It was the fall of 1985...I walked into editor Janice Race's office to find out about the fate of Diana Prince. I was curious to learn who was going to draw her. Superman had [John] Byrne and [Jerry] Ordway, Batman had [Frank] Miller and [Alan] Davis (and later [David] Mazzucchelli). Wonder Woman had...No one. A writer, Greg Potter, had been selected but no established artist wanted to handle the new series. After exhaustive searches, it seemed Wonder Woman would have to be assigned to an unknown...I thought of John Byrne and Superman. What a giant coup for DC. A top talent and fan-fave on their premier character..."Janice" I heard myself say "What if I took on Wonder Woman for the first six months – just to get her out of the starting gate?"
Considering Bruce's offer, Diana meanwhile returns to her job as Curator for the Department of Antiquities[6] at the Louvre Museum. Bruce sends Diana a package, which contains the original, physical photograph of herself with the Wonder Men. This causes her to reminisce about her childhood, naive idealism, and all of the ensuing events of World War I. She sends a thankful e-mail. Diana then dons her Wonder Woman armor after hearing a disturbance in the distance of Paris by sailing off the roof of the museum at sunset in Paris to confront it.[3]
Wonder Woman appears as one of the lead characters in the Justice League title written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee that was launched in 2011 as part of The New 52.[152] In August 2012, she and Superman shared a kiss in Justice League Vol 2 #12, which has since developed into a romantic relationship.[153][154][155] DC launched a Superman/Wonder Woman series that debuted in late 2013, which focuses both the threats they face together, and on their romance as a "Power Couple".[156][157]
Their first adventure together as a serious couple involved a battle with Doomsday, a monster of Kryptonian legend.[57] Superman, already familiar to the monster, explained that Doomsday was sealed into a pocket dimension called the Phantom Zone. Seeking preparation against enemies that could match them in power, Wonder Woman asked Hephaestus to forge weapons for them.[58] Later, the Justice League intercepted the arrival of General Zod, another Kryptonian survivor. Superman gave him shelter in the Fortress of Solitude, but the couple discovered their relationship was now public knowledge.[59][60]
Starting in Wonder Woman vol. 2 #51, the Amazons, who had revealed their presence to the world in Wonder Woman vol. 2 #50, are blamed for a series of murders and for the theft of various artifacts. The Amazons are then taken into custody, Queen Hippolyta is nowhere to be found and Steve Trevor is forced by General Yedziniak to attack Themyscira. These events lead to the "War of the Gods" occurring. The culprit of the murders, thefts and the framing of the Amazons is revealed to be the witch Circe, who "kills" Diana by reverting her form back into the clay she was born from. Later, Wonder Woman is brought back to life and together with Donna Troy, battles Circe and ultimately defeats her.[103][104][105][106] Circe would later return by unknown means.
DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio asked fans for 600 postcards to restore the Wonder Woman comic book to the original numbering, starting at #600. The publisher's office had received 712 postcards by the October 31, 2009 deadline. As a result, the numbering switched to #600 after Wonder Woman #44, in an anniversary issue. Issue #600 featured several stories featuring work from guest creators such as Geoff Johns, George Pérez, Phil Jimenez, and Amanda Conner. The issue featured guest appearances from other female superheroes such as Batwoman, Power Girl, Batgirl, Stargirl and the Question.[9]
“Anniversary, which we forgot entirely,” Olive Byrne wrote in her secret diary in 1936. (The diary remains in family hands.) During the years when she lived with Marston and Holloway, she wore, instead of a wedding ring, a pair of bracelets. Wonder Woman wears those same cuffs. Byrne died in 1990, at the age of 86. She and Holloway had been living together in an apartment in Tampa. While Byrne was in the hospital, dying, Holloway fell and broke her hip; she was admitted to the same hospital. They were in separate rooms. They’d lived together for 64 years. When Holloway, in her hospital bed, was told that Byrne had died, she sang a poem by Tennyson: “Sunset and the evening star, / And one clear call for me! / And may there be no moaning of the bar, / When I put out to sea.” No newspaper ran an obituary.
^ Esposito, Joey; Norris, Erik (December 14, 2011). "The Best of DC Comics in 2011. What are the best books coming out of the DC relaunch?". IGN. Archived from the original on September 16, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012. Sometimes it takes a completely fresh set of eyes to reignite the flame of creativity...By deeply rooting their new Wonder Woman series in Greek mythology, Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang have tapped into a creative well that appears bottomless.
As Themyscira's emissary to Man's World, Diana has made it her duty to lead by example, even if the differences between her birthplace and new home sometimes present hurdles for her to jump. She has come to represent the possibility and potential of life without war, hate or violence, and she is a beacon of hope to all who find themselves in need. She stands as an equal among the most powerful Super Heroes, with a sense of purpose to protect the world from injustice in all forms.
As early as the 1950s,[210] Wonder Woman's tiara has also been used as a razor-edged throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang.[183] The tiara allows Wonder Woman to be invulnerable from telepathic attacks, as well as allowing her to telepathically contact people such as the Amazons back on Themyscira using the power of the red star ruby in its center.[63]
As the daughter of Zeus, Wonder Woman has incredible control over the supernatural divine energy of the Olympian Gods, which she usually emits through her Bracelets of Submission. When she clashes her bracelets together, she releases a large spherical blast of orange (or sometimes white-hot) energy, with it being powerful enough to accidentally injure Antiope, send the mighty gods Ares and Steppenwolf flying back, and even push back the gigantic monster Doomsday. At full power, Wonder Woman could generate these shock waves from her body, notably to destroy the restrains Ares put her in and knock down a small German battalion with a very powerful omni-directional shock wave. She was also capable of using the energy to shield herself, as the debris Ares sent flying at her disintegrated against the invisible field as she built up her attack. She could also freeze the momentum of targets in front of her, causing Ares to be forcibly suspending in the air when he tried flying into her before she blasted him away. Wonder Woman can also transmit this energy through her shield. By striking one of her bracelets with her shield, she generated an energy wave that knocked down a bridge, and Cyborg and Steppenwolf with it.
Superman begged his fellow heroes to arrest him, and while he was taken to the A.R.G.U.S. facilities, Diana expressed disapproval at Steve’s secret Justice League. Wonder Woman travelled to the Temple of Hephaestus and demanded Hephaestus tell her about what the box really was. Hephaestus answered that the box was not created by the Gods of Olympus and the truth was a mystery even to them. Wonder Woman decided to seek help from the Justice League Dark.[66] Suddenly, the three Justice Leagues converged at the House of Mystery, where the heroes were divided, one side led by Wonder Woman, the other by Batman. Zatanna, having taken Wonder Woman’s side, teleported the group away.[67] Wonder Woman’s group tracked Pandora’s box to Lex Luthor’s prison cell, where Pandora was offering the box to Luthor. Wonder Woman grabbed the box but was overwhelmed by its power.[68]
Who are the Dark Gods, and what is it they want? We don't actually see them in the issue; the only glimpse we have of them so far is on the cover. They look mighty and regal, and they certainly look dangerous. We don't yet know where exactly they come from, but the issue's advanced solicit description does confirm that they have arrived in the wake of Dark Nights: Metal, and that they are part of new secrets of the cosmos -- secrets that have just been unveiled. Already, we have seen that they are able to affect the minds of the masses, and turn them against their own kind. And this is only the start.
After the release of the 2017 film Wonder Woman, many bloggers noted what they felt made Wonder Woman a feminist icon in the film. Zoe Williams for The Guardian said, "Yes, she is sort of naked a lot of the time, but this isn't objectification so much as a cultural reset: having thighs, actual thighs you can kick things with, not thighs that look like arms, is a feminist act. The whole Diana myth, women safeguarding the world from male violence not with nurture but with better violence, is a feminist act. Casting Robin Wright as Wonder Woman's aunt, re-imagining the battle-axe as a battler with an axe, is a feminist act. A female German chemist trying to destroy humans (in the shape of Dr Poison, a proto-Mengele before Nazism existed) might be the most feminist act of all."[234] Alyssa Rosenberg for The Washington Post said, "... None of these experiences crushed me, of course, but I do wonder what it might have been like if they hadn't happened.The power of Wonder Woman, and one of the things that gives Jenkins's adaptation of the character such a lift, is in the answer to that question. Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) doesn't have any idea what women and men are — or aren't — supposed to do. Even when she does encounter other people's ideas about gender roles, she doesn't automatically accept them, and she never lets anyone stop her. And the movie goes a step further and argues that it's not merely little girls all over the world who stand to gain if they can grow up free of the distorting influence of misogyny: a world like that would be liberating and wonderful for men in lots of ways, too."[235] Emma Gray for HuffPost said, "When it comes to pop culture, we speak often about representation; the simple yet often unfulfilled idea that it matters to see someone like you fill a variety of imagined roles on screen. After awhile, these conversations almost begin to feel obvious. We know that it's good to see women and people of color and disabled people and trans people and queer people in the same numbers and variety of roles that white, cisgender, straight men have long been afforded. But what these discussions often lose is the emotional impact of finally seeing something you may have never even realized you were missing. For many women viewers, "Wonder Woman" filled a hole they didn't know they had." [236]
After the death of Superman, Wonder Woman became depressed and began to remember her origins differently, questioning aspects of her past such as whether she truly was mocked as a child and her relationship with Ares. In a fit of rage Diana crushed the helmet of War. Realizing that she shouldn't have been able to do that, she used the Lasso of Truth on herself and discovered that she had been deceived. Diana traveled to Olympus for answers, but found it abandoned. She also found herself unable to return to her home of Themyscira.[7]
While in London, Wonder Woman was summoned to help a young lady called Zola from the minions of the goddess Hera and after Diana defeated the enemies, she was informed by Hermes that Zola was pregnant with Zeus’s child, which caused Hera’s wrath.[16] Diana then took took Zola and the injured Hermes to the island of Themyscira, home of the Amazons, where Hera’s wrath reached them in the form of her daughter Strife. Wonder Woman used the Lasso of Truth to stop Strife from hurting the Amazons, but it caused her to reveal the fact that Diana and her were sisters.[9] The next day, Diana learned from her mother that she was in fact Zeus’ daughter and, hurt by her existence being a lie, she decided to renounce the name Diana, and swore never to return to the island again.[10]
Duing the Perez run on the character, there were not as many story arcs either, but they did become more defined. Her entrance into Man’s World was to stop a global nuclear war created by Ares. She also had introduced a modern version of the Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Psycho and Silver Swan. One of the defining story arcs at this time was the Challenge of the Gods, where she discovers the truth about her own past as she journeys into the underworld. In this time as well she was a part of numerous company-wide crossovers including Millennium, Invasion and one focused on herself, the War of the Gods. The latter was Perez’s swansong on the character and with Messner Loebs taking over afterwards the direction of the character changed again somewhat. Under his direction, Diana became involved in battle factions of organized crime in Boston, and faced off against Ares Buchanan and the White Magician. This resulted in Wonder Woman being marooned in space, and returning to uncover the plot. During the events of Zero Hour a slightly different version of her origin is told, and Artemis wins the right to be Wonder Woman in another contest. This ends eventually with Diana battling the White Magician after Artemis has been killed. The John Byrne run equally was without as many defined story arcs except specifically with how her death affected others. This was also incorporated into the company wide Genesis event. Once she returned she faced a new villain known as Devastation who she battled occasionally, and she also took responsibility for Cassandra Sandsmark (who would later become Wonder Girl.) As a prominent character within the DC universe she took part in company-wide crossovers like Our Worlds at War and the Joker’s Last Laugh. When Rucka took over, some of the character's most memorable story arcs occurred, and most famously among them Stoned and the Superman story arc Sacrifice which ended in Wonder Woman #219 with her killing Maxwell Lord.
An immortal Amazon warrior goddess who is the crown princess of Themyscira and the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus given to the Amazons to raise, and half-sister of Ares.[12] Describing Wonder Woman and her appeal, Gadot said, "She's relatable. She has the heart of a human and is very compassionate, but her experiences—or lack of them, her naivete, really—make her interested in everything around her and able to view the world in a way that we'd all like to: with a genuine curiosity."[13] On Diana's relationship with her mother, Gadot said, "Diana is a very opinionated girl. Her mother is very opinionated. Her mother is very protective as well, and they have, you know, the very natural clash that a mother has with her daughter, with their daughters, the first time they want to leave home."[14] On taking on the role as Wonder Woman, Gadot stated, "I feel very privileged that I got the opportunity to portray such an iconic, strong female character. I adore this character and everything that she stands for and everything that she symbolizes."[15] On Diana going to the world, Gadot stated, "When Diana comes to the real world she's completely oblivious about gender and society rules, that women are not equal to men."[16] Describing Diana's relationship with her mother and aunts, Jenkins said, "She is the only child they raised together. And their love for her manifests in a different way for each of them."[17] On working with Gadot, Jenkins said, "Gal quickly became the person I wanted to talk to about everything. We'd shoot together all day. And then on weekends, we'd be like, 'What do you want to do?' That's maybe not totally normal."[18]
Wonder Woman’s appearance in the early golden age of comics made her the first prominent female superheroine. The psychologist William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman somewhat as a counter reaction to the presence of prominent male superheroes (at this time Superman, Batman and Captain America), as well as a counterbalance to the "blood curdling masculinity" that was dominant at the time, with the hopes that the character could serve as an inspiration for young children (though in certain ways it was geared more towards female readers.) Marston had been partially motivated to create this character because of the accomplishments of his own wife, who was also an accomplished academic at a time when it was difficult for women to fulfill this role. As a result, the first Wonder Woman series contained many complementary articles and features which sought to highlight the inner power of women. There were articles for instance on the different career paths that women could pursue (according to the standards of the 1940s) as well as a series of stories on famous and accomplished women, called the Wonder Women of History. Marston introduced the character in All-Star Comics #8 in 1941. She became the lead character in Sensation Comics in 1941, and got her first solo book in 1942.
In order to prove her devotion to her people, the Amazons issued a challenge to Diana, one she would have to meet in two days. In the meantime, the Justice League had tracked the insectoid queen down to a remote mountain. The League journeyed deep into the mountain and encountered the queen. Diana condemned her for the lives she has taken, but the insectoid queen replied that it was Diana’s actions, namely her throwing of the First Born into the depths of the Earth, that awoke the insectoids from their slumber.[54]
In 2016, DC Comics once again relaunched all of its publications as part of the "DC Rebirth" continuity reboot, and the new fifth volume of Wonder Woman was released bi-monthly with writer Greg Rucka. This fifth volume of Wonder Woman is part of the "DC Universe", the current continuity established after Rebirth. Initially, the new series does not use a regular storyline that exists between each issue; instead two separate storylines share the book, with an installment of one story published every other issue, and those of the other storyline published in between those. This practice began with the storyline "The Lies" for the odd numbered issues, and "Year One" for the even numbered issues. The new storyline as presented in these issues effectively retcons the events from the previous New 52 series. "The Lies"[51] storyline reveals that a number of events from the previous Wonder Woman series in which Diana was made the Queen of the Amazons and the God of War, was in fact all an illusion created by a mysterious villain, and she had never once been back to Themyscira ever since she left, nor is she capable of returning there. The "Year One" story is presented as an all-new origin story for Diana,[52] which reveals how she received her powers from the Olympian Gods,[53] which was intended to bring her back to her classical DC roots. Wonder Woman appears in DC Rebirth with a revised look, which includes a red cape and light armor fittings. Along with her lasso and bracelets, she now regularly utilizes her sword and shield. Wonder Woman: Rebirth artist Liam Sharp described the new armor as a utilitarian piece which allows her to move more freely.[54] Starting from Issue 26, the series returned to a regular storyline between each issue.
Flash and Wonder Woman get attacked by Steppenwolf and the Parademons before Batman helps her by killing one of the Parademons. Cyborg then falls into the Knightcrawler and hacks it in his control, which he uses it against Steppenwolf. But the Knightcrawler fails when Steppenwolf catched a missile and threw it against the wall, which then causes the harbor to flood which allows Steppenwolf to escape.
Wonder Woman was legally barred from appearing in the first few seasons of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but made a cameo from behind in the episode "Sidekicks Assemble!" She later made a full appearance in the final season during the episode "Scorn of the Star Sapphire!," and played a main role in the episode "Triumvirate of Terror!" In the show, she was voiced by Vicki Lewis.
