Issue #204:  This was a major landmark in Wonder Woman history.  For quite a while, Wonder Woman was stripped of her super powers and classic costume as established in the days of her creation back in 1941.  Rather, she was known as Diana Prince and nicknamed "Wonder Woman" in the title; a glamorous, plain-clothes government agent.  An expert in martial arts.  Wonder Woman's name, costume, and powers were taken away by the Amazons of Paradise Island.  So was her memory.  There was really nothing to link this version of Diana Prince to the earlier incarnation.  It's surprising that this lasted as long as it did, but it was interesting in the way that it gave us a female version of James Bond in comics.

    In this issue, Diana Prince ends her plainclothes spy career.  Her mentor/sidekick I Ching is killed by an assassin.  Diana pursues the assassin who meets his death, almost killing Diana in the process.  Suffering a severe memory loss from her near-fatal accident, she is subconsciously drawn to Paradise Island.  The Amazons restore Wonder Woman's memory and she is given back her costume, powers, and of course the Wonder Woman name.

    A mysterious black woman warrior called Nubia challenges Wonder Woman to claim the name.  The fight ends in a draw and Nubia leaves, surprisingly, on friendly terms, but promises to return to challenge Wonder Woman once again.

    Just as much as the original Wonder Woman was ignored with the kitchy 1960s switch to "Diana Prince", the mod version of WW was forgotten when the "real" Wonder Woman was brought back.  At the time, there were a lot of readers split over the decision to bring back our classic costumed heroine.  Some people had really come to like the mod Diana Prince.  A lot of people who followed that version were upset with the fact that I Ching, an important character in this era, was killed off so quickly and without much afterthought.  But there seemed to be a greater demand for the "real" Wonder Woman and since this issue, she has never gone back to plainclothes.  Wonder Woman has, indeed, stayed super...even in today's comics.
 
Issue #206:  July 1973.  Mars sends Nubia to kill Wonder Woman.  This is the second time we see Nubia, the first being in issue #204 where Wonder Woman returns to her original costume with super powers again.  We learn that Nubia turns out to be Wonder Woman's identical black twin.  Mars had kidnapped her as an infant, and now controls her via a hypnotic ring on her hand.  Once Wonder Woman removes the ring, Nubia becomes friendly.  Although Nubia does not join her Amazon sisters, she stays on her island to teach her soldiers the ways of peace.

    Hippolyte actually made two daughters out of clay, one white and one black.  Nubia was kidnapped before she could be bestowed with super powers like Diana.  But it doesn't make her any less fierce a warrior.  Nubia is really quite deadly.  It's nice that they let her live and become a heroine.  I wish they would've done more with her.  It would've been cool to have a "Black Wonder Woman".  I could see a series.

    What's interesting here is that the God of War is called Mars, and not Ares.  Ares would become a primary villain in Wonder Woman's second series starting in 1987.  He also looks more human here, where Ares would be rather dark and mysterious in the second series.

Issue #210:  February-March, 1974.  I love the two-story format!  For some reason, the shorter stories of Wonder Woman often boasted more interesting story ideas than the full-length sagas.

    The first story, "The Golden Women and The White Star", is supremely cool.  This would be neat to see made into a cartoon show or a live-action movie.  Beautiful, golden-skinned women team up with Wonder Woman and her band of Amazons against the evil green men of the White Star planet.  The green race, called Genii, look strangely Arabic.

    The second story is also enjoyable, but not as interesting as the first.  It's called "The Shrinking Formula" and has basically the same trappings of any "superhero gets shrunk" story.

Issue #219:  September, 1975.  "The Trials of Wonder Woman" storyline is a heavily borrowed concept from Greek mythology, the legendary "Labors of Hercules".  In that myth, Hercules, after having accidentally killed his family, is ordered by the gods to complete 12 nearly impossible tasks to prove himself worthy.  This is the same premise.  Wonder Woman must complete 12 labors to once again become a member of the Justice League.  Each labor took about one issue.  While she does these tasks, a different member of the Justice League spies on her just to see if she is alright and if what she's done is notable.  This is trial #9.  Elongated Man is reporting to the Justice League on Wonder Woman's progress and tells the story.

    A villainous man from another dimension is kidnapping women from Earth.  In the process of traveling to this dimension, women's emotions turn inside out; they react to things in a manner opposite of what they should.  He uses this to convince the women of his world to submit to domination.  Wonder Woman is taken to this place, beats the male chauvenist army, and rescues all the kidnapped women.

Issue #221: January 1976.  This is Wonder Woman's 11th trial in the "12 Trials of Wonder Woman" story line.  Like the 12 Labors of Hercules myth, Wonder Woman must accomplish 12 missions in order to rejoin the Justice League.  Hawkman is the narrator of this tale, as Wonder Woman once again battles Dr. Cyber.  Once beautiful, the evil Dr. Cyber wears a glass face to cover her hideously scarred face.  This special glass face allows her to copy anyone's face.  Cyber is on a mission to restore her real face, but while battling Wonder Woman, falls to her death.

    This is a great issue with a lot of neat action sequences.

Issue #225: September 1976.  This is a cool issue.  I really enjoyed the Wonder Woman series from issue #204 on.  Such colorful, fun adventures.  We're in modern-day here.  A rich man named Maximus, who calls himself Emperor Maximus, desires Wonder Woman for a mate.  He lures Wonder Woman to his secret mountain lair with a solid bolt of black lightning.  Wonder Woman is kidnapped and held prisoner by Maximus and his android replicas.  Wonder Woman frees herself, of course, and beats the bad guys easily.  That's not to say that her lover Steve Trevor doesn't lend a hand.  Speaking of Steve Trevor, he joins a spy organization called SOS (Spy-On-Spy).  SOS does not use firearms or muscle, and they answer directly to the President.  Steve adopts the last name of Howard.  Remember that Steve Trevor was brought to modern-day from WWII times, and he doesn't want people to make the connection.  Maximus is arrested, but we are told that he will return.  Cool comic.  Fun as all get out!

Issue #228: February 1977.  The series takes another major turn starting with this issue.  #204 brought us back the "real" Wonder Woman with the classic costume and super powers.  This issue takes Wonder Woman back to her World War II adventures.  Earth 1 Wonder Woman, the modern-day Wonder Woman, is accidentally taken to 1943 Earth 2.  Both Wonder Women meet and duke it out.  After the fight comes to a draw, Earth 1 Wonder Woman returns to her own world.  Then the story just follows Earth 2 Wonder Woman.

    The whole idea of taking the comic series back to WWII was done to correlate with the ABC-TV series that was set in WWII.  This didn't last too long, as the show was retooled after Season 1 and put in modern-day for the rest of its run.  But, so they wouldn't upset readers too much, they did comic adventures of modern-day Wonder Woman in other DC titles.  The "Wonder Woman" title eventually went back to Earth 1 Wonder Woman.

    I rather enjoyed this period of "Wonder Woman".  The super-villains were cool as all get out!  This issue introduced the Red Panzer.  In reality, he was inventor Helmut Streicher, Nazi saboteur.  He wore a metal suit under his bright red Nazi uniform and boasted all kinds of weaponry.  Sort of like a Nazi Iron Man.  He is defeated in the next issue.

Issue #229: March 1977.  The second of Wonder Woman's WWII issues made in the 1970s.  Continued from last issue, Wonder Woman again fights the Red Panzer.  He is beaten this time, and taken to prison.

Issue #231: May 1977.  Another of Wonder Woman's adventures in WWII (produced in the 1970s).  Introduces a sexy new villainess named Osira, a powerful Egyptian goddess.  Actually, Osira is an ancient visitor from outer space who came to Earth in caveman times.  She established Egyptian civilization with her mate Hefnakhti.  Osira and her mate were imprisoned in a pyramid by their rival.  An accidental tank blast released her from a 3,000 year sleep.  Her mate had died during that time and now she is on a rampage to force peace upon the world.  But in her conquest as world ruler, she crosses paths with Wonder Woman.  Osira also sees the great resemblance between her mate and Wonder Woman's boyfriend Steve Trevor.  So as Wonder Woman battles Osira, she must also save her lover.

    But wait, it gets worse!  Osira has captured Wonder Woman's Justice Society of America teammates including Sandman, The Atom, Starman, Mr. Terrific, and Johnny Thunder.

Issue #232: June 1977.  Wonder Woman continues her fight with Osira from last issue.  Before Wonder Woman can fight Osira, she must first fight her brainwashed teammates of the Justice Society of America including:  Sandman, The Atom, Starman, Mr. Terrific, and Johnny Thunder.

    Wonder Woman wins, naturally.  Then she ultimately beats Osira and makes her see the error of her ways.  Once Osira realizes she has acted wrongly, she gives up and allows herself to die.  Osira's body disintegrates and rejoins Hefnakhti in spirit.

    Osira is sexy and interesting.  It was nice to see her learn her lesson and become good.  She would have been an interesting, ongoing character.  I wonder if they could have given Osira her own stories?  Perhaps set in the afterlife?  At any rate, Osira's cool.

Issue #233: July 1977.  This is from WWII times.  The Earth-2 Wonder Woman, as DC called it.  Nazis are using a mental-control device to turn large sea creatures against Allied ships.  Wonder Woman gets on the case and finds heading the operation an evil Nazi leader by the name of Captain Strung.  This is a visually interesting character.  Not overly bright, and he has a black eye patch over the right eye and a claw in place of his right hand.  Armageddon is hinted as the major boss behind this outfit.  We see him in later issues.  This issue ends with a giant, unearthly-looking creature sent after Wonder Woman.  It is called by the narrator "The Leviathan".  Certainly spooky, it carries off Wonder Woman in its eerie mouth.

Issue #236: October 1977.  1943 Wonder Woman fights a new Nazi super-villain by the name of Armageddon.  I love these WWII supervillains they created in the 1970s!  He destroys through strong vibrations.  Armageddon flaunts his "vibro-boots" and proves an adequate match for Wonder Woman.  She is on a quest to save sick Steve Trevor by finding the Lazarus Formula serum.  She gets the serum and saves Steve's life, but sadly lets Armageddon get away.

Issue #249: November 1978.  Guest-starring Hawkgirl!  I think it's wonderful that they paired these two together in the same issue.  Hawkgirl is another lovely and interesting heroine that really didn't start getting the attention she deserved until the 1990s and 2000s.  She's great in this comic, as Wonder Woman's friend and ally in the Justice League team.  The issue starts with Wonder Woman at Steve Trevor's funeral.  Yep, he's dead.  Wonder Woman soon finds out that Steve's brother Greg, a rogue agent from "The Organization", is plotting to kill Wonder Woman and everyone in the Justice League as a way of seeking revenge for Steve's death.  Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl kick tail, as you can imagine, and Greg is taken away by two men who, as far as we know, are active members of "The Organization" (kind of a C.I.A. outfit).  Beautiful artwork and breathtaking action.  This is the way Wonder Woman was always meant to be drawn!

    The second story is of the Amazons in ancient times, long before Wonder Woman's creation.  Diana's mom, Queen Hippolyte, is the major heroine in this story.  Beautiful artwork and interesting, pure fantasy.  Titled, "Patterns in the Dust".

Issue #250: December 1978.  This made for a good storyline, lasting two issues.  In the 1990s, there were many issues where Wonder Woman was "replaced" by other women claiming the title.  At one time, the villainess-turned-heroine Artemis called herself Wonder Woman.  Hippolyte also donned the Wonder Woman costume for a stretch.  I didn't like that, because Diana, the real Wonder Woman, was out of the loop for many issues at a shot.  In this storyline, Diana is still very much Wonder Woman as she stays in the comics and keeps an eye on the "new" Wonder Woman.  An Amazon named Orana, a buxom strawberry-blonde beauty, issues a challenge on Diana.  She wants to be the new Wonder Woman.  Queen Hippolyte reluctantly agrees to the rule, and holds the tournament again.  Diana won the first tournament to become Wonder Woman, but can she win again?  Orana is a tough opponent, but Diana wins fair and square.  Just the same, the gods, being the arrogant jerks they are, order Hippolyte to make Orana the new Wonder Woman.  It is their will.  Hippolyte doesn't want to, but Diana peacefully hands over her tiara and lasso to Orana, in order to spare the Amazons from the wrath of the gods.

Issue #251: January 1979.  This is the second half of the "New Wonder Woman" storyline where Amazon Orana is decreed the new Wonder Woman.  She enters man's world and finds out that she is not as readily accepted as she would like.  Diana, out of costume, spies on Orana.  In doing this, she is defying the gods, but the Amazons know nothing of this.  Orana eventually finds out about Diana and the two clash.  They reluctantly join forces against an enemy.  Orana is killed.  Diana takes her body back to Paradise Island and is reclaimed Wonder Woman once again.

    Orana was a cool character.  I think she inspired Artemis in the 1990s adventures.  It was a shame they killed her off so soon.  It would have been interesting to see Orana as a sidekick to Wonder Woman or as another costumed heroine.  She could have even become a prominent leader in the Amazon society; an aide to Hippolyte.  Who knows where a character can go?

#262:  December, 1979.  This is a cool issue!  In the storyline, Wonder Woman is becoming very disenchanted with man's world.  The villain is Bushmaster.  He's a black jungle man who uses hi-tech weaponry.  Bushmaster throws a constricting net over the United Nations building!  Wonder Woman, after defeating Bushmaster, removes the net by tying her unbreakable golden lasso to her invisible plane and then to the net.  The net comes off like nobody's business!

Issue #268: June 1980.  Wonder Woman and Animal Man team up once again.  This time to fight criminal mastermind The Prime Planner and his three assassins.  Like I've said before, the villains in this first series of Wonder Woman are tops!  The three assassins include Lumber Jack (a psychotic lumberjack), Red Fang (a Chinese karate man with razor wristbands), and The Changeling (a fully costumed and masked, gun-toting master of disguise).  Wonder Woman finds out that The Prime Planner is, in reality, Morgan Tracy.  Morgan, if you remember, was the Head of United Nations Security and Wonder Woman's potential lover after the death of Steve Trevor.  He confesses that he was behind Trevor's death.

    What I think is very novel is the submarine tank at the beginning.  How cool is that?  If only the TV show had all this interesting stuff!

Issue #291: May 1982.  Truth be told, I don't like this three-issue story arc that much.  I think, even back in 1982, the people at DC were toying with the idea of doing the major "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover gimmick which would later be done in 1985-1986.  This just seems like an early practice run to me.  It's exactly the same darn thing, only on a smaller scale.  This storyline is even called "Judgment in Infinity".  A giant-sized cosmic being called the Adjudicator is bent on destroying all Earths in the DC Universe.  Why only the superheroine characters of the DC Universe are involved in stopping him is anyone's guess.  There really is no reason for it just being women.  But it IS cool to see all the different DC super-hotties joining the fray.  And this "crisis" ends on a more positive note than any of the others in DC history: none of the heroes die.

Issue #292: June 1982.  Part 2 of the 3-part "Judgment in Infinity" storyline.

Issue #293: July 1982.  Part 3 of the 3-part "Judgment in Infinity" storyline.