Despite his apparent antipathy for the character, writer Robert Kanigher could occasionally surprise readers with a good Wonder Woman yarn. One such treat was The Revolt of Wonder Woman from issue 144 (Feb. 1964).
I found this story fascinating. Wonder Woman confesses to exhaustion from the endless human demands on her superhuman powers. She despairs and sobs, wishing she could find someone who appreciated her for herself.
You would never have seen Batman or Superman admitting to depression about their missions, even though they had every right to, because men could not admit to even a moment of weakness, let alone despair. Despite one of Kanigher’s ridiculous coincidences marring the ending, it remains an expectedly powerful tale.
“This story features Wonder Woman’s fear of losing her humanity, as she feels the world only notices her for her fighting prowess, so Wonder Woman gives up rescuing people for a while,” wrote comics historian Dave Marchand. “At least until a young blind girl, Mary Jane, finds her, befriending Wonder Woman in her time of need (not knowing that she is Wonder Woman). Fate conspires to put the girl in danger, with Wonder Woman saving her, but still treating Wonder Woman as her friend, restoring the Princess’ faith in humanity!”
And yet tellingly, this — probably the best Wonder Woman story in years — wasn’t even cover-featured. The cover was devoted to some silly claptrap about Wonder Girl, who couldn’t decide if she wanted to date a boy who was half bird or a boy who was half fish.
About Author
