Ah the 70’s! The only time and place where women’s lib was represented by TV programmes such as Charlie’s Angels, The Bionic Woman and of course, “fighting for her rights, in her satin tights”, there was Wonder Woman.
The Bionic Woman was a spin-off from the hugely Six Million Dollar Man, Jaime Summers taking the place of Steve Austin as the recipient of bionic tech that would enable her to jump high, give her strength as well as super hearing. Like her male counter-part, Jaime would get embroiled in various spy shenanigans. Of course, everyone knows who Wonder Woman is.
Written by Andy Mangels, a Wonder Woman ’77 veteran, this book showcases the meeting of the two TV heroines prior to the meeting of their alter ego’s, which occurs later in the book. From the get go, the book has an easy-going feel to it with a coincidental vibe which mirrors some of the absurdity of the happenstance of the TV shows. Both shows were family friendly and Mangels does well to incorporate that in this book. There is very little violence, no nudity and any thought of bad language is eaten by the inherit sexism of the time. Mangels shows his love for the “girls” giving them, at least from Jaime’s point of view, a greater insight than Steve Trevor ever seemed capable of showing.
For all the intentional homage that Mangels puts into the book, penciller Judit Tondora has the harder of the two being as she has to create the look of the book and set the scenes in a way that fans of both characters will recognise. For the most part Tondora does a good job with the likeness of familiar faces; the panels are structured for ease of viewing which again harkens back to their respective shows. There is nothing complicated about it all. Still, don’t let simplicity fool you into thinking there is a lack of talent to the work. The 70’s feel is emphasised by the day glow colors of Michael Bartolo and Stuart Chaifetz .
This is one of the books that, despite the fact that it features a Wonder Woman that is still popular in my house, doesn’t normally grab my attention to be honest. The book works well as a nostalgia piece and the book has been clearly created by those who love both characters, for the fans who share their appreciation.
Writer – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writer: Andy Mangels
Art: Judit Tondora
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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