Who WAS Nubia? Nubia in the Bronze Age and...On TV???

After her three-issue premiere in DC's Wonder Woman 204-206 (1973)...

...which we covered HERE, HERE, and HERE, Nubia appeared only twice more in the Bronze Age...DC's Supergirl #9 (1973-74)...

...where she served as a plot device to show Supergirl as worthy to become an Amazon!

Here's her final appearance in DC's Super Friends #25 (1979)...

...where she fought a mind-controlled Wonder Woman to a stalemate until the Amazon was released from mental manipulation!

Note: though not part of pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, Super Friends did follow the continuity established in the TV series, potentially-setting Nubia up for an animated appearance (which never happened)!

So, why was Nubia introduced...then ignored?

After the Wonder Woman TV series debuted, Mego launched a line of 12" action figures...

...including Nubia, in her costume from Wonder Woman #204-206!

Note the text on the box:

"It's Wonder Woman's Super-Foe!

That heartless arch-mistress of evil...NUBIA!

Direct from her reign of TV terror!

Were they going to incorporate Nubia into the TV series...which never touched upon how Diana was "born"...as an ongoing enemy?

There are rumors that singer/actress Jayne Kennedy, who had experience in genre/action roles...

...had been offered the role.

But the network (unknown if it was ABC, which handled the first, WWII-era season, or CBS, which ran the updated-to-present day later seasons) balked at having an ongoing Black villainess!

Though Nubia never appeared, Kennedy did play Carolyn Hamilton, an ex-policewoman and former associate of Steve Trevor Jr, in the second season episode "Knockout"!

Whether she was brainwashed or willingly-joined (it's never made clear), Carolyn is sent by a terrorist organization to perform an assassination, which Wonder Woman prevents!

The character was never seen again...until the recent DC Wonder Woman '77 comic, which continues plotlines and continuity from the TV series!

In DC/Dynamite's Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman mini-series, Diana brings Jamie Sommers to Paradise Island, where she meets...

....the now-reformed Carolyn has adopted the name of "Nubia", along with the doll's comic book-based armor and white streak in her hair!

Note: apparently living on Paradise Island stops the aging process, since WWII villainess Fausta (from the first season episode "Fausta: the Nazi Wonder Woman") hasn't aged since arriving!
There are several different incarnations of Nubia presently published by DC, none of which have any relation to either the pre-Crisis or 1970s Lynda Carter TV series versions we've shown you.

If there's reader interest, we'll cover those women in future posts!

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Nubia:

Real One

Graphic novel featuring one of the current versions of the character

(There are several)
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WONDER WOMAN (and SUPERGIRL) "Fight to the Death!"

When Last We Left Our Heroines...

Art by Carmine Infantino, Irv Novick, and Mike Esposito

The cover pretty much says it all.

Prepare for a classic Silver Age catfight!

Grok has never appeared again, not even in the many reboots that have occurred since Crisis on Infinite Earths...
Written by Bill Finger, penciled by Win Mortimer, and inked by Jack Abel, this tale has never been reprinted in color since it's first appearance in DC's Wonder Woman #177 (1969).
You may wonder about the tag line..."Turn the page for the real END!"
This is the page...

Art by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano

...and the series was about to do the wildest reboot any comic had ever done up to that point!
My blog-buddy, Rip Jagger, can fill you in on that fascinating story, starting HERE!

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Wonder Woman

Volume 4

(which concludes with the story we're re-presenting...but in black and white!)
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WONDER WOMAN (and SUPERGIRL) "Captive Queens"

We Have Already Seen...

Interplanetary conqueror Klamos wants a super-powered bride!

His troops have been sent to every corner of the universe to round up worthy candidates!

Having captured a de-powered Supergirl by temporarily making Earth's sun red instead of yellow, they now make their move on Wonder Woman...

"...such loyal friends?"

Except for a previous Brave & Bold tale (where they were hardly the best of friends), the two of them never met!

Either way, the mayhem concludes tomorrow!

Don't miss it!

This Bill Finger-scripted, Win Mortimer-penciled, and Jack Abel-inked tale, was totally-different from any of the previously-published Wonder Woman stories!
Not surprising, since none of these creatives had worked on her tales before!
Ironically, this story apparently served as a try-out for Mortimer and Abel, who became regular artists (along with already-established illustrator Kurt Schaffenberger) on Supergirl's two tales-per-issue run in Adventure Comics in 1969!

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Showcase Presents

Wonder Woman

Volume 4

(which concludes with the story we're re-presenting...but in black and white!)
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WONDER WOMAN "and Supergirl vs the Planetary Conqueror"

With the new Wonder Woman movie coming out this week...

...plus Supergirl concluding her second season (and looking forward to a third on the CW...

...we thought we'd present a kool tale featuring both of them that's never been reprinted in color since its' first appearance in 1968!

A surprise you'll see...tomorrow!

This tale from DC's Wonder Woman #177 (1968) is atypical for a number of reasons.

None of the supporting cast for either heroine appears!

Neither heroine appears in her secret identity!

In fact, neither heroine even shows up until page 5!

Plus, writer Bill Finger, penciler Win Mortimer, and inker Jack Abel weren't the regular creative staff for the book!

(That would be writer Robert Kanigher, penciler Irv Novick and inker Mike Esposito.)

It appears this was a "fill-in" meant to be used for either a blown deadline or (as it turned out in this case) a "space-saver" before a reboot involving a totally-new creative team!

We'll go into that matter at the end of the tale...

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Showcase Presents

Wonder Woman

Volume 4

(which concludes with the story we're re-presenting...but in black and white!)

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The Secret Origin of VIXEN!

There's a feature on YouTube about DC's premier Black heroine...

...btw, that's "premier" as in "best-known" or "main", not "first" (premiere) since both Nubia and BumbleBee predate her...

...but it leaves out her untold origin...which we told HERE!

ISIS "Isis...as in Crisis"

Along with Wonder Woman, she was the premier video superheroine of the '70s...

...and here's her comics introduction in the book about the other live-action Saturday morning character from the same studio...Captain Marvel!

Though her origin was referenced in the opening credits (and you saw the discovery of the scroll and medalion), we never saw her first transformation from Andrea into Isis.

Written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Dick Giordano, this cover-featured introduction from DC's Shazam #25 (1975) has never been reprinted, even in the massive Showcase Presents Shazam! trade paperback which reprints the rest of the 1970s series!
For those who complain about Marvel currently altering their comics characters to match their tv/movie counterparts, DC did it over 35 years ago.
Shazam!s Billy Batson was sent on a cross-country video tour in a tricked-out van by his employers at WHIZ-TV, accompanied by his Uncle Dudley (with a mustache and safari jacket) as his (ahem) "mentor".
Besides setting up a similar plotline to the tv series, it gave the writers an opportunity to do a series of Bicentennial-themed stories about all-American kids in various locales.
(Comics are educational!)
However, the more fantastic aspects like Talky Tawny, the talking humanoid tiger and the villainous Sivanas were retained.
The Wonder Woman comic switched over to Earth-Two to cover the World War II adventures of the character, playing off the retro/nostalgia aspect of the tv show, while retaining classic Earth-Two elements like the Justice Society!
When the tv Shazam! was cancelled and tv Wonder Woman shifted to present-day adventures, all these changes were dropped.
BTW, here's the never-reprinted cover (and the original art) by Kurt Schaffenberger, who's rendered most of DC's heroines from Supergirl to Wonder Woman to Lois Lane!

Also in the issue was a promo touting Isis' entry into the DC "TV Comics" line-up...

We'll be running the never-reprinted tales of Isis in the future!
Watch for them!