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This issue is the first post Crisis appearance of both Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. In the modern DC Universe, Steve Trevor is no longer Wonder Woman’s primary love interest, instead getting involved with Etta. This story also introduces Wonder Woman’s golden lasso to post Crisis continuity, as well as the children of Ares, who apparently replace the Duke of Deception, Lord Conquest, and the Earl of Greed as the post Crisis Ares’ new henchmen.
Synopsis
General Gerard Kohler of the United States Air Force orders Colonel Steve Trevor to fly a new bomber over an uninhabited stretch of the Caribbean Sea, ostensibly to impress foreign dignitaries. In truth, Kohler is being manipulated by Ares, the bomber is armed with a nuclear warhead, and the “uninhabited” area contains Themyscira; Ares seeks to destroy the Amazons before their champion can confront him, and Trevor is the only pilot skilled enough to circumvent the mystical storm-clouds protecting the island.
Concurrently, the Gods of Olympus present Diana with one last tool – an unbreakable golden rope that Hephaestus, God of the Forge had crafted from the remaining Girdle of Gaea. Once Diana has been equipped, Hermes transports her to Ares’ former kingdom, Areopagus; there dwells Ares’ malformed daughter “Mad” Harmonia, who surrenders a strange amulet supposedly tied to her father.
As Diana accepts the amulet, Colonel Trevor breaks through Themyscira’s defenses, forcing her to rush back to the island. The existence of Themyscira shocks Trevor, but his copilot – another of Ares’ minions – quickly overpowers him and launches the warhead. Fortunately, Diana intervenes in time, using the Gods’ golden rope to catch the warhead and fling it away from Themyscira seconds before detonation.
Meanwhile, Trevor struggles against his maddened copilot, eventually crashing the bomber into the sea. The copilot is burned alive for his failure, but Trevor proves too conscientious for Ares to directly influence, and remains intact. On orders from Olympus, Diana pulls Trevor from the sea and brings him to the Amazons’ Healing Isle. Though several Amazons object to a man in their midst, the Gods praise Diana for her unwavering piety; after a final round of farewells, Diana begins her journey to Man’s World, the unconscious Trevor in tow.
In Man’s World, Trevor’s disappearance is quickly noticed by several figures, chief among them his best friend Matthew Michaelis, his attaché Etta Candy, and his commander John Hillary. When Kohler’s smouldering corpse is found on-base, the trio begin to debate Trevor’s possible guilt, not knowing they are being watched by Ares’ sons, Phobos and Deimos.