All Star Comics – 8

Synopsis

Steve Trevor crashes his plane on the beach of Paradise Island, home of the Amazons, and two of them race over to the wreckage. The blonde named Mala exclaims that Steve is a man – something never seen before on their island. The beautiful brunnette, named Diana, who is also the Princess of the Amazons, picks him up in her arms and carries him into the city to seek medical attention.

Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, orders the doctors to take good care of Steve but to keep his eyes bandaged so that he sees nothing of his surroundings. Over the ensuing days Diana stays by his bedside constantly. The doctors warn Hippolyta of their concern regarding the Princess’ behaviour and Hippolyta realises her daughter has fallen in love with the man! She forbids Diana to see him anymore and then recounts the Amazon’s history to her protesting daughter – how they had lived in a land called Amazonia peacefully untill they had been attacked, defeated and enslaved by Hercules and his men. The Goddess Aprhodite had taken pity on them however and delivered them from slavery, leading them to their new home on Paradise Island – a santuary of peace and happiness – on the condition that they remain aloof from all men forever.

Hippolyta and Diana then use a device called the Magic Sphere to look back into the past and see how Steve had ended up crashing on the island. They see how he had been pursuing a Nazi plane until he had eventually run out of fuel. Diana tells her mother that Steve must be returned to Man’s World to finish the fight against this evil and the Queen asks to be left alone while she consorts with the Gods.

Aphrodite reveals herself to Hippolyta and explains that this evil threatens the entire world and that they had decreed that Steve crash on the island so that the Amazons could send an emissary back with him and help in the fight against the Nazis.

Hippolyta then calls a contest to determine the wisest and bravest of the Amazons to take on the daunting task. However she forbids her daughter taking part because she knows that the winner will have to go to out into the danger’s of Man’s World and never return.

The day of the tournament arrives and the masked Amazons take part in various elimination events until only two remain – Mala and another, unknown Amazon. For the final challenge the two take part in the contest of “Bullets and Bracelets”. Mala fires the gun first at her opponent who deftly uses her bracelets to deflect each bullet. Then it is Mala’s turn but one of the bullets fired at her grazes her arm and she loses the contest.
As Hippolyta commands the winner to reveal herself she is shocked to see it is Diana! Regretful but nevertheless proud of her daughter, she presents Diana with a special costume made specially for the winner – a short blue skirt decorated with white stars; a red top emblazoned with a golden eagle; red boots with white trim; and a golden tiara with a red star at its centre.

“And so Princess Diana, the Wonder Woman, giving up her heritage, and her right to eternal life, leaves Paradise island to take the man she loves back to America – the land she learns to love and protect and adopts as her own!”