Wonder Woman w/o Powers Pt. 12: Wonder Woman #186

Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince, returning home from Paradise Island, after helping her mother and the Amazons, finds a runaway girl, Cathy Perkins, hiding in her boutique from Them! Them turn out to be Top Hat, Moose Momma, and Pinto… as freaked out a trio of female weirdos as you’d never want to meet. In the process of putting them straight about some things… Diana also meets Tony Petrucci and his mother, a family who helps her out when she needed it. We now take up where we left off—As the door in the Petrucci apartment opens – and Diana cries out in glad surprise…

It’s Ching!

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Time passes. Diana’s boutique is rebuilt. One day, Cathy brings home some friends with a problem…

Cathy’s friends found a book and Abby's boyfriend, Henry, used it to summon the witch, Morgana. Before he could return her, she turned him into a frog.

With her wild mood swings, Morgana causes chaos while Diana tries to locate and stop her. Ultimately, it’s Ching who knows magic and could have spared Diana the trouble, had she listened to him.

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The problem is that Morgana was vanquished before she could return Henry to his human form. When Ching is unsuccessful, Cathy comes up with an idea…

Thoughts

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For me, from front to back, this was the weakest story yet in the Wonder Woman without powers saga. As striking as the covers have been, this one is dull and unfocused; I’m not sure what I’m looking at. The powder blue background just doesn’t pop like bright yellow or red.

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The story is juvenile when compared to the others so far; it’s like a throwaway. I mean, I suppose it’s harmless, but it’s lighter than air with little to no substance. It pushes the overall saga forward a few… months? I don’t know how long it takes to rebuild a fire-destroyed clothing boutique.

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I was wrong about who was behind the door; it was indeed Ching, the least exciting person it could have been. He doesn’t even share what he learned on Paradise Island. I noticed that the header changed from The Incredible I-Ching and… the New Wonder Woman to Diana Prince as the New Wonder Woman featuring the Incredible I-Ching. (In the next issue, his name will disappear from the cover entirely.)

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Again, there’s no letter page. Instead, there’s another full-page “ad” for the next issue:

Why do Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince and I Ching go to Hong Kong? What is the significance of the strange tattoo on a dead man’s hand? Who is the mysterious Lu Shan? What or who is the Earthquaker? You’ll find the exciting answers in the next Wonder Woman #187 – Earthquaker!

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Title: Wonder Woman

Issue #: 186

Cover Date: Jan/Feb 1970

On Sale Date: 11-4-69

Writer: Mike Sekowsky

Penciller: Mike Sekowsky

Inker: Dick Giordano

Editor: Mike Sekowsky