Sensation Comics #5
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSensation Comics #5 is a pivotal early chapter in Wonder Woman's wartime mythology: it is the issue in which Diana Prince secures her position as Colonel Darnell's secretary, cementing the civilian-identity framework that would define her supporting cast for decades. The issue also arrives one installment before Diana receives her Magic Lasso — making it the last snapshot of Wonder Woman operating without her most iconic weapon, a detail that marks a clear before-and-after moment in the character's development. Beyond Wonder Woman, the issue introduces Justin Valor, the Black Pirate's son, whose birth is dramatized within the story itself, extending one of DC's most distinctive Golden Age historical-adventure strips. As a dense 68-page wartime anthology, the issue exemplifies how Sensation Comics functioned as a proving ground for the Golden Age characters — Wildcat, Mr. Terrific, Little Boy Blue, the Gay Ghost — who would outlast the era and resurface throughout DC history.
In "Wonder Woman versus the Saboteurs," the Amazon warrior faces a dangerous deception when a respected reformer's crusade against gambling hides a darker agenda. With Hal Sharp's dynamic art capturing every tense moment and Harry Peter’s striking cover setting the tone, this 1942 classic delivers a gripping mystery where trust is the first casualty.
In "The Two Faces of Caspar Crunch," a city-wide crusade against gambling takes a shocking turn when Terry Sloane intervenes to save a man thrown from a speeding car—only to realize the attacker is the very reformer, Caspar Crunch, who’s publicly championing morality. As the line between hero and villain blurs, Terry must unravel the truth behind the man who claims to clean up the streets but may be hiding a darker agenda.
When Joan—newly hired as Stretch’s secretary—finds herself at the center of a string of suspicious deaths, Wildcat teams up with Skinner to track down a dangerous crooked gambler tied to one of the murders. As the investigation unfolds, the stakes rise in this tense, no-nonsense mystery from 1942.
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Sensation Comics #5 carries a May 1942 cover date and an on-sale date of March 3, 1942, published by J.R. Publishing Co. under managing editor M.C. Gaines and assistant editor Sheldon Mayer. The Wonder Woman lead feature was scripted by William Moulton Marston under his pen name Charles Moulton and drawn by Harry G. Peter, the creative team that had launched the character in All Star Comics #8 just months earlier. The Black Pirate backup was written and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff — though credit had long been erroneously assigned to Ted Udall, a correction later confirmed by Moldoff himself in an interview with Roy Thomas and documented by researcher Craig Delich. The Wildcat story was scripted by Bill Finger and drawn by Irwin Hasen, and the Mr. Terrific entry came from writer Charles Reizenstein with art by Hal Sharp, the same creative pairings that had handled those features since the series launched.
Trivia · 8 facts
- The Wonder Woman story, titled 'Wonder Woman Versus the Saboteurs' in reprints, establishes Diana Prince as Colonel Darnell's secretary — a defining role in her civilian identity — while she and the Holliday Girls thwart Nazi saboteurs targeting the experimental submarine USS Octopus.
- This is the last issue before Wonder Woman acquires her Magic Lasso; she does not yet possess it here and will receive it from Queen Hippolyta in Sensation Comics #6.
- The Black Pirate backup, 'The Treason of Don Diablo,' scripted and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, features the birth of Justin Valor — Jon Valor's son and future swashbuckling sidekick — marking Justin's first appearance in DC comics.
- The Wildcat story by Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen features Stretch Skinner hiring Joan Fortune as his secretary, with Wildcat helping expose a crooked gambler responsible for two murders connected to Skinner.
- Other features include: Mr. Terrific ('The Reform of Caspar Crunch,' Charles Reizenstein / Hal Sharp); O'Malley ('The Toothpick Murder Mystery,' Irwin Hasen); Gay Ghost (Gardner F. Fox / Howard Purcell); and Little Boy Blue ('The Adventure of the Sour Milk,' Bill Finger / Jon L. Blummer).
- The Wonder Woman story was reprinted in Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 1 (1998), The Wonder Woman Chronicles Vol. 1 (2010), Wonder Woman: The War Years 1941–1945 (2015), and Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (2016).
- Wildcat and Mister Terrific stories from Sensation Comics #1–5 were collected in the JSA All Stars Archives Vol. 1 (October 2007, 256 pages).
- The issue runs 68 pages and was published by J.R. Publishing Co., with M.C. Gaines as managing editor and Sheldon Mayer as assistant editor — the same editorial team that shepherded the earliest issues of the Wonder Woman franchise.
Cast · 23 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Wonder Woman Archives #1 (1998), The JSA All Stars Archives #1 (2007), The Wonder Woman Chronicles #1 (2010), Wonder Woman: The War Years 1941-1945 #[nn] (2015), Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 (2016), Wonder Woman: The Golden Age #1 (2018)
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