Rob welcomes back newest network all-star Sean Ross to discuss the treasury-sized coloring book WONDER WOMAN: THE MENACE OF THE MOLE MEN!
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Interesting choice for a book to cover – I’d never heard of, much less seen, these before. As a kid, I would have loved a superhero coloring book that was laid out like an actual comic book story. As it was, I occasionally treated black and white comics as coloring books…
And given alliterative titles to the Wonder Woman and Superman books, “Menace of the Mole Men” and “Luthor’s Lost Land,” I’m seeing a real lost opportunity with the other two: the Batman and Shazam books could have been called “Drollery of Dolorousness” and “Twofold Tribulation,” respectively.
Anyway, as we count down to the end of Treasury Cast, I’m looking forward to Sean’s show…
Thanks, Edo!
When I was a kid I loved coloring books, particularly Transformers color books. A few years later when I was in Libya, localized versions of DC comics were printed in black and white. This gave me the idea of coloring comic books which never seemed to exist intentionally.
Great show! You have unlocked my memory of having this coloring book. I distinctly remember the strange-looking Mole Men and especially their king. Most of all, I think I remember Paula who may have helped me develop my attraction and appreciation for girls and women with glasses.
Sean, I have my TPBs of the Perez Wonder Woman series ready for reading along with your upcoming show. I’m trying to get my wife, a bigger Wonder Woman fan than me, to listen in as well.
And Rob, if you ever get around to doing a special Olympic episode on FW, I would love to participate in some way.
Thanks, Captain!
Another wonderful show (insert laughter) (Radom mash clip I’m sure you can find one that will fit hopefully from Radar he’s my favorite)
I wonder what one of those coloring books would have bin like if the biggest treasury star of all had gotten during the holiday season or what if Wonder Woman had gotten a another coloring book but they had gotten the rights to use Linda Carter . But redrawn a classic dc wonder man story . Like one with jumpa the kangaroos .
Great episode guys! I never knew about this treasury-sized coloring books until Rob posted them on his treasury blog. I did have GIANT coloring books the size of coffee tables (A Superman: The Movie one, and a Batman and Robin vs. Riddler one), but never any of these. I did however have the Superman and Wonder Woman stories reprinted in other coloring books. The Superman one with Luthor even had essentially the same cover, with the Neal Adams running pose, and the comic panels behind him. I got it as a young kid in the late 70s.
I may have had the Wonder Woman in a smaller, solo book, but all I have now is a later edition Super Heroes coloring book from 1983. The cover features style guide art by JLGL (PBH) and inside Wonder Woman’s eagle chest emblem is replaced with her then-new “WW” symbol.
As for the story, Paula was a huge supporting cast member in Wonder Woman’s stories up through the Bronze Age. She was the one usually shown operating her “Purple Ray” to heal the Amazons, and in the case of the retconned Wonder Girl, give her powers! I always took Paula as the example that Diana’s mission of love and peace actually working, and turned a foe into a friend. I know nowadays it’s harder to excuse her being allied with Nazis through our modern lens (and with good reason), but Marston and Peter actually lived through those times, so I think we can give them the benefit of the doubt on that decision, in my opinion.
A version of Paul even appears in Lynda Carter’s second Wonder Woman episode/TV movie “Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther”! So she got around!
The Mole Men here kind of resembles the Marvel Fantastic Four foe, which seems a bit odd. Tenny’s art is really nice, and reminds me a bit of Gil Kane in spots. Thanks for figuring out who drew this. It always bothered me. I’m not a “Foot Guy” but I remember being slightly embarassed/and intrigued by seeing Wonder Woman’s feet in this story! Hey, I was 8 when I first read this!
Wonder Woman : Menace of the Mole Men is weird because it was adapted from a William Moulton Marston/Harry Peter story appearing in Wonder Woman 4.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Wonder_Woman_Vol_1_4
E. Nelson Bridwell did update the story to the 1970s by replacing Steve Trevor with Morgan Tracy and replacing Etta Candy and the Holiday Girls with the ladies representing the United Nations. If you’ve read the Wonder Woman Golden Age Omnibus volumes, you will see that the stories start out as standard golden age superhero fare, but as time goes on the stories get weirder, wilder and more fetishistic. By WW 4, Marston and Peter were getting into their groove. Golden Age Wonder Woman is still my favorite period for the character because her stories are just so insane!
I’ve often wondered (no pun intended) if Marston really had all the fetishes his stories espoused or if he just learned about them since he was a psychologist and included them to help goose sales. I’m sure he had a bondage fetish since that was prevalent in every story. As several people have mentioned, Wonder Woman loses her boots in the Mole Man coloring book (and original comics story) and she seemed to go barefoot every few issues during the Marston/Peter fun. Of course, that was mild next to some of the other events going on. Even without the fetish stuff, Marston and Peters Wonder Woman tales are extremely bizarre. If you want to check out Golden Age Wonder Woman, I suggest skipping the earlier “tame” stuff and skipping ahead a bit (like issue 4 here for example) when things start getting crazier. You might like them, you might hate them, but you won’t be bored.
E. Nelson Bridwell also based a couple of other giant comics to color on golden age stories.
Batman : Comedy of Tears is based on a story in Batman 13
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_13
Batman : Four Birds of a Feather is based on a story in Batman 11
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_11
One last thing. ENB adapted his “The Scarecrow’s Mirage” Power Records story from a story in Batman 114 called “The Mirage Maker.” In the original tale, the villain wasn’t the Scarecrow, but “The Mirage Maker.” Otherwise it is exactly the same. Batman : The Silver Age Omnibus Volume 1 contains the story.
BTW, I hope I don’t seem like I’m being a know-it-all. I just recognized the plots while I was reading the omnibuses. I thought it was fascinating that the coloring books were adapted from old stories and thought I would share. I haven’t found where ENB may have adopted “Luthor’s Lost Land” from yet, but maybe it is a later story than the early golden age which supplied these three.
Great show, Rob and Sean. Not that Shawn, the other Sean.
Hope you’re happy, Rob. It’s only September 9th and I’m submitting my comments. You won’t get the same quality or insight because I feel rushed, and you can’t rush genius.
Sean is a great guest. I was a big fan of Secret Wars and Beyond. I hope he brings the Secret Question segment into his new Wonder Woman show. It’s the least he can do since I can’t get that Jerry Reed song out of my head now. But seriously, I collected that entire Perez run of Wonder Woman, and think it’s some of the best art of his career. Can’t wait to listen.
Always loved the giant coloring book as a kid. Granted most of the books I had back then didn’t show quite as much bondage and surgery. Now, the trick to the big coloring book is to be armed with a solid box of Crayolas, and not the garbage crayons your parents kept from the kids menu you had at Sizzler. I would’ve probably gone brown and purple for the Mole Men outfits. It’s two crayons I wouldn’t be using much for this book otherwise. Plus, even though that’s an ugly color combo, I figure these are Mole Men living underground and can’t see for shit, so it doesn’t matter. And that’s my incredible story.
Hope you’re enjoying the start of Second Summer in Florida!