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Sensation Comics (1942) #15-24
Wonder Woman 2: The Golden Age
The earliest adventures of Wonder Woman are collected in this new trade paperback graphic novel series, continuing with WONDER WOMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE VOL. 2!
The most famous of all the women who have ever been called a superhero, Wonder Woman exploded into the world of comic books amid the uncertainty and bleak determination of World War II. Fighting for justice and treating even her enemies with firm compassion, Wonder Woman brought not a cape nor a ring nor a personal fortune or hidden clubhouse, but a magic lasso that compelled anyone it held to tell the truth, and bracelets that could not only deflect bullets but prevent Wonder Woman from ever using her superpowers for unchecked destruction.
The earliest stories of the Amazon Warrior are collected here in WONDER WOMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE VOL. 2, featuring the adventures of Wonder Woman as she tackles corruption, oppression and cruelty in the early days of World War II. Collects SENSATION COMICS #15-24, WONDER WOMAN #4-7 and COMIC CAVALCADE #2-5
The most famous of all the women who have ever been called a superhero, Wonder Woman exploded into the world of comic books amid the uncertainty and bleak determination of World War II. Fighting for justice and treating even her enemies with firm compassion, Wonder Woman brought not a cape nor a ring nor a personal fortune or hidden clubhouse, but a magic lasso that compelled anyone it held to tell the truth, and bracelets that could not only deflect bullets but prevent Wonder Woman from ever using her superpowers for unchecked destruction.
The earliest stories of the Amazon Warrior are collected here in WONDER WOMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE VOL. 2, featuring the adventures of Wonder Woman as she tackles corruption, oppression and cruelty in the early days of World War II. Collects SENSATION COMICS #15-24, WONDER WOMAN #4-7 and COMIC CAVALCADE #2-5
391 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2018
About the author
William Moulton Marston
132 books46 followersDr. William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen names Charles Moulton and William Marston, was an American psychologist, feminist theorist, inventor, and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman. Two women, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne (who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship), served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced her creation.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 11, 2020
There's no way around it. The Wonder Woman stories from the so-called Golden Age were stupid as hell. I mean really really idiotic. It's hard to believe that people liked them.
But Wonder Woman is a part of our American culture. We all know who she is, and we know about the magic lasso and her bullet-deflecting bracelets. Although it was wisely left out of the movie, many of us remember that she had an invisible airplane.
I think what many of us did not know until the story of her creator came out recently is that the comics were heavily influenced by his sexual kinks, including a lot of bondage. Wonder Woman and other women are tied up constantly. Sometimes college girls get paddled. No, I'm not kidding.
What many of us did not know at all is that Wonder Woman had a college girl sidekick named Etta Candy who is (take a guess?) obsessed with candy. She goes "Woo! Woo!" too often.
What I was most looking forward to when I got this volume was learning the comic book origin of the Cheetah because she is going to be the villain in the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, whenever that gets to be released in our Covid-19 world, and she is to be played by Kristen Wiig. The Cheetah was kind of fun. She's got a split personality. Whenever she gets jealous of Wonder Woman, she becomes the Cheetah, she goes "Aaa-r-g-g-h" (or other variations) a lot, and she has slaves she dresses as zebras. Yeah, zebras. Except the colorist for this volume got it wrong at one point so they look like tigers!
So, by all means, if you are interested in the history of Wonder Woman and the silliness of the original stories, pick up this volume. It's not like it's so expensive. But if you are looking for comics with well formulated plots, I think you are better off looking to the later Marvel comics written by Stan Lee, especially my favorite, Spider-Man.
But Wonder Woman is a part of our American culture. We all know who she is, and we know about the magic lasso and her bullet-deflecting bracelets. Although it was wisely left out of the movie, many of us remember that she had an invisible airplane.
I think what many of us did not know until the story of her creator came out recently is that the comics were heavily influenced by his sexual kinks, including a lot of bondage. Wonder Woman and other women are tied up constantly. Sometimes college girls get paddled. No, I'm not kidding.
What many of us did not know at all is that Wonder Woman had a college girl sidekick named Etta Candy who is (take a guess?) obsessed with candy. She goes "Woo! Woo!" too often.
What I was most looking forward to when I got this volume was learning the comic book origin of the Cheetah because she is going to be the villain in the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, whenever that gets to be released in our Covid-19 world, and she is to be played by Kristen Wiig. The Cheetah was kind of fun. She's got a split personality. Whenever she gets jealous of Wonder Woman, she becomes the Cheetah, she goes "Aaa-r-g-g-h" (or other variations) a lot, and she has slaves she dresses as zebras. Yeah, zebras. Except the colorist for this volume got it wrong at one point so they look like tigers!
So, by all means, if you are interested in the history of Wonder Woman and the silliness of the original stories, pick up this volume. It's not like it's so expensive. But if you are looking for comics with well formulated plots, I think you are better off looking to the later Marvel comics written by Stan Lee, especially my favorite, Spider-Man.
September 11, 2023
remains radical in its subtle (and sometimes not so subtle!) integration of bdsm mechanics into otherwise simple little adventures...the War genre trappings take a backseat to conflicts of strength and will, dominance and submission, it's an oftentimes confounding read but i immediately understand the Problem with Wonder Woman as she is represented in popular culture: she has been hollowed of the sharp and complex core that defined her world; just put the issue here that flashes forward to an equal world in which men are nonetheless submissive due to their less capable nature up against the shallow "feminism" of the movies or the inability to depict her as anything beyond a fish out of water against her depiction as a thriving ambassador in any context and active leader in the academic scene...it's night and day, despite the obvious limitations of its WWII beginnings, i'm kinda floored at how genuinely unique and fun these stories remain today!
or: Etta Candy gang!
or: Etta Candy gang!
July 12, 2023
Wonder Woman just might be the weirdest comic of the Golden Age. You really cannot guess where the plot is headed. Nor could you have known how many ways there was to tie someone up.
March 5, 2020
I don't like superhero stories, this is something I have come to after a number of tries to like them. Still, Golden Age Wonder Woman is loopy in many entertaining ways, some simply silly, like the "Space Kanga", while others, like the odd juxtaposition of (sometimes contradictory) belief in female superiority and 1940s gender role assumptions are less so. Also, the degree to which there is someone tied up *on every page* becomes its own joke. It is wacky and weirdly fun.
March 25, 2021
Wish I could rate this collection higher. The original Wonder Woman comic is my favorite. Unlike many DC Comics portrayals of Wonder Woman in the past 40 years, Marston and Peters's Wonder Woman doesn't have breasts the size of watermelons and hop around in a bikini or thong, offering close-up breast shots from above and butt shots from below. She wears culottes and has normal proportions. Her face is oddly unexpressive, but the only Wonder Woman comic depiction I like better is Wonder Woman '77, who looks like Lynda Carter.
I love Etta Candy. Involving her sorority as a deployable team of ordinary women as helpers--more actively involved in fighting fascism than real women in the WACs and WAVES were allowed to be--was brilliant. An alternative might have been a college softball team, but a gang of women chasing spies with bats instead of sorority paddles wouldn't have been funny at all.
I'm giving this book two stars because of the constant racist and other ethnic stereotypes: African-American, Japanese, Mexican, Native American, Middle Eastern, you name it. If a character isn't white, expect a derogatory portrayal and label. The editors also decided to include too many of the rare rescues by Steve Trevor, a high-ranking "intelligence officer" who's as sharp as the head on a thumb tack. After each display of Wonder Woman's intelligence, far-reaching knowledge, independence, alertness, initiative, resourcefulness, mastery of escapology, planning skills, courage, leadership, agility, athleticism, martial arts prowess, compassion toward victims, and wisdom, all Trevor can think to praise is her "beauty" and, occasionally, her brawn.
I love Etta Candy. Involving her sorority as a deployable team of ordinary women as helpers--more actively involved in fighting fascism than real women in the WACs and WAVES were allowed to be--was brilliant. An alternative might have been a college softball team, but a gang of women chasing spies with bats instead of sorority paddles wouldn't have been funny at all.
I'm giving this book two stars because of the constant racist and other ethnic stereotypes: African-American, Japanese, Mexican, Native American, Middle Eastern, you name it. If a character isn't white, expect a derogatory portrayal and label. The editors also decided to include too many of the rare rescues by Steve Trevor, a high-ranking "intelligence officer" who's as sharp as the head on a thumb tack. After each display of Wonder Woman's intelligence, far-reaching knowledge, independence, alertness, initiative, resourcefulness, mastery of escapology, planning skills, courage, leadership, agility, athleticism, martial arts prowess, compassion toward victims, and wisdom, all Trevor can think to praise is her "beauty" and, occasionally, her brawn.
July 22, 2021
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3708841.html
I got this in 2019 because one of the stories, "Battle for Womanhood", was up for the Retro Hugo that year, which I was administering, and it won - topping the poll at nominations stage and convincingly carrying the final ballot. I voted for it too, and on reflection I'm really not sure why; these are a weird set of stories combining an attractively subversive feminism with some pretty awful racism against the Japanese. (But the Chinese, who of course are allies and victims of Japan, are all right.) I almost gave up after the first few, which were all about Wonder Woman biffing either the Germans or the Japanese, though getting tied up a lot. Then it starts getting interesting, with weird alien creatures and ancient gods getting involved, and an interesting mentoring relationship between Wonder Woman and human girl; along with the full-figured Etta Candy and her sorority, and recurrent villains Dr Psycho and the Cheetah, and Wonder Woman still gets tied up a lot. Oh, and Steve as well.
But honestly, it's not all that good. Inspiration for what came later, of course, and it's not like any comics were especially brilliant by today's standards at the time. But I am a bit surprised at my own vote, in retrospect.
I got this in 2019 because one of the stories, "Battle for Womanhood", was up for the Retro Hugo that year, which I was administering, and it won - topping the poll at nominations stage and convincingly carrying the final ballot. I voted for it too, and on reflection I'm really not sure why; these are a weird set of stories combining an attractively subversive feminism with some pretty awful racism against the Japanese. (But the Chinese, who of course are allies and victims of Japan, are all right.) I almost gave up after the first few, which were all about Wonder Woman biffing either the Germans or the Japanese, though getting tied up a lot. Then it starts getting interesting, with weird alien creatures and ancient gods getting involved, and an interesting mentoring relationship between Wonder Woman and human girl; along with the full-figured Etta Candy and her sorority, and recurrent villains Dr Psycho and the Cheetah, and Wonder Woman still gets tied up a lot. Oh, and Steve as well.
But honestly, it's not all that good. Inspiration for what came later, of course, and it's not like any comics were especially brilliant by today's standards at the time. But I am a bit surprised at my own vote, in retrospect.
Read
June 2, 2019More Golden Age Wonder Woman stories of heroism, justice, bondage, and submission. This volume offers much of the same, with Diana cracking down on Axis spies. She also tangles with stranger threats like underground mole men, a misogynist doctor who materializes bodies as disguises, and a woman dressed in a cheetah costume. Yes, Cheetah (Priscilla Rich) debuts here, suffering from split personality disorder and an inferiority complex. She’s certainly different from the Barbara Minerva version we know today.
One of the more out there scenes involves Wonder Woman riding a sky kanga, a huge kangaroo that hops through space. Gotta love the Golden Age! There’s another sci-fi story that sees Diana peeking into a possible future matriarchy society where, thanks to Etta Candy’s discovery of a vitamin, people have not aged. Surely there’s some wacky stuff here, but it’s all mildly charming, or at least historically interesting. Admittedly, I skimmed a few of these stories, but I still had fun with the book.
Favorite quote: “You may have sound-proofed your walls, but you forgot to Amazon-proof your door!”
One of the more out there scenes involves Wonder Woman riding a sky kanga, a huge kangaroo that hops through space. Gotta love the Golden Age! There’s another sci-fi story that sees Diana peeking into a possible future matriarchy society where, thanks to Etta Candy’s discovery of a vitamin, people have not aged. Surely there’s some wacky stuff here, but it’s all mildly charming, or at least historically interesting. Admittedly, I skimmed a few of these stories, but I still had fun with the book.
Favorite quote: “You may have sound-proofed your walls, but you forgot to Amazon-proof your door!”
July 5, 2023
Two stars for finally creating a non-WW2 villain, the Cheetah. But boy, this is a collection of messed up comic issues. Moulton clearly enjoyed having Wonder Woman chained up, since it happens every issue, along with all sorts of spanking talk and every other woman wanting also to be chained up. Steve continues to be the most worthless character of all time. And there's non-stop racism in addition to the non-stop sexism. If that is not enough, no story makes any logical sense. You don't want to own this.
November 22, 2022
I continue to be somewhat amazed that this was published back in the 1940's and geared towards young readers. You can't tell me the publishers didn't know what was really going on here. All the bdsm, the furries, the threats of spanking, and look! there's Wonder Woman wearing a leather gimp mask! Cover your eyes, kids!
March 13, 2024
I loved all the characters. Not just Wonder Woman, Etta Candy and Steve Trevor. I really liked Doctor Psycho and the Cheetah. I think the stories and especially the dialogue were brilliant. Very unique comics from the forties.
August 9, 2020
Early Wonder Woman stories.
February 14, 2021
Still necessary to know what the true heart of the character is. The convertion of Cheetah's alter ego to the cause of love during a submarine chase literally made me cry. Essential also for reading the number 7 of WW solo series.
Edit: Re-read after getting to know the real theory behind it, and guess what? like volume 1, this is some EXPLOSIVE shit right here. This is not a comic, this is a manual on how women should lead a revolution against the patriarcal society of the victorian age (which the author clearly loathed like nothing else on earth), by using inductment and submission in their purest form and relegating the use of appetite to cases of needs concerning the preservation of the self or scientific discovery. Add that to the continuos references to the origination and transformation drive (L-3...WTF?!) and you have a recipe for absolute awesomeness. I would give ten starts just for the ability of the writer to explain his (extremely complex) theory on THESE TERMS to children. Take my advice, don't read these comics without priorly reading the author's theory or you're not going to understand NOTHING (and I can't stress enough NOTHING) of the real violent messages behind them.
Edit: Re-read after getting to know the real theory behind it, and guess what? like volume 1, this is some EXPLOSIVE shit right here. This is not a comic, this is a manual on how women should lead a revolution against the patriarcal society of the victorian age (which the author clearly loathed like nothing else on earth), by using inductment and submission in their purest form and relegating the use of appetite to cases of needs concerning the preservation of the self or scientific discovery. Add that to the continuos references to the origination and transformation drive (L-3...WTF?!) and you have a recipe for absolute awesomeness. I would give ten starts just for the ability of the writer to explain his (extremely complex) theory on THESE TERMS to children. Take my advice, don't read these comics without priorly reading the author's theory or you're not going to understand NOTHING (and I can't stress enough NOTHING) of the real violent messages behind them.
June 3, 2019
Wonder Woman #5: Battle for Womanhood, written by William Moulton Marsden, art by Harry G. Peter.
This story is poorly drawn and poorly written. Wonder Woman battles a misogynist who is sent by the god Mars to eliminate women from participating in war activities. The story jumps from one idea to another, sometimes seemingly at random. The villain, Dr. Psycho, is a laughable cartoon characterization. Although the story is ostensibly about how women should be independent and can perform work equal to men, it is filled with sexist images, including not so subtle bondage scenes, that undermine its message. This story is really only interesting as a historical artifact.
This story is poorly drawn and poorly written. Wonder Woman battles a misogynist who is sent by the god Mars to eliminate women from participating in war activities. The story jumps from one idea to another, sometimes seemingly at random. The villain, Dr. Psycho, is a laughable cartoon characterization. Although the story is ostensibly about how women should be independent and can perform work equal to men, it is filled with sexist images, including not so subtle bondage scenes, that undermine its message. This story is really only interesting as a historical artifact.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews