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Back
in 1968 DC Comics had been determined to reverse the flagging sales of "Wonder
Woman", having tried with varying degrees of success various ways of re-invogating
the book, including returning to "Golden Age" based storylines and
art. As a result, Writer Dennis O'Neil and penciller Mike Sekowsky were appointed
to not only overhaul the book but revamp the charater. They proceeded to change
everything about Wonder Woman except her name, stripping her of her powers and
costume and turning her into a mortal woman let loose in the modern world.
This dramatic transformation was explained by the fact that the Amazons and their home of Paradise Island needed to transport to another dimension, having used up all their 'magic'. According to Diana's mother, Queen Hippolyta, the Amazons were being forced to retreat into this dimension to rest and renew their powers.
Diana is left with the choice of going with her Amazon sisters or staying in Man's world where, at the time, Steve Trevor was in trouble with his Army superiors. Her love for Trevor proved too strong and she elected to stay, renouncing her powers at the same time. However, during a later confrontation with the arch villain known as Doctor Cyber, Steve Trevor is killed and a distraught Diana takes comfort in an elderly Asian mentor named I Ching, who instructs her in the ways of martial arts. This allows her to continue her adventures even though she no longer possesses her 'super powers'.
For
the next few years Diana Prince, as she became simply known as, turned into
a sort of 'Emma Peel' clone (who was a charatcer in the hit British TV series
"The Avengers") who practiced martial arts, wore a white jumpsuit
and owned a fashion boutique.
It took Gloria Steinham's famous first edition of Ms. Magazine, with the original William Moulton Marston version of the Amazon Princess proudly displayed on the cover, to remind the American public just why Wonder Woman had been created as a character in the first place and just what she represented. An article in this new Women's Lib magazine entitled "Wonder Woman Revisited" denounced the recent changes in the comic as part of an "evil male plot" to water down the mighty Amazon Princess. The campaign to establish the traditional red-white-and-blue image of Wonder Woman as the emblem of feminism continued with the 1972 'Ms. Books' publication of a hardcover book called "Wonder Woman", containing a collection of reprints from the Amazon's earlier adventures.
The public's positive reaction to this and the Ms. Magazine cover helped persuade DC to re-appoint Robert Kanigher as editor of the "Wonder Woman", who subsequently undid everything that had come before, taking her back to her original roots! In his editorial, Kanigher described his comeback as "a sentimental return of the Amazing Amazon to the unique origins that made her so celebrated for decades".
And she has not looked back since...
Pre Crisis Indexes - How To Use:This section contains the main indexes for accessing the "Wonder Woman" Pre-Crisis comic book. The links below indicate which issue reside in which index. For ease of reference and to increase download speed for slower connections, the issues are split into sub-indexes containing twelve issues each. You can choose to navigate through issue by issue in sequential order or alternatively use sub index to navigate directly to a particular issue of interest. At any time you can always switch to another sub index or alternatively a different title in the archive by using the drop down menu. At present, the bulk of synopses available begin at issue 204, which signified the return to the traditional vision of Wonder Woman after her de-powered, non-traditional costume period (see below). It covers the entire run up to and including the last Pre Crisis issue, number 329, culminating in the "death" of the Pre Crisis Amazon Princess. As the site continues to evolve, earlier issues will be included, commencing with issue 156 onward and the attempt to re-create the "Golden Age" of comics and right through the "de-powered" era.
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