I have been calling for this story to be collected for some time now, and I’ve been waiting to read the ending for nearly 40 years! When I was a kid, I was able to read only four issues of the eleven (one issue had two stories): parts 1, 2, 4 and 6. That was very frustrating! I had to relegate the ending to “Earth-J” (originally where continued stories went to be resolved; more recently, a place for my own personal continuity to exist). [For the “Secret Origin of Earth-J,” see CBG #1513.] I know what you’re thinking: “Jeff, what was the manly 10 year old you must have been in 1974 doing reading a girl comic?” I’ll tell you…
First of all, issue #211 was one of those “100-Page Super-Spectaculars” and I would have bought any of those I saw, even a romance comic (well, maybe not a romance comic… yuck!), so #212 had a strong lead-in. Second, the cover of #212 featured the male heroes of the Justice League, so it was practically an ersatz issue of the JLA itself! Speaking of which, could the cover of the tpb possibly be any more bland? DC would have done better to use the cover of #212 as the cover of the collection. But I digress…
The first think I noticed about the collection was the credits. I guess I hadn’t realized the story was written by four writers and drawn by seven pencillers! Len Wein wrote a strong springboard chapter (as he would soon do for the “All New, All Different X-Men,” but the strength of this story is attributable to one factor and one man: the strong editorial hand of Julius Schwartz. Actually, given the nature of the story (each chapter is related by a different member of the JLA), the “D. Hands” approach may have worked to Schwartz’s advantage. Here’s a list of the creative teams responsible for each issue:
212 – Len Wein / Curt Swan
213 – Cary Bates / Irv Novick
214 – Elliot S. Maggin / Curt Swan
215 – Cary Bates / John Rosenberger
216 – Elliot S. Maggin / John Rosenberger
217 – Elliot S. Maggin / Dick Dillin
218 – Martin Pasko / Kurt Schaffenberger
219 – Martin Pasko / Curt Swan
220 – Martin Pasko / Dick Giordano
221 – Martin Pasko / Curt Swan
222 – Martin Pasko / Jose Delbo
In addition, each “labor” is related by successive member of the JLA using different methods of communication: orally, typewritten, video-taped, etc. Reading this story in its entirety for the first time ever brought to me a great sense of closure. Having said that, I can’t really recommend this collection to everyone. If you read these stories when they were first released in 1974-75, you can judge for yourself whether or not you want to read them again in collected format (perhaps in order to achieve a sense of nostalgia). If you’ve never read any of them before, I doubt they’d hold much appeal to you (unless you are interested in comics of the 1970s). If you’ve read only some of them, though, and have waited 40 years for the resolution, go for it!
Now if only DC would release a collection of Aquaman’s “Search for Mera” I’d be happy.
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I ordered mine, Jeff. And my feelings are the same as yours!
A point to note is that the title was a bimonthly at the time, so the sequence ran almost two years.
In the mid-70s, when the sequence was coming out, Bates, Maggin and Swan were the mainstays of the Superman-titles, which Schwartz was also editing. When it commenced Wein was still writing Justice League of America. He had also written Superman stories for Schwartz. Maggin wrote a further issue of Wonder Woman, #225.
Before he was put on Wonder Woman Pasko had written supporting stories for Action, but he hadn't yet begun his Superman run. After the sequence he continued as Wonder Woman's usual writer up to #232. He also wrote the two-parter in Justice League of America ##128-129 which was Wonder Woman's first adventure back with the team. There's an allusion to Wonder Woman's trials in Justice League of America #113 (the Wonder Woman in the issue is the Earth Two version).
Dillin, of course, had been drawing Justice League of America since 1968 and had also been used by Schwartz elsewhere. Schaffenberger had drawn stories for Schwartz for Shazam! and Superman Family before doing his story. I don't think he had an association with Schwartz before Shazam!
#222 was Jose Delbo's first Wonder Woman story. He went on to draw the bulk of the issues until #286 as well as a couple of the "Wonder Woman" instalments in World's Finest and one (the GCD tells me) in Adventure Comics.
#212 was Schwartz's first issue as the title's editor. He left after #227.
I had never read any of these stories before but I've heard about them so often that I definitely wanted to pick up this book. I thought that the Wein and Maggin stories were the best, while the Bates stories were the weakest. I was amused at the odd ideas some of the DC writers had about feminism in the mid-'70s ("they want equal rights= they must hate men!"). Is it the greatest collection of stories ever? No. But I'm glad I read it and I wouldn't mind seeing more collections from this time period.
Jeff, I like your idea of a "Search for Mera" collection. How does WW's Twelve Labors compare? And which story is the best of Twelve Labors, Search for Mera and Zatanna's Search?
Thank you, Luke, for providing the historical perspective. All of those things are worth knowing to better put the story in context. Chris, I definitely agree with you that the portrayal of women in this collection definitely dates it! Your question is a toughie, though. Even when I eliminate “12 Labors” as the weakest of the three, it is still difficult to choose between Aquaman’s search for Mera and Zatana’s search for her father.
The structure of both stories is quite different. Zatana’s was spread across several titles, each story advancing the plot yet also able to stand alone, whereas Aquaman’s was entirely self-contained within his own title. I would say that Zatana’s story is more quaintly charming, and Aquaman’s is a bit more sophisticated in terms of story structure and art style. It just depends on which type of story you are in the mood for at a given time. Zatana story has already been collected while Aquaman’s has yet to be, so my advice is to enjoy the one while waiting for the other!
I picked up most of the issues at the time & then again a bit later (I sold my original set & then about 10 years or so later re-purchased them at various conventions). The thing of it is that if it weren't for the rejoining of the JLA, the stories are really nothing all that spectacular. It ties everything together but I can't really say there was anything really memorable beyond the idea of narration from the other JLAers. Maybe that is just me.
One thing that DID catch my eye is in #212, Superman meets WW at the "Shattered remains of what had once been our mountain sanctuary". We even see rubble surrounding the pair. To the best of my recollection, the last time we saw the secret sanctuary prior to this was the beginning of Justice League of America #100 and it seemed to be in good shape. I guess at the end of #102 when the crossover with the JSA & Seven Soldiers of Victory had ended they must have had one hell of a party to shatter the place. ;)
I read this, and I thought it was okay. I was hoping to see some appearances of some Wonder Woman's classic villains, but there weren't. I also read this straight through, and when I was done I definitely had enough Wonder Woman for a while.
I agree with Jeff, that the cover leaves a lot to be desired.
I remember reading the Black Canary installment way back when, and the Green Lantern story more recently, in the collection Wonder Woman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told.
Before the George Pérez run on the title, I almost never read Wonder Woman in her own magazine, and all the ones I have read struck me as mind-numbingly bizarre -- which can be construed as either a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose.
The Green Lantern story I read teetered on that edge without totally falling off. I suppose I am a bit curious about the whole collection.
But can anybody explain how the "twelve" labors were told in only eleven issues, #212-#222? Covers shown here.
The last labor was just getting Batman to smile and she did that by telling a dirty joke in the final panel of #222.
Because #218 had two Labors, one narrated by the Red Tornado (YAY!) and the other by the Phantom Stranger!
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