Introduced as an ally of the pre-Crisis Wonder Woman, Timothy Trench's first appearance (seen as a shadowy figure on page 23) was in "Wonder Woman" vol. 1 no. 179 (November–December 1968) and his first formal appearance was the next issue. A middle-aged tough guy and private eye, Trench carried a single gun, which he lovingly referred to as "Lulu". He was intended as a knockoff of Sam Spade, from the "Maltese Falcon", using the word "gunsel" as Spade did to refer to low-level hoodlums and mentioning his late partner Archie Miles (Spade's partner was Miles Archer). Tim aided Wonder Woman and I Ching in defeating the terrorist Doctor Cyber, but Wonder Woman's long-time boyfriend Steve Trevor was killed in the process. Trench exited with issue #182 (May–June 1969), taking with him a box of gems stolen from Doctor Cyber.