InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Breathe one's last"

mosellegreen (mosellegreen) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-20 09:08:00

Entry tags:

char: etta candy, char: paula von gunther, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation

Golden Age Wonder Woman
This is one of my favorite Golden Age WW stories ever, Wonder Woman vs. the International Milk Company. It's one of those unusually cracked out ones. Originally published in Sensation #7 in 1942.

"Mr. Gyppo". If any of you ever go to live in the Wonder Woman universe, pay attention to people's names, willya? If their last name is something like "Untrustworthy" they're probably not upstanding citizens.

Isn't every office equipped with one of these?

Bad stuff is going on. Ergo, Baroness Paula von Gunther must have resurrected! What other explanation could there be?

I really love how she's planning ahead here. Though in fact, all it took to achieve that result was to invent soda pop.

The villains capture the Holliday girls at some point, as usual, and:

May I point out now that humans who are past infancy do not, in fact, need milk? And that nature provides milk for human infants in a manner that no corporation yet has managed to put a corner on? Why did we decide that humans are the only animals on earth who should never be weaned? I'm not complaining, you understand; I'm quite fond of dairy products myself. But scientists believe that the ability to digest milk after infancy (lactose tolerance) showed up in humans only about 7000 years ago, and is still not universal among the human race. It's most prevalent among those of northern European descent, though found in all ethnic groups. So while we might be inconvenienced by a milk shortage, it would hardly be the disaster Marston depicts here.

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	crinosg 2009-07-20 01:19 pm UTC (link)
	I Think Martson was just looking for an excuse to cover Wonder Woman in a white liquid. (Reply to this)

kaetepixie
2009-07-20 02:23 pm UTC (link)

Well, keep in mind that this was written in a significantly different time. Especially for less-wealthy children living in the city, milk would be a very important source of fat, vitamins, and calcium that they might not easily get anywhere else. Rickets was a serious and crippling disease in industrialized areas, and milk was one of the few weapons a mother had against it.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	mosellegreen 2009-07-20 03:58 pm UTC (link)
	OK, that's true. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arilou_skiff 2009-07-20 08:50 pm UTC (link)
	Actually it reminded me of the final scene from The Grapes of Wrath.... Milk is serious business. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	eyelid 2009-07-20 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	Why should a Baroness be involved? What's more american than a soulless, child-screwing monopoly? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	sherkahn 2009-07-20 04:37 pm UTC (link)
	Like the latest Spielberg/Lucas films? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sistermagpie 2009-07-20 04:30 pm UTC (link)
	At first I thought that guy had a vat of milk under his office and I thought he'd have to change it a lot to keep from a really bad odor as it went bad. This reminds me of an awesome Barbara Stanwyck movie where she's desperately trying to save a child (one who's been starved) by giving her a milk bath. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-07-21 05:10 am UTC (link)
	Uh?? Does she think she'll absorb it through her pores? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sistermagpie 2009-07-21 04:01 pm UTC (link)
	I think that was the idea! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-07-21 09:00 pm UTC (link)
	I guess that's not the worst idea I've ever heard of - at least you DO absorb stuff through your pores, although I've never heard of anyone EATING that way. Whatever the case, that bathtub is gonna stink to high heaven unless it's washed out toot sweet. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	sherkahn 2009-07-20 04:35 pm UTC (link)
	"Dump your load. All of it." That's not milk! (Reply to this)

	fredneil.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 05:02 pm UTC (link)
	I love that Wonder Woman's first reaction to the girl not getting any milk isn't "This must be a criminal plot. I'll stop it," but rather, "Wait here. I'll buy your daughter some milk." (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-07-20 11:35 pm UTC (link)
	You can tell she hasn't been superheroing long. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	tavella 2009-07-22 05:02 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, and she's careful to say she'll keep on doing so while she figures out the price conspiracy. She's not ignoring the personal for the political, or vice versa. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ashtoreth 2009-07-20 05:44 pm UTC (link)
	Now I have an intense craving for chocolate milk..:P (Reply to this)

	currer 2009-07-20 07:07 pm UTC (link)
	Om nom nom! Oh, sorry, was just having a bowl of cereal and milk. With a glass of milk. While I watch a show about dairy farms. (Reply to this)

	psychop_rex 2009-07-21 05:15 am UTC (link)
	For some reason, adding the word 'milk' to the typical evil villain scheme makes this an endless source of I-really-wish-they-were-quotable lines. "I never changed my clothes under MILK before!" "The milk thugs hear a strange caterwauling!" "I will arrange a milk parade." I mean, wouldn't it be great if you could slip those lines into casual conversation? (Reply to this)