This is Comic Book Easter Eggs, where I spotlight notable "Easter Eggs" (basically hidden references) within comic books or other media (so long as it is connected to comic books somehow).

With issue #6 of Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman getting released this Wednesday, we asked the writer of the comic, best-selling author Andy Mangels, for some of the secrets and easter eggs for the series so far. There are so many of these bad boys that we're going to spread it out over three days leading up to the release of the final issue on Wednesday! So #1-2 today, #3-4 tomorrow and then #5 on Wednesday.

Be warned, there are spoilers ahead... but they'll allow an appreciation for the immense research and knowledge that went into crafting this series that is selling out across the country and getting great reviews from critics and the fans!

As an aside just from myself, I wanted to give a brief shout-out to just how good this series has been. These types of team-ups are always fun, but rarely do you see series that maintain such a high-level of detail and love for the characters that it really serves as a beautiful tribute to fans of EITHER character, while at the same time, there is a coherent plot and a great deal of interesting action within the series. The artwork from Judit Tondora has been teriffic, as well. The whole thing hits pretty much all of the notes that you would want from a fun superhero adventure story, and that's without getting into all of the nostalgia-based enjoyment that it brings fans. I have some friends who loved the shows but don't read comics and I bought a few copies of #1 and gave them to them and they all really enjoyed them. That's an impressive achievement from the series. Also, note that the trade paperback for the series is due out on October 11th, including a re-colored first chapter!

NOTE FROM ANDY:

A quick note before you digest this list of Easter Eggs...

The WONDER WOMAN '77 MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN story was designed so that even casual readers could enjoy it.

But, like any good franchise, whether it's Star Trek or Star Wars, Aliens or Buffy, or any number of comic books, anime, television, or film franchises, those fans who have a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the characers and their history want to know more!

So don't look at these Easter Eggs and footnotes as a necessity to enjoy the action-packed story, but instead, look at them as a way to deepen the experience and view just how the puzzle pieces all fit together. It's like a commentary track on a DVD; you can enjoy the project without it, or enjoy it even more with it.

Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman #1 Easter Eggs

Page One, Panel Seven: The story is set in 1977, during the third season of both shows.

Page Two, Panel One: The Cramer Building is named for Wonder Woman TV executive producer Douglas S. Cramer.

Page Two, Panel Five: Mentioned on Page One, this is the first time the TV Wonder Woman has been shown telepathically communicating with the invisible plane.

Page Three: The title of the issue is also how the characters are referred to in the script; it’s always ”Diana” and ”Jaime,” not their codenames.

Page Four, Panel Nine: The woman’s line is an homage to the same line in Superman The Movie.

Page Seven, Panel Three: Eve Welch was never given a last name on the Wonder Woman series, but she was given one in the original television script for her first episode, ”Light-Fingered Lady.” She was portrayed by S. Pearl Sharp.

Page Eight, Panel Four: Joe Atkinson appeared in the first half of the second season of Wonder Woman, as a director of the I.A.D.C. He was played by Norman Burton.

Page Eight, Panel Two: Played by Jack L. Ging, Chief Inspector Jack Hanson appeared in the three-part ”Kill Oscar” cross-over between The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Page Eight, Panel Eight: Despite being used regularly on Wonder Woman and occasionally on The Bionic Woman, due to a federal law, the Presidential Seal had to be altered for the comic!

Page Nine, Panel One: CASTRA is a new organization, created for this series.

Page Nine, Panels Two-Three: Played by Lloyd Bochner, Ivan Karp was in The Bionic Woman episode ”Biofeedback.” Bochner’s character is credited as "Kard" in the credits, but is clearly referred to as "Karp" in dialogue.

Page Ten, Panel One: ”Mission Clothes” is a reference to the Bionic Woman doll from the 1970s, which had a ”Mission Purse!”

Page Eleven, Panel One: Diana’s license plate reads ”72451,” the birthdate of actress Lynda Carter. In the printed comic, a production error meant that this was left out, but when recolored for the trade paperback, it was put in!

Page Twelve, Panels One: This helicopter is an Augusta Westland AW109.

Page Thirteen, Panel Three-Four: The electrocuted agent is Aaron Harvey, and the agent who helps Steve is Paul K. Bisson. They are two superfans who helped writer Andy Mangels on this project.

Page Twenty: The first comic appearances of I.R.A.C. the super-computer and Rover, the robotic delivery device, seen in Wonder Woman seasons 2-3. The unconscious technician made his only appearance on Wonder Woman in ”The Return of Wonder Woman.” Also, this was the first partial reveal of the mystery villainess Dr. Cyber...

Page Twenty-Two, Panels Five-Seven: The shadowy reappearance of the villainous Captain Radl, the Nazi who invaded Paradise island in the two part Wonder Woman episodes ”The Feminum Mystique.” The prisoner number 1106 is a reference to the birthdate of actor John Saxon, who portrayed Radl.

Go to the next page for Easter Eggs from the second issue!

Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman #2 Easter Eggs

Page One: The decision to make Joe Atkinson Jewish and thus show a "shiva" ceremony allowed us to add some diversity to the story.

Page One, Panel Three: Elena Atkinson, the daughter of Joe, appeared in the Wonder Woman episode "The Pied Piper," played by Eve Plumb.

Page Two: The decision to make Oscar Goldman clearly Jewish was based on dialogue implying such in The Bionic Woman episode "Winning Is Everything."

Page Three: Diana's formal outfit is designed by Judit Tondora, based on notes from Andy Mangels. It combines elements from TV costumer Donfeld's Paradise Island outfits with a formal gown that Phil Jimenez designed in his run on Wonder Woman when she spoke to the United Nations.

Page Four, Panel One: Diana's line of comfort is Hebrew. It means "May God comfort you (amongst) the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."

Page Four, Panel Four: Jaime is wearing a similar top to one she wore in "Kill Oscar Part 1."

Page Five, Panel One: This panel re-establishes, as per television canon, that Wonder Woman cannot fly in television continuity.

Page Six, Panel Four: The sheet of paper on the clipboard is actually the script page from the introduction of Gloria Marquez in "The Return of Wonder Woman."

Page Seven, Panel One: The reference to some of the crew being a bit "unusual" is the first hint that there are Fembots aboard.

Page Eight, Panel One: Cyber's plane is a Hawker 700.

Page Eight, Panel Four: This is the full visual reveal of Gloria Marquez as Doctor Cyber. Gloria was a villainess in "The Return of Wonder Woman," and author Mangels always felt there was more to her story. In the Wonder Woman comics, Doctor Cyber first appeared in 1968, as a horribly scarred woman. She adopted purple, green, and gold armor in 1982. This new version of Cyber was designed by Judit Tondora with extensive input from Mangels. The cyber-hand is partially based on a glove worn by Beyonce in 2008. Look closely around Cyber's mask and you can see that she's hiding something horrific...

Page Nine, Panel Three: The reveal that Dr. Solano, the other villain in "The Return of Wonder Woman," has survived as well, though he is crippled.

Page Nine, Panel Five: The third villain is revealed. Dr. Franklin was the creator of the Fembots in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman cross-over storyline "Kill Oscar." He was thought by the OSI to be dead. Clearly this is not the case...

Page Ten, Panel One: Diana is wearing her outfit from "The Deadly Toys," while Jaime is wearing her outfit from "The Deadly Missiles." That's two "Deadly" outfits!

Page Ten, Panel Four: Steve has a black-and-white photo of his father, Steve Trevor Sr., on his windowsill, a call-back to Lyle Waggoner playing both roles on the Wonder Woman series.

Page Ten, Panel Seven: Jaime's comment about a "signal watch" is a reference to Jimmy Olsen's signal watch, a staple of Superman comics since 1954.

Page Twelve, Panel Four: On the TV series, Wonder Woman almost never purposely changed in front of anyone, the main exception being her mother and sister, Drusilla.

Page Thirteen, Panel One: Jaime's mention of a "bionic eye" is reference to Steve Austin's eye.

Page Fourteen, Panel One: Saint Molchan Island was named for Wonder-fan Anthony Molchan, and was a tribute to his father, who had recently passed away. Lauray was established on a map in "The Return of Wonder Woman." It would be part of the state of Amapa in coastal Brazil on a real world map.

Page Fifteen, Panels Four-Six: And even more villains return. The Fembot "son" of Dr. Franklin, Carl Franklin, first appeared in The Bionic Woman episodes "Fembots in Las Vegas Parts 1-2." Dr. Hoffman made his first appearance in Wonder Woman's "The Deadly Toys."

Page Eighteen: Wonder Woman's diving outfit — generally known as the "Wonder Wetsuit" and designed by Donfeld — first appeared in the episode "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis."

Page Twenty, Panel Four: Jaime really did fight a shark, in "Deadly Music"!

Page Twenty-One: Stepping out of the shadows is the villainous Captain Radl, now revealed and named.

Check back tomorrow for Easter Eggs from #3 and #4!

Before you go, though, I wanted to say a little more about Andy and his admirable devotion to the history of Wonder Woman. I know that on more than one occasion, Andy has helped me out when it comes to a piece of Wonder Woman history. For instance, in a recent Comic Book Legends Revealed I did about the end of the "mod jumpsuit" era of Wonder Woman, there is always a tricky case of dates, as various people have had various different takes on the end of the mod era and the issue is that for a lot of them, the dates don't necessarily work out. Like Person X will say that Event Y is the reason why it changed, but Event Y was after they changed her back. Stuff like that. Andy has studied this stuff more than most people on Earth, so he was able to really help me put the whole thing into a historical perspective. It is always good to know that there are people out there who we can turn to as authorities on a subject like Wonder Woman or Batman or whoever.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not direct your attention to Andy's great online Wonder Woman museum. Not only is there a whole lot of great history of the character collected at the site, but it also has a treasure trove of amazing artwork devoted to Wonder Woman. It's really remarkable when you see just how many artists devoted their time to doing great Wonder Woman artwork. Alex Ross alone must have, like, fifty Wonder Woman pieces over the years! I think it just speaks to how much of an impact Wonder Woman has had on us as a society in general and one of the best things about the Wonder Woman movie being such a hit is that it allowed us a chance to get her back into the spotlight and let us reflect on how important of a pop culture figure that Wonder Woman is.