The 12 Labors of Wonder Woman - Part 6

[jkcarrier]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

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. This issue, we have Green Arrow, and the return of a classic Golden Age bad-guy.

Wonder Woman #217, 1975. Selected panels from a 20-page story.

After witnessing Wonder Woman's latest exploit, Green Arrow is having a little trouble processing it all:



G.A. talks about how he went to the United Nations in his Ollie Queen identity to keep tabs on Diana Prince. Only to spot a familiar face:



The other Green Arrow starts talking nonsense (I mean, more than usual) about how Diana is secretly Supergirl. He even uses a melting rubber-tipped arrow to "prove" that Di has heat vision.



Oliver tries to catch up to his double, but ends up somewhere else entirely:



While Green Arrow thinks he's in a castle, other people are seeing the scene as a pirate ship, an ancient Roman barracks, or an old west saloon. Chaos ensues:




Hold that thought, Wonder Woman. Green Arrow is having issues of his own:



(I wish I could show all the time-bending illusions in this story, but it would put me over the 1/3 limit. But trust me, they're great.)

Anyway, Diana uses the Mental Radio in her Invisible Jet to find the one mind in the building that's not clouded by madness:




WW tries to lasso the Duke, but miscalculates:



The Duke transports WW, Green Arrow, and the various U.N. delegates to an arena:



You tell 'im, Di! The Duke conjures up some archers to skewer Wonder Woman (Ollie considers this a personal affront). But Diana doesn't die so easily:




The Duke switches scenarios again:



Chained to a bed of nails...I'm sure that's been Rule 34'd already, but I'm not gonna look. Unfazed, Wonder Woman plays her trump card: Psychological warfare!




Diana finally gets the lasso around him for reals, and the Duke 'fesses up:



Considering how easily Mars got punked two issues back, Duke, you might want to set your sights a little higher. Just sayin'. (I like how Ollie is all, "Ho hum, villain giving a speech, time to hit the concession stand.")

Back in the present, Green Arrow suddenly realizes that the photo he was looking at of Wonder Woman vs. the archers is really just a photo of Wonder Woman in an empty hallway...because you can't photograph illusions. Batman (the guy he's been talking to all along) hypnotized Ollie into thinking otherwise for typically convoluted Silver Age-y reasons:



(Incidentally, I like how Batman pops back his cowl when he's among friends. We saw it last issue too. It's a nice humanizing touch.)

Next up: Red Tornado! Try to contain your excitement ;)

Comments

[crinos]

Um, technically The Duke could have faked hypnosis and the lie detector, since he could use illusions to make Bruce think that's what he saw.

Or maybe I'm just putting more thought into this than the writers did.

[q99]

Ah, the Duke. Real old-school Diana villain there, one who I don't think has been touched post-Crisis.

[crinos]

I think he showed up at the end of the OYL Wondy storyline where every Wonder Woman villain ever showed up to kick her ass ( which only demonstrated that, outside of Giganta, Cheetah, and MAYBE Dr. Psycho, Wonder Woman has an obscure as fuck rogues gallery).

[q99]

Don't forget Circe :)

I do give props to Gail for Queen of Fables too. And Genocide to an extent.

[bluefall]

I got the sense Gail's introduction of Ares' sons-by-amazon-rape was meant to be a modern reinvention of the Duke, given her stated goal of bringing back the spirit of old characters, rather than the characters themselves.

(Though why near-directly lift Astarte in that case, I'm not sure.)

[kamino_neko]

That's actually an elephant, Ollie... Mastodons were furred, had relatively small heads and ears, and notably large tusks. Also, were within the same size range as living elephants, whereas this big boy looks to be closer to one of the larger Mammoths. (Which also had fur, small ears, and large tusks. So it's not a mammoth, either...just an outsized African elephant.)

[riddler13]

Noticed that too...

Another thing: there are several references to mind-controlling villains in this story. Dr. Psycho, Mad Hatter... or am I just seeing things?

[marco]

I almost want to think that the Duke changing into a pig has some relation to Circe turning Diana into a pig in the JL cartoon.

These labors are just so fun to read. I feel like going to the LCS and picking up some Wondy stuff now.

[saralakali]

Thanks again! Just what I needed after a hard day's work.