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From a short list of comics I want to spotlight soon I chose this one because I received my first personal copy this week, purchased recently after looking for a copy online for a good long while. This week I also purchased a run of 300 Wonder Woman comics so I was able to page through hard copies to verify some of the research below.
To some of you the focus on this book won't be a surprise since I have seen chatter about it online and know many others are looking for it. Others might be completely unaware of what lies within but either way I hope this post will be of interest. It's been almost a year since Warner Brothers confirmed a Wonder Woman movie would be produced for a 2017 release. This, and the general suspicion many had that a film was coming well before the announcement, has enhanced the profile of all Wonder Woman comics both keys and non-keys. I wish I had the CGC 3.0 copy of All Star Comics #8 I contemplated purchasing for $7000 three years ago, but I would have missed out on other buying opportunities I'm sure. And I digress.
The first appearance (Wonder Woman #6) of the antagonist most consider to be Wonder Woman's greatest (the Cheetah) has been expensive for some time, but value still can be found in key appearances of most of her other foes. This post is about Circe, a character that has faced Wonder Woman a lot in post-Crisis continuity. She first appeared way back in Wonder Woman #37 in 1949.
Circe of course is based on the Greek mythological figure who was a goddess of magic or in some depictions, a nymph or sorceress. Comic book characters based on pre-existing legendary or cultural figures often don't have the same fan appeal as original creations, Thor being the obvious exception. (Did you know that Thor was not the first superhero to be call himself Thor in comics, nor was he the first Thor to appear in Marvel comics, and that DC had its own version of Thor that pre-dated Journey Into Mystery #83?). It is what Stan Lee and Marvel did with Thor that engendered his fan appreciation. As far as villains go, Circe should have earned our respect by now in much the same way Loki has.
To wit, Circe appears at #1 in Newsarama's list of top Wonder Woman villains and #1 in What Culture's list of 5 Great Villains For a Wonder Woman movie. She appears as #3 in this list, this list and this list. So she's the number 1 or a top 3 Wonder Woman villain depending on who you ask.
According to the Grand Comics Database WW 37 is the "first and only Golden Age appearance of Circe in the Wonder Woman series. Circe reappears toward the end of the pre-Crisis period starting at Wonder Woman (DC, 1942 series) #301, and becomes a major adversary post-Crisis." [Note: I don't find her in issue #301, so I either need to look harder or GCD made a mistake].
The DC Wikia can be more difficult to navigate than the Marvel Wikia due to its recognition of different versions of characters in difference periods of DC History. Wonder Woman #37 hasn't been cataloged yet and no page for the Golden Age version of Circe exists.
I've put this history of the character together mostly thanks to Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics.
Modern & Post-Crisis history:
Wonder Woman #302 (Jan 1983, last two panels: one panel w/ face obscured, one panel with face shown. 1st appearance since 1969?. Brief appearance only.)
Wonder Woman #305 (Jul 1983, two pages, disguised as the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome)
Wonder Woman #312 (Feb 1984, two panels)
Wonder Woman #313 (Mar 1984) 1st ever cover appearance. 1st full modern appearance?
Crisis On Infinite Earths #12 (Mar 1986)
Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #19 (August 1988). 1st post-Crisis appearance. A nice bondage/skull cover.
In the New 52, she is around.
The more I read about this character, the more I realize she's an important DC villain. Her Silver Age crossovers to Superman family books and Superman's modern weakness to magic show she's more than just a Wonder Woman foil.
Silver Age History:
includes other versions of Circe not considered to be the main character.
[Action Comics #243 (Aug 1958), a "descendant of the original Circe" who "must have been from Krypton" according to Superman]
Showcase #21 (Jul/Aug 1959) 1st Silver Age appearance; 2nd overall appearance (?); also notably the 2nd appearance of Rip Hunter
[Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #13 (Nov 1959) - a stage magician named Circe who made Lois believe she had the face of a cat]
Action Comics #293 (Oct. 1962), where she is tied to the origin of Comet the Super-Horse
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #40 (Apr. 1963), where she foils the marriage of Lois Lane to Achilles in ancient Greece
Action Comics #311 (Apr. 1964) Comet travels back in time to visit her
Action Comics #323 (Apr. 1965) something about a poison antidote and a place called Feminax
Action Comics #331 (Dec. 1965) Supergirl tries to summon Circe to defeat Dr. Supernatural
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #92 (May 1969) Again, time-traveling Comet (last Silver Age appearance?)
Golden Age History
Wonder Woman #37 (1949, 1st appearance, only Golden Age appearance, depicted as blond-haired)
DC interiors can be tough to find online as they don't have a service like Marvel Unlimited. I've scanned the full Circe story below from my own low-grade copy. This is the third of 3 Wonder Woman stories in this issue and occupies the last 12 pages of the book.
So where do you get a copy? I'm not aware of any available in the market right now, but I snagged mine recently for $155 (a GD/VG copy). Wonder Woman #6 by comparison will run you almost $1000 in the same grade, although this weekend's Heritage auction could change that.
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Thanks for reading, and for reading comics!
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