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Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
In DC’s long history of publishing, they have had lots of female characters. These characters variety from women sidekicks who are frequently in peril to actual heroes, such as question lady as well as Black Canary. In this blog I am going to look at two characters as well as two certain time periods for these characters. very first off I am going to take a look at the four volumes that reprint question lady #178 with problem #202 in addition to a few guest appearances in take on as well as the strong (teaming with Batman), World’s Finest Comics (teaming with Superman) as well as an problem of Superman’s woman Friend, Lois Lane. Secondly, I am going to look at a book that is not out yet, which I seldom do, however is offered for buy ideal now with WestfieldComics.com, the Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus.
First off, question Woman. question lady was one of the few characters who survived from the golden Age of comics as her solo title was never cancelled or altered focus by DC (along with Superman as well as Batman). There were periods where DC would modification up the character, such as when Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, as well as Mike Esposito took over the character in problem #98 in 1959, which has been collected in question lady Amazon Princess Archive Vol. 1. DC did substantially revamp the character in 1968 as the book was re-titled Diana Prince, question lady as well as editor Jack Harris (who I believe is extremely much underrated in his influence in DC history) (CORRECTION: I had a brain a fart as well as indicated to compose Jack Miller, not Jack Harris. Although it is believed that Mike Sekowsky may have been doing the whole job hmself as well as Miller was editor in name only. A huge say thanks to you to Paul Levitz for pointing this senior moment out to me.) brought in writer Denny O’Neil as well as artists Mike Sekowsky as well as Dick Giordano. This was generally Mike Sekowsky taking over the character (after he left a long run on the Justice league of America) as well as altered up the character to ensure that Diana prince is the lead character instead of question Woman. It was quite evident that the intent was to profit from the popularity of Ms. peel from the Avengers televisions show, with bits of the woman from U.N.C.L.E. thrown in. Diana did not have any type of of the trappings of the former question Woman, such as incredibly powers, flight, magic lasso, or undetectable plane. She was just a hard as well as street wise bad-ass.
Diana Prince, question lady Vol. 1
The very first volume of Diana Prince, question lady reprints problems #178-184. In these stories it is explained that Diana provided up all of her question lady rights as Paradise Island as well as the Amazons are leaving this dimension as well as if Diana stays behind, she loses all her powers. problem #178 generally lays the groundwork for the huge modification that is available in problem #179. generally Steve Trevor is written out of the story and, without powers Diane, satisfies I Ching (both a tribute to Dark shadows TV show as well as the fascination with Eastern religious beliefs that was prominent in the late 1960s). Of course, I Ching was a small, blind, Chinese guy with mystical powers who trains Diana in the martial arts so she can ended up being a one lady army. She opens a garments shop in new York so as to show off all of the mod fashions Sekowsky seemed fascinated with, in addition to a little group of friends, mainly hippies. The stories function mainly spies or metropolitan thugs however this volume ends with the return of Paradise Island as well as Ares the God of War.
Diana Prince, question lady Vol. 2
Vol. 2 picks up with problem #185 as well as continues with problem #189. Plus, it includes Lois Lane #93. This problem of Lois focuses on Lois believing the new question Woman, Diana prince fancies Superman as well as wishes to marry him. It’s a normal Lois Lane story of the time period with a lot more contemporary clothes. In the question lady book proper, Diana as well as I Ching battle woman gangs, a new spy group, as well as we satisfy I Ching’s child as well as the volume ends with I Ching as well as Diana in a battle in Red China. The two a lot of considerable features in this volume is Mike Sekowsky tales over the composing from Denny O’Neil as well as introduces a new male lead named Patrick McGuire, ad old buddy of I Ching who is kind of the old fashioned adventurer for hire. I suspect this was Sekowsky paying homage to his newspaper strip roots as Mr. McGuire seems a great deal like Buzz Sawyer, Johnny Hazard, as well as Steve Canyon rolled into one. This volume likewise reprints take on as well as strong #87 with Batman as well as Diana prince in a grand prix race. It features a extremely special portrayal of Batman.
Diana Prince, question lady Vol. 3
Vol. 3 reprints Diana Prince, question lady #190-197. a lot of of these stories are based in new York as well as function a mix of gangsters, criminal offense lords, etc. Of note is the very first couple of stories were a fantasy set in an alternating dimension full of swords as well as sorcery. There is likewise a traditional gothic ghost story by Sekowsky however inked by the fantastic Wally Wood. likewise of note is there are a number of reprint problems so the collection only reprints the covers that were new as the stories were from the earlier volumes of Diana Prince, question Woman. volume three likewise reprints World’s Finest Comics #204 when once again written by Denny O’Neil as well as drawn by Sekowsky’s replacement on JLA, Dick Dillin. right here is a morality play with Superman vs. hippie protesters as well as Diana making peace. A great photo of the times, as well as there is no romance this time around out.
Diana Prince, question lady Vol. 4
Volume four reprints Diana Prince, question lady #198-#204 where the adventures of Diana prince pertains to a close. There are a lot more reprints with fantastic covers by the late Jeff Jones. I Ching is killed as well as Paradise Island returns as well as Diana reclaims her title as question Woman. Of program that does not go well as there is a new question lady as well as this sets up the 12 trials of question Woman, which has likewise been collected by DC in one trade. maybe the most crucial part of this collection is a two part story written by Samuel Delany as well as features Diana when once again being sent to an alternating dimension as well as satisfying Fafhrd as well as the gray Mouser. It likewise includes guest stars Catwoman as well as Johnny Double. plus it includes take on as well as the strong #204. The B&B is significant as it is when once again Batman as well as Diana Prince, one of her last appearances, as well as has art by the (again) extremely underrated Jim Aparo. This volume strikes me as a bit strange as it seemed evident that the modification was made swiftly from Diana prince back to question Woman. Sekowsky was undoubtedly later as well as later with the book as well as towards the end (and he had moved on to Supergirl so perhaps he might refrain from doing both books?), Denny O’Neil returned in addition to Delany. likewise Dick Giordano took over the full art on these last few issues. as well as the last problem starts out with Diana prince as well as a third into the story is shifts to her returning to being question Woman. It seemed extremely rushed as well as last minute. It makes for an fascinating checked out as it is so abrupt.
Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus
Almost the polar opposite of all of these question lady stories is the Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus that we are currently taking orders for. This volume collects Kara Zor-El Supergirl’s very first appearances in action Comics #252 with action #307. Supergirl (at least the version where she is his cousin; there were “try-out” versions of the character earlier) very first appeared in action #252 as well as soon thereafter started as a backup in action Comics. a lot of of these stories are ten to twelve pages as well as function Supergirl trying to discover exactly how to utilize her powers in trick while having all the issues of a teen woman of the 1960s. I like these stories. They are not fantastic books, they do not have the enthusiasm of Lee/Kirby marvel tales, however they do have a purity as well as appeal that you will discover in extremely few other books. artist Jim Mooney drew nearly all of these short stories that would go on to introduce streaky the incredibly feline as well as Comet, the Super-Horse. These stories were not like Superman where there was a rouges gallery that would rotate in. It was far a lot more bit slices of life with a incredibly powered teen. As the series went on, Superman introduced her to the public as well as the stories altered their focus a little. nearly all of these stories were written by Otto Binder with art by Al Plastino as well as the already pointed out Jim Mooney. These stories are full of warmth as well as appeal as well as must be on everybody’s bookshelf as well as would make a best gift. I am so delighted to see DC collecting this material.
That wraps it up for this time. I will note that a few of the Diana Prince, question lady collections may be out of print however if you look around you can discover them. The Supergirl: The Silver Age Omnibus is offered for pre-order ideal now. Please buy with this web site or let one of our retail stores you would such as this terrific book. whatever I have written is my viewpoint as well as in no method shows the thoughts of Westfield Comics or their employees. Please let me understand what you believe (or if you understand why Sekowsky left question Woman) at MFBWAY@Aol.COM.
As always,
Thank you.