Etta Candy
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| Etta Candy | |
|---|---|
 Etta Candy as depicted by Phil Jimenez. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Historical: Sensation Comics #2 (Feb. 1942) Modern: Wonder Woman #2 ( |
| Created by | William Moulton Marston |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Etta Candy |
| Supporting character of | Wonder Woman |
Etta Candy is a character from the DC Comics Wonder Woman series.
Contents |
[edit] Character History
[edit] Pre-Crisis
In her 1940s incarnation, Etta Candy is a spirited, rotund young woman who leads the fictional Beeta Lambda sorority at Holliday College and aids Wonder Woman in her adventures. She is known for her moxie, her love for candy, and for her trademark call "Woo! Woo!" (A catch-phrase derived, in part, from exclamations associated with comic actor Hugh Herbert.) Other familiar characteristics included her junky car nicknamed Esmerelda, and a variety of sassy interjections, such as: "For the love of chocolate!" Her father, "Hard Candy," lived with her mother, Sugar Candy, on a ranch that provided the setting for cowboy-themed adventures. She was shown to have a brother named Mint Candy. Holliday College was the setting for science-driven stories and it was at nearby "Starvard," (portmanteau of Stanford and Harvard) that her boyfriend, the gangly but very loving "Oscar Sweetgulper," studied.
When Robert Kanigher became writer and editor of the adventures of Wonder Woman, the familiar characters of the Marston era — Etta, the Holliday College girls, Darnell, and most of the villains — were phased out during the Silver Age.
Etta Candy was revived in the early 1980s, along with Steve Trevor and General Phil Darnell. Etta was featured as secretary to Darnell, and Diana's roommate. Unlike the Marston characterization of a bold, sassy, wisecracking sorority leader, Etta was now presented as meek and insecure. She was weight-conscious, and shared an apartment with Diana Prince, unaware of her secret identity. Her love interest was now nerdy, hopelessly clumsy Howard Huckaby instead of Sweetgulper. In one adventure, Etta was kidnapped by Satanists influenced by Klarion the Witch Boy and sent to Hell, where Wonder Woman and Etrigan the demon had to travel to save her, although she remained narcotized and catatonic throughout the ordeal.
In the years leading up to Crisis on Infinite Earths (1986), writers Dan Mishkin and Mindy Newell took Etta in a different direction. She displayed more confidence, and even became Wonder Woman for one evening, battling Cheetah, Angle Man, Captain Wonder and Silver Swan. (Wonder Woman #323)
[edit] Post-Crisis
Since the 1987 Greg Potter-George Pérez revamp of Wonder Woman, Etta has been romantically linked with, and eventually married to, Steve Trevor, who is no longer Diana's love interest.
A career Air Force officer, Etta serves as Steve Trevor's aide when he is framed for treason as part of Ares' scheme to spark a global war. Etta is fiercely dedicated to her friends, and her faith in Steve's innocence helps him clear his name, even though the two temporarily become fugitives while helping Wonder Woman overthrow Ares' plans. While on the run, Steve and Etta realize their love for one another. A happy couple, they remain friends with Wonder Woman.
Feeling insecure about her weight, Etta developed an eating disorder that was kept secret from her friends.[1] She was able to lose 20 pounds, but at the expense of her health. When she finally collapsed due to a lack of food in front of Wonder Woman while trying on wedding gowns, Diana advised her to take better care of herself and maintain a sensible diet. Since that time Etta has gained her original weight back.
Etta and Steve largely disappeared from the pages of Wonder Woman during the run of writer/artist John Byrne, and they have appeared infrequently since then. She did appear once Diana lost her royal title during writer Phil Jimenez's run as her usual supportive friend, but was depicted as still insecure about her heavy weight and apprehensive about her marriage to Steve.
Writer Gail Simone later reintroduced Etta Candy as an intelligence officer requested by Sarge Steel to report on Diana Prince and her associations.[2] This takes place following the Infinite Crisis which altered Diana's origins and to an extent the origins of her supporting cast. Etta remains married to Steve Trevor and is a close friend of Diana and is also aware of Diana's duel identity. The full extent of her history with Diana following the new DCU continuity has not been fully developed yet.
Etta joins Wonder Woman on the Khund homeworld to convince an alien race called the 'Ichor' to cease their attacks.[3] She is successful but returns to Earth only to be tortured by the villain Genocide, leaving her in a coma state.[4]
[edit] Alternate versions
Writer Grant Morrison used an aged version of Etta as a counselor in the first issue of Seven Soldiers: Zatanna.[5]
[edit] Appearance in other media
- Actress Beatrice Colen portrayed Etta Candy in the first season of Wonder Woman which aired between 1975 and 1977.
- In the video game Justice League Heroes, one of the buildings is a restaurant called "Etta's", including a classic image of the character.
- In the animated film, Wonder Woman, Etta is a slim secretary to Steve Trevor, who shamelessly uses her feminine charm on her colleague, much to Diana's disgust. She is voiced by actress Julianne Grossman.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
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