by Libbylawrence
On August 5, 1985, the Crisis on Infinite Earths ended, and a world mourned legends like Supergirl, the Flash, and Wonder Woman. But one solitary man refused to accept defeat. He was determined that what had been born in magic could yet live once more through magic. Thus, Steve Trevor — husband to the late Princess Diana, Wonder Woman — was obsessed in more than grief. He could not even begin to allow himself that luxury. He was a man of action, and he clung to the idea that his bride was still alive in some form or another.
She was born from Olympian magic, he reasoned. She can’t truly be gone — not after I’ve come back, so to speak, twice. His memories matched those of the first Steve Trevor of this Earth, who died at the hands of Doctor Cyber. Then his essence was merged with that of Eros for a time, and that man, too, died at the hands of Dark Commander. (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See “A Death for Diana,” Wonder Woman #180 (January-February, 1969) and “The Crypt of the Dark Commander,” Wonder Woman #248 (October, 1978).]
Only recently did the current Steve Trevor learn that he was not those men. He finally found true peace of mind when all the memories of his doubles were merged into his own by Aphrodite. He even went on to marry Diana just five days earlier, but the Crisis had torn them apart too soon. (*) Still, Zeus or Hippolyta or one of the other Amazons must be able to restore Diana. I won’t rest until I find some way to get her back. That means I have to return to Paradise Island — or die trying!
[(*) Editor’s note: The secret of Steve Trevor’s resurrections was told in “Bid Time Return,” Wonder Woman #322 (December, 1984); Wonder Woman (Diana) and Steve Trevor were married in “Of Gods and Men,” Wonder Woman #329 (February, 1986).]
Steve knew what he had to do, but he was at a loss as to how to go about it. He knew the rough direction in which Paradise Island lay, so he could only pray that he would beat the odds and find that tranquil home of magic and wondrous science anew. Actually, he had no clue about where in that Bermuda Triangle of sea and sky it lay precisely, but nevertheless he had a plan.
All that night and into the early morning hours of August 6th, Steve concentrated with all his energy as he reclined within an empty field outside of D.C.
“Robot plane — come to me! Robot plane — I command you to come here!” he mentally commanded, frantic with passion, loss, and need. Before the Crisis, Wonder Woman had set that amazing craft that was the invisible robot plane to obey Trevor’s mental commands, and he prayed that this connection, however slight, would still work.
It took hours of trying, but he finally gasped as the robotic female voice echoed in his mind shortly before the dawn.
“I await you above, Steven Trevor.”
He risked much as he used a rope ladder to climb up high and inside the vehicle. “Whoo! Almost fell,” he sighed. “Robot plane — take me to Paradise Island!” he ordered.
The plane silently obeyed, and Steve Trevor soared toward an uncertain destiny. He felt the plane surge forward over the wine-dark sea, and he prayed anew that somehow the Amazons could restore his love.
“They brought me back from death, and they can do the same for Diana,” he vowed.
The plane entered a huge cloud bank, and ancient columns and the splendor of ancient Grecian civilization spread itself beneath him in its timeless manner.
“I did it!” he cried out triumphantly. “This is Paradise Island! Angel, I’m coming for you.”
Then he gasped at what came into sight, and Steve Trevor knew no more as the five remaining Earths after the Crisis were separated and cut off from each other by an impenetrable barrier. (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See DC Universe: The Rock of Eternity.]
***
In March, 1986, Nubia frowned in disgust as she spoke via mental radio with her mother. “The plane has been gone for seven months now,” she said, fuming. The invisible robot plane had been one of the few things she hadn’t inherited from Princess Diana when she became the new Wonder Woman three months ago. It still rankled the warrior princess to use a bulky Amazon swan ship for travel rather than the sleek robot plane. “No trace of it can be found. Even J’onn cannot register its mental patterns.” She and the likeminded J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, had become very close lately.
Queen Hippolyta said, “Nor can Paula’s science. My child, I fear the robot plane has been lost to us forever.”
But unknown to all, the plane had not been empty. It had vanished from mortal ken months ago, but it had not been empty. Steve Trevor had disappeared, and his ultimate destiny would lay in another dimension altogether. (*) But he was right — what had been born in magic could yet live once more through magic.
[(*) Editor’s note: Learn the final fate of Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman: It’s a Wonderful Life.]