{"id":36222,"date":"2026-08-14T17:29:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=36222"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:29:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:29:56","slug":"wonder-woman-the-twelve-labors-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/08\/14\/wonder-woman-the-twelve-labors-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Martin Pasko<\/strong>, Elliot S! Maggin<\/strong>, Cary Bates<\/strong>, Len Wein<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, John Rosenberger<\/strong>, Irv Novick<\/strong>, Dick Dillin<\/strong>, Kurt Schaffenberger<\/strong>, Dick Giordano<\/strong>, Jos\u00e9 Delbo<\/strong>, Tex Blaisdell<\/strong>, Phil Zupa<\/strong>, Vince Colletta<\/strong>, & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-3494-2 (PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Princess of Paradise Island originally debuted as a special promotional feature in All Star Comics<\/strong> #8 (cover dated December 1941\/January 1942 and on sale from October 21st<\/sup> 1941). Happy 85th<\/sup> birthday Princess Diana!<\/em><\/p>\n

Officially, she was conceived by psychologist\/polygraph pioneer William Moulton Marston and realised and nigh-exclusively illustrated by Harry G. Peter, in their calculated attempt to offer girls a positive and forceful role model and, on forward-thinking Editor M.C. Gaines\u2019 part, to sell more funnybooks to girls. Later research has since disclosed much of her genesis was thanks to Moulton\u2019s wife – attorney turned psychologist Sarah Elizabeth Marston (n\u00e9e Holloway) who had worked with him to create the systolic lie detector process – with further input provided by their live-in partner Olive Byrne.<\/p>\n

Wonder Woman catapulted into her own series and the cover-spot of new anthology Sensation Comics<\/strong> a month later. An instant hit, the Amazing Amazon won her own eponymous supplemental title a few months later, cover-dated Summer 1942.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time on a hidden island of immortal superwomen, US aviator Steve Trevor <\/em>of US Army Intelligence crashed to Earth. Near death, he was nursed back to health by young, impressionable Princess Diana<\/em>. Fearful of her besotted child\u2019s growing obsession with the creature from a long-forgotten and madly violent world, Diana\u2019s mother Queen Hippolyte<\/em> revealed the hidden history of the Amazons: how they were seduced and betrayed by men but rescued by the goddess Aphrodite<\/em> on condition that they forever isolated themselves from the mortal world and devoted their eternal lives to becoming ideal, perfect creatures.<\/p>\n

However, with the planet in crisis, goddesses Athena<\/em> and Aphrodite instructed Hippolyte to send an Amazon back with the American to fight for global freedom and liberty. She would be chosen by triumphing over all her sisters in a grand tournament. Although forbidden to compete, Diana clandestinely overcame all other candidates to become their emissary. On arriving in the Land of the Free, she purchased the identity and credentials of lovelorn Army nurse Diana Prince<\/em>, elegantly allowing the Amazing Amazon to stay close to Steve whilst enabling the heartsick but poverty-stricken care-worker to join her own finance in South America. Diana gained a position with Army Intelligence as secretary to General Darnell<\/em>, ensuring she would always be able to watch over her beloved. She little suspected that, although the painfully shallow Steve only had eyes for the dazzling Amazon superwoman, the General had fallen for the mousy yet supremely competent and capable Lieutenant Prince…<\/p>\n

That set up set the Star-Spangled Siren to weather the vicissitudes of the notoriously transient comic book marketplace and survive the end of the Golden Age of costumed heroes along with Superman<\/strong>, Batman<\/strong> and the few lucky second-stringers who inhabited the backs of their titles. She soldiered on until the end of the Silver Age revival, mostly under the auspices of Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, but by 1968 superhero comics were in decline again and publishers sought new ways to keep audiences interested as tastes – US society – changed. Back then, the entire industry depended on newsstand sales and if you weren\u2019t popular, you died. Editor Jack Miller & Mike Sekowsky stepped up with a radical proposal and made a little bit of comic book history with the only female superhero to still have her own title in that turbulent marketplace.<\/p>\n

The superbly eccentric art of Sekowsky had been a DC mainstay for nearly two decades, and he had also scored big with fans at Gold Key with Man from Uncle <\/strong>and Tower Comics in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents<\/strong> and war title Fight the Enemy! <\/strong>His unique take on the Justice League of America<\/strong> had cemented its overwhelming success, and in 1968 he began stretching himself further with a number of experimental, young-adult oriented projects. Tapping into the teen zeitgeist with Easy Rider<\/strong> style drama Jason\u2019s Quest<\/em> and resurgent sci fi and western genres in Manhunter 2070<\/em> proved ultimately unsuccessful, but with the Metal Men<\/strong> and the hopelessly outdated and moribund Wonder Woman<\/strong> he had much greater impact. Sekowsky would subsequently work the same magic with equally stalled icon Supergirl<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

The big change came when the Amazons were compelled to leave our dimension, taking with them all their magic – including Wonder Woman\u2019s powers and all her mystic weaponry. Now no more or less than human, she opted to stay on Earth permanently, assuming her own secret identity of Diana Prince, dedicated to fighting injustice as a mortal, very much in the manner of TV\u2019s Emma Peel<\/strong>, Honey West<\/strong> and crimebusting comics siren Modesty Blaise<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Blind Buddhist monk I Ching<\/em> rather rapidly trained her as a martial artist, and she soon became embroiled in the schemes of would-be world-conqueror Doctor Cyber<\/em>. Most shockingly, her beloved Steve was branded a traitor and murdered! Sekowsky\u2019s root & branch overhaul offered a whole new kind of Wonder Woman, but as I\u2019ve already said fashion ruled and, in a few years, without fanfare or warning, everything that had happened since Diana lost her powers was unwritten. Her mythical origins were revised and re-established as she returned to a world of immortals, gods, mythical monster and super-villains with a new nemesis… an African (or perhaps Hellenic?) American half-sister named. Nubia<\/em>. It took decades for her to find her place in the modern DC but that\u2019s a tale for another day and review…<\/p>\n

Such abrupt reversal had tongues wagging and heads spinning in fan circles. Had the series offended some shady \u201chigher-ups\u201d who didn\u2019t want controversy or a shake-up of the status quo?<\/p>\n

Probably not. Sales were never great even on the Sekowsky run and the most logical reason is probably Television. The Amazon had been optioned as a series since the days of the Batman <\/strong>TV show in 1967, and by this time (1973) production work had begun on the original 1974 pilot featuring Cathy Lee Crosby. An abrupt return to the character most viewers would be familiar with from their own childhoods seems perfectly logical to me…<\/p>\n

By the time Lynda Carter made the concept work in 1975, Wonder Woman was once again \u201cStronger than Hercules, swifter than Mercury and more beautiful than Aphrodite\u201d, but as Diana returned to mainstream DC continuity, readers and fans expected her to fully reintegrate, leading to this early and impressive example of a comics miniseries which ran in Wonder Woman<\/strong> #212 through 222 (cover-dates July 1974 to March 1976), detailing how the Amazing Amazon reclaimed her confidence and rejoined the JLA.<\/p>\n

Scripter Len Wein and artists Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell got the ball rolling with \u2018The Man Who Mastered Women!\u2019<\/em> wherein the Hellenic Hellion thwarts a terrorist attack at New York\u2019s United Nations building… where Diana Prince now works as a translator. In the aftermath she surprisingly meets old friend Clark Kent<\/em>. Over the course of a conversation she suddenly realises that her memories have been tampered with and understands why her JLA colleagues haven\u2019t called her to any meetings. She had resigned years ago…<\/p>\n

Although her former comrades beg her to re-enlist, Diana declines, fearing her memory lapse might endanger the team and the world. After much insistent pleading, she relents enough to suggest the League must covertly monitor her next dozen major cases – in the manner of Hercules<\/em>\u2019 twelve legendary tests – until she proves herself competent and worthy, for her own peace of mind, if not the JLA\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Once they grudgingly agree, she leaves and Superman begins surveillance, observing her flying to Paradise Island in her Invisible Plane<\/em>. Correctly deducing she has been subjected to Amazonian selective memory manipulation, Diana confronts her mother and learns of her time as a mere mortal and of Steve\u2019s death. Although the past has been excised by her well-meaning Amazon sisters, Diana now demands every recollection removed be returned…
\n\"\"
\nBack in \u201cMan\u2019s World\u201d, a crisis is already brewing as chauvinist costumed crazy The Cavalier<\/em> exerts his uncanny influence over women to control female Heads of State. Ultimately, however, his powers prove ineffectual over the Amazing Amazon. As a result of that case, Diana Prince changes jobs, going to work as a troubleshooter for dashing Morgan Tracy<\/em> at the UN Crisis Bureau, and her first mission isn\u2019t long in coming…<\/p>\n

Crafted by Cary Bates, Irv Novick & Blaisdell, Wonder Woman<\/strong> #213 details how an alien robot removes all aggression from humanity in one stroke. As The Flash<\/strong> helplessly observes, however, \u2018The War-No-More Machine!\u2019<\/em> also quashes all bravery, determination, confidence and capability. The species faces imminent – if long and drawn out – extinction. Happily, Diana, a teenaged girl and a murderous criminal are all somehow immune to the invader\u2019s influence. Elliot S! Maggin, Swan & Phil Zupa then share Green Lantern<\/strong> Hal Jordan<\/em>\u2018s undercover observations after a lost Amazon gem in unwitting, unscrupulous hands almost triggers World War III with the Princess of Power barely averting nuclear holocaust spawned by a \u2018Wish Upon a Star!\u2019<\/em>
\n\"\"
\nInked by Vince Colletta, the superb and vastly undervalued John Rosenberger pencilled Bates\u2019 tale of the \u2018Amazon Attack Against Atlantis\u2019<\/em> as Aquaman<\/strong> watches Wonder Woman unravel a baroque and barbaric plot by Mars, God of War<\/em> to set Earth\u2019s two most advanced nations at each other\u2019s throats, after which #216 boasts Black Canary<\/strong> uncovering the Amazon Sisterhood\u2019s greatest secret in \u2018Paradise in Peril!\u2019<\/em> (Maggin, Rosenberger & Colletta). The tale concerns an obsessed multi-millionaire risking everything… including the collapse of civilisation… to uncover exactly what would happen if a man set foot upon the Amazons long-hidden Island.<\/p>\n

One of Diana\u2019s oldest foes resurfaces in \u2018The Day Time Broke Loose!\u2019<\/em> (Maggin, Dick Dillin & Colletta) and Green Arrow<\/strong> is caught in the crossfire as the Duke of Deception<\/em> attacks the UN, with temporally torturous images and hallucinations designed to generate madness and death on a global scale.<\/p>\n

Produced by Martin Pasko & Kurt Schaffenberger, WW<\/strong> #218 offers two short complete tales. Firstly Red Tornado<\/strong> reports on the \u2018Revolt of the Wonder Weapons\u2019<\/em> as an astrologer with influential political clout uses mind-control techniques to gain power and accidentally undermine Diana\u2019s arsenal, after which The Phantom Stranger<\/strong> stealthily surveys her foiling a mystic plot by sorcerer Felix Faust<\/em> to animate and enrage the Statue of Liberty in \u2018Give Her Liberty – and Give Her Death!\u2019<\/em>
\n\"\"
\nThis was a time when feminism was finally making inroads into American culture and Pasko, Swan & Colletta slyly tipped their hats to the burgeoning movement in a wry and fanciful sci-fi thriller. Thus, #219 sees Diana preventing a vile incursion by the dominating males of Xro<\/em>, a \u2018World of Enslaved Women!\u2019<\/em>, with stretchable sleuth Elongated Man<\/strong> covertly traversing the parallel dimensions in Wonder Woman\u2019s wake.<\/p>\n

With the epic endeavour almost ended, scripter Pasko added a patina of mystery to the affair as The Atom<\/strong> watched Diana tackle \u2018The Man Who Wiped Out Time!\u2019 <\/em>Illustrated by Dick Giordano, WW <\/strong>#220 found temporal bandit Chronos<\/em> eradicating New York\u2019s ability to discern time and time pieces: a plot foiled with style and brilliance by the on-form, in-time Power Princess. The only problem was that during that entire exacting episode Hawkman <\/strong>was simultaneously watching Diana tackle another potential disaster hundreds of miles away.
\n\"\"
\nThe Feathered Fury\u2019s report (illustrated by Swan & Colletta) shows how Crisis Bureau operative Diana Prince was targeted by Dr. Cyber & Professor Moon<\/em> – old enemies from her powerless period – who combined their craving for vengeance with a plan to steal a UN-controlled chemical weapon in \u2018The Fiend with the Face of Glass\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

How she could be in two places simultaneously was revealed by Batman, who wraps up the twelve trials in \u2018Will the Real Wonder Woman Please… Stand Up<\/span> Drop Dead!\u2019<\/em> (illustrated by Jos\u00e9 Delbo & Blaisdell), detailing how a beloved children\u2019s entertainment icon was subverted into a monster feeding off people whilst replacing them with perfect duplicates.<\/p>\n

Even this was not enough to deter Diana who triumphed again before taking up her leading role in the World\u2019s Greatest Superheroes again…<\/p>\n

With covers by Bob Oksner, Nick Cardy, Mike Grell, Dick Giordano & Ernie Chan, this is a spectacular slice of pure, uncomplicated, all ages superhero action\/adventure starring one of comics\u2019 true all stars.<\/p>\n

Stuffed with stunning art and witty, beguiling stories, here is Wonder Woman<\/strong> at her most welcoming in a timeless, pivotal classic of our medium: one that still provides astounding amounts of fun and thrills for anyone interested in a grand old time.
\n\u00a9 1974, 1975, 1976, 2012 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1867 primal and insalubrious British Comics icon Ally Sloper<\/em> first appeared in the magazine Judy<\/strong>. Coincidentally on the same day in 1932, Frederick Burr Opper<\/strong>\u2019s descendant strip itinerant Happy Hooligan<\/em> made his final bow.<\/p>\n

Real people sharing the day include Golden & Silver Age Bill Draut<\/strong> (genre anthologies, The Fly<\/strong>, Teen Titans<\/strong>, Phantom Stranger<\/strong>, Weird War Tales<\/strong>) born in 1921; impossibly prolific French Shakespeare Ren\u00e9 Goscinny<\/strong> in 1926; artist letterer John Costanza<\/strong> (Tales of the Green Berets<\/strong>, Swamp Thing<\/strong>, The Dark Knight Returns<\/strong>, everything!) arriving in 1943\u2019 master mangaka Jiro Taniguchi<\/strong> (A Distant Neighborhood<\/strong>, The Summit of the Gods<\/strong>, A Journal of My Father<\/strong>, K<\/strong>, Guardians of the Louvre<\/strong>) in 1947; cartoonist Gary Larson<\/strong> (The Far Side<\/strong>) in 1950; British musician\/cartoonist Peter Blegvad<\/strong> (Leviathan<\/strong>) in 1951 and writer\/inker Jimmy Palmiotti<\/strong> (Ash<\/strong>, Painkiller Jane<\/strong>, Daredevil<\/strong>, Jonah Hex<\/strong>, Supergirl<\/strong>, Harley Quinn<\/strong>) in 1961.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Martin Pasko, Elliot S! Maggin, Cary Bates, Len Wein, Curt Swan, John Rosenberger, Irv Novick, Dick Dillin, Kurt Schaffenberger, Dick Giordano, Jos\u00e9 Delbo, Tex Blaisdell, Phil Zupa, Vince Colletta, & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-3494-2 (PB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. The Princess of Paradise Island originally debuted … <\/p>\n

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