Wonder Woman is the first and most recognizable female superhero in comic book history published by the DC Comics. Co-created by a noted psychologist and inventor of the polygraph machine, William Moulton Marston with his wife, Elizabeth (Sadie) Holloway Marston and artist Harry G. Peter. Wonder Woman made her debut in All Star Comics #8 on December 1941 - January 1942 and made an early feminist role model for young ladies and was produced to appeal to the largely male comic book audience. Wonder Woman was featured and was shifted later to Sensation Comics #1 on January 1942, which continued her previous story. After six months she was the first super-heroine to have her own comic book on Summer of 1942, in her own self-titled book. Readers were really drawn to this attractive heroine who possessed the strength of a powerful man.
Wonder Woman has been through many different incarnations throughout history. She had a popular TV show, has her own comic book, and has a spot on the Justice League of America. Wonder Woman is a character that girls and women can look up to and be proud of. All told, Wonder Woman is one of comic books greats.
Wonder Woman History
Wonder Woman began her life as Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Her creator, Marston adopted her birth legend from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Wonder Woman is the Amazon ambassadress and the daughter of the immortal Queen of Amazons, Queen Hippolyte of Themyscira of Paradise Island. Wonder Woman was not born naturally, but sculpted from clay by her mother and brought to life by the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. Her mother named her Diana, after the Roman name for Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
In the writer’s version of its legend, the Amazons have escaped the bondage of their male captors in Greece, and have settled in a remote corner of the world known as Themyscira, the Paradise Island. All Amazons were immortal on that Island. They were independent and strong female warriors. They are trained to be totally self-sufficient, to excel in everything they do but winning is not the major event, where the power of Queen Hippolyte is based on kindness and “inspiring of affections”.
Princess Diana was immortal while she remained on Paradise Island, where she drank from the island's fountain of eternal youth, which provided her immortality for as long as she’s there. Even as a child, she was exceptional as she showed her incredible strength and agility. As she grew to adulthood, Diana received her bracelets of submission and was tutored the arts of rhetoric, combat, religion, philosophy, medical nursing, horsemanship, and in all other forms of knowledge that the Amazons held in high regard; eventually coming to master each field that she studied. In addition, she was also trained by Phillipus, General of the Amazon guard and Queen Hippolyte’s most trusted advisor, to both control and utilized her powers to their fullest potential. Diana grew to become the most powerful and resourceful warrior on all of Themyscira.
In the year 1941, Lt. Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army intelligence officer, crashed his plane near the isolated homeland of the Amazons. His body was found floating in the wreckage by Diana herself, who first saw a man at that time. She nursed him back to health with the aid of Dr. Althea. Diana used her knowledge to develop the “Purple Ray” that could heal major wounds and injuries. While nursing the U.S. Army officer, the princess fell in love with him. When the goddess Aphrodite announced that it was time to help the World and fight the evil of the Nazis because of the war it created. The goddess ordered Queen Hippolyte to select an Amazon to travel and help save the world that resulted to a tournament to determine who was to be the Amazon champion. As the Queen feared, Diana's infatuation with Trevor led her to apply for the contest immediately. When her mother denied her, she tried again by using a mask to hide her identity. After winning the tournament as she revealed her true identity, Queen Hippolyte was softened and allowed her daughter to become the Paradise Island's emissary to Man's World. She gave Diana the costume with which she would represent her people in America and magical equipments to aid her. Diana adopted a code name to identify her as the first mystery-woman to the American people: Wonder Woman (All-Star Comics vol. 1 #8).
In America, she assumed the secret identity of army nurse Diana Prince. She then began exploring her new home, using the "bullets and bracelets" routine, she quickly defeated criminals. As Diana took Trevor to a hospital in Washington D.C. she wondered how best to establish an identity that would allow her to be close to him by disguising herself as a nurse. When Trevor returned to active duty in the Army, Diana Prince accepted a job as a secretary in the office of one of Trevor's associates, Colonel Darnell. In this position she joined the U.S. Army with the rank of Yeoman. Wonder Woman was also aided by Etta Candy, who was enrolled at Holliday College and a member of the Beta Lambda Sorority, become a fast friend of Wonder Woman, even joining the Army for a time to be associated with her.
In 1942, Wonder Woman encountered the Justice Society of America (JSA), a male dominated super-team. At first her full membership was disapproved, however they offered the position as “secretary” of the group, which she accepted. In years later, Wonder Woman became more active in the JSA and was eventually inducted as a full member and became their first female member. After the World War II ended, Diana Prince remained in the Army as her relationship with Trevor deepened and had achieved the rank of Lieutenant and was a fully certified intelligence agent and still active as a member of the JSA. In Wonder Woman #63 on January 1954, Diana finds herself displaced from her home after the war so she moved from Washington D.C. to New York City.
During the mid-60’s, Wonder Woman married Steve Trevor, now a General in the armed forces as they had their daughter named her Lyta Trevor. Until the late 70’s, when Wonder Woman retired from the military and revealed her identity to the world (revealed in Wonder Woman vol. 1 #300). In the 1980’s, Wonder Woman’s daughter Lyta, who was at that time enrolled at the University of California Los Angeles, adopted the code name Fury and became a superhero with Hector Hall, son of Hawkman Carter Hall.
While Trevor recovered, the Anti-Monitor initiated the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Wonder Woman again returned to active duty. The gods of Olympus had taken Trevor aside during the Crisis and now offered him and Diana immortality and a place in the hallowed halls of Mount Olympus. After the completion of the Crisis, Brainwave Jr. removed the memories of her Amazon heritage from Lyta Trevor and the world no longer remembers the Golden Age version of Wonder Woman.
Incarnations of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman has been through many incarnations throughout history due to the influenced of the different writers and with the changing era, which created some versions of this super-heroine’s life story.
By William Moulton Marston
As he created and designed his work, Wonder Woman became the voice of the female gender. Wonder Woman is strong and powerful but she still remains to be tender and peace-loving. Marston helped the woman of society at that time to open their eyes and voice out, so his obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman. Moreover, when Wonder Woman was created women were encouraged to do the work of men as a matter of government policy.
In 1947, Marston died and therefore his work, Wonder Woman began to change character. In keeping with the times, she became less powerful, almost ordinary, mirroring the post-war role of women.
By Robert Kanigher
Robert Kanigher continued the story-writing of Wonder Woman when Marston died. He is a prolific writer who edited and scripted the title of Wonder Woman. While artist Harry G. Peter still illustrated the stories, Wonder Woman became less of a feminist and became more of a traditional American heroine. The artist remained on the title through issue #97, taking the entire original feel of the book away. When the senior artist was fired, Peter died soon afterwards completing issue #97 on 1958.
Wonder Woman in her later stories began her skills and powers to develop. Her invisible plane was soon upgraded to a jet aircraft, her tiara was found to be a splinter-proof boomerang, her earrings gave her oxygen to breathe in outer space, and on one of her Amazon silver bracelets became a two-way wrist radio, allowing her to communicate with the amazons in Paradise Island.
By Dr. Frederick Wertham
Dr. Frederick Wertham changed the comic society when he wrote the controversial anti-comic book, Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 which led to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. Many of the Comic book historians saw this as the death of the Golden Age of Comics. In this era, based on the Code, Wonder Woman never spoke out as a feminist again, instead lazed over Steve Trevor and fell for Merman and Birdman.
The Silver Age
Wonder Woman experienced numerous changes during the mid-1950s and all the way through the 1960s. When artist Harry G. Peter died on 1958, he was replaced by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito which led to the revamped of the origin of Wonder Woman’s powers. This is where they generally considered the point where Earth-1 Wonder Woman stories begin.
In the 1960s, the super-heroine’s untold career on her different ages as the teenage Wonder Girl and infant Wonder Tot was published. Writer Bob Haney was obviously unaware that Wonder Girl was not a separate character; he included her to his new team, the Teen Titans. In the years that followed, a plot was made that Wonder girl was revealed to be a different person and named Donna Troy, an orphan that Wonder Woman saved from a burning building. By using the Purple Ray, which Wonder Woman created, Donna received the powers of an Amazon, and with an ersatz version of Wonder Woman's costume, and became Wonder Girl.
The Bronze Age
At the end of 1960s, the super-heroine became Diana Prince and was no longer been Wonder Woman, as she surrendered her powers and decided to stay with Steve Trevor - who was at that time facing criminal charges from the government, than to go to another dimension with the Amazons. She owned a mod boutique and was the fashion of the time. She had her new mentor, I Ching and trained her to use her body as a weapon, learning martial arts and weapons skills, and proceeded to undertake secret agent-style adventures.
In the early 1970s, Wonder Woman was chosen as a symbol of the rising Women's Liberation Movement. In 1973, DC comics restored Wonder Woman to her former glory and gave her back the plane and a new pair of red boots. It was executed by the returning writer-editor Robert Kanigher. In 1976-1979, a television series was born and Wonder Woman herself had become a legend starring the beautiful Lynda Carter.
In 1970s throughout mid 1980s, Wonder Woman fought a series of epic battles until she was finally killed during the Crisis On Infinite Earths in 1986.
1987 Wonder Woman Reboot
Wonder Woman started over in 1987 with a new numbering, a new look, and new writers. Writer Greg Potter and Editor Janice Race, were tasked to rework the character. Until Writer and Artist George Perez became the exclusive plotter with the help from Writer Len Wein, as Potter dropped out of writing. They gave Wonder Woman a pro-woman personality added richness to her Amazon heritage and set her apart from other DC powerhouse heroes.
By George Perez
Perez returned Wonder Woman to her basics. Wonder Woman was not a super-heroine, but an emissary of peace from a mythological land. She was a beauty in the woods, completely without guile. Diana has to learn English when she came to America for the first time. In her previous incarnations, Wonder Woman knew English when she came to America, even though they only spoke classical Greek on Paradise Island. Through Perez’s time, Diana dealt with war, injustice, inequality, death, and conflicts involving the Olympian Gods.
In Wonder Woman #0, she was forced to compete again in the tournament to decide who would be the new Wonder Woman. This time, the winner was a formerly Amazon named Artemis, losing her title as Wonder Woman, Diana worked as a full time bounty hunter and still fought crime as well. After Diana and Wonder Woman (Artemis) fought Diana's fate: The White Magician, a corrupt former super hero. In this battle, Artemis was killed, leaving Diana as the Wonder Woman.
By John Byrne
John Byrne took over the writing and illustrating chores for the book with issue #101. John redesigned Wonder Woman’s look, gave her bigger breasts, and is portraying her out of perspective. Later, the writer tried a "back to basics" approach with mixed reviews, including a period with Diana's mother Queen Hippolyte as Wonder Woman.
One Year Later
Every DC Comics series jumped ahead in story by one year. DC's One Year Later event after the Infinite Crisis, the third Wonder Woman comic series was launched with a new #1 issue on June 7, 2006 with a storyline called "Who is Wonder Woman?", written by Allan Heinberg and drawn by Terry and Rachel Dodson. Donna Troy having taken up the mantle of Wonder Woman after a year in which Diana had been missing. However, the end of the issue saw the return of the familiar pretense of Diana Prince, secret agent, complete with an updated version of the white jumpsuit from the early 1970s. Whether this Diana Prince is truly Princess Diana has yet to be revealed.
Wonder Woman’s Principal Opponents
Wonder Woman's mission involved spreading the message of peace, justice, and equality. She faced numerous enemies, including the following villains:
Cheetah I
Angle Man I
Ares/Mars I
Duke of Deception
Nuclear
Dr. Psycho I
Cult of the Avenging Flame
Eviless
Furiousa, Mistress of Masqerade
Giganta I
Hypnota
Snow Man
Vulture Cult
All of Wonder Woman's adversaries were also wiped from existence by the Crisis on Infinite Earths, although many of them have post-Crisis counterparts. Wonder Woman did not use excessive force against these villains but relied on her intelligence and agility to achieve victory.
Powers, Skills and Weapons of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman was the perfect woman from the mind of her creator, Dr. Marston. She was beautiful, intelligent, strong, but still possessed a soft side. Her powers were the result of her Amazonian heritage, coupled by her abilities and magic tools.
Super-strength
Super-speed
Power of flight
Regeneration
Animal empathy
Mental-telepathy power (was called “mental radio”)
Special Healing Power. She used a ray-machine (“purple healing ray”).
Razor sharp golden tiara. It was found to be an unbreakable boomerang.
Lasso of truth. It was unbreakable, infinitely stretchable, and could make all who are encircled obey the commands of the wielder, most notably to tell the absolute truth.
Amazon silver bracelets. These bracelets deflect bullets and missiles with her great speed. These are actually symbols of her all-female tribe's enslavement under Hercules.
Invisible plane made at will. The plane is only visible to the eyes of Amazons.
Wonder Woman’s ability to create invisible vehicles can also be stretched to make a complete fortress, known as the Wonderdome.
Love was and still is the key to Wonder Woman’s strength, and it is this positive quality that makes her superior to "the men” she encounters. When Wonder Woman vanquishes the enemy, she also makes it possible for the villain to see the error of their evil ways and to be rehabilitated.
Weaknesses and Limitations of Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman could be wounded or slain by any mortal bullet that she was unable to deflect. She had a superior metabolism, more resistant to blunt injury than normal mortals, but was not invulnerable. For Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman, getting tied up seems to be her crime-fighting weakness.
Wonder Woman would lose her powers if the bracelets were ever chained together, her superior abilities will be lost and she will become a normal mortal woman. If her bracelets were removed, she ran amok in a kind of "berserker rage." And too, Wonder Woman could always be gotten to through love, the male-female kind, her one weak spot. That was the reason she had left the sanctuary of Paradise Island in the first place, to look after her true love, a U.S. Army intelligence officer named Steve Trevor who crash-landed his fighter plane on the island.
Wonder Woman’s Alter-ego
She used to have an alter ego: Diana Prince, a nurse, in order to be close to Steve Trevor as he recovered from his injuries. Wonder Woman’s identity was kept secretly, as she passed as someone conventional in everyday life, she would disappear and reappear in disguise to fight crime.
Wonder Woman’s Costume
Wonder Woman is a dark-haired beauty. Her costume consisted of a bustier, a strapless top emblazoned with a patriotic American eagle, a tight blue star-studded mini shorts, manacles on her wrists and a pair of red, knee-high boots with spiked heels, all in the colors and patterns of the American flag to boot. Wonder Woman also carried a golden lasso for binding her opponents and making them submit to her loving allure.
Appearances of Wonder Woman in Other Media
TV Series 1976-1979
“Wonder Woman” is a popular television series with 59 episodes starred by the lovely Lynda Carter as the comic book superhero Wonder Woman.
Cartoon Animation
The Brady kids (1972)
Super Friends (1973-1986)
Superman (1988)
Justice League (2001-2004)
Justice League Unlimited (2004-present)