This one is a very exciting and fun issue. The main villain is Baroness Paula von Gunther, who first appeared in Sensation Comics #4, and here she tries to ruin Wonder Woman's plans as usual.
The baroness escapes prison and sends one of her henchwomen, Keela, to infiltrate Paradise Island during the festivity known as Diana's Day, an old amazonian celebration composed of different traditions, one of them involves having an amazon put on a mask while the rest challenge the mysterious lady to a fight. The ones who lose are simply punished by her but one of them (the evil henchwoman) tries to murder the masked lady (who is actually Wonder Woman), with predictable results.
Diana's Day is basically Christmas, everyone receives presents by a disguised figure, this time they got a bunch of items from the world of man, making the amazons guess that the one behind the mask is Diana herself.
Something funny is seeing the amazons misunderstand what the items are for, they often just resort to their amazonian instincts and end up fighting with clubs and spanking each other with some tennis rackets.
After a simulated hunt (with deer costumes and all), Keela steals an accessory that gives the amazons their superhuman powers. Wonder Woman and her friends struggle to get it back but they eventually defeat her and take the amulet away from her.
In the second story, the baroness escapes from prison once more, this time the amazonian prison, by becoming invisible. Wonder Woman interrogates the villain's slave girls and retrieves information from them with a machine.
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| A neat moment of friendship between Diana and Mala. |
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| Wonder Woman on her invisible plane. |
Wonder Woman comes back home but finds herself in danger when she intentionally lets herself be captured by the villainess. Diana's chubby friend, Etta, and Trevor manage to liberate Wonder Woman from the hypnotic state the baroness put her in.
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| Etta isnt just the typical sidekick, she also kicks butt... literally. |
In the last chapter, we find out that the baroness has been collaborating with the nazis because her daughter was kidnapped by them after killing her husband, so her state of villainess isn't a selfish one, she isn't looking for power, she’s doing evil deeds to save her child.
One day, while Diana plays with some kids in the snow, she has an encounter with the baroness. Diana goes after her and captures the antagonist. She strips her down to her undergarments and searches her clothes for weapons. Wonder Woman then takes the baroness to the amazonian prison to finally lock her up along with her slave women
After some attempts at rehabilitating the slaves, heroine realizes just how much conviction these girls have when it comes to serving their mistress. Then we get one of the best lines in the whole medium:
A deeply (and sadly) true statement that rings true to this day.
After that, the baroness traps Mala, her escape plans are frustrated by Wonder Woman, but the baroness reveals to our heroine her tragic backstory.
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| The slave girls were strong but the amazons trumped them. |
Diana finds out about all of this and without hesitation she goes into a concentration camp and takes the baroness' daughter back home. Etta comes along and they rescue some other kids as well.
Later, Paula risks her life in order to save Wonder Woman, leaving her disfigured. Diana testifies at her trial and she's let free. Apparently her new face makes up for her past crimes.
Paula (the baroness) and her daughter decide to stay in Paradise Island and receive training, the queen cures her scars and Diana swears not to use her influence over her in any selfish way.
A solid issue, great writing and a well deserved character arc for a previously bidimensional villainess.
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