After her three-issue premiere in DC's Wonder Woman 204-206 (1973)...
...which we covered HERE, HERE, and HERE, Nubia appeared only twice more in the Bronze Age...DC's Supergirl #9 (1973-74)...
...where she served as a plot device to show Supergirl as worthy to become an Amazon!
Here's her final appearance in DC's Super Friends #25 (1979)...
...where she fought a mind-controlled Wonder Woman to a stalemate until the Amazon was released from mental manipulation!
Note: though not part of pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, Super Friends did follow the continuity established in the TV series, potentially-setting Nubia up for an animated appearance (which never happened)!
So, why was Nubia introduced...then ignored?
After the Wonder Woman TV series debuted, Mego launched a line of 12" action figures......including Nubia, in her costume from Wonder Woman #204-206!
Note the text on the box:
"It's Wonder Woman's Super-Foe!
That heartless arch-mistress of evil...NUBIA!
Direct from her reign of TV terror!
Were they going to incorporate Nubia into the TV series...which never touched upon how Diana was "born"...as an ongoing enemy?
There are rumors that singer/actress Jayne Kennedy, who had experience in genre/action roles...
...had been offered the role.
But the network (unknown if it was ABC, which handled the first, WWII-era season, or CBS, which ran the updated-to-present day later seasons) balked at having an ongoing Black villainess!
Though Nubia never appeared, Kennedy did play Carolyn Hamilton, an ex-policewoman and former associate of Steve Trevor Jr, in the second season episode "Knockout"!
Whether she was brainwashed or willingly-joined (it's never made clear), Carolyn is sent by a terrorist organization to perform an assassination, which Wonder Woman prevents!
The character was never seen again...until the recent DC Wonder Woman '77 comic, which continues plotlines and continuity from the TV series!
In DC/Dynamite's Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman mini-series, Diana brings Jamie Sommers to Paradise Island, where she meets...
....the now-reformed Carolyn has adopted the name of "Nubia", along with the doll's comic book-based armor and white streak in her hair!
Note: apparently living on Paradise Island stops the aging process, since WWII villainess Fausta (from the first season episode "Fausta: the Nazi Wonder Woman") hasn't aged since arriving!
There are several different incarnations of Nubia presently published by DC, none of which have any relation to either the pre-Crisis or 1970s Lynda Carter TV series versions we've shown you.
There are several different incarnations of Nubia presently published by DC, none of which have any relation to either the pre-Crisis or 1970s Lynda Carter TV series versions we've shown you.
If there's reader interest, we'll cover those women in future posts!
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