Wonder Woman:Gods and Mortals HC
Wonder Woman:Gods and Mortals HC
Cover Credits
Artist: George Perez

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Title: "The Princess and the Power"
Pages: 32

Feature(s):
Wonder Woman (Post-Crisis)

Writer: Greg Potter
Plotter/Penciller: George Perez
Inker: Bruce D. Patterson
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Tatjana Wood

Reprinted From:
Wonder Woman #1 (1987)

Feature Character(s)

Guest Star(s)

Supporting Character(s)

Villain(s)

  • Ares (Olympian god of war; in flashback to the enslavement of the Amazons; first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Wonder Woman #1; next appearance in Wonder Woman #2)
  • Heracles (during the enslavement of the Amazons; first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Wonder Woman #12)
  • Theseus (Heracles's lieutenant; during the enslavement of the Amazons; no further appearances)
  • Heracles's army (during the enslavement of the Amazons; no further appearances)
  • A female disciple of Ares (dies in this story; no further appearances)
  • An unnamed caveman (no further appearances)

Guest Appearance(s)

  • Zeus (Olympian god of thunder; in flashback to the creation of the Amazons; first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Wonder Woman #45; next appearance in Wonder Woman #7)
  • Hera (queen of the Olympian gods; in flashback to the creation of the Amazons; first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Wonder Woman #45; next appearance in Wonder Woman #7)
  • Apollo (Olympian god of the sun; in flashback to the creation of the Amazons; first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Wonder Woman #4)
  • Poseidon (Olympian god of the sea; in flashback to the formation of Paradise Island; first post-Crisis appearance; next appearance in Wonder Woman #7)

Other Character(s)

  • Charon (the ferryman; during the creation of the Amazons; next appearance in Secret Origins #24)

Flashback Appearance(s)

Comments:
This story details the history of the Amazons which occurs over many centuries as follows:

  • Pgs 1-2 (circa 30,000 B.C.) - A caveman kills his pregnant wife.
  • Pgs 3-10 (circa 1,200 B.C.) - Five Olympian goddesses create the Amazons from the souls of slain women.
  • Pgs 11-18 - Heracles betrays the Amazons and enslaves them.
  • Pgs 19-21 - The Amazons break free, but Antiope leaves with half the tribe.
  • Pgs 22-23 - Paradise Island is founded.
  • Pgs 24-25 - Princess Diana is born.
  • Pg 26 - Diana grows to adulthood.
  • Pgs 27-32 - Diana wins the contest to serve as the Amazon champion.

The scenes on pages 3-21 are retold from a different point of view in the second story of Wonder Woman #18.

The Amazons, including Menalippe and Philippus, appear in flashback in Wonder Woman #12 between pages 23 and 24 of this story.

This story continues in Wonder Woman #2.

Synopsis:
The Olympian goddesses Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hestia conspire to create a new race born from the souls of slain women who died at the hands of man. Ares opposes their creation, while Zeus does not support or oppose the act. The new Amazon race is led by Hippolyte and her sister Antiope. Soon after they create the Greek city state of Themyscira.

As time passes, the Amazons are mistrusted by powerful kings and become outcasts. Spurred on by Ares's manipulations Hercales challenges the Amazons. When he cannot best them physically, he pretends to offer friendship, then betrays and enslaves the women taking the magic girdle that the goddesses gave to Hippolyte as a symbol of their power.

Hippolyte prays to Athena and soon sparks an uprising which frees the Amazons for captivity. Antiope separates from Hippolyte, choosing to take her followers and abandon the ways of the gods. Hippolyte and the rest of the Amazons travel across the parted seas to an island where the goddesses require them to stand guard against an ancient evil.

Eventually the Olympian gods fall from favor with mankind and only Menalippe the Amazon oracle communicates with them. After centuries on Paradise Island, she brings word to Hippolyte to create a child from clay. The woman whose soul became Hippolyte was pregnant when killed, and now her child's soul is reborn in the clay child which is given life by the gods and called Diana. The Amazon princess is bestowed powers from each of the five goddesses and from Hermes.

After Diana grows to adulthood, Menalippe brings word that Ares is hatching a plot in the Man's World. A contest is held to determine a champion that will leave the island and follow the gods' directives to defeat Ares. Diana wins the challenge against her mother's wishes and is declared the champion.

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