Wonder Woman Bronze Age: the key issues every collector should know

Created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston (writer) and Harry G. Peter (artist), Wonder Woman is one of the very few superheroines to have run continuously through every era of American comics. Volume 1 ran from 1942 to 1986, spanning 329 issues. The Golden Age keys remain in a class of their own — All Star Comics #8 (December 1941, Diana's first appearance) set a documented auction record of $1.62 million for a CGC 9.4 at Heritage Auctions in June 2022 — but the Bronze Age rewrites are what define the character's most contested and collectible years.

This guide sticks to the verifiable: eBay medians from our estimator (eBay.fr + eBay.com, June 2026) and sale records documented by Heritage Auctions, CGC, and Overstreet. When listing volume is too thin for a reliable median, Overstreet data or qualitative commentary take over — nothing is fabricated. One important distinction: Wonder Woman vol. 1 #1 (1942 Golden Age grail) and vol. 2 #1 (1987 George Perez relaunch) are entirely different books; they are never conflated here.

Wonder Woman Bronze Age key issues (real values, June 2026)

Values = eBay estimator data, all grades combined. "Signal too thin" = fewer than 15 active listings — median not cited as a headline figure. Documented record = best known public transaction, source indicated.

Record sources: Overstreet Price Guide, CGC Census, Heritage Auctions.

Wonder Woman #179: Diana surrenders her powers (December 1968)

Published in December 1968, Wonder Woman #179 (vol. 1) represents one of the most radical narrative pivots in DC Comics history. Writer: Dennis O'Neil; penciller: Mike Sekowsky; inker: Dick Giordano; editor: Jack Miller. The story — titled "Wonder Woman's Last Battle" — opens with the Amazons forced to leave Earth's dimension to replenish their magic after 10,000 years. Diana chooses to stay behind for Steve Trevor rather than follow her mother Hippolyta, but the price is absolute: she surrenders her powers, her costume, and her title through an Amazon rite of renunciation.

The issue also introduces I-Ching, a blind martial arts master who becomes Diana's mentor — now a powerless mortal who runs a boutique and fights with karate. This "Diana Prince era" lasted through #203 (1972) and remains one of the most debated runs in American comics history: some read it as ahead-of-its-time feminism (Diana acts on human ability alone), others as a regression (she loses her iconic identity). Gloria Steinem and the feminist movement spoke out against the depowering, contributing directly to the restoration of Diana's powers in #204.

On the market, our eBay estimator returns only 14 active listings for #179 — just below the 15-listing threshold we require for a reliable median citation. The Overstreet Price Guide (42nd edition) provides the following graded benchmarks: $60 at CGC 8.0 / $103 at 9.0 / $145 at 9.2. The most recent documented CGC sale found in published records was a 9.2 at $132. It is an accessible issue, but its thin eBay volume reflects genuine scarcity in higher grades.

Wonder Woman #204: powers restored and the first Nubia (January–February 1973)

Published in January–February 1973, Wonder Woman #204 (vol. 1) is a double editorial event. Script and editing: Robert Kanigher (who had already authored the Silver Age reboot at #98 in 1958); art: Don Heck. The story's title, "The Second Life of the Original Wonder Woman," announces the stakes: Hippolyta brings Diana back to Paradise Island, restores her memories and her powers, and Diana reclaims the classic costume abandoned since #179.

But the issue's lasting importance lies in a second storyline: an armoured challenger appears and demands the right to fight for the Wonder Woman title. When she removes her helmet, she reveals herself as Nubia — a Black woman who identifies herself as Diana's long-lost fraternal twin, a former agent of Ares, and ruler of a floating island. Created by Robert Kanigher and Don Heck, Nubia is recognised as DC Comics' first Black female superhero. The character was revived and reintroduced in the Infinite Frontier relaunch (2021) by L. L. McKinney, and a facsimile edition of #204 was published in 2022–2023 — a direct acknowledgement of its key status.

Our eBay estimator returns a median of €9, high €24, across 28 active listings — sufficient volume for the median to be meaningful. Raw copies are therefore accessible; CGC-graded copies at 9.0 and above occupy a different tier. The double significance — powers restored plus first Nubia — makes this one of the most in-demand Bronze Age issues in the entire Wonder Woman run.

Other Bronze Age issues worth tracking

Wonder Woman #178 (December 1968, median €12, high €36, 31 listings) immediately precedes #179 and is sometimes cited as the transition issue into the Diana Prince era — Sekowsky takes over the art direction at this point. #200 (April 1972, median €22, high €46, 22 listings) is the anniversary issue of the era; its noticeably higher median reflects collector demand for milestone numbers. #219 (September 1975, median €9, high €17, 35 listings) marks a late-Bronze transitional point and is a useful chronological anchor for run collectors.

For Silver Age context, Wonder Woman #98 (May 1958, Kanigher & Ross Andru) — the first Silver Age issue with a new origin story — is a distinct key: our estimator returns 63 active listings at a median of €9, but only 29 copies have ever been graded by CGC, with none above an 8.0, placing it among the series' scarcest issues in high grade. The 2017 film directed by Patty Jenkins, starring Gal Gadot, grossed $824 million worldwide and gave the entire Wonder Woman back-catalogue renewed collector attention.