Wonder Woman w/o Powers Pt. 10: Wonder Woman #185

Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince, returned from Paradise Island where she helped her mothers and the Amazons hold back and finally repel and defeat the hordes of Ares, god of war, once more walks down the old familiar street to the boutique she now owns…

A young woman hiding in her shop startles Diana, warning her about…

After winning a brief skirmish, Diana tries to get to the bottom of the girl’s story. Her name is Cathy, an apparent runaway offered a place to live by the three women who then turned her into their slave..

Cathy and Diana are tormented at the grocery store by the three villains and their friend, Mingo. Then a mystery man appears and they’re frightened away. “Top Hat and her friends are terrified of him – for some reason.

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Diana avoids the tormentors until they get on her last nerve… by damaging the clothes in her boutique. The mystery man again scares them off; however, that night they get serious and toss Molotov cocktails into the shop, burning it to the ground.

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The mystery man appears once again, offering them a place to stay at his mother’s.

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When Diana wakes up the next morning, she finds a note that Cathy has returned to “Them.” She’s finally fed up and leaves to face them. Again Mr. Petrucci appears to help her, but…

Loose ends are tied up quickly and Cathy returns to her parents, although Diana offers her a job at the shop she’s going to rebuild with reward money for the jewels found in Top Hat’s… hat.

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The issue ends with a cryptic panel as Diana sees an unknown person in the doorway...

Thoughts

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The cover is striking with black shadows against a yellow wall and big, red letters that read "Them!" The only way it could have been better is if they were shadows of giant ants!

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However, inside the comic, this is my least favorite issue of the storyline so far. After the development of Diana Prince as a spy-like character, then a two-issue interlude where she returns to Paradise Island, it’s a much more down-to-Earth plot with ordinary criminals. It’s just not very exciting.

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I do, however, like what I assume will be the addition of Cathy into future stories… someone’s got to run the shop when Diana returns to galivanting around the world (if that’s indeed what she’s going to return to doing.) It seems that Drusilla did not return to Earth with Diana at the end of the last issue, after all. There’s no mention of her.

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Who do we think is behind the door? I don’t think it’s Ching so soon and I don’t think Mr. Petrucci would cause Diana to react the way she did. I’m guessing it’s Tim Trench, although at this point, Steve Trevor would probably be the most shocking person to be standing there.

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Return next Wednesday and we’ll find out…

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Again, there's no letters column in this issue. Instead, there's a one-page quiz called The Wonderful World of Comics, in which readers are asked to "Test Your Golden Age I.Q." Opposite that page is a full-page splash for the next issue where we will "Meet Morgana!"

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Title: Wonder Woman

Issue #: 185

Cover Date: Nov/Dec 1969

On Sale Date: 9-2-69

Writer: Mike Sekowsky

Penciller: Mike Sekowsky

Inker: Dick Giordano

Editor: Mike Sekowsky