AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: The Amazing Amazon debuted 85 years ago in All-Star Comics #8 — released Oct. 21, 1941… By CHRIS AND CINDY FRANKLIN “All the world is waiting for you, and the power you possess…” So wrote Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel when they penned the theme song to the 1970s Wonder Woman television series. 85 years ago, the world WAS waiting for a female superhero to fight for peace and inspire a generation… or generations as it would turn out. There had been a few forgettable female long-underwear types before Princess Diana donned her golden tiara, but creator and noted psychologist Willam Moulton Marston (under the pen name of Charles Moulton) and artist H.G. Peter broke the (clay) mold with the Amazing Amazon, who entered Man’s World and changed it forever, both in the comics and reality beyond. To celebrate her anniversary, like always, I (Chris) set out to assemble a collection of 13 pieces of merchandise that represent the character’s history and her impact on pop culture. But when it comes to Wonder Woman, I will forever bow to my lovely wife Cindy, who has collected merchandise based on her favorite superheroine for over 30 years. Cindy’s enthusiasm for the character and her collection altered the course of this article. You’ll find way more than 13 examples of Wonder Woman collectibles in what follows… but we did stick to 13 entries, anyhow! So, let’s spin around in circles and see what wonders magically appear! — 1. The Golden Age (Hallmark, Chronicle Books, DC Direct, McFarlane Toys). Since little merchandise and no figural offerings of Wonder Woman were made in the 1940s, we thought we’d switch up my usual format and begin with a retroactive collection of Golden Age Diana items. Hallmark released both a statue and an ornament based on Wonder Woman’s early adventures in 1996, seen here in the center of the photograph. In addition to dozens of other Wonder Woman items in the last 30 years, they returned to her roots with the Wonder Woman #1 cover ornament in 2021. In 2001, Chronicle Books packaged Les Daniels’ Wonder Woman Masterpiece Edition: The Golden Age of the Amazon Princess with the 8.5-inch figure on the left, which was designed by Alex Ross. In 2004, DC Direct released their own take in their First Appearance line...
An ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION of the comic-book landmark… By AARON HAMMONDS In 1986, DC Comics was in the midst of rebuilding their continuity from the ground up in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC saw this as an opportunity to give a facelift to some of their oldest characters, and the first to receive this treatment was the company’s flagship character, Superman, with John Byrne’s The Man of Steel miniseries. Next up on the revamp agenda was Batman. Batman was riding high in the fall of ’86; earlier in the year, Frank Miller had shared with us his grim vision of an older Batman coming out of retirement after Gotham had gone to Hell in a hand basket in The Dark Knight Returns, which had attracted attention not only among comics fans, but the mainstream press (receiving write-ups in publications such as The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and The Los Angeles Times). DC was eager to capitalize on the success of DKR and tapped Miller to give us the post-Crisis version of Batman’s origin story, to be told within the confines of the hero’s flagship title. Since Batman was already pretty popular just the way he was (in the early days of comics’ “grim and gritty” era), Miller wisely chose to avoid going the Man of Steel route and rewriting Batman’s entire history; instead, he focused on Batman’s first months in Gotham, as he identifies the city’s problems and forges the alliances he’ll need to fight them. Miller was also influenced by real-world events: Since this was being written in 1986 and was going to be based roughly 7-10 years earlier, that would put it in the mid- to late-1970s, a time when urban decay and rising crime was being felt in every major metropolitan area in America. Thus, Batman: Year One was born. (NOTE: Spoilers abound in this article; hey, the story is 40 years old — Batman #404 was released Oct. 21, 1986.) — Batman #404’s Part 1 sets up a parallel narrative that will last throughout the story: Lieutenant Jim Gordon, until recently a cop in Chicago, is arriving in Gotham City by train, having transferred to the Gotham Police Dept. after a scandal of an unexplained nature, while, high above, idle rich jet-setter Bruce Wayne flies back to Gotham after having spent 15 years...
An ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Jazzy John took over Amazing Spider-Man art duties 60 years ago…
Old-time radio shows and their comics connections…
