WONDER WOMAN #1 & #2

“THE PRINCESS AND THE POWER!” | “A FIRE IN THE SKY!”
Pencils/Plotter: George Pérez | Script/Co-Plotter: Greg Potter
Inks: Bruce Patterson | Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Tatjana Wood
Editor: Karen Berger

The Plot: (Issue 1) The history of the Amazons is recapped as they are created on Earth by a group of Greek goddesses collectively calling themselves the Midwives. Some time later, Heracles is tricked by Ares into raiding the Amazons’ city of Themyscira, where he brutalizes and pillages them before moving on. Later, the Amazons are relocated to an island paradise, where their princess, Diana, is born. When the time comes for the Amazons to send an envoy into the world of man to save it from Ares, a tournament is held. Diana enters and wins, against the wishes of her mother, Hippolyte.

(Issue 2) Air Force pilot Steve Trevor is assigned a midnight mission to fly a stealth jet to an isolated location above the sea. Meanwhile, Diana is armed with a golden lasso forged by Hephaestus and then is taken by Hermes on a quest for clues to Ares’ location. She returns just as Trevor arrives at Paradise Island, where his co-pilot, Captain Slade, drops a bomb. Diana saves the island and the jet crashes into the ocean. Diana pulls Steve from the wreckage and, at the order of Athena, returns to man’s world with him. Meanwhile, Trevor’s commanding officer, General Kohler, is found dead in his office — both he and the deceased Slade having been agents of Ares.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Obviously these issues feature the post-CRISIS debut of Wonder Woman, though she hasn’t acquired that moniker yet. Also making their post-CRISIS debuts are a bunch of gods and goddesses, plus Colonel Steve Trevor and his adjutant, Lieutenant Etta Candy. We meet a few other characters on Steve’s Air Force base, though I’m unsure if they had pre-CRISIS versions.