The introduction of Giganta
THIS IS ONE OF THE CRACKIEST WW STORIES EVER.
The story reveals Marston's usual lack of compunction about deus ex machina and, shall we say, casual grasp of science. Remember that he was a psychologist, with more than a hint of the huckster about him. His editor revealed years later that "if I had let him put in all the symbolism and stuff he wanted to, the stories would have been even weirder." The mind boggles.
This story was 36 pages long, so there are lots of scans, 9 pages worth. Good thing, because I didn't want to have to drop any of them.
So this is what he does when he's not hanging out in Sigourney Weaver's refrigerator.
The rampaging gorilla, who has not heard of Binti Jua, wreaks much havoc, unwisely choosing to do so with the niece of Wonder Woman's boyfriend tucked under her arm, before Wonder Woman shows up and puts her back in her cage.
I'm just bemused at Steve's assuming he's the one who needs to agree to this. Should I be pedantic enough to mention that humans did not, in fact, evolve from gorillas? That we and gorillas have a common ancestor? Or shall we take that as read?
The Evolution Machine turns the gorilla into a junoesque Rita Hayworth.
"We must remove her bonds"? Why? She's in a Wonder Woman comic; she'll just get tied up again. Notice the WWII slogans at the bottom of the page again. That one is my favorite.
Yes, because only cave people have unstyled hair and unbuttoned shirts. Or do you have a sudden craving for roast duck with mango salsa? Think you can handle getting insurance from Geico.com?
Ah, comic book science.
If I had Giganta tied up and brought before my throne, I can't say that having her executed would be the first thing that came to my mind.
Since it turns out we have a few Etta Candy fans out there, I promised I'd keep an eye out for good Etta panels. I liked her "Igga wogga wump" there.
The Evolution Machine can beat the most extreme makeover any day. Notice also that at some point, the machine has changed from an "Evolution Machine" to a time machine.
"Golden Age inspection"?
Do I even need to comment on this?
The Golden Age queen well-meaningly orders Wonder Woman to free her, which Wonder Woman does because... um... hell, maybe because the blonde queen is hot so it's fun to take orders from her. Giganta promptly runs off, finds some malcontents to join and makes a lot of trouble with them. The end result:
Bondage conquers all!
Poor Steve. He just can't get a break. If you're wondering why Hippolyte is there, remember that she is immortal and queen of the Amazons. Of course, she didn't recognize her daughter because her daughter hasn't been born yet, but whatever. Also, Wonder Woman needed Giganta to discover that her lasso was electric? Shouldn't she already have known that?