The holiday season is upon us, but Mark and I devoted the month of November to celebrating Helena Wayne’s 41st anniversary by discussing All-Star Comics #70!
Happy Halloween! For the spookiest day of the year, Mark and I decided to treat our audience to a double feature for our first official session. Diving right into the beginning of the Huntress’ lore, we talk about Helena Wayne’s first appearance in All-Star Comics #69 and her origin story in DC Super-Stars #17!
First published in The Brave and the Bold #197 in 1983, “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne” opens with an elderly Bruce recounting his origins as the Batman, the allies he had acquired over the years, and more importantly, the woman who would spend the next 20 years of his life beside him as his wife.
Whew! Now that we finished discussing the recent New 52 reboot and the epic misfires that initiative spawned, I can’t tell you how exciting it is to finally get to the classic stuff! And what an exciting day too because today marks the actual 40th anniversary of Helena Wayne’s debut in both DC Super-Stars #17 and All-Star Comics #69, both published on 02 November 1977! What better way to celebrate this glorious day than to talk about the one trade that collects her classic origin, as well as the first six years of solo stories by her co-creators Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Bob Layton?
Summary: The Huntress has found the hideout of Toro and the Boa, but they weren’t without any surprises of their own. Having unleashed one of the boa constrictors on the Huntress–Rosemary–Toro and Boa make their escape. With Rosemary having a strong stranglehold on her, the Huntress tries to prevent the boa constrictor from killing her by holding her breath. She is unable to hold it for very long, and the boa constrictor tightens her grip on the heroine after every exhale, causing her to nearly pass out. She is then rescued by Charley Bullock who wakes up just in time to kill the snake.
Summary: Gotham’s newest protector, Blackwing, has been captured by Toro and the Huntress recognises the man in costume as her associate, Charles Bullock. Knowing the Huntress will avoid risking the life of an innocent, Toro decides to take Charley to his boss–the Boa–as “insurance” against the Huntress’ capture. The Huntress must now race against the clock to not only capture Toro and the Boa, but to save the life of a dear old friend as well.
Summary: There is a new threat in Gotham, and for the first time since the Huntress took over protecting the city, an innocent civilian does not feel safe without Batman. As Charlie Bullock steps up to protect a convenience store owner from a thug named Toro, Charlie starts to think about whether or not Gotham has remained safe ever since the Batman died in 1979. Is the presence of the Huntress alone enough to protect Gotham, or is it time for a new hero to step up and continue what the Batman started?
It’s 07 September 2016, and you know what that means: It’s Helena Wayne’s DC calendar birthday today! I figured why not review a pre-Crisis Huntress and Power Girl story for today? Especially the most subtexty one that exists for them in the pre-Crisis era, complete with lunch, flowers, and flirty gazes, all of which happen in the span of two pages?
And you know what the best part is? You can actually download this comic from Comixology. Huzzah! (The best pages are even in the preview!)
SECRET ORIGIN | Kara reveals her life's story to her own male Lois Lane.Wow, I love the art here! Who drew it?
Joe Staton.
He also drew most of the pre-Crisis Earth-2 Justice Society comics and most of Helena Wayne’s Huntress solo stories.
(In other news, I love how men on Krypton don’t wear any trousers, lol).