Thursday, October 31, 2024

Halloween Heroines WONDER WOMAN "Morgana the Witch" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...Wonder Woman, currently powerless, and living in Man's World as Diana Prince, fashionable Greenwich Village fashion boutique owner, attempts to aid her neighbors with a unique problem!
The boyfriend of one of the neighbors has been turned into a frog...specifically, a talking frog!
Considering her history of dealing with mystical menaces, Diana, even without her enhanced Amazon abilities, has no intention of allowing this to continue...
Yeah, it's the old "kiss the frog and he turns into a (nerdy) prince" trope!
We learn in this Mike Sekowsky-scripted/penciled and Dick Giordano-inked tale from DC's Wonder Woman #186 (1970) that not only is I-Ching a martial arts master, he's also a mystic arts master!
Morgana would reappear, but not in the pages of Wonder Woman!
Several months later, Supergirl (also written and penciled by Sekowsky) would run into a magician named Zond who, to put it politely, whups her real good!
(In pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths days, Kryptonians like Supergirl and Superman were vulnerable to only two things...Kryptonite and magic!)
The Girl of Steel goes to Diana Prince for two reasons:
1) to see if the former Amazon Princess can help her stop Zond.
2) to get a new outfit, since her costume was shredded during the battle!
Diana provides Supergirl with a "mod" costume (which becomes her primary garb for several years) and summons Morgana to help them against Zond, who, as it turns out, Morgana has a grudge against!
You can read that story, which we presented several Halloweens ago HERE and HERE!

Support Heroines

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Halloween Heroines WONDER WOMAN "Morgana the Witch" Part 1

Our Final CountDown to Halloween 2024 Entry...

...is about a powerless Wonder Woman battling a witch!
Quick synopsis: Princess Diana chose to remain on Earth (without her powers) while the rest of the Amazons (and Paradise Island itself) were teleported to another dimension where they could rejuvenate the magicks that kept them immortal.
She met the secretive I-Ching, who trained her in armed and unarmed combat, and settled down in NYC's Greenwich Village, opening a fashion boutique.
She also began accumulating a supporting cast...


Remember, this was Greenwich Village in the early 1970s.
This sort of thing really wasn't all that unusual.
I was there, I saw stuff similar to this happening.
Now, as to the most obvious question...
Is Morgana a witch or a clever fraudster?
And, if so, how does a powerless Diana Prince defeat her?
you'll find out...on Halloween!
Written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky, inked by Dick Giordano.
Support Heroines
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Paid Link

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Halloween Heroines ZATANNA "Doppelganger!"

...She Had Been Lured into Another Dimension by...Herself???
While the Justice League tales relating how Zatanna's powers were reduced have been reprinted, this story from DC's World's Finest V1N277 (1982) by Paul Kupperberg and Dan Spiegle hasn't (though it was footnoted in JL)!
Check out another never-reprinted story featuring Zatanna (with Supergirl) HERE, HERE, and HERE!
Next Week:
We conclude our Countdown to Halloween 2024 participation with a powerless Wonder Woman taking on a real witch!

Support Heroines!
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Halloween Heroines ZATANNA "Magic in the Air!"

She's a member of the Justice League and a second-generation sorceress/superheroine...

...and, usually, one of the most powerful magicians in the DC Universe!
But, this tale takes place at a point when her powers are lessened...
Actually, this never-reprinted story from DC's Worlds Finest Comics #276 (1982) will continue on
Thursday!
Written by Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Dan Spiegle, this was part of Zatanna's second strip, running in World's Finest from #274 to #278.
Daughter of Golden Age magician/super-hero Zatara and Sindella, a member of Homo Magi (humans born with the ability to manipulate magical forces), Zatanna initially uses her human father's technique to manipulate reality by speaking incantations backwards, and later learns to utilize her inborn talents.

Support Heroines!
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Halloween Heroines FANTOMAH "Mystery Woman of the Jungle"

Jungle Heroine or Spirit of Vengeance?

Can you tell which one she is, dear reader?
I certainly can't!
As rendered by the...unique...Fletcher HanksFantomah was the first comic book superheroine (as in heroine with super-powers instead of a costumed "normal" woman), predating Wonder Woman by a year!
This particular story, from Fiction House's Jungle Comics #2 (1940), was her premiere appearance, and reads like a drug-induced nightmare!
Hanks handled the character from her premiere in #2 to #15, with the stories becoming even more surreal every issue!
When new creatives took over with #16, the character was immediately "toned-down", eliminating the skull-face look, and limiting her almost-limitless powers.
As of #27, she was rebooted as "Daughter of the Pharaohs", queen of a lost civilization made up of descendants of an ancient Egyptian expedition stranded in central Africa centuries earlier.
Her series ended in #51 (1944).
Trivia: Despite being popular enough to run for several years in Jungle ComicsFantomah never made the cover!
Support Heroines!
Visit Amazon and Buy...
Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All!
Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks
(which includes all his Fantomah tales and so much more!)
Paid Link