WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #771, by Michael W. Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain and Pat Brosseau, on sale now.
As one of the most iconic superheroes in the DC Universe, Wonder Woman has developed quite the rogues gallery over the years that have constantly resurfaced and required her to step in to save the day. And while Diana Prince has begun the Infinite Frontier era far from her usual pantheon of Greco-Roman Gods as she regains her senses in the Norse realm of Valhalla, the Amazon superhero discovers that one familiar foe has similarly taken roost in the mysterious fantasy world to Diana’s visible surprise: Doctor Psycho.
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Trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of life and death in Valhalla, cut off from her family and friends, Wonder Woman is tasked with healing the Norse World Tree Yggdrasil for the magical ailment that now curses it. As Wonder Woman explores the strange, mythical domain she has been relegated to, she discovers an underground forge guarded by several fierce enemies. Defeating them, Diana ventures inside and finds herself face-to-face with Edgar Cizko, forsaking his usual supervillain moniker as Doctor Psycho to better fit in with the times. And regardless of what Cizko insists he be referred to as, Diana quickly makes it clear there’s no love lost between the two and her visit is most assuredly not a social call.
Introduced by Wonder Woman co-creator William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter in 1943’s Wonder Woman #5, Doctor Psycho is one of the superhero’s longest-running recurring foes. Boasting strong mental powers, including telepathy and mind control, Psycho originally depicted as a supervillain personally infuriated by advances in women’s rights being made throughout World War II and did everything in his power to discredit it. Psycho uses a mixture of occult and scientific means to boost his powerful abilities and is one of the most insidious villains in Wonder Woman’s extensive rogues gallery.
Confronting Doctor Psycho at his subterranean hideout in Valhalla, Wonder Woman learns her nemesis astrally projects himself into the Norse realm, finding himself usually free to work without fear of interruption in the fantasy world, assuming Diana would normally be in the main DCU or among her fellow Olympian pantheon. Searching for information on how to save the World Tree, Wonder Woman is able to coerce Psycho into giving her clues on how to heal Yggdrasil after she uses a coil of rope in his hideout as her own makeshift Lasso of Truth. While the interrogation itself is unseen, it is implied to be deeply unpleasant for Psycho, with the indignant supervillain left tied to a chair by his hideout’s furnace as Psycho realizes that not even within Valhalla is he free to operate with Wonder Woman interfering with his plans.
Given his misogynistic motivations and unsavory nature of his powers, Doctor Psycho is certainly one of the more problematic villains in Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery; a sort of antagonistic archetype revisited and made even more despicable by the Jessica Jones supervillain Kilgrave.
Fortunately, while Wonder Woman may be alone and disoriented in this strange, foreign pantheon, she still proves more than able to defeat Doctor Psycho at his own game with tools from his own hideout. The World Tree may still be in dire need of being rescued by Wonder Woman but one of the Amazon’s greatest enemies is no longer standing in her way.
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