That hardly ended the controversy. In February 1943, Josette Frank, an expert on children’s literature, a leader of the Child Study Association and a member of Gaines’ advisory board, sent Gaines a letter, telling him that while she’d never been a fan of Wonder Woman, she felt she now had to speak out about its “sadistic bits showing women chained, tortured, etc.” She had a point. In episode after episode, Wonder Woman is chained, bound, gagged, lassoed, tied, fettered and manacled. “Great girdle of Aphrodite!” she cries at one point. “Am I tired of being tied up!”
This new era of the comic book was influenced by the British television series The Avengers, with Wonder Woman in the role of Emma Peel.[10] With Diana Prince running a boutique, fighting crime, and acting in concert with private detective allies Tim Trench and Jonny Double, the character resembled the Golden Age Black Canary. Soon after the launch of the "new" Wonder Woman, the editors severed all connections to her old life, most notably by killing Steve Trevor.[11]
In this new continuity, Wonder Woman's origin is significantly changed and she is no longer a clay figure brought to life by the magic of the gods. Instead, she is the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. The earlier origin story was revealed by Hippolyta to be a ruse thought up by the Amazons, to protect Diana from the wrath of Hera, who is known for hunting and killing several illegitimate offspring of Zeus.[62]
After Sekowsky's run ended in the early 1970s, Diana's roots were reverted to her old mythological ones and she wore a more modernized version of her original outfit, a predecessor to her "bathing suit" outfit.[194] Later, in 1976, her glowing white belt was turned into a yellow one.[194] For Series 3, artist Terry Dodson redrew her outfit as a strapless swimsuit.[195]
A new pantheon of gods has been born! But who are they? Where did they come from? What do they want? All questions for Wonder Woman, because she played more of a role in their arrival than you’d think! Will it fall to Diana to end their existence as well? Meanwhile, Wonder Woman’s brother Jason learns his true purpose. It’s all here in this extra-sized anniversary issue!
Superhuman Strength: As a demigoddess, Wonder Woman possesses incredible superhuman strength, making her the second strongest member of the Justice League, only surpassed by Superman. She can effortlessly bend metal bars, slam through solid walls and reinforced glass, and pry open steel doors. Even before accessing her full divine powers, Wonder Woman was strong enough to dominate several Amazons during her training, knocking down one with a whip and another with a shield, as well as kicking Antiope's sword out of her hand. Wonder Woman's strength extends to her ability to leap great distances. In a bar fight, she was able to throw a man across a room with an effortless shove of her hand. She effortlessly lifted an adult man with one arm and held him in the air, and threw an armored Ehrhardt E-V/4 tank in the air with ease. She was also able to effortlessly knock down many German soldiers with her shield and lasso. Wonder Woman was also able to deflect a missile with her shield, and withstand hundreds of shots at a time on her shield, albeit with considerable effort, as well as deflecting with her bracelets bullets and energy blasts with relative ease. Diana's immense strength allowed her to fight Ares, the powerful God of War, despite the considerable divine power of her older brother, managing to grab him from the waist and throw him against the roof of a warehouse. However, she was still easily dominated by the much stronger Ares. After obtaining and releasing her true divine power, Wonder Woman was able to fight Ares to an even greater degree, managing to knock him down and hit him in the face twice, as well as defeat a small German battalion using only her strength, and raise a very large and heavy German tank without much effort, which weighed 29 tons.[11] One hundred years later, Wonder Woman had become powerful enough to face the powerful Kryptonian deformity known as Doomsday, with her blows being powerful enough for the monster to wobble, stopping a massive blow of the monster with her sword. She was even able to knock him down with one strike of her shield on one of Doomsday's legs, as well as cut a car thrown toward her by Doomsday in half. Wonder Woman was also able to fight several times against the powerful Steppenwolf, managing to take him from the waist, knock him down through a wall, and shove him against a concrete wall. She was able to stab her sword into one of the feet of the New God, cut him at the waist, and, with the help of Aquaman, knock him down before he reached Cyborg. Wonder Woman was also able to break Steppenwolf's Electro Axe with her sword after Superman froze it with his freezing breath. In addition, after his resurrection, Wonder Woman was able to defend herself briefly against Superman during his confusion, the two generating a powerful shockwave with a single headbutt. The only beings that surpass the strength of Wonder Woman are Doomsday, Steppenwolf and Superman.
Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #105 revealed that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons, given life and power by four of the Greek and Roman gods (otherwise known as the Olympian deities) as gifts, corresponding to her renowned epithet: "Beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules", making her the strongest of the Amazons.[34] Wonder Woman's Amazon training gave her limited telepathy, profound scientific knowledge,[34] and the ability to speak every language – even caveman[34] and Martian languages.[175]
Shortly after the team assembled, Wonder Woman assisted in helping a newly resurrected Superman regain his memories. With the team now fully assembled, Wonder Woman contributed to the successful offensive against Steppenwolf, forcing the alien invasion into retreat. Afterwards, she began to plan for the Justice League's future alongside Bruce Wayne.
The Amazon Queen of Themyscira and Diana's mother.[36] After meeting the director for the role, Nielsen said, "Patty and I met in London, and we just hit it off from the get-go. We couldn't stop talking. What was supposed to be a one-hour meeting turned into a two-and-a-half-hour lunch and we just really got each other."[37] She described Jenkins's directing style for the film as "She's also the kind of director that I really flourish under. She has very strong and particular and specific ideas about what it is she wants to say. She comes from a place of strength always. And so, when you are dealing with someone like that, you feel absolutely free to be vulnerable, to be creative, and I am a big researcher." On playing the character, Nielsen said, "It was a complete and utter pleasure and I absolutely loved every second of playing her."[38] On her character being Diana's mother and Amazonian queen, Nielsen stated, "I'm queen and I'm preparing my child for a world that entails a lot of responsibility. So it was important to me to bring that into the character."[39] She read The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor to familiarize herself with women warriors and said "I used what I learned in Mayor's book as a rallying cry for how I approached Hippolyta. And then, of course, what is a leader who is elected by her peers every year and has been doing this for a thousand years? That too was interesting to think about". Nielsen went through a workout regimen for the film, saying "I did six hours a day. You know, two hours of weight training, two hours of swords training, and then two hours of horseback riding".
Wonder Woman's sexual and bondage themes in her earliest days were not without purpose, however. Her creator, William Moulton Marston, theorized that human relationships could be broken down into dominance, submission, inducement and compliance roles which were embedded into our psyche. Because males were, more often than not, dominant in societies, Marston believed that "Women as a sex, are many times better equipped to assume emotional leadership than are males." [262] Marston wanted to convey his progressive ideals, through his use of bondage imagery, that women are not only capable of leadership roles, but should be in charge of society. Although Marston had good intentions with these themes, in Wonder Woman's early appearances, the bondage elements were controversial, as they were often seen to overly fetishize women in power rather than promote such women. Noah Berlatsky criticized this imagery in Wonder Woman's earliest days noting that "the comics take sensual pleasure in women’s disempowerment." [263] Despite having the mixed messages of this imagery, Marston fiercely believed that women would soon rule the earth and meant to showcase his predictions through sexual themes in his stories. He was an open feminist while studying at Harvard where he once said "Girls are also human beings, a point often overlooked!" [264]
Phobos returned alongside his sister Eris in alliance with Circe. Circe had amassed great power by bringing gods of various pantheons together. Among them were the Roman gods, who challenged the Olympians for their domain. It took much strength for Zeus to summon Hermes and Diana to New Olympus, where the gods had been trapped. Earth's heroes were able to turn the tide against Circe, but three gods died: Circe killed Hermes; Harmonia was killed by her sister Eris; and Eris herself was slain by Son of Vulcan. Zeus and the Olympians decided then to follow the call of Cronus and the Titans to help guide other worlds in the universe. New Olympus was left to the Roman gods.[14][15]
A day before Whedon's departure from Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures purchased a spec script for the film written by Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland. Set during World War II, the script impressed executives at Silver Pictures.[77] However, Silver stated that he had purchased the script because he did not want the rights reverting; while stating the script had good ideas, Silver did not want the film to be a period piece.[81] By April 2008, Silver hired Jennison and Strickland to write a new script set in contemporary times that would not depict Wonder Woman's origin, but explore Paradise Island's history.[82]
In the preview in DC Comics Presents #41 (January 1982), writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gene Colan provided Wonder Woman with a stylized "WW" emblem on her bodice, replacing the traditional eagle.[17] The "WW" emblem, unlike the eagle, could be protected as a trademark and therefore had greater merchandising potential. Wonder Woman #288 (February 1982) premiered the new costume and an altered cover banner incorporating the "WW" emblem.[18] The new emblem was the creation of Milton Glaser, who also designed the "bullet" logo adopted by DC in 1977, and the cover banner was originally made by studio letterer Todd Klein, which lasted for a year and a half before being replaced by a version from Glaser's studio.[19][20] Dann Thomas co-wrote Wonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983)[21][22] and, as Roy Thomas noted in 1999 "became the first woman ever to receive scripting credit on the world's foremost super-heroine."[23]
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.
A new pantheon of gods has been born! But who are they? Where did they come from? What do they want? All questions for Wonder Woman, because she played more of a role in their arrival than you’d think! Will it fall to Diana to end their existence as well? Meanwhile, Wonder Woman’s brother Jason learns his true purpose. It’s all here in this extra-sized anniversary issue!
I read these last few volumes of Wonder Woman because I wanted to stay caught up before Steve Orlando and ultimately G. Willow Wilson take over the title. I've liked James Robinson before (his Starman comic is great), but this run on Wonder Woman was boring and by the numbers. It ended with the new character he had introduced sacrificing himself so the next writers could do their own thing with the title and not worry about this new wrinkle. Which honestly is fine by me because I didn't find the ...more
Omnilingualism: Wonder Woman, as an Amazon, has the ability to fluently speak, read, and understand all human languages (even currently dead ones, which allows her to surpass even a polyglot like Sameer), as well as to instinctively identify a language's name when seeing its written form (doing so when seeing Dr. Poison's notes on hydrogen-based mustard gas). Wonder Woman has so far been known to speak or read English (albeit with a mild Middle Eastern accent), French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin, Chinese, Sumerian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ottoman Turkish, and Blackfoot, thus making her the most polyglottic member of the Justice League.
"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."
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, she disappeared for a year in order to rediscover herself, and took part briefly in the events of 52. In the span of One Year Later, she was re-imagined once again and was forgiven by Batman and Superman while given her third ongoing monthly title. Batman helped her establish a role at the Department of Metahuman Affairs under the name of Diana Prince (paying homage to her golden age alter ego.) She worked alongside Tom Tresser and eventually became romantically involved with him. A move among fans across the different companies occurred with characters reverting to their original numbering of series (this for instance happened to Iron Man at Marvel as well) and the third Wonder Woman series was relaunched with Wonder Woman #600. This was actually accurate at the time as it was the indeed the 600 issue released (not including issues numbered otherwise such as with a zero or a million). Issue 600 was used as a chance to reinvent the character as she discovers herself with no memories and in a new costume. This was a short lived experiment as the entire DC lineup was soon to be re-imagined into the new 52, though certain aspects of her redesigned costume remained.
Her various durability levels originally stemmed from her Amazonian training. In post-Golden Age and Pre-52, Demeter (Goddess of the Earth) granted her immunity to radiation and the coldness of space; she also possesses a high level of resistance against fire and high temperatures, she has been shown taking fire, lava, thermonuclear explosions, hell fire and even superman's heat vision, however, her invulnerability has a vulnerable point against piercing weapons. Wonder Woman can fight with and withstood considerable damage in the form of hand to hand combat with opponents such as Superman and Gods. Wonder Woman possesses a high resistance to damage and magical attacks. Also she was self-sufficient in the fact that Wonder Woman did not have to eat or sleep and could hold her breath under water for hours and hours. This may still hold true in the new 52, Wonder Woman has still shown the ability to fight on with little to no rest or food to replenish her strength.
Ares appears as a major antagonist in the live action Wonder Woman film. In Queen Hippolyta's story about Ares which she reads to Diana, Ares was condemned by the other Olympian Gods for his warmongering which led to him killing the Gods where the images show him killing Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hades, Hestia, and Poseidon until Zeus drove him off of Mount Olympus with his thunderbolts. In his dying breath, Zeus created Themyscira for the Amazons and left them the "Godkiller" required to kill Ares should he rise again. This happens during World War I where Wonder Woman managed to slay Ares.
Magic (Formerly): When she was a child, Diana was marked by the goddess Hecate and bestowed with a fraction of her magical ability.[108] This power lay dormant until it was activated by the Upside-Down Man. Zatanna remarked that Wonder Woman's magical power was unlike anything she had ever seen or felt, and Diana possessed at least enough power to cast out the Upside-Down Man, an immensely powerful demon, from the world.[109] After the Justice League Dark defeated Hecate, the Witchmarked's power was taken from them and absorbed by Circe.[110]
Her outfit did not receive any prominent change until after the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis storyline. Similar to her chestplate, her glowing belt was also shaped into a "W".[194] This outfit continued until issue #600 – J. Michael Straczynski's run of Wonder Woman's altered timeline changed her outfit drastically. Her outfit was redesigned by Jim Lee and included a redesigned emblem, a golden and red top, black pants, and a later discontinued blue-black jacket.[194]
Born to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Diana lived a serene and joyful life until the intervention of Steve Trevor upon the island of Themyscira.[2] A tournament was held among the Amazons to determine the representative that would return to Man's World along with Trevor. Diana defeated the other Amazons but was tasked with the final challenge, deflecting a bullet fired from a gun by her mother. After winning the contest Diana was awarded a suit of armor and the Lasso of Truth and left for the United States,[3] though upon her arrival she was arrested and detained in a cell. Falling into despair, Diana was visited by the Gods of Olympus in their animal forms: a peacock, deer, owl, mouse, eagle, dove and tortoise, who granted her the gifts of strength, speed, endurance, empathy and flight.[4]
One day, the young Uxas of Apokolips came to Rome. There he spread tales of the great Olympian gods. Their following grew tremendously in Rome and so they created avatars of themselves; they were worshipped under different names. Uxas knew that each half of the pantheon would be less powerful than the original gods. Later as the god Darkseid, Uxas would use this knowledge to crush Zeus himself.[3]
In her false memories, the Amazons traditionally procreated by raping and then murdering sailors who happened too close to their island. Hippolyta was barren, and legend told that Diana was born of her mother's strong desire for a child, a lump of clay brought to life in the form of a girl; the perfect Amazon, as she was born of no man.[9] The truth, though, was that Hippolyta had had an affair with Zeus, and Diana's real parentage was hidden in order to protect the Queen and her daughter from the wrath of Zeus' notoriously jealous wife Hera.[10] Unbeknownst to Diana, her mother also gave birth to her twin, a brother named Jason.[11]
Suddenly, Zola and the others were attacked by Artemis, who was sent by Apollo to kill Zeke, Zola's son. While Zola and the others escaped with Zeke, Wonder Woman took on Artemis by herself. Diana defeated Artemis and went to protect Zola and the others, while Ares took the defeated Artemis back to Apollo.[33] However, the First Born and Cassandra, two of Zeus' illegitimate children, attacked Zola. Wonder Woman, Lennox and Orion worked together to fight the First Born, but he proved to be stronger than they had anticipated. Orion's Astro Harness incapacitated Cassandra, and Orion opened a Boom Tube so that Wonder Woman and her allies could escape. The First Born attempted to pry the Boom Tube open, but Lennox sacrificed himself so that the others could escape safely. Wonder Woman and her allies arrived at the other side of the Boom Tube and were greeted by Highfather, who explained that they were on New Genesis.[34]
In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock," Doctor Poison attended the meeting established by the Riddler and mentioned a rumor that Wonder Woman was forcefully dragged back to Themyscira by her fellow Amazons.[163] Wonder Woman comes out of hiding to address the United Nations, hoping to defuse the metahuman arms race. However, the summit is interrupted by Black Adam, the Creeper, and Giganta, who take advantage of the absence of most of Earth's superheroes to attack the UN at the time when the superheroes were confronting Doctor Manhattan on Mars.[164]
During a training session observed by Hippolyta, Diana sparred against her fellow warriors, demonstrating her weapons expertise and defeating each of them swiftly. Her final opponent was Antiope herself. The two fought with all their might. Diana managed to disarm Antiope and looked toward her mother for approval. Antiope seized the opportunity to push Diana to the ground and pick up her sword, admonishing her for letting her her guard down. As Antiope slashed at her and forced her backwards, Diana instinctively brought her arms together to block the attack. She clashed her arm gauntlets together, resulting in her unleashing a powerful shock-wave that sent Antiope flying back and left all spectating Amazons there, including Diana herself, in complete shock.[3]
The Diana Prince alias also played an important role after the events of Infinite Crisis. Wonder Woman was broadcast worldwide killing a villain named Maxwell Lord, as he was mind controlling Superman into killing Batman. When Wonder Woman caught him in her lasso, demanding to know how to stop Superman, Maxwell revealed that the only way to stop him was to kill Lord, so as a last resort Diana snapped his neck.[63][64] To recover from the trauma of killing another person, the Amazon went into a self-imposed exile for one year.[65] On her return to public life, Diana realized that her life as a full-time celebrity superhero and ambassador had kept her removed from humanity. Because of this she assumed the persona of Diana Prince and became an agent at the Department of Metahuman Affairs. During a later battle with the witch Circe, a spell was placed on Diana leaving her powerless when not in the guise of Wonder Woman.[66]
Later, Diana, Zola and Hera had lunch while they were watched by Hermes. Orion, believing Hermes had bad intentions, attacked him before being stopped by Wonder Woman, and at the same time Strife appeared. Back at the apartment, Strife gave War's helmet to Diana, even though Diana still felt uncomfortable at becoming the new Goddess of War. In that moment, Siracca entered the apartment and told Diana that Milan had been captured by Cassandra. Wonder Woman asked Hermes to take her to Chernobyl, and he accepted to help.[38]
