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| That’s me in the corner… |
The Speaker in the Shadows
Wonder Woman #274
Cover Date: December 1980
Released: 11th September 1980
The great thing about sites like Mike’s Amazing world is that you get to find little gems you would have normally missed. Sometimes they’re a single panel, like Kara’s next JLA appearance, occasionally they’re frustratingly difficult to find, like her appearances in Warlord. And occasionally you get something like these Wonder Woman issues. Obstenviously a Helenna team-up comic, as a backup to the main Diana story, only this and one other story (along with a massive cross over with Wonder Woman) contain Kara but boy they are fun little finds. And no despite Helena being a big part of Kara’s life I won’t be covering the Power Girl less issues. Trust me I’ve got a lot of Power Girl to cover, including potentially new comics!
We open as is right with Power Girl getting angry at someone, thumping the desk of Gothams District Attorney Harry Sims. And our sweet, innocent kid, their words not mine, is in her classic costume a blip in time that I’m not going to speculate, especially as she was in her scallop top costume well before she’d started working with Huntress.
Talking off at this point Helena turns up to talk Kara down, who is a little miffed that Sims wants to control supers in Gotham City, something that seems to come around every couple of decades, even before the decadent city it will turn into Post Crisis. After the two of them leave Sim realises that he recognizes the exasperated look Huntress gave Power Girl, that of his long time friend Helena Wayne!
We then get a page of Kara and Helena just chilling having a coffee, with Kara still not quite used to the idea of her secret identity. This coffee morning is ended by Kara hearing, from a radio in Gotham Park, that Sims has backed down on the Superhero bill. They then go to the apartment block where the two live where we meet one of their neighbours, Carole, who is rushing off to repay a shady gentleman. We don’t yet know why she’s paying the man, but it’s implied that she’s struggling to get hold of the money. Simms is here to meet the shady gentleman, who is revealed to be the Thinker. Apparently, it’s him that’s was making the DA enact this supers bill and is less than happy that the man has backed out of their deal.
Meanwhile, a series of incendiary devices are going off through the city, a distraction to steal plates for foreign currencies. Somehow Power Girl and Huntress have seen through all this and turned up to stop the plate thieves. They make short work of the thieves, only to discover that the city is under a widespread crime wave.
I’m a sucker for Kara & Helena stories and this one doesn’t fail to deliver. Like many stories of the era, it has a series of plotlines running alongside the main story and all in just eight pages! All in all a quick fun little run with our two heroes getting a chance to show off their abilities in a number of various situations.
⋅ Writers: Paul Levitz ⋅ Pencilers: Joe Staton ⋅ Inkers: Steve Mitchell ⋅
⋅ Colourists: Adrienne Roy ⋅ Letterers: John Costanza ⋅ Editors: Len Wein ⋅
Released: 11th September 1980
⋅ Writers: Paul Levitz ⋅ Pencilers: Joe Staton ⋅ Inkers: Steve Mitchell ⋅
⋅ Colourists: Adrienne Roy ⋅ Letterers: John Costanza ⋅ Editors: Len Wein ⋅