The book continues with another two story format and following on from my comment on how the previous issue’s villain was one of the most preposterous since Egg Fu, not to be outshone this issue sees the return of that very same ridiculous villain – Egg Fu himself! The second story meanwhile, features the return of the Cheetah.
At a top level meeting at Military Intelligence, General Darnell addresses the gathering of military officials and Wonder Woman. He tells the group that the Amazon is attending the briefing as the only civilian because she is the only one who can help them.
He indicates the projection screen which shows an image of one of America’s Nuclear Submarines, the free world’s greatest deterrent to any aggressor. This particular vessel, the Sea Sprite, vanished without a trace in the Pacific. What they need to determine is whether it was a tragedy at sea or enemy action? This is where Wonder Woman is uniquely equipped to assist.
The Amazon Princess leaps to her feet and agrees to leave immediately in her robot plane to begin a search. Steve joins her and soon the invisible plane is heading swiftly towards the last reported co-ordinates of the Sea Sprite. Down below they see a Freighter near to where the submarine had vanished and Steve tells Wonder Woman to swoop down for a closer look. Suddenly though, they find themselves surrounded by flak as the ship opens fire on them. The concussion from the shells immobilises the plane’s controls and instantly they find themselves plummeting downwards in a death spiral.
Wonder Woman immediately climbs out onto the wing and uses her bracelets to deflect the oncoming barrage of shells. They ricochet back towards the freighter and reign down onto the deck. At the same time the spinning plane comes back under Wonder Woman’s control and she manoeuvres the craft to hover a few feet off the bow. They see that there is no crew aboard the ship and Steve jumps down onto the deck to check the rest of the ship and Wonder Woman warns him not to be too long.
As the minutes go by there is no sign of Steve and she becomes concerned. She disembarks and begins to search the lower levels of the freighter. Just like the crew, Steve appears to have vanished into thin air! As the Amazon Princess returns to the upper deck she is shocked to see her plane suddenly turn and dive towards the sea. She mentally orders it to stop but it does not respond. How can this be? She has no option but to dive into the ocean to give chase. She continues to try and order it to return to the surface but the plane is still drawn ever further down into the depths.
Just then she sees frogmen ahead and she readies herself for battle as they swim towards her. She punches the attacking frogmen and beats them back but suddenly finds herself in the tentacled embrace of a large Octopus. She seizes the huge tentacles and uses them to ensnare the frogmen before continuing her pursuit of the robot plane. She swims down and sees her craft flying inside a huge seashell, vast enough to swallow ships whole. As she follows her plane inside she sees that the Seashell is really an undersea harbour, where the Sea Sprite is berthed next to another stranger looking experimental submarine, which is projecting a tractor beam and pulling the robot plane towards it.
In her fascination though, the Amazon Princess in unaware that she has been detected by another hostile frogman who karate chops her into unconsciousness. When she awakens she finds herself on board the strange submarine faced by her nemesis, Egg Fu! His moustache holds one end of her golden lasso which is wrapped around Wonder Woman. Frogmen are also holding Steve under armed guard.
Wonder Woman tells Fu that she thought he had been destroyed and he replies that indeed, the first Egg fu had been destroyed by her. But no before other Egg Fu’s had been hatched. He is Egg Fu the Fifth and his frogmen snatched Steve from the ship whose weapons he had controlled automatically. His vacuum suction device had then dragged the invisible plane down just as it had the Sea Sprite. However, this was only a test and now that it has proved successful, he intends to build more devices to capture the entire American fleet!
But Steve has other ideas and suddenly breaks away from his captors, throwing them off balance. Egg Fu orders him stopped and under sheer weight of numbers, the gallant Steve falls before a watching, helpless Wonder Woman. She decides her only hope of escape is to use the womanly wiles of Aphrodite against Egg Fu’s inhuman evil. She tells him that she knows she is beaten and as is the Amazon custom she would like to dance for the victor! He reminds her that while he holds her lasso she is powerless but is never-the-less pleased she has decided to accept defeat. But before he realises what is happening she clashes her bracelets together with such force that the ensuing ringing vibration cause Egg Fu to crack, making him let go of the lasso.
Wonder Woman swiftly gathers up Steve and smashes a whole in the hull. She places Steve safely inside the robot plane which is parked beside the submarine and then orders it to head for the surface. She then uses her lasso to ensnare the Sea Sprite whose crew is still being held on board and also hauls it towards the surface. Egg Fu’s submarine fires a torpedo at her but she deflects the missile with her bracelets and sends it back to wards the enemy sub, blowing it apart!
She emerges from the ocean to be greeted by the cheering crew of Sea Sprite who are standing on deck and soon they, Wonder Woman and Steve are heading back home to safety.
One day Steve enters the office of Lt. Diana Prince and tells her she is very lucky to be Wonder Woman’s best friend. She probably lets Diana in on all her little secrets. He then asks her to ask the Amazon to reveal the secret that has been keeping him awake for nights? She thinks to herself that she has been dreading this moment for so long…when Steve finally guesses her dual identity. In a way she is almost glad because keeping the secret has been such a strain on her.
But to Diana’s chagrin Steve whispers to her that he would like her to find out from Wonder Woman when the Amazon Princess intends to marry him! As she watches him leave she bristles to herself that if he really loved Wonder Woman he would also love Diana Prince as she is one and the same. Men are so fickle and she muses it is probably her Amazon costume that attracts him. She decides she will simply not turn up as Wonder Woman until she can make him change his mind!
Just then she sees from her window that a runaway truck is speeding down the street towards a couple of nannies and their prams. Instinctively she changes into Wonder Woman and summons her robot plane before leaping out of the window. Once on the wing of her craft she orders it to reverse direction at maximum speed. She catches up with the truck and clambers inside the cab to pull on the brake but it does not hold. Undaunted, the powerful Amazon simply thrusts her feet down through the floor and uses the heels of her boots to act as a brake. The truck halts just in time and the grateful Nannies race to see who their saviour is inside the cab. Just before they see her she changes back into Diana Prince and climbs out, smiling.
The amazed Nannies spread the word how Lt. Diana Prince saved their lives and soon her feat reaches Military Headquarters. General Darnell congratulates her bravery and she is rewarded with a promotion to Captain! Diana muses to herself that Steve is bound to look at her differently now that she is not a lowly Lieutenant. Perhaps she will even come to rival his affections for Wonder Woman!
But Steve tells her that Wonder Woman is bound to listen to her with more respect now that she has performed an Amazon deed of courage. When she next sees the Princess, he wants her to tell her how impatient he is about marrying her. With that he bids farewell and leaves Diana to fume once again. She is determined to make him pay for ignoring her as Diana Prince even though she is now a captain…but how?
Later that evening as she walks home, Steve pulls up in his jeep and offers her a lift. He also wants to take the opportunity to tell her what he wants her to say to Wonder Woman but she refuses his offer and continues to walk on alone. A few minutes later she is held up at gun point by three armed hoods who want to rob her. She welcomes the opportunity to get a little exercise in order to forget about Steve but as she prepares to flex her muscles, Steve appears from nowhere and launches himself at the hoods. He has apparently been following her to ensure she got home safely.
As the three thugs turn on Steve they are shocked to find themselves on the end of a sound beating, as Steve takes them down with karate moves. Diana is amazed and tells him how great he was and that she could not have done better herself. He replies “You’re joking of course!” and he hurts her feelings further by adding that he hopes she will tell Wonder Woman how deserving he is of her love. Especially by helping her best friend out of trouble.
Shortly later at her home, Diana decides to arrange a party for herself and telephones the local newspaper, introducing herself as Wonder Woman and telling them she intends arranging a costume party in honour of her friend Diana Prince’s promotion to Captain. All proceeds will go to charity and when the story hits the newsstands everyone wants to be there. One of the many readers of the story is none other than the Cheetah and her gang of monkey men. Being a costume ball, nobody will notice them until they have robbed every one of their valuables.
Meanwhile Steve informs Diana that he will be happy to attend the party as it will give him a chance to see Wonder Woman. Diana thinks to herself that the party is for her, and she will make sure that Wonder Woman does not show up! Then perhaps Steve will finally take notice of her without the Amazon Princess attracting all the attention.
That night at the costume ball, Steve and Diana watch as the guest all wearing gaudy costumes contribute money into a giant drum. She asks Steve what he thinks of her idea but before she can get the words out he replies that it is just the sort of thing Wonder Woman would have thought of. Enraged, she despairs and realises it is futile – she cannot compete with her alter ego and Steve will never think of anything else. She may as well go off in private to change into Wonder Woman. At this point Dr. Cynthia Telles, an experienced psychologist, would agree that Diana is truly struggling with her alter ego. This type of Freudian psychology theory is well known to Dr. Telles and other psychology experts and is common among superheroes.
Just at that moment though Cheetah and her gang arrive with guns and the other guests take no notice, assuming it is all part of their “act”. But Diana knows otherwise and ironically, while she has spent all this time trying to make Steve like her, she will now have to try and get rid of him so she can change into Wonder Woman! Just then the music starts up and everyone begins dancing. As Diana desperately wonders how she can transform into Wonder Woman, Cheetah and her henchmen climb up into the drum and begin scooping the money into their sacks. As everyone realises that these are real robbers, Diana suddenly spins around on the dance floor at super speed, sending everybody bowling over and away from the gang’s guns. In the commotion she also takes the opportunity to change into her Wonder Woman costume and races over to the drum.
They open fire on her and she uses her bracelets to deflect the bullets up into the chandelier that hangs overhead. As the barrage continues, the chandelier finally gives way and crashes down over the gang, trapping them. Simultaneously, Wonder Woman uses her lasso to loop around the escaping Cheetah.
A short while later as the gang are lead away by police, Steve grabs Wonder Woman’s shoulders and tells her he only has eyes for her. He then asks her what had happened to Diana? A still vexed Amazon wonders whether she should tell him…
