The 12 Labors of Wonder Woman - Part 5

[jkcarrier]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

TL;DR version: Amnesia and bad continuity have left Wonder Woman unsure of her abilities, so she asks the JLA to monitor her next 12 missions to make sure she's still fit for duty. Black Canary is the guest-star this issue, and she comes across a bit better than Aquaman did last issue.

Wonder Woman #216, 1975. Selected panels from a 20-page story.



I think this is the only time they've ever mentioned Dinah going to college (other than the Police Academy in some versions). I wonder what her major was?

Our story begins with billionaire shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis Diogenes Diamondopoulos. Diogenes and his stooge Peter are going over DD's bucket list - "Become a billionaire", "Own an airline", yadda yadda yadda:



Peter is sent to buzz Paradise Island in a helicopter, but as soon as he gets close, the Amazons disintegrate his copter and trap him in an "air-wave net".



"Tee hee". This Artemis a lot more cheerful than her post-Crisis counterpart. ;)
Rest assured, we're told that Hyppolyte radioed a nearby ship to pick up poor ol' Pete.

Black Canary arrives in New York on her motorcycle, just in time to see a flying saucer steal a sculpture from the front of a museum. Naturally, Wonder Woman is on the case:



Diana puts the statue on the wing of her invisible jet for safekeeping, then breaks into the saucer to take care of the crew:




The sculpture is returned, and Wonder Woman heads off to her United Nations job as Diana Prince. In the crowd below is none other than Diamondopoulos, who gloats to himself that the "tracer-dust" he put on that statue will allow him to contact Wonder Woman wherever she is.
(You may have noticed a pattern in these stories of WW encountering odd crimes and emergencies early on in the issue, and never bothering to follow up on them. Apparently, this sort of thing happens to her so often, she's given up trying to make any sense of it.)

Black Canary also heads to the U.N. to begin her spy duty. I had to include this panel of Canary parking her motorcycle, because it's my favorite bit of dialogue from the issue:



One of the fun things about this storyline is seeing the methods the different heroes use to keep tabs on Diana. In this case, since WW has never seen Canary "out of uniform", she simply passes herself off as a reporter named "Shelley Ames" (with press credentials supplied by You-Know-Who at the Daily Planet) so she has an excuse to hang around Diana's office. But no sooner has "Shelley" introduced herself to Diana, then:




I dig Diana's green pantsuit. Very hip. Hillary Clinton would approve.
Diamondopoulos says that if Wonder Woman doesn't tell him about what happens if a man sets foot on the island, he'll bring an army of men to invade and find out himself. In truth, he doesn't expect her to spill the beans, he just wants to make sure she goes to the island (not sure why, since he already knows how to get there).

An interesting use of the Canary Cry here:




Black Canary uses the JLA teleporter to travel to Paradise Island, but finds it deserted. She starts poking around the abandoned buildings:



Diamondopoulos' men are invading in strange-looking walking saucers. The Amazons, on foot and in one-woman helicopters, try to keep them away from shore:




With the saucers wrecked, the men try to storm the beach on foot. Finally, Hyppolyte declares that they've messed around with these losers enough, and calls the whole thing off:




Ok, I changed my mind: "No need to bow to me" is my favorite line in this issue. :D

We see a flashback to the early days of the Amazons, when Hercules stole Hyppolyte's magic girdle and took them prisoner. Aphrodite bails them out, but with a catch:



In the immortal words of David Tennant: "What? What? WHAT???" Happily, this particular bit of canon was never referred to again.

Meanwhile, back on the decoy island, Diamondopoulos is trying to sneak onto the beach in a motorboat, unaware that he's been duped. Wonder Woman is waiting for him:



Canary finishes writing up her report. But she decides to redact the part about the Amazons going ga-ga over the first man to set foot on the island. She doesn't say it, but you just know she's worried about what would happen if Ollie ever found out about that...

Comments

[wonderwomanhero]

How exactly did the original BC pass away? I heard it was from a sickness or something. Was it shown on panel?

[aaron_bourque]

The original original? Or the post-CoIE unified world original.

Cause the former had her brain imprinted on her daughter, who was stuck in suspended animation between Earths One and Two.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; the latter I think just died off-panel.

[thebigapricot]

No, she died on panel. I did a post about it.
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1304586.html

[btravage]

It was shown in a Secret Origins issue (great series btw). She contracted cancer from hanging out with too many nuclear super-freaks. Hal and Ollie were there two, I can post it if you want.

[turtlefu]

Dinah Drake-Lance passed away from cancer, as depicted in Secret Origins #50. It is one of those comics that made me cry when I read it. I don't remember if it was on-panel, though.

Later, in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #3, the JSA visit her grave.

[icon_uk]

The original pre-Crisis Black Canary died in a sort of dimensional limbo, not long after her husband, Larry. Her last wish was to see her daughter (cursed as a baby by the villainous Wizard with a devastating sonic scream she couldn't control) Long and disturbing story short, Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt had her mind was transferred into her own daughters comatose body, and her memory altered so she didn't know she was in a body other than her own.

That's why she "suddenly developed" her Canary Cry when she emigrated from Earth 2 to Earth 1. Originally it was said it was a side effect of the move, but the retcon made it so that it was her daughters power, now under better control.

[aaron_bourque]

the part about the Amazons going ga-ga over the first man to set foot on the island.

. . .

Nobody ever remembers Steve Trevor.

[cricharddavies]

Originally, he was carried rather than setting foot on the island.

[aaron_bourque]

Depends on your definition of "setting foot." No, he didn't literally, but recall that a) He was the first man on Paradise Island, b) he was the first man Wonder Woman saw, and c) she fell in love with him.

[cricharddavies]

None of that is relevant. This is a pretty specific prohibition -- no man may set foot on Paradise Island or else something bad will happen. This tale has the man in question becoming the object of all Amazons desires; others claim that the Amazons will lose their strength and immortality. In every case, Steve Trevor's "exception" is not an exception, because he was carried, rather than setting foot on the island.

[silicondream]

That's some seriously ruthless violent battling over the beefcake Greek guy there. Why, one of those Amazons is apparently wielding a wet towel!

[terabient]

Wow.

Aphrodite's a dick.

[marco]

I was actually thinking she's a troll. And then I started thinking of ponies and Equestria and had to stop myself.

[nemryn]

Why would you ever want to stop thinking about ponies?

[marco]

Because ponies are like TvTropes. There's no escape. But since I love both and don't particularly mind not being able to escape, I suppose it's okay to continue that thought.

[arilou_skiff]

Yes. Yes she is.

[q99]

That first scan has a pet peeve of mine- if you're on a phone line or similar and supposed to be using code names, and you slip, don't immediately correct yourself. There's always a chance that even if someone's listening they won't be able to work with half the information, but use both and it becomes a sure thing they know who's under the code name.

[marco]

I was thinking the same... I kind of mulled over that for a bit because it kept nagging at me. I mean, she basically gave away his identity and even tried to go back and cover it up. There is no saving or helping that. =u=;

[icon_uk]

I can imagine that as a succesful florist, Dinah's major might have been business admin and/or botany.

[randyripoff]

I really, really miss mental radio.

[valtyr]

I like the way her pants vanish when she's talking to the hologram.

[jkcarrier]

I noticed that too. I guess the inker got the two brunettes confused. Or maybe Diana really wanted to test that "You can see me, but I can't see you" business. ;)

[perletwo]

Gaaah, what dreadful art. It's that hard to make Wonder Woman, Black Canary and a whole lotta random Amazons look good? Really?

[jkcarrier]

Colletta's inking blands everything down, but I like the art ok otherwise. Rosenberger wasn't great at over-the-top action, but there's a smooth elegance to his work that I admire.