR #8 and SENSATION #1 many times and yet never realized that the US had not joined the war at the time of their publication.

[bat39]

Yes, there are of course differences, partly due to the different ways that Marvel and DC are working, and the publication history. I guess the largest difference here is that Captain America wasn't published during the 50s, and then Stan Lee time-skipped him by flash-freezing, which made it much easier to keep his Second World War origin around and simply prolong the freezing when needed. To that add his strong emphasis on being a soldier.

(Though I'm a big fan of the idea that Steve Rogers moved in far left and progressive circles during the 30s, and the reason Steve Rogers was so adamant about joining the war was that he had friends who fought and died in in the Spanish Civil War in the Lincoln Brigade. The song dearest to him would be "Jarama Valley".)

Well, Cap technically was published for a while after the war. But when he was brought back in the 60's, the decision was made to retcon away those post-war adventures and firmly make him a lost legend of WW2. So a conscious effort was made by Marvel to root Cap in WW2, which has stayed consistent since then. Of course, in Cap's case, it was by literally keeping him on ice.

I'd be interested to know when and how DC made the decision to first start re-exploring Wonder Woman in WW2, which according to this thread started with Bob Kanigher in the 60's. In WW's case, her origin was explicitly updated by Kanigher himself back in WW # 98. Did the introduction of Earth Two have something to do with it? Its worth noting that of the Big Three, I believe that Wonder Woman was the first to have a doppelganger established on E2, and the E2 Wonder Woman certainly played a more prominent role in JLA/JSA team-ups than the E2 Superman did (and certainly way more than the E2 Batman).

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Well, Cap technically was published for a while after the war. But when he was brought back in the 60's, the decision was made to retcon away those post-war adventures and firmly make him a lost legend of WW2. So a conscious effort was made by Marvel to root Cap in WW2, which has stayed consistent since then. Of course, in Cap's case, it was by literally keeping him on ice.

I'd be interested to know when and how DC made the decision to first start re-exploring Wonder Woman in WW2, which according to this thread started with Bob Kanigher in the 60's. In WW's case, her origin was explicitly updated by Kanigher himself back in WW # 98. Did the introduction of Earth Two have something to do with it? Its worth noting that of the Big Three, I believe that Wonder Woman was the first to have a doppelganger established on E2, and the E2 Wonder Woman certainly played a more prominent role in JLA/JSA team-ups than the E2 Superman did (and certainly way more than the E2 Batman).

Putting aside the focus on Earth-2 that started in issue 228, there hadn't been an effort to bring back WW2.

What we had was Kanigher having recieved several letters to bring back the golden age stuff so in issue 158 he cameod himself in the comic and had him firing Wonder Tot, Merboy, and such from the comic. This was followed by a rehash of her original origin, him giving up the 'human father' origin he tried hashing out, and five issues in the 60s where Kanigher tried pulling out Wonder Womans golden age villains in modern day stories.

This consisted of:
*Priscilla Rich Cheetah leading a group of gangster gorillas with tommy guns to commit crimes

*Golden age Doctor Psycho popping up, declaring he will quit crime if Wonder Woman goes on a date with him and falls in love with Diana, leading to Steve bludgeoning Doctor Psycho until he returns to crime

*Draska the Deadly and his beloved Angle man teaming up to sabotage a mummy movie thats inexplicably being filmed in Egypt (With Angle man and Draska being a romantic pairing because this is Kanigher)

*Minister Blizzard popping up and attempting to force Wonder Woman to marry him before deciding to marry Princess Snowina instead because shes in love with him~

*Giganta, Doctor Psycho, and a weird mobster take on Paula von Guntha all being offered a million dollars by a rich doof who wanted them to steal her lasso. With this take on Baroness just being a gun toting seductress who lead a group of mobsters and would proceed to fall in love with Steve Trevor, declaring she would give up crime forever if he would take her out on a night on the town once a week~

*Steve is pressumed dead and Wonder Woman proceeds to be romanced by Philip Darnell who hadn't been seen since Marston died and he becomes a couple with Wonder Woman and the two are about to be married at the alter when Steve pops up, ALIVE~~~

After which he dropped the golden age characters once again, and proceeded to do about a dozen more issues until the Mod era of Wonder Woman started. Kanigher never actually brought back WW2, he only did a brief stint where he bloody used elements of Wonder Womans rogues gallery as he had gone a solid fifteen years without using any characters Marston had made aside from Steve, Diana, Etta, Hippolyta, and an evil alien take on the Duke of Deception.

With all of the enemies Wonder Woman faced during the rest of his run being one offs who were never seen again, Angle man, the afore mentioned little green man evil martian take on the Duke of Deception, Multiple man who popped up in his 'imaginary stories~', and the worst of foes: Forced romantic plotlines by a writer whose idea of romance is a man beating a woman over the head with a club and dragging her off for private time.

[kjn]

While I'm a big advocate of the idea that Wonder Woman must be active in World War II, I have to correct the record and tell you that Wonder Woman came to Man's World before the USA got involved in the war. ALL-STAR COMICS No. 8 (cover dated December 1941 - January 1942) went on sale October 25, 1941--well before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, December 7, 1941.*

Good correction there. It might be better to say that both Wonder Woman and even more Captain America took a clear pro-war stance against Germany from the very beginning. Which arguably makes clear that both of them have always been ready to take clear stances in current political issues.