Wonder Woman #190

Wonder Woman #190 (On Sale: July 7, 1970) has a cover Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Mike Sekowsky wrote and drew and Dick Giordano inked "Detour" our book-length Wonder Woman story. Back from China and a little bit down, I-Ching suggests that Diana visit her mother on Paradise Island, but when Amazon messenger Leda attempts to bring Diana through the dimensional stream they take and unexpected detour and end up int he dark fending off unseen creatures. When a green moon appears the creatures scamper and Diana and Leda find themselves in an alien landscape.

When finally the sun rises a strange flying ship appears and armed men attempt to capture Diana and Leda. Diana holds them at bay while Leda escapes through the dimensions to Paradise Island to bring reinforcements. Eventually the men overpower Diana and she and a barbarian man are taken to the city of Calendar where they are brought before the queen.

They learn that they were captured to fight in the arena for sport, but the queen dismisses Diana as "just a girl." Diana says she sees no reason to wait for the arena to fight and using her shackles as a weapon sets upon her captors, the barbarian man at her side. Diana makes it to the queen but is overpowered and knocked unconscious.

She awakes in a cell with Rancor the barbarian and they manage to escape. They are chased through the castle but end up in the arena, realizing they were allowed to escape and were pointed toward their death. In the arena they face a giant monster called a gnarth, but Diana has a plan for killing it. The plan works and then they leap out of the arena and once again are upon the queen and her men. As reinforcements arrive they are chased once again through the castle and up to the top of a tower. From there they see an army amassed at the gates of Calendar.

Rancor says it is the army of his father, King Zangor and that he was captured when he was scouting ahead of the army. They are there to end the rule of the evil queen. As the queen's men approach, Diana and Rancor leap from the tower into the moat. This one is continued.

Reprinted in Diana Prince:Wonder Woman Vol. 3 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Christian Scheuer covers Wonder Woman 196

Original cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano; DC 1971. Christian Scheuer's website is here.

Girls' Romances #149

Girls' Romances #149 (On Sale: April 9, 1970) has a cover inked by Vinny Colletta.

We begin with our cover-story "That Kind of Girl" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta (personally, I always loved those kinds of girls!). Next is "You Can't Lie About Love" drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs. We end with "Too Good to Be Loved" drawn by Murphy Anderson.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Showcase #90 (On Sale: March 10, 1970) has a Jason's Quest cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

This issue begins with Jason's Quest in "The Circle of Death" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Jack Abel. Continuing from last issue, Tuborg has put the word out on the streets of Paris to find Jason and his sister and they do. Jason has bought a new guitar and is picking up a little extra cash playing in a club in town when in walks Jason's sister. Jason is shocked that she knows his name and then finds out that she was GG, the girl from the ferry, as she looks so different without her wig and makeup on.

As Jason tries to tell her he is her brother, the guy GG came to the club with attacks Jason for making a move on his girl at about the same time that Tuborg's men move in for the kill. Jason grabs GG and they head out the back and into the streets. Eventually they meet artist Andy and with his help get away from Tuborg's men. Just as Jason is about to tell GG they ware brother and sister more of Tuborg's men show up and they head off once again, once again meeting Andy who takes them to his second studio where a group of "friends" are making signs for a big protest tomorrow.

The next morning Jason and GG join the protest and Jason decides the safest place for them to be is in jail, so he smacks a French cop with a protest sign and he and GG are arrested. But Andy and his friends hijack the police van they are being carried in and "rescue" Jason and GG. Though they get away from the police, Tuborg's men are still on their trail.

Eventually Jason and GG make it to a warehouse and a room full of mannequins. Putting GG's clothes on one of the mannequins and strapping it to the back of his bike, Jason lures Tuborg's men away from GG and tells her to meet him tomorrow at noon under the Eiffel Tower. But GG has other ideas, "If I ever see that crazy man again--I'll take off in the opposite direction as fast as I can go! What a kook! And those friends of his--they're worse than he is! goodbye -- and good riddance!"

I really liked Jason's Quest and was sorry that this was the last issue. My good friend Tony Isabella also liked the strip as there is a long letter from on on the letter page.

Next is a on-page ad from Manhunter 2070 in the next issue of Showcase and that is followed by "Incident on Krobar 3" a two-page Manhunter 2070 story by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Wonder Woman #188

Wonder Woman #188 (On Sale: February 26, 1970) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano that is a wonderful return to the heavy bondage roots of classic Golden Age Wonder Woman covers.

We begin with our cover-story "Cyber's Revenge" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Continuing from last issue, Diana and Ching have been pulled from the waters of Hong Kong Harbor as the Junk that was the headquarters of Dr. Cyber burns. The badly burned Cyber and her associate Lu Shan, maybe I Ching's daughter, escaped with a new power source to be used to power Cyber's earthquaker devices. Ching was shot by Lu Shan and is rushed to the hospital, while Diana and Patrick McGuire meet at the police station and go over the events thus far.

Suddenly Hong Kong is hit by an earthquake and Diana and Patrick head for the streets where they are shot at by a strange car carrying Lu Shan and a assortment of Cyber henchmen. They escape Cyber's people by hiding under some wreckage, when another quake hits Patrick is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile Cyber sends a message to the wold that she must be declared supreme ruler of Earth or she will level every city on the planet with her earthquakers.

Lu Shan and her thugs locate Diana but she overpowers her and chases off the thugs and "convinces" Lu Shan to show them where one of the earthquakers is located. However, suspecting a trap, Diana wants Lu Shan to throw the power switch to turn off the machine and when she refuses Diana once again overpowers her. Eventually Lu Shan is convinced to turn off the earthquakers safely, bypassing the self-destruct feature that she was hoping would catch Diana.

Back at the inspector's office, Diana gets the location of the other earthquakers out of Lu Shan and while the inspector's men go after most of the machine, Diana and Patrick take the last one themselves. They race across the destroyed city to the location of the final earthquaker as it is turned on once again. They make it into the facility but run afoul of a trap door.

When they awaken they are chained to the ceiling and a heavily bandaged Dr. Cyber is there. She removes her bandages and shows Diana the mess she made of her face. Diana turns her face away from the sight and Cyber grabs her and turns Diana toward her. Which is what Diana hoped she would do, come in close enough so that Diana could knock her out with a swift kick to the face. Using the training she was taught by I Ching Diana is able to free herself but then is attacked by Cyber's personal guards, whom she quickly defeats.

As Diana frees Patrick Cyber awakens and attacks her with a sword, but Diana uses the chains to keep Cyber at bay and knock her into a power supply on the earthquaker. As Cyber fries, she pushes the self-destruct button. Diana and Patrick barely make it out alive. From hiding we see Lu Shan, vowing to get revenge. Diana and Patrick then begin helping those wounded in the quakes.

Days later she and Patrick make it to the hospital to check in on I Ching only to find that he is gone. A visitor came to his room and spoke something of Lu Shan and how she had crossed the border into Red China. Ching seems to have followed her. Reprinted in Diana Prince:Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

We get another great Sekowsky/Giordano teaser page for the next issue followed by a two page filler, "Crime Does Not Pay!" also by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. This little short is about a pick-pocket who unwisely tries to pick Diana's pocket!

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Showcase #89

Showcase #89 (On Sale: January 27, 1970) has a nice Jason's Quest cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Jason's Quest continues this issue with "The Deadly Chase" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by, well, I'm not sure. The GCD says this is Jack Abel, but I don't really see it. Abel has a certain smoothness to his inking, particularly around the eyes, noses and hands of characters, that I just don't see in this inking. He is also credited with inking the next issue, and I sort of see some Abel-like inking in that book. If anyone can point me to particular panels that display Abel's technique I would feel much better about this attribution.

As we left Jason last issue, he had just saved his sister's life, not knowing it was her and is now ahead of her on the road to Paris thinking she must be just ahead of him. Meanwhile, Tuborg sends two more assassins after Jason and his sister. Jason on the other hand sees a blond woman on the side of the road with a flat tire and thinks it is his sister, but when he hears her deep southern accent he knows he is mistaken.

She is "Billie Jo Brock of the Lo'siana Brocks" and is immediately smitten with Jason, but her advances are interrupted by gunshots from the two assassins, who also mistake Billie Jo for Jason's sister. They blow the "petrol tank" of Billie Jo's car and she and Jason high-tail it on his bike, the killers in hot pursuit and Billie Jo firing back at them with her own gun. As they are being chased, Jason sees the car of the woman he saved last issue and seeing her without her wig realizes that she is his sister. He lures the gunmen away from her and loses them in some woods.

There his bike runs out of gas and he and Billie Jo take off on foot finding a large empty house in the woods in which to hide. Later the gunmen find the house as well and while Billie Jo passes the time away in a lip-lock with Jason, he feels a gun against the back of his head. But it is not the gunmen, but rather the owner of the house, who had shut it down but remembered something she left and found the broken window where Jason and Billie Jo had entered and now found them. But it seems she is a widow, from Lo'siana as well and actually loosely related to Billie Jo. She provides them some gas for the bike and some cover fire from the assassins while they make their escape.

They gas up Jason's bike and Billie Jo shoots the tires on the assassin's car. They figure out what the four shots must mean and steal a car from the woman's garage and the chase continues. Jason loses them under a bridge and later in a bike race. Later Jason and Billie Jo barely escape from going off the end of an unfinished bridge, but the assassins are not so lucky. They crash off the bridge and die in a horrible explosion. Jason and Billie Jo make it to Paris where Jason tells Billie Jo the entirety of his story and says he must find his sister before Tuborg's men do. Billie Jo says she understands, "Find her, quick-- then come back 'cause Billie Jo has chosen you for herself!'

We then have one of those great Sekowshy full-page previes of the next issue inked by Dick Giordano.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Phantom Stranger #6

Phantom Stranger #6 (On Sale: January 15, 1970) has another winning cover by Neal Adams. The Stranger appears as a background face for the first time.

This issue contains the book-length "No. 13 Thirteenth Street" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by, well, everyone says Vinny Colletta, but that ain't the whole truth., For certain Colletta's unmistakable inks grace (disgrace?) pages 7-12, but the rest of the book, the majority of the book is inked by someone much better. Who I'm not certain, though some of it looks like editor Joe Orlando.

This is yet another story with the four teenagers (really, that is a stretch here) from the previous few issues, who when their car breaks down find two elderly women being haunted in a house on 13th Street. They enter and people and things are flying about. They make a quick call to Dr. Thirteen, just as the Phantom Stranger arrives. The Stranger says the problem is a poltergeist; when Dr. Thirteen arrives he says the whole thing is a fraud perpetrated by the Phantom Stranger. Thirteen says this is just like the case of the haunting of the Deggs house, which he exposed as a hoax.

We cut to Chapter 2, entitled "The Case of the Diabolical Deggs House" which is inked by Vinny Colletta. The Deggs' house is being terrorized by flying objects, moving chairs, ghostly apparitions, etc. Dr. Thirteen is called and finds the culprit is Creepy Conway, a spurned beau of the teenage daughter. He, along with the help of the younger son and his chemistry set, faked all of the strange doings.

The story over, better inking returns for a page as Dr. Thirteen is attacked by a flying vase and the Phantom Stranger tells him he is being foolish to discount the supernatural. He then tells his own story, "The Haunting of Drood Wood -- or -- Give Me Back My Head!" This chapter has a harsher inking style, and if I had to guess at the inker (and I do), I would say Frank Giacoia inked the next five pages. There are actually a couple of really nice, simple but effective panels in this section of the story.

A wife drives her sleeping husband down a lonely read at night. He awakens to find out they are driving through Drood Wood and freaks out, telling her to turn around or he is a dead man due to a family curse. His wife thinks he is being silly, but suddenly they are confronted by a headless horseman of old. This scene is of course depicted so beautifully on the cover. The horseman asks the man, David, if he has found his head yet. David says that his family has searched for centuries and cannot find the man's head.

We then learn how David's ancestor, the Baron of Cheltenham, had found the man in a passionate embrace with his daughter and after trumping up some charges of theft, had the man's head cut off and buried separately. The headless man only wants to be with his beloved, but cannot go to her in death without his head. The Phantom Stranger arrives and shows the man that his head was actually made into the likeness on his tombstone (I almost said "headstone!"). His body once again whole the horseman rides off to finally be with his beloved.

Back in the present and back to Joe Orlando's inking, the Stranger says the story proves that evil exists and then asks Tara to show herself. Tara reveals herself along with a creature thing, but says she is not the cause of the strange goings-on, that it is the work of one of the elderly women, Abigail. Abigail says that she found an old book their father had and used one of the spells in it to conjure up a thing to punish her sister for always eating the pistachio ice cream and leaving her only the chocolate.

When the Phantom Stranger tries to get the book, Tala orders the thing to keep it from him, but the Stranger gets to the book first and throws it into the fireplace. Tala and the thing then disappear. Dr. Thirteen says that the whole thing was a performance by the Stranger, as usual. Abigail's sister invites the teenagers to spend the night and offers them dinner, complete with pistachio ice cream for dessert, but sends Abigail to bed without dinner for causing all the fuss.

However, after dinner all that is left in the house is chocolate ice cream. Upstairs we find Abigail with a home copier and a copy of the book wondering what else she can do to her sister. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Wonder Woman #187

Wonder Woman #187 (On Sale: January 3, 1970) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. This is also the splash page for the story as it is the only place the title appears and page one continues from this starting point.

"Earthquaker" is the book-length Wonder Woman story written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. The story begins with I-Ching being shot and the takes us back to how we got to this place.

I-Ching receives a phone call from an old friend in Hong Kong needing Ching's help. Unable to get a normal flight, Ching gets one from another old friend, Patrick McGuire, who runs a freight airline. Diana tags along and they soon find out that McGuire is short-handed and will be piloting the plane. Not only that, but another woman, one Lu Shan, is also along for the flight. That night as the passengers all drift off to sleep, some thugs come out from their hiding place in a crate and awaken the three passengers at gunpoint.

The thugs seem to know Lu Shan and tell her that they will toss her out over the Pacific if she does not tell them where, well, something is. When one of the thugs turns his back on Diana and Ching to watch the other wrestle with Lu Shan, Diana and Ching leap into action. Gunfire brings McGuire out from the cockpit but a stray bullet hits the co-pilot. Most of the bad guys are ejected from the plane when it banks suddenly due to the shot pilot. Diana notices that the one bad guy not to fall from the plane has the eye of a cat tattooed on his hand. Lu Shan says it is the mark of the Tiger Tong who wish to steal something from her employer.

Just then I-Ching feels a broken medallion around Lu Shan's neck and matches it up to a similar medallion around his own neck. He says this means that Lu Shan is I-Ching's long lost daughter. It is that this time that they land in Hong Kong and Lu Shan invites them to go with her to her employer's place where they can discuss the matching coin medallions and her past of which she knows very little. On the way to the employer's they are attacked once again by members of the Tiger Tong. They are able to fend them off. However, when they reach Lu Shan's employer, there are more Tiger Tong waiting so they take once more to the streets of Hong Kong.

There with the help of McGuire they are able to defeat the Tong once again, and they leave McGuire with a promise to meet for dinner that night. When they once again reach Lu Shan's employer, Diana is a little worried by the presence of armed guards. That night finds McGuire at the Hong Kong police as Diana never showed up for dinner. Just then they are informed of an explosion on a junk in the harbor, not far from where they have found abandoned, the truck in which Lu Shan, Diana and Ching were last seen.

We then go back four hours to Lu Shan, Diana and Ching arriving at the junk of Lu Shan's employer, who turns out to be Dr. Cyber (last seen reeking havoc in Wonder Woman #182). While Lu Shan covers them with a gun Dr. Cyber explains that the box taken from the plane contains power sources which shall be used to power her "earthquakers," which she will use destroy Hong Kong as a demonstration of her power and to blackmail the world.

Lu Shan asks Dr. Cyber if she may have her gift, which ends up being I-Ching's life and we are back to the scene depicted on the cover splash. Yes, Ching is her father but he is also the man who murdered Lu Shan's mother. Before things go any farther in that area, Lum Fong, head of the Tiger Tong, and his men show up to steal the earthquakers. Dr. Cyber has them killed, impelled by sharp spears, but one of the men is not yet dead and gets off a blast from his machine gun. The spray of stray bullets hits a brazier of hot coals flinging them onto Dr. Cyber's face.

In the resulting fire and smoke, Diana manages to get Ching up on deck. Lu Shan escapes with Dr. Cyber and the power sources while Diana attends to Ching. As the boat begins to sink they are rescued by McGuire and the police. Ching is taken to a hospital while in a secret hospital outside of Hong Kong and fully-bandaged Dr. Cyber tells Lu Shan to activate the earthquakers then hunt down Diana Prince.

Like in many of the Sekowsky books, there follows a full-page ad for the next issue by Sekowsky and Giordano. This story was reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Showcase #88

Showcase #88 (On Sale: December 11, 1969) has a Jason's Quest cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "The Beginning" of Jason's Quest, written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Frank Giacoia. Every resource I can find says this story was inked by Dick Giordano, but I am looking at the pages and it just ain't so, no way, no how.

Before we get to the recap of this book, I must say a few words about Mike Sekowsky at this point in his career. Mike had been in comics since 1941 when he started at Timely and had drawn just about every genre there was: super-hero, western, war, funny animal, romance, TV , jungle action and science-fiction, and though he was known as a super-hero artist, he obviously was more attracted to action stories with more humanistic characters.

While everyone else at DC was chasing Marvel super-heroes or attempting to relive their time at EC, Mike Sekowsky was following a different path. He made the Metal Men look human and turned them into thriller characters on the run. He participated big-time in the biggest deflowering of super-powers in comic history by separating Wonder Woman from her powers and costume. He took chances on new types of books and I for one appreciated the effort. I may be the only one, but I particularly appreciated Jason's Quest.

We begin at "The Beginning" as Jason Davis' father has been mortally wounded in a shooting. Summoned by the doctors to his deathbed, the blonde young man listens to a stunning series of revelations. His real name is Jason Grant, Jr. and when he was just a child his real father had been murdered by a mobster named Tuborg, who sought the elder Grant's latest invention. As Tuborg's killers combed the house for witnesses, Grant's servant, Davis, rushed to the nursery, commanding the nanny to take Jason's twin sister, someone Jason never knew existed, into hiding while he did the same with young Jason. The nanny headed for London while Davis brought Jason to America. Over the next nineteen years, Davis moved himself and Jason constantly, always trying to stay one step ahead of Tuborg's searching thugs.

In preparation for the day Jason would take over the fight, Davis drilled commando training into the boy's head. With his final breath, he gasped, "Your sister ... somehow your father secreted on her person evidence that will end Tuborg and his evil empire. In the fireplace at home ... the box your father gave me -- it has your papers ... money ... and -- and ... I'm ... I'm ... sor --"

In five and a half short pages, including one splash, Sekowsky has neatly set up the entire series and there is not a spandex outfit or alien super-power in sight.

Unknown to Jason, Tuborg had planted a bug in the hospital room and heard every word. Finding Jason's sister was now their number one priority. Jason flies to London, buys a motorcycle and begins his search for his sister. From an ex-neighbor he gets a picture of her and a direction; she is heading for the continent.

Tuborg's men ambush Jason on the road and though they don't get the picture, they get enough clues to track her to a ferry soon to go across the channel. On the ferry Jason saves a woman named Gee Gee from two thugs. Gee Gee asks if Jason would like to travel with her, but he declines, wanting instead to head out looking for his sister. As he drives away Gee Gee removes her black wig and is revealed as Jason's sister.

The three-page back-up "Ghost Rider" is written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and really is inked by Dick Giordano. It is the tale of teenagers, bikers and ghostly riders.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Phantom Stranger #5

Phantom Stranger #5 (On Sale: November 13, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams. This will be the last cover for a while that shows the Stranger as an actual character on the cover.

We begin with "The Devil's Playground" by Robert Kanigher, Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson. I cannot tell you how much I dislike the writing in this issue, mainly as it pertains to the four "hippie" characters returning from last issue. These four: Spartacus, Wild Rose, Attile and Mister Square (you can't make up names that bad! Oh wait, Robert Kanigher actually did!), are at the beach one night when they hear a man calling out. When they get to him they find him dead. When they go to show the body to a security guard, it is missing.

Back in "the city," the four teenagers, Dr. Thirteen and Tala all end up at the same dance club, where a man named Earl Winthrop is breaking up with his girlfriend Vera. Broken-hearted Vera drives off into the night and, after hitting an oil slick on the road, off a bridge and into the ocean. The Phantom Stranger appears and retrieves her dead body from the deep, bringing her to shore where the police are waiting.

Meanwhile, back at the club, Earl is now on to another conquest, this time it is Wild Rose who, along with her friends recognize Earl Winthrop as the man they saw drowned at the beach. Rose dances with Winthrop and Tala decides to set the club on fire. The Phantom Stranger shows up and uses his cape to put out the fire. Tala tries to win him over with a kiss and then leaves, while Dr. Thirteen once again calls the Stranger a phony.

Outside Winthrop invites everyone to party at his beach house while he flies to Florida. The house keeper lets them in but shows them a newspaper with a headline regarding Winthrop being lost at sea. The gang parties anyway (it is the 60's after all) and eventually Winthrop shows up saying the newspaper was mistaken, yet with a bit of seaweed hanging off his hand. The kids notice that Earl dances with every woman in the room and seems to ask each one the same question, which always results in the woman laughing.

They get a warning that a hurricane is coming and everyone leaves the beach house except Earl, the four kids and Dr. Thirteen. Earl takes Wild Rose out to the beach for a walk and confides in her that the newspaper was right and that his plane did crash. While floating in the sea a strange light appeared and told Earl that he was doomed to float in eternal loneliness forever unless he can find someone who will weep tears of pity for him. He told every woman he met tonight his story and they all laughed at him, but Wild Rose does cry for him and he returns to the sea to meet his end.

However Tala shows up to see that Wild Rose joins Winthrop in death and a fight ensues between her and the Phantom Stranger. In the end, the Stranger wins and Dr. Thirteen once again, calls the Stranger a phony. Wow, was this a badly written story.

The back-up story is "The Devil's Footprints" by Robert Kanigher and the unusal, but good-looking art team of Curt Swan and Nick Cardy.

This entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Wonder Woman #186

Wonder Woman #186 (On Sale: November 4, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

The full-length "Morgana the Witch" is written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Diana Prince rebuilds her shop with the help of Cathy Perkins. Cathy then introduces Diana to her friends Abbie and Millie. Abbie's boyfriend Henry was experimenting with magic and summoned Morgana, the daughter of Morgan Le Fay. The witch then turned Henry into a frog.

Diana and I-Ching begin looking for Morgana. She is easy to find as she has caused chaos all around town. Diana tries to fight her, but Morgana's magic is too powerful. I-Ching uses magic of his own to defeat the witch, who disappears.

Back at Diana's store, Abbie kisses the frog to restore her boyfriend to human form. This was reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Brave and the Bold #87

Brave and the Bold #87 (On Sale: October 23, 1969) has a Batman and Wonder Woman cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Batman and Wonder Woman star in "The Widow-Maker" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. I remember being so very disappointed when this book came out that Neal Adams was not drawing it, particularly because I had read that Wonder Woman was the team guests and had wanted to see Neal's version of her. At the time it didn't even occur to me that the big news here was that Bob Haney's four-year run on Brave and the Bold ended this issue. Haney would be back next issue though, while it would be a year before Adams would return to these pages.

All those sour grapes aside, this is one of my favorite Brave and Bold issues and turning it over to Mike Sekowsky was exactly the right thing to do. With Wonder Woman Sekowsky was mining a new direction for pure action comics, aside from super-hero comics and this fit in well with the powerless Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and the equally powerless Bruce Wayne/Batman. Throw in a European local, and Formula One street-course racing, a homicidal driver, a little revenge and some jet-setter flirting between Bruce and Diana and you have a great story, sans super powers and traditional comic villains.

Diana and I Ching are checking out a fashion shoot taking place in the mechanic area of a European rally when she is spotted by driver Bruce Wayne and Willi Van Dort, the driver of the car Widow-Macher. Bruce butts in when Willi tries to make time with Diana, saving her from Willi's unwanted advances, but Diana doesn't recognize Bruce as he ex-JLA buddy Batman and remembers him only as a millionaire playboy. While watching Willi's qualifying lap they learn that Willi's car is called the Widow-Macher or Widow-Maker because the last seven drivers who seemed on the cusp of beating Willi have all died on the track.

When it is Bruce's turn to qualify his time is three seconds faster than Willi's and Willi and his team take notice. Later while passing a window Diana sees Willi talking to his men in sign language, which Diana can read. However, she does not speak German and does not know what Willi is saying, but as she spells it out I Ching translates the conversation and they learn that Willi has ordered his men to fix Bruce's car so that he will not win tomorrow.

Late that night as Willi's men go to work on Bruce's car they are interrupted by Bruce who begins to go all Batman on their asses until Diana and Ching show up. Bruce holds back in an effort to keep his identity secret from Diana and in the process get whacked in the head with a wrench. Willi's men escape capture and Bruce ends up in the hospital with a concussion. Told by a doctor that he cannot race Diana offers to take his place, but Bruce makes a call to Commissioner Gordon and Batman is (supposedly) soon racing to Europe to take Bruce's place.

The next morning it is Batman who is seated in the Wayne One Special. As he pulls out into a throng of press he is also met by Willi who informs Batman that he is the son of General Van Dort, a crazy lunatic that Batman once stopped. Willi promises to avenge his father's honor. After warning Batman of the Widow-Macher aspect of Willi, Diana uses binoculars to once again eavesdrop on Willi giving instructions to his men to see that Batman does not finish the race.

The rest of the story is one narrow escape from a Willi tactic by Batman followed by one take down of a Willi henchman by Diana and Ching. It's fun stuff excellently done by Sekowsky and Giordano. In the end Willi is killed in a trap meant for Batman and Diana needs Bruce's help to bail her out of jail when she and I Ching inadvertently used the wrong car to chase down Willi's men. This leads to the promise of a dinner date between Bruce and Diana. This story has been reprinted in Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB and Diana Prince :Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

They fill out one page of space with "A Matter of Life and Death" by Murray Boltinoff and Jack Sparling, a tale regarding the thoughts of a corpse in the back of an ambulance.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff

Metal Men #41

Metal Men #41 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.

"Requiem for a Robot" is written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos. This is the last issue of Metal Men for three years when they will return in reprints. In seven years they would return in new stories by Steve Gerber and Walt Simonson.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Girls' Romances #145

Girls' Romances #145 (On Sale: October 14, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

We begin with "Don't Send My Heart Away" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vince Colletta. Next is "Love is a Game -- ­for Two" penciled by Jack Sparling. We end with "Easy to Kiss" also penciled by Jack Sparling.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Justice League of America #76

Justice League of America #76 (On Sale: September 18, 1969) has a cover by Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "The Cosmic Fun-House" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs from Justice League of America #7. Entering the fun-house of a new Happy Harbor amusement park, Snapper Carr and his girlfriend, Midge, are transported to an alien planet, from which the Justice League rescues them. Later, some of the members investigate the fun-house in their secret identities, with the result that Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow are captured by invading aliens from the planet Angellax – the builders of the fun-house. Two of the aliens become duplicates of Barry (Flash) Allen and Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan, and send Superman, Batman, and J’onn J’onzz into the future on a wild goose chase to capture Xotar, whom they blame for the fun-house incidents. Aquaman is then lured into a trap.

At the same time, the four captive members escape, only to be transformed into weirdly distorted shapes by a mirror device. Aquaman aids the four, and they defeat the aliens despite their altered bodies. After Green Lantern restores himself and the others to normal, and the other heroes return from the future, they again enjoy the no-longer-dangerous amusement park while they are in their civilian identities.

The second story in this issue is "The Last Case of the Justice League" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs from Justice League of America #12. Snapper Carr arrives late at a Justice League meeting to find the members gone and Dr. Light in their place. The villain forces him to chronicle his victory over the League in the JLA Casebook.

Capturing Aquaman, he had summoned the other members with the Sea King’s signal device, then projected them into various sidereal worlds. Aquaman had been sent to a desert planet, J’onn J’onzz to a world of fir, Flash to a planet where his balance was disrupted and his speed of little use, Wonder Woman to a place where her body refused to obey her brain, Green Arrow to a planet where strange organic magnetism rendered his weapons useless, and Green Lantern to an entirely yellow world. Superman was trapped on a world with a red sun, and Batman in a place where the laws of science didn’t hold.

What Dr. Light doesn’t realize, however, is that Batman and Superman had exchanged identities in order to trick him. Thus, Superman, in full possession of his powers, is able to escape the prison planet intended for Batman, and he rescues his fellow members.

Returning to the Secret Sanctuary, the super-heroes rescue Snapper, who alerts them to Light’s planned theft of three mementos of light. Though Aquaman and Green Arrow halt the villain’s plan to steal the Colossus of Rhodes, Green Lantern is apparently destroyed during the battle. Simultaneously, Batman, Flash, and J’onn J’onzz encounter and subdue a second Dr. Light, who attempts to steal the diamond Heart of Light, while Superman and Wonder Woman capture a third, who is making off with the first electric light bulb. These three captives are revealed to be mere images, and the real Dr. Light is about to set off vibrating light-impulses that will overcome everyone on Earth.

He is beaten at his own game by Green Lantern, who had not been destroyed at all, but had allowed his image to be blasted, while he searched for Light’s hideout and captured the villain.

This issue also contains a two-page poster of the Justice Society of America and a one-page poster of the Seven Soldiers of Victory both by Murphy Anderson. These illustrations are accompanied by a Fact File on both teams.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Wonder Woman #185

Wonder Woman #185 (On Sale: September 2, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Our feature-length Wonder Woman story is "Them" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by Dick Giordano. Diana Prince returns to Earth from Paradise Island and finds a teenaged runaway named Cathy Perkins hiding in her boutique. Cathy was taken in by a street gang which treated her as a slave. The gang of girls, whom Cathy calls "Them," want her back.

Diana protects Cathy, but soon finds the gang attacking her too. The girls destroy Diana's clothes and burn down her shop. Cathy blames herself and turns herself over to the gang. Diana and her neighbor Tony Petrucci confront the gang and get Cathy back. Top Hat, the gang leader, is then arrested when Diana finds stolen goods concealed in her hat.

Diana then contacts Cathy's parents and reunites them with their daughter. She also asks that Cathy stay on and work part-time once her store is rebuilt. Reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

From Beyond the Unknown #1

From Beyond the Unknown #1 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a Joe Kubert cover.

The first issue of this new science-fiction reprint book begins with "The Turtle-Men of Space" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Joe Giella and reprinted from Strange Adventures #118. Next is "The Unknown Spaceman" by Gardner Fox, Bob Oksner and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Mystery In Space #11. We conclude with "Star-Actor of the Starways" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Strange Adventures #122.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Metal Men #40

Metal Men #40 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.

As the Metal Men franchise is sputtering to a close next issue we have "Madman and Traitor," written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.

Girls' Romances #143

Girls' Romances #143 (On Sale: July 10, 1969) has a cover by John Rosenberger and Vinny Colletta.

We begin with "A Lock on My Heart" drawn by John Rosenberger and Vinny Colletta. That is followed by "The Matchmaker by Mail" penciled by Jay Scott Pike. Rounding out the issue is "Summer Heartbreak" from Heart Throbs #55 drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Wonder Woman #184

Wonder Woman #184 (On Sale: July 1, 1969) has another great cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.

Mike Sekowsky is the writer and penciler and Dick Giordano is the inker for "The Last Battle." Continuing from last issue, Diana has been up all night trying to come up with a plan to save her and her Amazons as they await the morning battle against the army of Ares; it is a battle all know they cannot win. As dawn approaches something I-Ching says regarding the cavalry charging over the hill in western cinema gives Diana the plan she so desperately hoped for.

Diana plans to travel to other dimensions where the heroes of old still live. She will ask for their help in fighting the god of war. In the meantime her Amazon's must stall for time, attacking Ares's forces from ambush, blocking their way with avalanches and such, doing anything they can to hold off a full battle that they cannot win. With Drusilla as her guide Diana travels to the world of heroes, where a a great tournament is unfolding In the midst of all the excitement they are unable to plea for an audience with King Arthur.

Taking matters into her own hands Diana jumps into the arena and stride across the field of battle directly towards King Arthur. She pleads for his help in fighting Ares but one by one the knights of the round table refuse to give aid, saying they are tired of saving ungratefully cowards who only pay them mind when they are in need and then quickly forget them. Diana explains that Ares plans to take her world and learn the secret of dimensional travel and that no world, not even their won will be safe if that happens. Still the heroes of old turn her down.

She tells them they are a disgrace to the word hero and Siegfried lays a hand on Diana. Diana flips him over her shoulder and they begin to battle with swords. Siegfried eventually breaks Diana's sword and as he moves in for the kill he is stopped by Brunhilde, who says that she and her Valkyries would be honored to fight along side the Amazons.

Though they know it will not be enough to stop Ares, Diana and the Valkyries travel across dimensions just in time to stave off a breach of the Amazons by the hordes of Ares.

Though they push Ares army back for the day, they know that come the morrow they will be overrun. Even so, they plan through the night as best they can. That night Diana swears to her entranced mother that though they will lose come the new day, that Area will lose as well, that they will all die rather than give Area the secret to dimensional travel.

The next morning the battle is horrific and though they slaughter Area hordes 10 to 1, they are slowly pushed backward, till they cannot retried. As they prepare for the final charge of Areas' army they here the roar of Roland's horn as over the hill comes the heroes of old. Caught sandwiched between the heroes and the Amazons and Valkyries, Ares' army is decimated..

The battle over, Hippolyta's enchantment ends. As they all gather to celebrate they cannot find Diana. Suddenly over the hill come Ares and a few of his men carrying Diana's body on her shield. Area says that she is not dead only being returned on her shield as befits a hero. Areas says that though he is beaten, there will always be those ready to fight with the god of war. When Diana awakens the heroes of old thank her for waking them up to their responsibilities and that they will always be their for her if she ever needs them again. Reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Mike Sekowsky.