Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by Dr. William Moulton Marston (Psy.D.), first appearing in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941). Along with Superman and Batman, she is one of three characters to have been continuously published by DC Comics since the company's 1944 inception (except for a brief hiatus in 1986).

Wonder Woman is a member of an all-female tribe of Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) who was created by Marston as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to 'a world torn by the hatred of men.'" Her powers include super strength, super speed, stamina, and flight. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses an animal-like cunning and a natural rapport with animals, which has in the past been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth (which forces those bound by it to tell the truth), a pair of indestructible bracelets, and an invisible plane, which was later replaced with an ability to fly unaided.

Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains and supervillainesses. In later decades, the World War II setting was often maintained, while other writers updated the series to reflect an ongoing "present day." Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon and is informally grouped with Superman and Batman as one of a "trinity" of DC characters, regarded as especially important. Diana is regarded as extremely physically attractive even by the standards of the superheroine. She was named the twentieth greatest comic book character by Empire magazine.

In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media—most notably the 1975-1979 Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, but also in cartoons such as the Super Friends and Justice League . Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none have yet emerged from "development hell." An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell doing voice acting on the title role.

History

Creation

In an October 25, 1940 interview conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym "Olive Richard") and published in Family Circle , titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books (a follow up article was published two years later in 1942). This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form the future DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero.

In the early 1940s the DC line was dominated by superpowered male characters such as the Green Lantern, Batman, and its flagship character, Superman. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was his wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superhero:

Marston introduced the idea to Max Gaines, co-founder (along with Jack Liebowitz) of All-American Publications (Marston's pseudonym, Charles Moulton, combined his own and Gaines' middle names). Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman with Elizabeth (whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman). Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship. Both women served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced the character's creation. Wonder Woman debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston and with art by Harry G. Peter.

Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest and reliable than men, and could work more efficiently.

"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote. Although Gloria Steinem placed Wonder Woman on the first standalone cover of Ms. in 1972, Marston, writing in an earlier time, designed Wonder Woman to represent a particular form of female empowerment. Feminism argues that women are equal to men and should be treated as such; Marston's representative of femininity is a 6-foot-tall Amazon wielding a golden lasso that forces obedience of those encircled. In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men: they could be superior to men.

In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar , Marston wrote:

During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the first female member; albeit as the group's secretary (the custom was for characters with their own books to hold honorary membership only).

Evolution of the character

Main article: Publication history of Wonder Woman

Initially, Wonder Woman is an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor—a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland—to "Man's World," and fight the evil of the Nazis and other crime.

During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped, along with other characters during the era. The new origin story, increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots, receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury."

At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrenders her powers to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. A mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquires a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learns martial arts and weapons skills, and engages in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.

The character would later return to her superpowered roots and the World War II-era, (due to the popularity of the Wonder Woman TV series), in Justice League of America and the eponymous title, respectively.

Following the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter relaunched the character and wrote Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world.

Powers and abilities

Pre-Crisis

Originally, Wonder Woman owed her abilities to the goddess Aphrodite creating Amazons superior to men, with Diana being the best of their kind.

The Golden Age Wonder Woman was later updated by Marston to be able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs by Amazon training, which endowed her with extraordinary strength. ( Sensation Comics #46, Oct. 1945). (As such it was implied, and ultimately confirmed, that any woman who underwent Amazonian training would gain superhuman strength.) This was later reconfirmed by writer Robert Kanigher in the Silver Age ( Wonder Woman v1 #160, Feb. 1966). The TV series took up this notion; "...  we are able to develop our minds and physical skills ..." ; and in the first episode of Super Friends Diana states to Aquaman "...  the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain". In early Wonder Woman stories, Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy. Her powers would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male.

With the inclusion of Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot in Diana's back-story, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. Wonder Woman Volume One #105, reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena - "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury, and stronger than Hercules." Wonder Woman's Amazon training also gave her limited telepathy, profound scientific knowledge, and the ability to speak every language known to man and beyond. She was even fluent in caveman and Martian.

Although Wonder Woman's mythos was returned to its original interpretation between 1966 and 1967, new abilities were added: super breath (to blow jet streams or transform water into snow); ventriloquism; imperviousness to extremes of heat and cold; ride the air currents as if flying; mental telepathy (even to project images); microscopic vision; the ability to vibrate into another dimension, and others which are listed in the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Two (1976).

Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly with the story needs. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert Kanigher, for example, portr