This letter was printed in Wonder Woman #156 from in the sumer of 1965. What do you think the chances are that he and some of the other boys in his Wonder Woman Fan Club later discovered they were gay?
Posts Tagged ‘Wonder Woman’
Wonder Woman’s All Boys Fan Club
Monday, August 2nd, 2010BFK FTW – Poor Etta
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
During Comic Con one afternoon I stumbled across a vendor who had lots of Silver Age Marvel and DC reader copies. One of the beat up gems I found is a copy of Wonder Woman #156 (August 1965). What makes this story especially campy is that Robert Khaniger, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito did it in a style intended to emulate Wonder Woman’s creators William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter. Unfortunately, the 1960s creators didn’t or couldn’t tap into their predecessors’ sensiblities. A little research implied that Khanigar didn’t care for Etta Candy’s character which comes through in this one panel from the story titled “The Brain Pirate of the Inner World”.
Anyone know the names of the other Holliday Girls, especially this blonde? What a bitch!
Private Island For Sale
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010Spectacular views and exclusive beaches await you at this unique private island paradise, offering both seclusion and accessibility for occasional guests.
Current owner and tenants pride themselves on the incomparable Greek architecture, including a palace, temples, plazas, private residences in various buildings (perfect for condos or boutique hotel suites!), parks, athletic facilities, and medical and research buildings.
The island provides numerous opportunities for gentrification and modernization awaiting a visionary’s guidance. From a resort and tax haven for the wealthy to friendly refuge for political despots to a welcoming and accepting idyll for the Sapphicly inclined to a pulsating Dionysian bachanal sure to rival Ibiza!
Owner is extremely motivated to sell in order to relocate to new location. All tenants currently occupying island’s various buildings will accompany her. Property and various buildings sold as is. Sale includes all appliances and conveniences for daily life. Not included in sale are all and sundry medical, technological, and scientific devices.
For further information and to set up an appointment, contact Hippolyta via email at hippolyta@themyscira.org.
Princess Diana – Can I Talk?
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
The Amazon Princess shares a few thoughts with her gay fan following.
We all know Heinberg’s stint was a disaster.
I like men. To like men on an island full of women loving and pleasuring one another is really queer. Take that, Wertham!
On the subject of men…Steve Trevor is in the past. You should let him go, too. I’m here to experience Man’s World.
From my “white period” to the number of stars on my panties to my breast plate and boots…Why are gay men so obsessed over my clothes? Not that I don’t love gay men…
Lynda Carter certainly appears nice, doesn’t she?
Admit it, you love my breasts.
Love, love, love Spartacus Blood and Sand! It’s terrible what happened to Barca. Perhaps Achilles will let me…oh, sorry.
Get over the twirl!
Really, get over the twirl. I love that you first twirled when you were four, and how old are you now?
Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love.
Nicola, please give me back real panties. Wedgies are so distracting in the heat of battle.
No, you may not wear my tiara.
Love Is In The Air
Thursday, February 25th, 2010By Joe Palmer
Gail Simone teases Wonder Woman readers with a hint of a budding relationship for the reincarnated Achilles in Wonder Woman #41. Restless, the warrior (Blond Bombshell? Blond Brickhouse?) leaves his island of Thalarion for Man’s World. Like Diana, he intends to show the world the futility of war, even if it means getting his hands a little bloody. It looks like Diana (by way of Ms. Simone) has a surprise in store for Achilles: a love interest. Props for having Diana be a matchmaker! Art by the underappreciated Chris Batista.
Achilles
Monday, December 28th, 2009
Art by Aaron Lopresti
Upon the return of the Olympian pantheon following the incidents of Infinite Crisis, Zeus promises a dying Athena to care for and aid her Amazons (see Wonder Woman #26 and 27). As a consequence of their culpability in Amazons Attack, the tribe was enchanted to forget their identities and scattered among the people of the world in mundane lives till Zeus awakens them from the spell and calls them back to Themyscira. Zeus devises a circuitous plan to keep his promise to Athena by creating a new island named Thalarion upon which he resurrects the warrior Jason and his fellow soldiers, naming them Gargareans. In Greek mythology, the legendary Gargareans were an all male tribe that mated with the Amazons annually to ensure their mutual vitality. Female infants were raised by Amazons, males by Gargareans. Zeus charges this new tribe to create Paradise on earth, to “slaughter the dictators and dismember the warmongers” and promises to create a son for Jason.
While the Olympians were imprisoned by Darkseid and the evil gods, Diana made the weighty decision to call upon and give her allegiance to the Hawaiian god Kane Milohai. The elder Zeus visits Kane to request he renounce Diana’s pledge. Quick to anger, Zeus attacks when met with refusal. The fight that follows is swift and brutal, ending with Kane’s death at the hands of Zeus. A triumphant Zeus proclaims the promised son will have the heart of a god.
Returning to Thalarion, Zeus accepts tribute from the Gargareans as he tends a fire. The flames are the means by which Jason’s promised child will be created. Calling upon his powers, Zeus resurrects the skeletal remains of a warrior. Kane’s heart completes the fiery reincarnation of the long dead champion Achilles, now proclaimed by Zeus to be King of the Gargareans. Now charged with the mission orginally given to Diana, Achilles leads his men into action by shutting down military stockpiles across the globe. He leads a contingent of men to New York where he confronts the United Nations and later fights Diana one on one at an abandoned former Soviet military base. Achilles surprises Diana with his agility, but in the end she vanquishes the blond warrior.
Circumstances become vastly more complicated when Euphemus, one of Achilles’ commanders, is revealed to be complicit with Ares who is now angered by the death of Diana’s concurrent foe Genocide whom he intended to make his queen. As a son of Poseidon, Euphemus summons sea monsters to attack both Thalarion and Themyscira. In doing so, the Amazons and Gargareans become uneasy allies. While gaining victory, there is no joy or relief. Diana strikes a seemingly killing blow to Ares, and Achilles confronts the traitor Euphemus. Zeus appears and reveals to Diana that he slew Kane and put his heart inside Achilles. The Amazon retaliates in anger with a striking blow to her god. The consequence of this action is quick and shocking. The elder Olympian coldly states that Hippolyta is to be immediately replaced as ruler by Achilles and Diana tearfully renounces her heritage as the depths of captain of the queen’s guard Alkyone’s bitterness toward Diana becomes more apparent.
Determined to honor Zeus’ plan, newly installed as Amazonian King Achilles is met with animosity when he orders the women to turn over their weapons. Sensing the level of distrust, he propositions Alkyone to become his advisor and queen. Initially shocked, Alkyone contemplates the offer, undoubtedly thinking how to take advantage, and agrees to the betrothal when Achilles performs the appropriate ritual. Now bound, Alkyone exclaims their union to be a sexless marriage of state only. Achilles replies: “Of course not! I would never…I don’t even…No. Let no shadow, no unwelcome worry enter your…your heart…We will find lovers elsewhere.” His decision will prove dangerous in the following days as Alkyone presses her newly gained position to her vile agenda.
Achilles proves his steel and narrow minded resolve to carry out Zeus’ commands in a second confrontation with Wonder Woman. As the Thalarions and Diana’s unlikely ally Giganta watch on, Achilles and Diana trade blows. He boasts of once being considered the greatest warrior before his resurrection and without Athena’s spear as his weapon moments before Diana takes him by surprise proving Achilles can bleed. Rejecting Diana’s creed, Achilles seeks to remove Diana’s interference with the announcement that Hippolyta will hang if she intercedes again.
Alkyone persuades Achilles that to prove his strength as king to Diana he must follow through on his threat to kill Hippolyta. And so he orders the former queen to be chained. When Diana comes to remove her mother from Themyscira she is horrified to see her in manacles and the admission she’ll willingly give up her life if it ensures peace for the Amazons. Pressing her position, Alkyone takes Diana’s tiara to wear, orders the Amazon to forfeit her bracers and girdles, and then imprisons her. Her aim is shortly revealed when Achilles confronts her over the news that the princess will be executed. Despite her obviously treacherous bent, Achilles appears persuaded to allow Diana’s execution until he opens the box containing Alkyone’s wedding gift of armor and Diana’s bracelets. Realizing the depths of his foolishness, Achilles visits Diana in her cell, asking her forgiveness and her help in ending Alkyone’s threat and terror.
Tensions escalate as events quickly unfold. Amazons attack Achilles, piercing his body with arrows and a spear thrust through his heart. The wounds don’t prove fatal though, an unforeseen benefit of having a god’s heart. The king and queen engage in a fierce, final battle, and it appears Achilles is mortally wounded by a cut from Alkyone’s sword forged from the poisonous tears of the Medusa. A freed Hippolyta ends the civil war with an arrow shot through the traitor’s heart. Zeus appears to the crowd. Diana shoulders the wounded Achilles; perhaps saved by Zeus or Kane’s heart. In light of everything, Achilles and his Thalarions and Diana and the Amazons stand united in defiance of Zeus. As a final surprise, Zeus confesses his misdeeds and frailty before disappearing.
What developments Gail Simone has in store for Achilles remains to be seen.
Achilles’ first appearance is Wonder Woman #30. Confirmation of Achilles’ sexuality came from Simone in a DC Comics message board thread. This version of Achilles created by Gail Simone.
© and ® DC Comics. Used without permission.
Lance Gardner
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Writer Gerry Conway had given Diana Prince an apartment in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. After rescuing an airliner and sky divers, Wonder Woman returns to the rooftop of her apartment building, and with her magic lasso transforms into Prince. Diana almost makes into her apartment when she’s stopped by her neighbor Lance. Lance and his roommate Tod are throwing a party to which he invites Diana. Lance promises there will be interesting and creative people from the building (3 artists, 2 actors, a musician, and a professor) at his party. He follows Diana into her apartment, complimenting her on the decor, and mentioning that he’s a dancer, and he “almost had a part in ‘A Chorus Line’ Bob Fosse promised he’d use me in his new musical, after ‘Dancin’–”
In #260 Lance stops Diana in the hallway again, pestering her with some photos from his modeling portfolio. He refers to his roommate as Tom now, probably a simple lettering error. Either Conway wasn’t paying attention or was trying to make a comment. Diana is still suffering from a Berserker’s rage brought on her in some plot. Not in a humorous mood, she picks him up and tosses him away from her door. The big party takes place on the roof top in issue #262. Lance is drawn somewhat nerdishly with an overbite. This may be due to a change in artists from Jose Delbo and Vince Colletta to Ric Estrada & Jose Delbo. Lance appears in only a few panels and is consigned to supporting character limbo.
Tod also shows up at the party and he makes a play for Diana. They share a quiet conversation and a kiss. Diana backs off though. Alas, Diana is still mourning Steve Trevor’s second death. The last we see of Tod is in #269. Tod charms his way into Diana’s apartment by offering to cook her a romantic candle-lit dinner. Tod then proceeds to profess, “I think I could love you, Diana” and kisses her. Of course, Diana is still devastated over Trevor’s death and she tells Tod to leave.
Neither Lance nor Tod were officially outed; this story was printed in 1979, eight years before the Comics Code would be revised to openly allow identifying characters as LGBT. The subtext from his appearances in #259 and #260, as well as the necklace, bracelet, and ring in his introductory panel make it clear the character is intended to be gay. Perhaps there was some backpedaling on Conway’s part regarding roommate Tod making a play for Diana. Or maybe Tod was completely seduced by the idea of Diana.
Thanks to Norman Tipton for bringing the character to my attention and his help.
© and ® DC Comics. Used without permission.
Neptune
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Contributed by Ronald Byrd
When she is removed from the Olympic swimming team because she “broke training rules,” Leona vows to take vengeance and “plunder the world that I hate.” Inspired by the nickname that the newspapers gave her, “the Mermaid Queen,” she becomes the pirate Neptune, disguising herself as the legendary male ruler of the sea and outfitting her all-female pirate band as mermaids. By 1944 she has sunk twenty-three merchant ships, erasing the crews’s memories with a will-controlling drug, but she is finally apprehended by Wonder Woman, at which point her identity and true gender is revealed. Speculations about deeper reasons for Leona’s choice of nom de guerre, coupled with her decision to surround herself with lovely “mermaids” and the precise circumstances under which she “broke rules,” might be interesting but are ultimately unanswerable at this late date.
As an enemy of Wonder Woman during World War II, Neptune originally, one would assume, existed on Earth-2; following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, history was altered so that Wonder Woman’s golden age adventures never took place, leaving her enemies of that era primarily in oblivion. However, continuity reconsiderations have recently determined that Wonder Woman’s mother, Hippolyte, was active as Wonder Woman during World War II. To date, the only original golden age rogue re-established into current continuity has been Dr. Poison (see Wonder Woman #151 or the entry on Dr. Poison).
Neptune had no superhuman powers but was an excellent swimmer and had access to various resources, including a mind-controlling drug.
Neptune appeared in Comic Cavalcade #9. Do you have an image of Neptune to share?
© and ® DC Comics. Used without permission.
Blue Snowman
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Contributed by Ronald Byrd
School teacher Byrna Brilyant’s scientist father died while working on his invention of “blue snow,” a special form of precipitation that freezes everything it touches. This invention was intended to “serve humanity,” although precisely how seems rather vague. Thinking to put her father’s work to more profitable use, Byrna creates the masculine identity of the Blue Snow Man and unleashes the petrifying power of blue snow upon the farming community of Fair Weather Valley demanding each farmer’s “life savings” in return for the chemical antidote that will free crops, livestock, and people from the snow’s effects. The Blue Snow Man is discovered in “his” mountain sanctuary by Wonder Woman, who forces “him” to defrost the valley. The Blue Snow Man, like many of Wonder Woman’s enemies, is sentenced to prison on the Amazon penal colony Transformation Island, but in 1948 she and seven other female super-villains escape and pool their talents as Villainy, Incorporated; led by the Saturnian slaver Eviless, the evil eight are again defeated by Wonder Woman. Byrna, also known as the Blue Snow Man, retained her male appearance and name in this second appearance, but what if anything is to be made of her choice of criminal identities with regard to her sexual orientation is unknown.
Art by Amanda Conner
Blue Snowman made a surprise appearance as a villain on the run from Doctor Mid-Nite and Power Girl in Power Girl #7 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner. Described as a “former Wonder Woman foe with gender issues”, Snowman’s guise had been updated to that of a retro-style robot. The blue snow had been adapted for use through technology incorporated into the suit and pipe. Power Girl easily stops Snowman and is then distracted by the appearance of Vartox (a Supermnan foe) who has decided to make her his mate. To expedite matters, Vartox intends to seduce Kara with a pheromone based weapon. Instead, Snowman is seduced and very eager to fulfill Vartox’s desires. Such behavior doesn’t necessarily clarify Byrna’s orientation or gender identity. With Kara unaffected and justifiably offended, Vartox relies on his plan B, a demonstration of his masculinity by fighting an Ix Negaspike, the last of its kind and possibly an example of vagina dentata. Confused and disoriented by the pheromone weapon (and simply comic cannon fodder), Snowman rushes the creature to protect Vartox and is instead swallowed in two gulps by it.
As an enemy of Wonder Woman during World War II, the Blue Snow Man originally, one would assume, existed on Earth-2; following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, history was altered so that Wonder Woman’s golden age adventures never took place, leaving her enemies of that era primarily in oblivion. However, continuity reconsiderations have determined that Wonder Woman’s mother, Hippolyte, was active as Wonder Woman during World War II. It remains unclear if the Wonder Woman Blue Snowman fought was Hippolyte during World War II or Diana in an undocumented adventure. Considering her obscurity, no one will probably lose sleep over the mystery. Prior to Power Girl #7 the only original golden age rogue re-established into current continuity had been Dr. Poison (see Wonder Woman #151 or the entry on Dr. Poison).
The Blue Snow Man possessed no superhuman powers; she originally relied upon a “telescopic snow ray” which she used to create petrifying blizzards and a “defroster ray” to reverse their effect.
This profile was resourced using information from The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 2: Wonder Woman, written by Michael Fleisher.
The Blue Snow Man’s only appearances are Sensation Comics #59, 1946 and the later Wonder Woman #28.
© and ® DC Comics. Used without permission. Images provided by Mike S.
Dr. Poison
Thursday, October 1st, 2009Contributed by Ronald Byrd
In 1942 Doctor Poison (AKA Princess Maru), who disguises her gender via a bulky hooded costume and mask, was the leader of a Nazi spy ring whose ultimate goal was to wreak havoc in the US Army by contaminating the army’s water with “reverso,” a drug that “confuses the brain centers…[making] soldiers do the exact opposite of what they are told.” This plan is foiled by the Amazon heroine Wonder Woman and Doctor Poison is imprisoned, but she later escapes and, in 1943, now working for Japan, grounds all US planes along the front of China via a “green gas” which “enters the carburetor and stops the engine.” Wonder Woman halts this scheme as well, and Doctor Poison is imprisoned on Transformation Island, the Amazon penal colony. She is not seen again until 1948, when she and seven other female super-villains escape and pool their talents as Villainy, Incorporated; led by the Saturnian slaver Eviless, the evil eight are again defeated by Wonder Woman. Throughout most of her first appearance Doctor Poison was believed to be a male due to her disguise, and she retained this “drag king” garb in her later appearances; whether this guise was simply a necessity of assuming power within the male-dominated Axis governments or indicative of something else is difficult to say at this late date.
In Wonder Woman #151 (volume #2), an unnamed grandchild of the original Dr. Poison appears in league with the demi-goddess Devastation. Dr. Poison’s gender remains ambiguous, the only clues being long fingernails and a lipsticked grimace somewhat like the Joker’s. While the continuity of most golden age Wonder Woman stories remains unspecified, it is made clear that Hippolyte, Wonder Woman’s mother, did fight Doctor Poison during the time Hippolyte spent as a heroine in the 1940s. Whether or not the rest of Wonder Woman’s original golden age rogues’ gallery has similarly been re-established into existence is unknown at this time.”
Doctor Poison possessed no superhuman powers but was a chemical genius. She was a spy, Chief of Nazi Poison Division, and Chemical Research Chief of the Japanese army. Since neither Nazi Germany nor Imperial Japan was ruled by a monarchy, precisely what Doctor Poison, a.k.a. Princess Maru, was princess of is unclear.
The Golden Age Dr. Poison first appeared in Sensation Comics #2 (1942) and is later seen in Sensation Comics #24 and Wonder Woman #28. Scan provided by Mike S.
© and ® of DC Comics. Used without permission.
