Each member of DC Comics’ Justice League exhibits powers and abilities far beyond that of your average human. The stories of how they gained these powers have become the stuff of legend, often told and widely known amongst all comic book fans. Superman is fueled by Earth’s yellow sun; Wonder Woman is blessed with the power of the gods; and Batman is, well, really rich. Yet, super powers alone do not a great hero make. This team of do-gooders must also be capable of overcoming any hand-to-hand combatant. Thus, the Justice League trains vigorously with the greatest fighters in the world, often mortal men and women. One of these is the legendary, but long-overlooked, martial arts master I-Ching.
In 1968’s Wonder Woman #179, Queen Hyppolyta and the Amazons have decided to leave the world of man and shift to another dimension. In order for Wonder Woman to stay behind, she must agree to give up her blessings and become a normal human being. The depowered Diana Prince accepts the tutelage of a blind martial arts master named I-Ching to save Steve Trevor from the evil Doctor Cyber. In I-Ching’s first panel, he single-handedly takes down three much larger opponents. He is portrayed as a wise, often funny Asian ex-monk who transforms Diana Prince into a one-woman army. The abandoned Diana and I-Ching develop a close father-daughter relationship. Sadly, I-Ching is shot by a mad sniper in Wonder Woman #204 and dies in Diana’s arms. I-Ching would fade into comic book obscurity for the next twenty-seven years.
Fast forward to 2006. The Department of Metahuman Affairs has obtained images of a Post-Crisis Wonder Woman training with an Asian warrior codenamed I-Ching. This cameo would blossom into a series of guest appearances with the Batman family beginning in Detective Comics #838. His biggest role came in 2017’s New Super-Man #7. I-Ching teaches Kong Keenan, the new Chinese Super-Man, how to better control his new abilities and later becomes an affiliate of the Justice League of China. However, history would repeat itself and the character would once again be killed off in New Super-Man #15. But this time he would continue to appear regularly as a ghost, a la Obi-wan Kenobi.
In the 1960’s, tastes were changing. Comic book readers were eschewing the older, god-like superheroes for younger, more conflicted characters. DC Comics took notice and attempted to overhaul their aging line-up to meet the demands of newer readers. Wonder Woman underwent one of the more dramatic transformations. Denny O'Neil and Mike Sekowsky created I-Ching in 1968 to assist Diana in her transition from superhero to secret agent. At first, I-Ching has no extraordinary superhuman abilities. It’s not until the pages of New Super-Man that he adds astral projection and the divine power of Yin and Yang to his martial arts skills.
The rebranded New Super-Man and the Justice League of China wrapped in 2018, and I-Ching once again dropped out of DC Comics’ continuity. His influence on Wonder Woman and other members of the Justice League, however, is undeniable. No doubt that in their years of training as a team, Wonder Woman has passed on some of I-Ching’s techniques to Superman, Batman, and the others. I-Ching deserves another chance, perhaps amongst Doctor Fate, Detective Chimp, and the mystics of Justice League Dark. Either way, he is one of the unsung heroes of the DC Universe.