Forty years ago, George Pérez brought Wonder Woman back into the public eye after years of uncertainty for the character and the comic following the iconic Crisis on Infinite Earths.Perez not only relaunched Wonder Woman but also gave her a new life, set with a new origin and new supporting cast. Joining familiar faces Steve Trevor and Etta Candy, the George Pérez run introduced Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis along with publicist Myndi Mayer.
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Julia Kapatelis, acting as Diana’s surrogate mother figure as the hero acclimated to Man’s World, immediately brushed off Mayer. She didn’t think Diana needed a publicist, certainly not one like her. Myndi Mayer was self-interested and didn’t possess the moral fiber that Diana and the Kapatelis had. It was through Mayer and Diana’s partnership that Wonder Woman had one of her best stories, though. Translation and cultural differences have always been motifs of Wonder Woman’s story, but it was through Myndi Mayer that they were made explicit.
When Wonder Woman Got a Publicist
image courtesy of dc comics
Princess Diana of Themyscira has never shied away from speaking her mind. She’s a skilled orator and passionate activist for what she believes in. If given the opportunity, Diana is confident that she will be able to get people to understand her either through her words or, if needed, her actions. The George Pérez run argued for a case when she might need a little help in achieving that.
The first arc of the Pérez run brought Diana to Man’s World with the sole mission of stopping Ares. Ares was responsible for dangerous machinations that would have led to mutually assured destruction for the world, and while Diana managed to stop it, many didn’t believe her rationale. While the military called the ordeal the Ares Affair, many didn’t believe that the Greek God Ares was actually at fault. To give greater credibility to Diana — and to handle the press — Julia Kapatelis agreed it was time to call in Myndi Mayer.
As Myndi Mayer said herself, “If you want to affect the public consciousness, you must become part of that consciousness.” Mayer launched Diana’s first publicity campaign, getting Diana on the cover of just about every popular magazine and talk show, and went about setting up a stipend for Diana. After all, being a superhero doesn’t exactly pay the bills.
Myndi Mayer as Foil
image courtesy of dc comics
Part of the reason Myndi Mayer works so well as a character — and as an overarching story about reputation and publicity — is the way she works as a foil against both Julia Kapatelis and Barbara Minerva. Mayer brings out Diana’s naivety, of course, but the comparison is stronger between the two other supporting women. Mayer interacts most often one-on-one with Julia Kapatelis while having more in common with Minerva’s self-interest.
From the second that Myndi Mayer shows up at her house in “Rebirth”, Julia Kapatelis is skeptical of and ultimately against what Mayer’s selling. Kapatelis is preoccupied with worries about her daughter and refuses to consider selling out Diana to somebody like Mayer. She sees the woman as a shark and immediately kicks Mayer out of her house. It is only once Kapatelis sees the military generals not listen to Diana that she brings Diana to Mayer. She gives Diana a brief warning, but ultimately she’s feeding Diana to Mayer.
It’s the same issue that Kapatelis brings Diana to Mayer that Perez chooses to reintroduce Barbara Minerva, aka Cheetah. It is through the work of Mayer’s media blitz that Minerva hears of Diana and, more importantly, her lasso — Minerva is immediately drawn to the object and its immense value. She’s determined to get Wonder Woman to sell it to her, but is willing to take it by force if necessary. It is also through Mayer that Diana gets in touch with Minerva — Mayer forwards a correspondence from Minerva, one where Minerva claims to possess an ancient relic that belongs to the Amazons. Minerva’s lying, but neither Mayer or Diana know that.
When the lasso unmasks Minerva as a liar in “Blood of the Cheetah”, it isn’t just Minerva Diana feels betrayed by — it’s Mayer. Immediately, Diana cuts off ties with her publicist, insisting that Julia was right about the women’s self-interested nature and that she cared nothing about Diana as a person. It’s then that Diana learns a hard but important lesson. In Man’s World, women aren’t just in danger of being exploited by men. Women can exploit other women too, despite previous notions of sisterhood.
A Largely Forgotten George Pérez Creation
Mayer was created in 1987, and by August of 1988, she was dead. Mayer fell for the wrong guy, Skeeter LaRue, and he got her hooked on cocaine. Given that the Comics Code Authority standards were still in effect during the 1980s, Myndi Mayer was clearly a character that couldn’t stick around long after that. She, at least, managed to get a killer send-off with a whole issue dedicated to solving her supposed murder in “Who Killed Myndi Mayer?”
Since her death — and despite the numerous reboots DC has gone through — Myndi Mayer has stayed largely left alone. Her main appearance was in 2021 when Mayer was brought back for a digital issue as part of Sensational Wonder Woman.This incarnation of Mayer risked her life to speak to Diana personally, without an intermediary like Julia Kapatelis, with the aim of becoming her agent. Mayer failed to convince Diana, and unlike in the 1980s, Diana kept her image in her own hands.
We want to hear from you in the comments — what about Myndi Mayer made for such a compelling story for Diana?
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