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This page covers the DC comicbook hero Wonder Woman also known as Circe , Cassie Sandsmark , Amazon Princess , Donna Troy , Diana Prince , Hippolyta , Ambassador to Man's World . If this is not the page you were looking for check here.
One of DCs "big three," Wonder Woman is the Emissary to Man's World, Champion of Themyscira, and possesses the Speed of Hermes, The Wisdom of Athena, Stronger than Heracles and as lovely as Aphrodite.
Characteristics
Creator's Thoughts
Now she knows why she's such a popular superheroine
Charles William Moulton Marston had created Wonder Woman during World War II as he saw that the DC Universe was dominated by male characters such as Superman and Batman and then came patriotic heroes such as Captain America who were to defeat the Axis. He wanted a superheroine, to create a strong and leading female character to even the odds. He thought up a new hero who would fight injustice not with brute strength or violence, but with love. "Fine," said Elizabeth Holloway Marston, his wife. "But make her a woman." He introduced the idea of Wonder Woman to Max Gaines and he gave Marston the approval to go ahead with this idea. With Elizabeth, he believed that she was a liberated woman during the 1940s, and based Wonder Woman on her and Oliver Byrne.
It is clear why Marston modelled Wonder Woman after his wife because during those times, it was difficult for a woman to earn a prestigious degree, and Elizabeth had earned three. She was also clearly a liberating woman as Harvard Law School did not allow girls until the 1950s and was sent to Radcliffe, but she refused and asked her father for support. He replied "Absolutely not. As long as I have money to keep you in aprons, you can stay home with your mother," but she still went ahead with it and raised $100 for herself and as one of three women to come out with a degree, she earned one in 1918.
In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote:
"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."
Wonder Woman's first appearance was in All Star Comics #8 and then appeared in Sensation Comics #1. Six months later, Wonder Woman's own series of comics appeared. Being the main writer, one of Marston's themes was bondage, as Wonder Woman always tied up her captured enemies with her lasso and her friends (the Amazons) were frequently portrayed wrestling. Marston had described female behaviour as submissive, though he had said in his interviews that submissing to women could be a world-saving practice, creating a matriarchy.
Pre-Crisis
Wonder Woman vol. 1 #1
Wonder Woman’s first appearance was in All Star Comics #8. She was made quite popular due to the fact that All Star Comics was a bestseller and her next appearance was in Sensation Comics #1 and later took her place in her own comic series. Though she was not the first female comic character, she took her place beside Black Widow (nothing to do with Marvel), Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Marston wrote her as the perfect woman, as she had bullet proof bracelets, the Lasso of Truth and had the knowledge of Amazonian ways of fighting. She was strong - both physically and mentally, intelligent and beautiful yet also depicted as having a graceful, soft side. Her powers were taken from traits of Amazon goddesses which would become apart of her origin story soon. Her Lasso of Truth was forged from Antiope’s and Hippolyta’s Golden Girdles of Gaea by Hephaestus. This lasso was unbreakable and anyone who was wrapped around in it was forced to tell the truth.
Steve Trevor was also a character in her origin story, where she crash landed onto Paradise Island, and he was healed by the Purple Ray and fell in love with him. Aphrodite then declared it was time for the Amazon’s to travel to Man’s World to fight the Nazis and a tournament was held to see who would fulfil the place. Her mother, Hippolyta forbade Diana to compete, but they were all required to wear masks and Diana entered. Diana was the victor and after revealing her true identity, her mother allowed her to travel to Man’s World and became Wonder Woman. Diana went to Man’s World along with Steve and became Lt. Diana Prince and stayed close with Trevor so she could heal him. He then became Wonder Woman’s well known partner and partner in crime-fighting. Diana overhears Steve’s intelligence and by that, she is always close with him, ready to heal. Eventually, she is to work with Steve as an assistant in the War Department. Steve is also suspects that Wonder Woman and Diana Prince is the same person because he usually sees her using her tiara or lasso.
Etta Candy, another character who was introduced was used in many of the main storylines and affirmed her place in the Wonder Woman universe. Etta Candy was the leader of a sorority called the Holiday Girls. The reason why Etta stood out was that she had a distinctive figure and had a famous line in which she would yell “Woo-woo”.
Between 1942 and 1947, images of tied up women began to populate the covers of Sensation Comics and Wonder Woman. An example, is in Wonder Woman #3, where Wonder Woman ties up women and dresses them up as deer and chases them through the forest. She then ties them up once again and places them on a platter. The subtext has been noted, and it has been debated whether it was a release for Marston’s sexual fantasies, or an outlet for readers of the comics, who were teenagers developing their sexuality. Marston had worked as a prison psychologist and bondage and submission were two themes of his comics and they were intertwined with theories of the rehabilitation of criminals. Wonder Woman of course, being a superhero wanted to change the ways of the criminals. Even a rehabilitation centre was built on a small island near Paradise Island. A concept of Marston was the “loving submission” where kindness would allow people to surrender. Parodies have been written with this concept, as male criminals may give up only to spend time with her.
When Marston died in 1947 Robert Kanigher took over and Diana became less of a feminist character but during this time, her abilities expanded as she wore earrings that provided her with the air she needed when she was in outer space and she had an invisible plane. Extra additions included a tiara which could slice through pretty much anything and acted as a boomerang and her bracelets now had two way radios.
Silver Age
During 1954, Wonder Woman was considered a lesbian as Dr. Frederic Wertham alleged that there were lesbian subtexts in the comic series (he also said that comics contributed to juvenille delinquency) in his book Seduction of the Innocent where he claims that Wonder Woman had relationships with the Holiday Girls (Etta Candy's sorority club). The Comics Code Authority was then introduced in reaction to Wertham as sense of pre-emptive censorship. Seeing as Marston passed away and the new power of the Code, Wonder Woman lost her grip on being the strong and leading woman and instead starting falling for Steve Trevor and was interested in other comic superheroes such as MerMan and Birdman. Soon after there were major changes to Wonder Woman's origin story and this time, her powers came from certain gods and goddesses as she was "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, strong as Hercules and swifter than Mercury." Other changes included changing Hippolyta's hair to blonde, she could glide on air currents and if Man were to ever set foot on Paradise Island, the Amazons would all be doomed.
The introduction of the Multiverse, where different versions live in different realities meant that the Silver Age Wonder Woman was situated on Earth-One and the Modern Age Wonder Woman was situated on Earth-Two.
In the 60s, Robert Kanigher used the same technique as he did with Superman, telling the story of Wonder Girl. Then there was Wonder Tot, the Amazonian Princess as an infant where she would go on adventures with a genie. In the series Impossible Tales, all three different versions of Wonder Woman were put into one story.
Bronze Age
In the 70s, the new comics were influenced by Emma Peel, who was a spy. Wonder Woman became a woman without her super abilities, and became a mod boutique owner (think Italian suits and the Kinks) and was the protege for a man called I Ching where she learned different styles of martial arts and learned how to use a variety of weapons and underwent many missions and new characters were introduced as Wonder Woman's enemies such as Morgana, Doctor Cyber and Catwoman. In this era, she killed Steve Trevor as the editors launched a "new" Wonder Woman. During this time, the writing team changed four times, and the styles changed quite frequently. Because of this, writers who didn't originally write for comics did. During 1973, Wonder Woman's original costume and original powers were restored by Gloria Steinem where she was offended by the fact that most female superheroes were being depowered and made it on a cover of Ms. Magazine. Wonder Woman's ties to Greek mythology show here, as she attempted to join the Justice League of America again after she was depowered and had to undergo twelve labours (based on Hercules' own twelve labours). Steve Trevor was then resurrected and was working alongside Wonder Woman in the UN. Because the Wonder Woman TV series was running during this time and it was set during World War II, the comic ran parallel to it and after some time, the TV series returned to a 70s setting and the comic ran along with that too. The TV series was then written by Jack C. Harris and Steve Trevor was killed off again.
During the 1980s, Steve Trevor was resurrected by Gerry Conway. After Wonder Woman gave up her title, another version of Steve Trevor was the multiverse made it to Earth-One and with Diana's memory erased, Steve Trevor crash landed on Paradise Island. Wonder Woman reclaimed her title again and worked in the military with Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. In 1982, Wonder Woman had a new symbol, the "W" on her costume. This new logo was copyrightable so it was able to sell better in merchandise and other areas of marketing. Dan Mishkin then took over after Roy Thomas and he wrote her as a confident and bold character than ever before, writing exciting and surprising plots. Even so, sales declined and the series ended with issue #329 where Steve had married Wonder Woman. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor from Earth-Two were erased. In the end, Anti-Monitor seemed to have killed Wonder Woman, but she really devolved into her clay form in which was how she was created. This had erased all the history of Wonder Woman and this meant that the writers could now write a whole series of Wonder Woman comics.
Post Crisis
In 1987, Wonder Woman made it to her second volume, and writer Greg Potter and editor Janice Race were hired to discuss ideas and plots. After the second issue, Potter left and artist/writer George Perez was hired. Perez became the main writer and sometimes was helped out by Len Wein and Mindy Newell. Perez and Potter wrote Wonder Woman as a feminist-type character. To further enhance the stories of Wonder Woman, Perez researched Greek mythology which added depth and a refreshing original origin story.
Beginnings of Wonder Woman
A heroine is born and doing her usual swirl transformation
Born in Themyscira on the island of Paradise Island she was the daughter to Queen Hippolyta. Greek goddesses chose four souls to be reincarnated, but one soul got left behind, which was Diana's. Hippolyta was instructed to mold some clay into a baby girl and Diana was blessed and granted powers of the Gods. She was given beauty and a kind heart from Aphrodite, wisdom from Athena, strength and power from Demeter, hunting instincts and communication with animals from Artemis, and speed and flight from Hermes. When she was a young woman, the gods decided that there should be an emissary and Hippolyta held a contest. The woman who won would become the emissary. Hippolyta forbade Diana to compete, but she did so anyway, won easily and became the emissary to the outside world. She took a costume similar to an American (Steve Trevor's mother) who had given her life in defending Themyscira years earlier. Diana has also given up the mantle of Wonder Woman a few times to fellow Amazon Artemis, mother Hippolyta, and Donna Troy (more of that below).
Love at first site... at least for Wonder Woman
Before travelling to Man's World, she was given some items. She was given the Lasso of Truth and the Sandals of Mercury, which allowed her to travel places in a snap. Her mission was to study the people living on Man's World and defeat Ares and bring peace. Upon arriving in America, she fought against injustice and met Harvard professor Dr. Julia Kapatelis and daughter Vanessa Kapatelis as well as Steve Trevor and Etta Candy who were both Air Force officers. Living with Julia and Vanessa, she learned to speak English. Diana was given her name, Wonder Woman, when Decay, one of Ares' minions attacked her, and the fight came onto the streets. Discovering Ares' plan to create a nuclear holocaust, she convinced him not to with the Lasso of Truth, succeded and returned home.
Who killed Myndi Mayer?
She returned to Boston and worked with a woman called Myndi Mayer to show that Wonder Woman was here to protect. She spent months doing interviews around the world when she met most of the Justice Leaguers. There she met Superman and was completely infatuated with him. (Diana's mother, Hippolyta, actually joined the Justice Society Of America when, in Diana's future, Hippolyta traveled back in time as Wonder Woman). With Wonder Woman's touring, she caught the attention of Cheetah who wanted to steal the Lasso of Truth off Wonder Woman. She told Wonder Woman that she found the lost Girdle of Antiope, but once Cheetah grabbed the Lasso, her true intentions were revealed.
She returned home once again and the gods were satisfied with her work. Zeus however was more than satisfied with her work, and offered to make her a goddess if she would agree to sleep with him. Diana refused and she was given the Challenge of the Gods. She was ordered to retrieve his fondest treasure. Hippolyta was not happy, but she could do nothing about it. In the deepest pits of Paradise Island, she met Diana Trevor who was the mother of Steve Trevor. Diana Trevor revealed that she had helped the Amazons of Themyscira and died during battle. Wonder Woman discovered that she was named after her and also the origin of her costume. Hippolyta found Wonder Woman however, and they embark on the quest together. Together they find Hercules, turned into stone. They bring him back to the surface. With thousands of years of punishment on his shoulders, he begged to be forgiven with what happened to him and the Amazons. The Amazons forgave, a celebration was held and the gods were happy with Diana. She returned to Man's World to continue her mission.
Once she returned, Myndi Mayer set up another interview. The Silver Swan turned up and both battled but did not defeat her. She stayed once again with Vanessa. Wonder Woman found herself thinking about Superman more and more and asked Myndi to set up a date between the two. On their date the two battled against Darkseid and freed Olympus. Afterwards, they both decided it was best to remain friends. Wonder Woman knows of Superman's dual identity and he trusts her enough. Wonder Woman is also one of the few who call him "Kal."
The gods decided it was time for a vacation (or "cosmic migration" as they like to call it), but Diana decided to go to Greece and discover the past of her ancient people. There she met Julia Kapatelis' parents, but had a strange feeling towards one of the smaller islands near Greece. It turns out that Circe lived on one of the islands and sent her minions to capture Diana and bring her to Circe. Circe revealed that she killed Hippolyta's sister, Antiope and the prophecy of Hecate. Circe was about to use a spell that would bring Diana back to her clay form, but Hermes came just in time to save her.
Wonder Woman returned to Boston to learn that Myndi Mayer had been murdered at her home. Steve London was framed for the murder, but Wonder Woman discovered that it was Skeeter Boyd who did the deed. He died trying to escape Wonder Woman by climbing over a fence and was electrocuted. She later learnt that she overdosed on alcohol and cocaine before Boyd shot her.
The gods summoned Diana, Hippolyta and Menalippe to destroy the rest of Olympus, which was almost done by Darkseid. It was time for Olympus to completely rebuild itself. They were able to do what they wanted to, and they also voted if men and outsiders would be allowed to come onto their island. They voted yes, and Diana invited Julia and Vanessa to be the first guests there.
Wanted for Murder
Hermes shows up in Boston explaining to Diana that he feels that the journey of the gods is not as it really seems. He wanted to defend his views on it, though he was bribed back a few times. Hermes was tricked by Phobos and Eurayle into releasing Ixion. Diana used the Lasso of Truth on Phobos and Hermes killed Eurayle. However, even the both of them couldn't kill Ixion and it was done by jet fighters. Diana blamed herself for not putting herself in a strong position for Hermes. Wonder Woman then joined many other heroes in the Invasion crossover.
Killer news
Cheetah takes another shot at attacking Wonder Woman. Cheetah created a diversion so she could steal Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth. Diana suspects that Barbara Minerva stole the Lasso of Truth. Her servant poisons Wonder Woman and tells her the story of her becoming Cheetah. The poisons have no affect on Diana, and she tracks Cheetah in Egypt in the hidden city of Banamishdall where she finds the lost colony of Amazons. She is captured by the leader, Queen Anahid and is locked up. The witch doctor carelessly poisons herself while trying to kill Wonder Woman and she escapes. Still a bit disorientated from the poison she learns that the mercenary Amazons have received orders to destroy a village. Wonder Woman joins the villager's side and is attacked by Cheetah. Queen Anahid dies because she spared Wonder Woman. The Amazons then call off their raid and tell their history of the people. They are indeed the descendants of Antiope though not immortal like her and reveal they have the other Golden Girdle of Gaea. The city is attacked by Hermes but he is convinced to pull back. One of the Amazons, Faruka decides to use this to her advantage using some kind of alien cyborg called Shim'tar. Diana fights Shim'tar alone and the Egyptian government learns of this. They order an airstrike on the hidden city and Wonder Woman, Minerva and Hermes are alone in the desert but Wonder Woman has retrieved her lasso and the Golden Girdle where she can return it to her mother.
Because they allowed strangers to come onto Themyscira from before, they invite twelve delegates, including Lois Lane. However, no one knows that Eris, Ares' daughter, is plotting a plan to wreak havoc on Themyscira. It is successful, but her plans are revealed and stopped. Afterwards, the delegates return to Man's World, and the Amazons clean up after them. Meanwhile, Julia is on a job and Vanessa at summer camp. Hermes is staying with Steve Trevor.
Wonder Woman came across Silver Swan again when she was attempting to break free from her "benefactors." Wonder Woman using her lasso on Hank Armbruster was made to tell the truth to Silver Swan and she walked away, with no one harmed.
With the delegates visiting Themyscira and it being known to the world even more now, Queen Hippolyta decided it was time to explore Man's World with her Amazons. As Hippolyta, Menalippe, Phillipus and many others stayed in Gotham City, Diana encountered Hermes again who had built a temple for himself. However, it wasn't Hermes who built the temple, but Mercury, Hermes' evil alter ego and Wonder Woman helped Hermes to battle Mercury. However, Hermes lost the battle. Things weren't going too well, so Diana decided to relax back at home. During that time, she had a dream where she was contacted by Hermonia and Pariah who told her there was about to be a crisis. The following nightmare of Hermes being beaten made Wonder Woman suspect that Circe was behind this.
All because of the illusions of Dr. Psycho, who was posing as a therapist for Vanessa, Hermes announced to destroy Boston, but from Hermes' point of view, it was the Amazons threatening to do so. They began to battle each other, when Vanessa's teacher interferes with his plans, and Hermes and Wonder Woman track down their tormentor. Meanwhile, the Amazons are attacked by masked assassins and frame the murder of the hotel guards on them. When Wonder Woman arrives at the hospital to treat the injured teacher, the police also arrest her for murder. Diana tells the police the whereabouts of Dr. Psycho, however, when they arrive, he has disappeared. The news twist what really happen and indicate that the Amazons are responsible for the murder of many police and innocent civilians.
Wonder Woman had learned of what happened to her Amazon friends. Her mother was missing, some were arrested and injured, two were unaccounted for and one had been killed. There was also news of an unidentified Amazon who had also been killed. When Vanessa came in with news of her mother missing, Diana convinced the police to let her go and investigate about this unidentified Amazon. Diana is unable to identify her, but she believes that she was killed by Cheetah because of the claw marks on her. Commissioner James Gordon has her arrested again but breaks free, concerned about her friends. She frees a few of them and takes her lasso back before returning them back to Paradise Island.
War of the Gods
War of the Gods #57.
There was an uproar in Paradise Island when the Amazons believe Queen Hippolyta is murdered and Diana becomes the temporary leader. The gods have returned, and the Roman gods also came in. The Roman gods forced Diana to fight against a possessed Captain Marvel while Hermes and Mercury fought each other. Circe unveiled her plan: to create chaos across the globe.
Diana called Black Canary which connected her to Batman to search for the Themysciran goblet that would maybe set the truth for the Amazons and their recent "murder." Diana then called other heroes to help her undo the spells Circe had casted. Circe expected this and planned to absorb the energy from all the other spells, but this backfired. It hadn't finished there. Wonder Woman met up with Batman about the goblet and told her it was in fact a forgery that was coated with some unknown material. Diana followed the trail and was taken back to Banamighdall where she had fought with the rogue Amazons and thought it was destroyed. Lobo and Shim'tar were battling when some rogue Amazons arrived. Wonder Woman ordered them to help Lobo while she attacked Shim'tar. Wonder Woman defeats Shim'tar and removes its mask, only to find it is Hippolyta herself.
Cheetah had a confrontation with Edward Indelicato and the truth was finally revealed. Circe's minion transformed her into Cheetah and insisted that she join her army. Cheetah helped Kalsak, one of Circe's minions to steal the goblet to cast her spell. It was also revealed that she hired Dr. Psycho to keep Diana distracted. When Hippolyta touched the fake goblet, she was transformed into the new Shim'tar. Diana took her mother back to Paradise Island for healing and was attacked but with the help of Starman, evaded them. When Wonder Woman arrived on the shores of Paradise Island, she found Circe there, ready for battle. She cut off Diana's hero friends and used her magic to revert Diana back to her clay form. The Amazons mourned for their princess and Superman rallied Earth's heroes for the final battle. However, Wonder Woman was not completely dead. Her soul was collected by some heroes earlier who had helped her revert the magic of Circe. Meanwhile, Superman was leading the charge against Olympus. When Circe's intentions were made clear she was put into a limbo realm where she killed Hermes. However, Wonder Woman was alive in there and had more power then before. She defeated Circe and the gods departed.
The war was finally over, but at a great cost. Paradise Island needed rebuilding and many Amazons lost their lives as well. The United Nations however dropped the fake charges against the Amazons and Hippolyta returned home safe. Diana also attended Vanessa's junior high graduation.
Wonder Woman in Space
Journey to the Stars... (#66)
... only to journey to chains. (#67)
Diana learns that Cheetah had been captured in the Balkans by the new president Baron Von Nastraed. Diana contacted the god Proteus to create a new identity for her and asked Deathstroke for help with the area. Diana and Slade went undercover and met with the Baron, agreeing to meet again. Once Wonder Woman broke into the Baron's castle, he was waiting for her with several demonic thugs. Wonder Woman is thrown into a magic cage next to Cheetah who reverts back to her human form. She revealed that the Baron needed a female host for its mate. The Baron and Drax, an associate for the Baron started their ritual when Deathstroke arrived. He took on the Baron while Wonder Woman broke free and took on Drax. Cheetah, drank some of her own blood and reverts back to her old self. She dives through the portal the Drax opened up and seals it, destroying him in the process. Deathstroke stabs the Baron with a dagger and he disappears into thin air. Outside the police station, Diana met a woman whose daughter was kidnapped. Her husband made a deal with some drug dealers which had gone sour and ran for it with his daughter. Luckily, Wonder Woman found the girl before the thugs could.
Wonder Woman was then approached by a man named Asquith Randolph also known as the White Magician. He presented Diana with a mission that would take her into space where she would need to save an astronaut. It was a trap however, and once Wonder Woman made it on board, he detonated a bomb on there and the ship was flying through space. She was able to get it under control but they were drifting into unknown space. After two weeks, she was saved, only to be made slaves. They imprisioned her to discover that the prision was entirely populated by females. During her time on that planet, she was working as a slave and also learnt some of their alien language. Diana learnt that the alien species was called the Sangtee and existed as just one gender and then changed to the opposite sex after some time. Diana then rallied some fellow prisoners and destroyed the Sangtee's power station. Recruiting more people, she fought across the Sangtee empire. One of her friends created an artificial eye for a Daxamite who was another prisoner that was made an example of. Diana named her Julia, and the Daxamite agreed to be on their side. Diana is able to force a confrontation with the Sangtee emperor and admit the mistakes they make with their ways. With the help of Julia, Diana finally makes it back home. During Diana's absence however, Randolph had become the "hero" for Boston.
Also, just as she returned, it was the day of Superman's death. She wasn't there to help fight Doomsday. Superman killed the monster, but at the expense of his own life (Death and Return of Superman). All the JLA members came to pay their respects. Wonder Woman agreed and became the new leader of the Justice League Of America.
On Her Own
At TacoWhiz.
Diana returned to Paradise Island to find it had literally disappeared. Diana was confused on what to do about this so she returned to Boston and decided to get a new job. She was working for the Justice League Of America and gained a lot of money from the merchandise sold by Myndi Mayer, but she still looked in the classified ads. She got a job at TacoWhiz so she could understand the common man and woman, and also got her own apartment.
Diana met a man called Micah Rains who offered her a job. Diana continued working at TacoWhiz when she was approached by man called Doctor Fate. He offered to help find out what happened to Themyscira. The two went to the island and Doctor Fate casts a spell that would let Diana see the last few moments before the disappearance. There was a golden statue that washed up on shore and it was presented before Hippolyta. But something happened: a white light and explosion and the island disappeared. Diana was convinced that her mother was dead, and that Circe was behind this. They went to Circe's lair only to discover she had suffered the same fate as Themyscira.
She went out shopping with Etta for a wedding dress when Flash warned that Mayfly was about to assassinate her. Straight after his warning, Mayfly came in and attempted to assassinate her. With Etta's and Flash's help, she defeated Mayfly but was also shot in the process and was taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, Mayfly was murdered in her jail cell by a lawyer named Donna Milton who was working for a man named Ares Buchanan, the supplier of hi-tech arms and the one who hired Mayfly. Wonder Woman believed there was a connection between recent crimes and the hi-tech gadgets. He corrupted the White Magician.
Donna Milton introduced herself to Diana and spilled her life story and Diana was taken in by her charm. After Donna got Diana on her side, she brought her to Ares's lair. Donna refused Ares to torture Diana and was about to shoot the both of them. However, Donna used one of Ares' weapons and created an explosion that allowed them to fall through into a watery chamber. Once they fell through, Donna went into labour, the father being Ares. Diana delivered the child while the White Magician contacted Tony Sazia, Ares' boss, informing him that Ares had died. Sazia was not interested and attempted to kill the White Magician, but the White Magician killed Tony Sazia instead.
The White Magician's powers were increasing greatly because of his connection in the demonic realm. He decided to create some supervillians. One of them attacked Diana, one of them kidnapped Vanessa and crippled Julia. Wonder Woman however prevented one of them from killing Steve and Etta. Wonder Woman was angered by this, and contacted the mafia, instructing them to return Vanessa within an hour. They didn't return Vanessa and Wonder Woman made her way to their base and ripped it apart. Mrs. Sazia(Julianna Sazia) betrayed the White Magician by telling Wonder Woman where his base was. She rescued Vanessa there, but White Magician was nowhere to be found.
Diana was having nightmares every night and asked Superman to stop her if she ever got out of control. She thought she would go insane because of these nightmares. However, she was contacted by Doctor Fate and was told he was having the same nightmares, nightmares that Themyscira was going to be finished. Doctor Fate casted a spell that showed the end of Themyscira. Diana guessed that it wasn't the end of Themyscira, but just an illusion. Doctor Fate revealed that she was in fact Circe. She also revealed that she relocated Themyscira to another realm. Circe offered to return the island, only if Diana was to be killed. Battling through Circe's illusions, Diana failed to save a girl called Cynthia who was killed when a car struck her. With her death however, the island was restored.
The New Wonder Woman
Artemis as the new Wonder Woman with Diana. Art by Mike Deodato.
William Messner-Loebs started writing for George Perez and was doing well, but the art, done by Mark Deodato came under a lot of criticism. He portrayed them in skimpy outfits and implied sexualised poses. He also drew the Amazons as Caucasians only even though it has been stated that Euboea, who is clearly of an Asian descent.
Everything was back: the island, her sisters and her mother as well. Hippolyta told Diana what happened. Circe had attacked the Amazons and then Circe used her magic to transport the entire island into another dimension. Both the rogue Amazons and Amazons had to band together and fight off demons in that dimension that lasted for ten years. As a reward, Hippolyta gave the rogue Amazons a part of their land. Diana also told her mother what had been happening but she was not pleased. She thought she was wasting her time trying to change Man's World and wasn't sure if she could trust Diana to represent the island anymore. Diana, upset, wandered away and met Artemis. Diana was surprised to find such a woman like that roaming around. As they were talking to each other, word had come that Hippolyta was holding a contest to see who the new Wonder Woman would be.
The White Magician in demon form.
Zero Hour caused a twist in time however and Diana had to join her friends to help save the world. Her role in it was little, though she helped Power Girl deliver her child. Zero Hour had caused the time streams to be different. Instead of wearing a normal mask like all Amazons, Diana wore a Proteus Mask to change her whole appearance. Diana was also not allowed to use her powers on the island. The Contest began. One of Artemis' follwers try to assassinate Diana, but she disciplines her, explaining that Diana can be the only true Wonder Woman. They are neck and neck but Diana becomes distracted because of her mother straight ahead of her and stumbles. Artemis wins the contest and is the new Wonder Woman.
Artemis is given Diana's outfit and Sandals of Hermes. She is also given the Gauntlet of Atlas which increases her strength and keeps her bow. Diana created a new outfit for herself and headed back to Boston, to angry to hear what her mother had to say. Diana visited her friends in hospital. Donna Milton recovered but Julia was paralysed. Artemis travelled to New York City where she had a promoter, like Diana, and promised to succeed where she failed. However, the Justice League Of America was unhappy with the new Wonder Woman and agreed only to follow Diana.
Boston was in a middle of a gang war between the Sazia and Longo family. Longo had White Magician on his side, but Julianna Sazia hired Poison Ivy, Cheetah and Chesire. Diana was captured, but freed by Cheetah acknowledging that she had to owe her one. Poison Ivytook out some of Longo's assassins, though Joker had made his appearance and Sazia was not safe again. Diana tracked down Joker and he had a strap of dynamite attached to him. It was in fact a fake (like the joker he is), and it sprayed Diana with a paralyzing gel. However, Diana was able to become one with Pan and become as maniacal as Joker and defeated him. Meanwhile, the White Magician was casting a spell to kill Diana and Sazia, but Cheetah attacked him causing him to cast the spell but as a teleportation spell. In the end, Sazia killed Longo first.
Artemis was frustrated that Diana was still being Wonder Woman, even though she wasn't meant to be. Artemis started thinking that perhaps Diana was stumping her on purpose. Diana on the other hand caught all the criminals Artemis was battling. She discovered that Artemis had hired them so she could promote herself. Diana convinced Artemis to stop this and went home for some answers from her mother. Diana found her mother in the woods, blaming herself for everything that happened. Hippolyta confessed that in the other dimension, she saw her daughter die and that's the reason why she organized that contest.
The White Magician returned with even more power and Artemis had a hard time bottling him up. He transformed his girlfriend, anchorwoman Cassandra Arnold, and Cheetah into his minions and battle began. Diana visited her friends in hospital and was claimed that she had healing powers. Donna Milton survived the explosion that killed Ares and Julia completely recovered from her paralysis. Diana knew the truth: Donna was in fact Circe. Diana forcefully asked her for the truth and Donna got angry, teleporting her to Artemis' battle. The two Amazons fought side by side but Circe turned up and cast a spell which made Cheetah, Julianna Sazia and herself disappear. Artemis, who was heavily wounded gave Diana the Gauntlet of Atlas and gave her even more strength. The White Magician was defeated, but Artemis did as well in Diana's arms and both ended on good terms.
Back to Basics
Costume redesign in this series.
Wonder Woman moved to Gateway City and begins investigating some strange technology which leads her to Darkseid. He captures her, though she escapes and learns that Darkseid wants to do some real damage against Themyscira. Wonder Woman rushed to Themyscira only to find that Darkseid had already started his raid. Both sides battled hard, but Darkseid had an advantage. His minions could come back to life when killed. This caused the Amazons to lose and Darkseid left, content with the damage he had caused. Diana learned that her mother stepped down from her status of Queen. Diana got offered the crown, but refused and returned to Gateway City.
Diana then got a job at a museum and worked for a curator called Helena Sandsmark and was the mother of Wonder Girl. Diana was then approached by Phantom Stranger who wanted her help. Morgaine Le Fey captured [[Demon:char:13449]]. She used her power from Demon on Diana, but the Phantom Stranger stopped the spell and three went after Morgaine Le Fey. Morgaine Le Fey planned on using their immortality to extend her life, but Diana had broken her spell of immortality when she left Paradise Island and she disrupted it. Disrupting the spell, Wonder Woman was able to battle Morgaine and defeat her. After this, Diana thought Artemis was gone but she adventured through hell and saw her again. Also, she joined up with Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner now called Ion) to capture some renegade Khunds.
A new superhero calling himself Champion appears but Diana cannot meet him because of a new threat. When a scientist's son is injured in the lab, he transfers the boy's mind into a computer. He thinks he is actually playing a computer game and recreates Flash (Barry Allen), Sinestro and Doomsday who ran in a murderous frenzy. Champion joined in helping Diana and so did Cassie after she wore the Sandals of Hermes and the Gauntlet of Atlas and calls herself [[Wonder Girl:char:1683]].
Wonder Girl!
When Diana was fixing that problem, Cassie got in the way rather than help. She wanted to prove herself as [[Wonder Girl:char:1683]] and Diana was also eager to train her but Helena didn't think so much of this idea. Cassie battled Decay, though both of them didn't do much until Wonder Woman showed up and sent him home. Back in Boston, Vanessa is still having nightmares because of Dr. Psycho, but in the end she turns the tables.
Soon after, Diana with some other heroes stop someone called Know-Man. During that time, a group of aliens called Hyperclan come and claim to help Earth and turn it into a paradise. Their cover is soon broken however and are discovered to be a group of White Martians. Once the White Martians are defeated, she joins the new Justice League Of America.
Three men broke into the Gateway museum and escaped. Later, they also broke into another museum to escape again. They tracked them down in Antarctica where they discovered a city called Lansinar and were captured by the people living there. The rules explained that their city shifted to where it is now and buried them beneath the ice. They wanted to return to their rightful location but Diana pointed out and convinced them that they could not survive up there. The leaders stayed where they were and gave Diana a Lansinar morphing disc which could morph her into any object she wished. Diana returned to Gateway where Mike Schorr admited that he was attracted to her as well as Champion.
Hippolyta came to Gateway under the alias of "Polly". She was sent to the hospital when her body turned into stone. One of her new friends discovered her true origins which she refused to reveal. Mike Schorr was kidnapped by a feral Cheetah and Diana tracked her down. Diana tried to hit Cheetah but struck a wall instead and discovered that her hand shattered. Cheetah made a deal with Neron, selling her soul in exchange to resurrect Mr. Chuma (Minerva's assistant). With Chuma's help, she was able to turn Cheetah back into human form. Jason Blood ([[Demon:char:13449]]) then returned to help Diana with figuring out why her hand shattered. As Diana explained what happened, she got a strange feeling that something had happened to her mother. Champion helped her find her mother who was completely turned to stone. They decided that it was best that she went home only to find that the whole population turned into stone except Eudia who was not fully turned yet. She explained that all this stone turning was because the gods left Earth. She also revealed that Champion was actually Hercules. Diana was angry and attacked him though she missed and crumbled completely.
The gods returned. It is revealed that Hercules became Champion because of revenge but fell in love with Diana. The gods realised that their leaving was the reason why the Amazons turned into stone. Diana was brought back to life and a hearing was held and the Amazons also returned to life. Cassie also got Zeus' attention and became a superheroine.
Diana was with Helena, Cassie and Jason Blood when Artemis came in trying to kill Jason. Diana defended Jason and the fight went onto the streets. When Hippolyta came to visit her friends when she was under the alias of "Polly" she saw the fight on television and was terrified that Artemis was still alive. It could've possibly meant the end of Diana. Neron then showed up and took them all to Hell. Neron then split up the two identities of [[Demon:char:13449]], Jason and [[Etrigan:char:1792]]. This forced Diana to battle Etrigan. Artemis and Cassie were able to free themselves and also Merlin, one of Neron's prisoners. Neron was injured by Artemis' weapons and just as he was about to withdraw he shot Diana with a lethal bolt. They all transported to Gateway, and Diana was holding on for her life. Diana was taken to the hospital with other Justice Leaguers showing up soon enough. Donna Troy was also there being in a car accident losing her son and ex-husband. The Justice Leaguers tried to heal her, but her recovery seemed impossible. Almost on the verge of death, Diana could not participate in the Genesis Crossover.
Hippolyta, Cassandra and Donna Troy had to save Diana from a rogue doctor who would transfer her mind into Diana's body. However, that failed which confirmed their worst fears: Diana was dead. Diana was resurrected by the gods however, and was made the new Goddess of Truth. Hera told Diana that she had to give up being Wonder Woman and only help if people called her. Hippolyta's consequence regarding Diana and Artemis called her to become the new Wonder Woman.
Devastation of the Gods
Circe wanted revenge on Diana and Hippolyta, and cast a spell on Hippolyta causing her to forget who she was and put memories of her being a wife that lost a son. The same spell was put on the son's father as well. Diana broke Circe's spell and returned to Themyscira. Chronus emergered and created an evil version of Diana named Devastation.
Infinite Crisis Era
The death of Maxwell Lord.
When Maxwell Lord was set to destroy all superhumans, he used his mind control powers on Superman who savagely beat Batman and engages in fights with Wonder Woman, making Superman think that she is Doomsday. Wonder Woman realized that defeating Superman would not solve the bigger problem. She manages to get the upper hand over Lord and ties him in her Lasso of Truth, demanding that he tell her how free Superman of his mind control. Lord simply said, "Kill me." Seeing no other choice, Wonder Woman snapped his neck (see The OMAC Project). This act was televised across the world with the Brother Eye satellite and with it, the text "MURDER" is shown. This also caused a strain between Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman as Wonder Woman tries to explain her actions. Batman rejects Diana's attempt to explain her reasons and with Superman, it isn't any better. This caused Superman to distrust Diana, seeing her only as a cold blooded murderer and the final protocol called "Truth and Justice" in which a full raid is executed to destroy the rest of the Amazons. To destroy all the OMACs, the Amazons use a weapon called the Purple Death Ray (a modified version of the Purple Ray which actually heals). The Amazons soon realise that the battles are being broadcasted across the world, editing it giving the Amazons a murderous title and Diana persuades them not to use the Purple Death Ray. The Amazons then wished the island (with Athena's help) to be teleported another dimension where no innocents could be harmed. Diana chose not to join them however, and continued fighting the OMACs on Earth.
Diana is then breaking up a riot in Boston and is then interrupted by a woman who believes she is Hippolyta, however, she reveals herself at the Earth-Two Wonder Woman, who has come to give her important information and guidance. She urges Diana to stop a fight happening between Superman and Kal-L. Diana stops them from fighting each other and convince each other to stop Alex Luthor and Superman Prime who are the actual culprits in starting the Infinite Crisis. Diana then redeems herself by convincing Batman, whose relationship with her is still unstable, to not assassinate Alex Luthor. Soon, Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman resume their normal friendships and this was when Diana decided to turn over the mantle of Wonder Woman to Donna Troy in turn for some searching for her true self.
One Year Later
Donna Troy's turn
One year later, it is revealed that Donna Troy had taken up the role of Wonder Woman, as Diana gave her the lasso and her costume and is also keeping a watch over Wonder Girl. Diana is then seen returning as a secret agent under the name of Diana Prince. She joins the Department of Metahuman Affairs partnering with Nemesis. She is introduced to the organisation's survelliance where she was last seen with I Ching and the charges against Diana for killing Maxwell Lord has also been dropped. During her time with the Department of Metahuman Affairs, her mission is to find Donna Troy and is joined by Cassie Sandsmark, Nemesis, Robin and Hercules. Circe then steals Diana's powers, revealing that she and Hercules worked together. Circe then betrays Hercules as well, stealing his powers and eventually, Diana's powers return and she does the famous swirl in which she turns into Wonder Woman once again.
The writers have also seemed to taken Wonder Woman back to her old roots, where she established a movement called "Athenian Women's Help Shelters". An imposter Sarge Steel then captures Wonder Woman, torturing her in hopefully gathering information about the Purple Death Ray. Just before the Amazons plan an assault (Amazons Attack!), Nemesis frees her. It turns out that the assault planned was because of Circe's influence over Hippolyta. Wonder Woman once again wants to go to trial for the murder of Maxwell Lord and asks Kate Spencer (Manhunter) to represent her. She gets a video proving that Lord had controlled Superman, but Wonder Woman refuses to allow her to use the evidence, as it would allow people to distrust Superman. Even so, the judges refuse to charge Wonder Woman of any wrong doings.
Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman then reform the Justice League and after a battle against Black Canary, Green Lantern and Solomon Grundy, and offer membership to the people involved in the last mission.
Diana had also one before the grand jury because of the death of Lord. She was represented by Kate Spencer A.K.A Manhunter, soon the grand jurors decide not to indict Diana. Diana was soon catured and imprisoned by Sarge Steel so that they could gain information on how to create a Purple Death Ray like the one used in the Infinte Crisis. Diana was rescued by Nemesis and it was revealed that Circe was behind everything.
Amazons Attack!
The Amazons soon return after the events of the Infinite Crisis. For unknown means they are being led by a resurrected Queen Hippolyta. Hippolyta and the Amazons wage war on America for there capture of Diana. The Amazons bring with them an army of mythical creatures such as chimeras, hydras and many cyclopes and began to murder any male they see, not caring about age or whether they are armed or not. Hippolyta slices off Lincoln's head from the Lincoln Memorial and two Amazons try to kill the president, but are defeated by Black Lightning. Then Hippolyta and the Amazon forces are unaware of the details of Diana's capture and rescue of Wonder Woman and tries to end the fighting but becomes angry with her daughter telling her she should join her side. Meanwhile the JLA and armed forces are preparing to battle the Amazons. Diana leaves and confronts Circe who plans to use the assault as a distraction to destroy Themyscira, however she is impaled with a spear from Hippoylta who hears them talking. Circe is forced to leave the battle due to her attack.
Donna Troy also tries to talk to Hippolyta who agrees to talk if both Dianna and Donna are there, but the Amazons are secretly attacking Kansas and California. The level of the attacks bring questions from Artemis and Phillipus and the President decides to invoke the McCarran Internal Secuity Act because of the events. Woman who have any ties to the Amazons are being arrested and put into interment camps. Supergirl and Wondergirl get into a fight with the guards despite the Teen Titans trying to stop the fighting. The two girls soon travel after Hippolyta to also end the fighting and Wondergirl agrees to bring the President to her. Diana travels to Themyscira to retrieve an anti-venom for Nemesis who was stung by giant bees from the island with help from Athena, but she won't send them back and after she stops a missile headed for the island attacks Diana.
Supergirl and Wondergirl convince the President to have Air Force One land, but it is attacked by Amazons on winged horses they force it to crash injuring the President. Superman shows up and stops the Amazons from killing anyone, but they were killed by a group of soldiers who were concealing themselves while Superman was trying to talk to them. Batman informs Diana that because of the weapons used in the battles that there is a third party involved and Wonder Woman thinks it is Bana Amazons so Batman sends Catwoman to sneak into their group. Diana gets the anti-venom to Nemesis and meanwhile the Banas use the Outsider member Grace who they tell is one of them as a shield and join with the other Amazons. The fighting ends when Batman casts a spell he gauned from Zatanna to take away Circe's powers for an hour. Diana is able to convince her mother to stop fighting. Athena then passes judement on the Amazons for their actions. She rises Themyscira from the ocean, sends Circe to Hades, and forces Hippolyta to rule over the now empty Themyscira. It is then revealed that Athena was actually Granny Goodness and has imprisoned the Greek Gods and was using her identity.
Powers
Showing off her super strength
Wonder Woman's powers are drawn from certain traits of Greek goddesses, who created her. Her physical feats are impressive, with her strength, stamina, speed and endurance equivalent to Superman. She is also invulnerable, but her weaknesses are projectiles. Examples of this are projectiles which can harm her are arrows and bullets. However, because she has speed and reflexes that are honed to perfection, she can deflect these with her bracelets. Given divine powers by the goddesses, she is also resistant to magic attacks and is effective against her foes which use magic as their main power. Diana's healing capabilities allow her to constantly renew herself, allowing her to last longer than an average human. She also has the ability to have a special connection with animals, able to tame them or feel empathetic towards them, a trait taken from the goddess Artemis. Before the Infinite Crisis, Wonder Woman was blinded, but her sight was restored by Athena and by this, this gave her a boost in her sight and with this super sight, she was able to "see" the feelings of people around her. Along with this, she had gained an immunity to Dr. Psycho's illusions. Also due to Athena's traits, she has great wisdom in which she can learn languages much faster than any other average human being (Wonder Woman vol. 2 #3). The languages in which can speak are her native language (Themyscirian), English, ancient and modern Greek, French, Russian, Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin, and Portuguese.
Warrior's will
Being an Amazon warrior, she is a finest warrior to be born so far. She is excellent in unarmed combat. She also has learnt exotic forms of combat, including the Amazons' way of combat. This gives her an advantage in all fights, as her style of fighting is not practiced outside of Themyscira unless she is fighting someone who has the equivalent strength and durability, or someone who is stronger. She is proficient in weapons, including the javelin and the bow.
Woman Wonder also knows how to act rationally, diplomatically and is an accomplished strategist and tactician and is a born leader. For a short time, with the writers George Pérez and William Messner-Loebs, she could project herself astrally, in order to gain advice from mystical creatures. She is also able to hypotise anybody with her lasso, but this is perhaps a default power in all Amazons as Hippolyta had used it on Diana before during War of the Worlds.
Weapons and Equipment
The Bracelets of Victory
Lasso of Truth
The Lasso of Truth, explained by its name, forces people to tell the truth (perhaps influenced by her creator, who created the polygraph), by the Fires of Hestia and forged by Hephaestus from the Golden Girdle of Gaea that Antiope once wore. It is able to restore people's lost memories, get rid of illusions, heal the holder's body (in this case, Wonder Woman), cure insanity and people who are in its circumference will be protected from magical attacks. It is unbreakable, being able to hold anybody, even someone with the physical strength equivalent to Superman. This lasso however should not be confused with Cassie Sandsmark's lasso. Her lasso was given to her by Ares and should any of her enemies get caught in it, they would be given a shock.
Bracelets of Victory
These are a pair of steel cuffs which are indestructable because they were used from the remains of the Aegis shield and were modelled after the cuffs which they were once enslaved in. They are even able to deflect Darkseid's energy attacks. Wonder Woman can use her super reflexes to deflect projectiles, punches, blades, or any sort of flying offensive object. She can also use them to deflect the object back into her enemies (much like Jedis with their lightsabers).
Boomerang Tiara
Wonder Woman can also use this as an offensive weapon, throwing it, hurting her enemy and effectively return straight into her hands. It is also actually razor sharp and can cut through most things. She also wears this as the red star represents freedom and patriotism.
The glowing Lasso of Truth
Sandals of Hermes
Given to Diana by Hermes, this allows her to travel between Themyscira and Man's World. These sandals have also been given to Artemis and Wonder Girl.
Gauntlet of Atlas
Taken from the Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan who was to hold the world up by his hands. These gauntlets allow the strength of the anybody who uses it to be multiplied by ten. She has used these to kill the White Magician in his demon form and Doomsday but because of the suddeness of this profound strength, Diana found it difficult to control her strength when she used them as she already had enough in her.
Lansinar disc
This disc was a piece of alien technology which allowed her to become an invisible version of whatever object or vehicle she needed to be, all by visualising how she wanted to look. The most frequently used object is the Invisible Plane which she uses to travel places in fast time.
DC Animated Universe
In Justice League & Justice League Unlimited Wonder Woman is a “rookie” compared to the others in the league. John Stewart even calls her one in the Secret Origins episodes. Wonder Woman and Batman also have an almost romantic relationship in the series. It is played as a will they won't they get together but, it is obvious in the series that they have feelings for each other.
Justice League Appearances
Homosexual Interpretation
The question that is asked all the time: is Wonder Woman a lesbian? After Seduction of the Innocents by Dr. Fredric Wertham during the 50s, Wonder Woman was suspected to be a lesbian, much like Batman and Robin.
So was Wonder Woman a lesbian, or was she a role model for girls? William Moulton Marston was Wonder Woman's creator, and he was a psychologist, inventing the lie detector, so it was obvious that he knew whatever he was doing; he was doing it on purpose. It's probably true that Marston had put clues in, and the first one is Wonder Woman's friends, being all women, who were called the Holiday Girls, "holiday girls" being a slang word for "lesbian". Another clue was probably the society in which the Amazons lived in, which consisted of only women. It is stated in the main continuity that there are Amazons who were lesbians, and Amazons that were straight as well. It's possible that the Amazons who were lesbians felt that such an attraction was forced upon them, much like the Spartans in same-sex barracks. The soldiers-in-training would practice same-sex practises, only to relieve the basic need for sex. Surrounded by all these "girlfriends", and with that term used, it is possible that they were her lesbian supporting cast. She had an array of them, one being a character named Paula. Various things she says - intentional or not - give the vibe that she herself may be a lesbian as well, and perhaps was attracted to Wonder Woman. Through various adventures, she shows her devotion to her, valuing her life over her own and goes by the logic that her loved one is greater than her own life.
In the 70s, a man named Jim Harmon would support Wertham’s theories in his book All in Colour for a Dime and had stated that Wonder Woman kiss women in her books during the Golden Ages, however, kissing was a rare scene, especially in the Golden Ages. Hugging was seen, but kissing was probably not. Wonder Woman didn't even kiss Steve Trevor during her adventures.
Jules Feiffer who wrote his book The Great Comic Heroes disagrees as he writes that Wonder Woman was not much of a dyke due to her fighting style as it was clean, basing his interpretation of Wonder Woman on the stereotypical dyke, noting that he uses the word “dykey” in his book. Taken from WordNet, which was developed by the Cognitive Science Laboratory at Princeton University, it defines "dyke" as “offensive terms for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine”. It was also during the time of 1965, in which Feiffer’s book was published, and perhaps sexism and stereotypes had been a deciding factor on what his final interpretations were. But it must be noted that Wertham had connected comics and juvenile behaviour, noting most certainly how homosexuality had affected the youth and that Feiffer’s conclusions may have had some connection.
However, people might question why Wonder Woman had a romantic relationship with Steve Trevor but why he was created is the question. It's possible that he was merely a fill-in character, as someone had to play the damsel-in-distress, to create for interesting and death-defying stories. Wonder Woman would always be rejecting his marriage proposals, saving the world first before marriage. It may have clued in how homosexuality was frowned upon, and perhaps even illegal during the Golden Ages.
Wonder Woman was also created because William Moulton Marston saw the DC Universe being dominated by male heroes. He probably wanted to target the comics to little girls and Gloria Steinem was a big supporter of Wonder Woman. She was an editor for Ms. Magazine (which was a feminist magazine) and said "... [Marston] had invented Wonder Woman as a heroine for little girls, and also as a conscious alternative to the violence of comic books for boys." And it Steinem’s quote probably is correct, as Marston wrote in The American Scholar
"It seemed to me, from a psychological angle, that the comics worst offense was their blood-curdling masculinity...it's smart to be strong. It's big to be generous, but it's sissified, according to exclusively male rules to be tender, loving, affectionate...'Ah that's girls stuff!' snorts our comic reader, 'Who wants to be a girl?" And that's the point; not even girls want to be girls as long as their feminine stereotype lacks force...strength."
Basically, he means that the women’s best qualities are their weaknesses and in turn the girls don’t want to be girls themselves because of the male dominating heroes in the DC Universe, let alone any other comics universe. There is also more proof that Marston created Wonder Woman specifically for young girls, as boys and men can be intimidating towards girls. As girls grow, they soon discover the word “sexuality” and as boys grow, they become physically stronger and girls look at that as if good looks were necessary. Not saying that sex doesn’t sell, but intelligence and a strong mind can prevail as Marie Wilson had to say in The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History:
"Sexual comments, jokes, and threats become more intimidating as girls develop an understanding of sexuality and as boys, on average, become physically bigger and stronger than girls....they begin to realize that good looks are necessary for certain kinds of success, and that good looks lead to being looked at, which for young adolescent girls can seem threatening."
Girls during the 1940s were taught to be quiet and let the boys handle everything. It is evident in Hitler’s youth camps, where girls were taught that the only reason why they existed was to give birth, nurture children and do many things an average housewife would do as quotes from Hitler would prove:
"Intelligence in a woman is not an essential thing. My mother for example would have cut a poor figure in the society of our cultivated women. She lived strictly for her husband and children. They were her entire universe. But she gave a son to Germany."
... the world of a woman is a smaller world [than a man’s]. For her world is her husband, her family, her children and her house."
Women and girls were oppressed and they needed something to escape to and find a way to express their opinions, and maybe this is another reason why he created Wonder Woman.
Another big sign pointing towards Wonder Woman’s lesbianism is the fact that she could have had two mothers! Just like Virgin Mary, Hippolyta created her child with clay from a seabed because she felt a strange feeling for a child. So Athena, who is a goddess told her to mould clay from a seabed and thus Princess Diana was born! Looking at it from a distance, Diana seems as if she had two mothers: Hippolyta and Athena.
It is hard to tell if Marston had originally intended to put lesbian clues, or if Wertham had made some connections about Wonder Woman and lesbianism but either way, Marston had provided a place away from the “Man’s World”, exclusively allowing girls to focus on themselves if needed, and teaching girls in the 1940s that girls did not need to be oppressed by men, adding that it was okay to express opinions. Of course, this "lesbian" fiasco is not to be out done by the fact that Wonder Woman's only weakness is that if her bracelets are bonded together by a "Man" she will lose her powers. This could be another pointer that Wonder Woman is a lesbian or the creator was trying to put hidden tones in the storylines.
It may be that Wonder Woman may also be bisexual, as she and another Amazon, Io, had reciprocal feelings for each other.
It can also be said that Wonder Woman does not feel she needs to be labelled sexually, and that she is just herself. Coming from a society that was only populated by women, "lesbian" in our eyes may have "straight" for them. The Amazons probably believed that love shouldn't be categorised into sex or race; as long as you loved someone, that it is what mattered to them.
