Diana was born circa 5000 years ago on the newly-created island of Themyscira to Zeus and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, mere months after the War of the Gods. Zeus intended for the child to one day grow strong enough to defeat Ares, the God of War. Fearful for her daughter's safety, Hippolyta lied to Diana about her true parentage, instead telling Diana that she'd sculpted her from clay and prayed to Zeus to bring her to life. Diana would believe this story for most of her life.
Wonder Woman's advocacy for women rights and gay rights was taken a step further in September 2016, when comic book writer Greg Rucka announced that she is canonically bisexual, according to her rebooted Rebirth origin.[255][256] Rucka stated, "... nobody at DC Comics has ever said, [Wonder Woman] gotta be straight. Nobody. Ever. They've never blinked at this."[253] Rucka stated that in his opinion, she "has to be" queer and has "obviously" had same-sex relationships on an island surrounded by beautiful women.[257][258] This follows the way Wonder Woman was written in the alternate continuity or non-canon Earth One by Grant Morrison,[259] and fellow Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone staunchly supported Rucka's statement.[260] Surprised at the amount of backlash from her fanbase, Rucka responded to "haters" that consensual sex with women is just as important to Wonder Woman as the Truth is to Superman.[261]
In 2016, "Issue #48" of Sensation Comics, featured Wonder Woman officiating a same-sex wedding, drawn by Australian illustrator Jason Badower. "My country is all women. To us, it's not 'gay' marriage. It's just marriage", she states to Superman. Inspired by the 2015 June Supreme Court ruling that established marriage equality in all 50 United States, Badower says DC Comics was "fantastic" about his idea for the issue. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, he said his editor "Was like 'great, I love it! Let's do it.' It was almost anticlimactic."[250] "Diana's mother, the queen, at the very least authorized or in some cases officiated these weddings," Badower says. "It just seems more like a royal duty Diana would take on, that she would do for people that would appreciate it."[238]
As her injuries healed, Wonder Woman and her friends spent some time on New Genesis. She spoke to Highfather, who agreed to let her return to Earth. As soon as Diana and her friends returned to Earth, Orion decided to go with them. Arriving to London, they realized the First Born had wrecked the entire city and killed Lennox. The First Born summoned an army of hyena men to kill the intruders but Ares arrived to help Wonder Woman in the fight.[35]
Wonder Woman was minorly associated with the series 52, and in the One Year Later universe following Infinite Crisis she becomes a member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. The most memorable story arc from this era was the much maligned Amazons Attack story arc, which many fans felt was not engaging nor did it do enough service to the well-established characters. After Gail Simone took over the series, a number of memorable story arcs took place, foremost among them Rise of the Olympian and Warkiller. Following the departure of Gail Simone the character was relaunched into the storyline Odyssey, where she must discover who she is and what has happened to her life. During this period she also took part in the events of Blackest Night where she was first a Black Lantern and later a Star Sapphire.
Wertham’s papers, housed at the Library of Congress, were only opened to researchers in 2010. They suggest that Wertham’s antipathy toward Bender had less to do with the content of the comics than with professional rivalry. (Paul Schilder, Bender’s late husband, had been Wertham’s boss for many years.) Wertham’s papers contain a scrap on which he compiled a list he titled “Paid Experts of the Comic Book Industry Posing as Independent Scholars.” First on the list as the comic book industry’s number one lackey was Bender, about whom Wertham wrote: “Boasted privately of bringing up her 3 children on money from crime comic books.”
Aphrodite All-Star Comics #8 (December 1941) Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Beauty who is named after the goddess of the same name. In the 1940s, Aphrodite was Wonder Woman's patron goddess. Later, Athena joined her as Diana's main patron. Post-Crisis, Aphrodite was joined by Athena, Artemis, Hestia, Demeter, and Hermes as Wonder Woman's patrons, though she most often abstained from interacting with the amazons. Post-Crisis, Aphrodite's role was severely minimized, appearing as a faceless, beautiful naked woman. Post-Rebirth, Aphrodite appeared as an ally to Wonder Woman in the form of a dove. It is unknown if Aphrodite continues to serve as patron of the amazons.
Marc DiPaolo introduces us to Wonder Woman's creator and history and he demonstrates how she is a "WWII veteran, a feminist icon, and a sex symbol" all throughout her "career". Wonder Woman stars in multiple films and is most commonly known for her red, white and blue one piece, and her tall, sexy assertiveness. What many people don't know is that she is a big part of history in the comic and superhero world because of how her character influences real life people of all ages, sexes, ethnicities, and races. "Marston created the comic book character Wonder Woman to be both strong and sexy, as a means of encouraging woman to emulate her unapologetic assertiveness."[227] Charlotte Howell notes in her essay titled "'Tricky' Connotations: Wonder Woman as DC's Brand Disruptor" that Wonder Woman is, "inherently disruptive to masculine superhero franchise branding because, according to her creator William Moulton Marston, she was intended to be 'psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, [he] believe[d], should rule the world.'"
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]
After a training session, Diana happened to come across Captain Steve Trevor during his escape from the Imperial German Army. A battle soon followed, as the Germans tracked Trevor to Themyscira, where they invaded in pursuit of Doctor Poison's notes. The loss of her aunt and realization of Mankind's downfall during the absence of the amazons convinced Diana to join the war effort, recognizing Ares as the instigator of the conflict.
I remember when I read in the news that Wonder Woman had been cast and my heart sank ... I'm sure we wouldn't have made the same choice. And then I started paying attention to her, and watching her and looking at her and it was just unbelievable. Frankly, I think they did a better job than I could have because I don't know that I would have scoured the earth as hard to find her ... They were looking for all the same things I would have looked for—all the values that Wonder Woman stands for exuding from someone in an honest way, and boy did they find it ... She shares every quality with Wonder Woman and that's no joke. It's one of those rare things. You need someone who can appear to be Wonder Woman on screen ... Every once in a while, there's superhero casting that transcends, because that person is so authentic to the character that it becomes identified with them, like Lynda Carter or Christopher Reeve.
“I have the good Sergeant’s letter in which he expresses his enthusiasm over chains for women—so what?” As a practicing clinical psychologist, he said, he was unimpressed. “Some day I’ll make you a list of all the items about women that different people have been known to get passionate over—women’s hair, boots, belts, silk worn by women, gloves, stockings, garters, panties, bare backs,” he promised. “You can’t have a real woman character in any form of fiction without touching off a great many readers’ erotic fancies. Which is swell, I say.”
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]
Various Wonder Woman enemies would debut in the comic series. Issue #1 introduced Wonder Woman's nemesis, Ares, as the embodiment of all abnormal emotions, evil, and essentially all that Wonder Woman was against. Issue #5, the character of Doctor Psycho, a murderous psychopath with an intense hatred of women, was debuted,[5] Issue #6 introduced Cheetah while issue #9 introduced Giganta. Also Issue #9 debuted Queen Clea, which would later help form the female supervillain team, Villainy Inc.. Later on Issue #49 debuted another recurring enemy, Circe.[1]
Stealth Expert: Wonder Woman is exceptionally stealthy, as she was able to quickly sneak away from Chief and Charlie to General Ludendorff's gala, and later to steal the hacking device that Bruce Wayne had plugged into the LexCorp Industries servers and leave it in his car, without getting caught on either occasion. Later, Wonder Woman noticed Cyborg spying on her and Batman from a distance. Shortly thereafter, along with Batman and Cyborg, she was able to swiftly slip away when Commissioner Gordon turned away for a moment, and even Flash was left incredulous at how he didn't notice his teammates leave, despite having superhuman reflexes and standing right beside them. Wonder Woman even managed to enter the highly-secure Batcave itself on her own, impressing Batman.
As Wonder Woman, Queen Hippolyta immediately got involved in a time travel mission back to the 1940s with Jay Garrick.[82] After this mission, she elected to join the Justice Society of America and remained in that era for eight years, where her teammates nicknamed her "Polly". During that time she had a relationship with Ted Grant.[83] Hippolyta also made visits into the past to see her godchild Lyta, daughter of Hippolyta's protege Helena, the Golden Age Fury.[volume & issue needed] These visits happened yearly from young Lyta's perspective and also accounted for Hippolyta's participation in the JSA/JLA team ups. When she returned from the past, Hippolyta took Diana's place in the JLA as well.[84][85]
Diana then arrives to stop Ares, and brings Steve Trevor to the US.Arriving in Boston, she meets Professor Julia Kapatelis. After fighting a monster named Decay sent by Phobos, a son of Ares, Diana, Julia and Steve discover Ares' plan: to start a nuclear war worldwide. Joined by Steve's friend Michaelis, the group travel to the military bases Ares' minions had taken control of and avert nuclear war. Ares
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.
Villains Angle Man • Baron Blitzkrieg • Baroness Paula Von Gunther • Badra • Bizarra • Blue Snowman • Captain Wonder • Cheetah • Children of Cronus • Circe • Cyborgirl • Dark Angel • Decay • Devastation • Doctor Cyber • Doctor Poison • Doctor Psycho • Duke of Deception • Eviless • Genocide • Giganta • Hypnota • Jinx • Mask • Medusa • Minister Blizzard • The Morrigan • Osira • Queen Atomia • Queen Clea • Queen of Fables • Shim'Tar • Silver Swan • Superwoman • Tezcatlipoca • Trinity • Veronica Cale • Villainy, Inc. • White Magician • Zara
Vox stated "Trevor is the superhero girlfriend comic book movies need".[210] The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle lauded the performances of Gadot, Pine, Huston, and Thewlis while commending the film's "different perspective" and humor.[211] Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times described Gadot's performance as inspirational, heroic, heartfelt and endearing and the most "real" Wonder Woman portrayal.[212]
During the 25 bi-monthly issues of the "new" Wonder Woman, the writing team changed four times. Consequently, the stories display abrupt shifts in setting, theme, and tone. The revised series attracted writers not normally associated with comic books, most notably science fiction author Samuel R. Delany, who wrote Wonder Woman #202–203 (October and December 1972).[9]
Diana is a very kind, loving, compassionate, and strong-willed person, who, while initially somewhat naive, has become all the wiser through her time in Man's World. An outspoken egalitarian, she fights for what she believes in and generally for the betterment of mankind through love and mutual understanding, as taught to her by her mother and fellow Amazons.[9] Growing up, Diana also proved herself headstrong and determined to do what she wanted, such as training in hand-to-hand combat under her aunt Antiope's tutelage despite her mother initially forbidding it. In this way she is quite stubborn; if she believes something is the right thing to do, then she will do it - as evidenced by her attempt to leave Themyscira without her mother's permission and insistence in attending Ludendorff's gala despite Steve telling her not to. Alongside her kindness and compassion, however, Diana was also a very naive idealist when she first arrived in "Man's World", blindly believing that all men were corrupted by Ares and that the World War I Central Powers would simply abandon their sinister ways if she killed him. This blind naivety also translated to explicit indignation whenever she was treated with disrespect due to her status as a woman, such as when she was ignored by members of the War Office. Alongside this, Diana also voiced her opinions rather bluntly upon her arrival, such as when she perceived Etta Candy's job as Steve Trevor's secretary to be akin to slavery (which earns Diana Etta's admiration). Despite her outspokenness and behavior in Man's World, however, Diana remained caring and compassionate, as demonstrated by her initially rocky relationship with Charlie and willingness to step into No Man's Land to save the village of Veld.
Diana meets Barbara Ann Minerva for the first time. Minerva wants Diana's lasso and tricks Diana into believing that she has Antiope's Girdle of Gaea. Diana discovers the ruse and storms out of the house. Barbara transforms into the Cheetah and attacks Diana. Julia Kapatelis shoots Cheetah and fends her off. Diana returns to Themyscira. Zeus is infatuated with Diana and asks her for a physical communion to which Diana refuses. Angered, Zeus sends her on a mission, a "Challenge
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall briefly served as Wonder Woman during Hippolyta's trials for a new Wonder Woman. Orana, a character similar to Artemis, defeated Diana in a new contest and became Wonder Woman in pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity. Orana was killed during her first mission. Others who have donned the Wonder Woman persona include Nubia, Cassandra Sandsmark, and Donna Troy.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Due to her Amazonian physiology, Wonder Woman can heal from wounds at considerable superhuman rates. This compensates for her vulnerability to sharp objects and bullets. During the Germans' attack on Themyscira during World War I, Diana suffered a wound to her shoulder that, even with much of her power being suppressed had healed completely a few hours later.
The Crime Syndicate imprisoned the Justice Leagues inside the Firestorm Matrix[71] which psychologically placed them in situations that depicted their greatest failures. Wonder Woman was placed in a situation where she was forced to do battle against both Amazons and humans for the lives of Superman and Steve Trevor. Martian Manhunter and Stargirl attempted to break her out but Wonder Woman ignored them.[72][73]
Although they do not appear in Justice League: War, the Olympian Gods are briefly mentioned by Wonder Woman during a conversation with Superman about the other five heroes, referencing Batman as Hades (who is just as dark and mysterious just as Maxie Zeus did in the "Fire From Olympus" episode of Batman: The Animated Series), Green Lantern as Apollo (the God of Light), Flash as Hermes (the Messenger of Olympus and God of Speed), Cyborg as Hephaestus (the Blacksmith of Olympus and God of Metal) and Shazam as Zeus (God of Lightning).
^ McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 131 "Carmine Infantino wanted to rejuvenate what had been perceived as a tired Wonder Woman, so he assigned writer Denny O'Neil and artist Mike Sekowsky to convert the Amazon Princess into a secret agent. Wonder Woman was made over into an Emma Peel type and what followed was arguably the most controversial period in the hero's history."
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. magazine, was responsible for the return of Wonder Woman's original abilities. Offended that the most famous female superhero had been depowered into a boyfriend-obsessed damsel in distress, Steinem placed Wonder Woman (in costume) on the cover of the first issue of Ms. (1972) – Warner Communications, DC Comics' owner, was an investor – which also contained an appreciative essay about the character.[221] Wonder Woman's powers and traditional costume were restored in issue #204 (January–February 1973).[221]
Antiope Aphrodite Artemis Artemis of Bana-Mighdall Drusilla Etta Candy Fury Hephaestus Hera Heracles/Hercules Hermes I Ching Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis Justice League Superman Batman The Flash/Barry Allen Green Lantern/Hal Jordan Aquaman Martian Manhunter Cyborg Mala Nemesis (Thomas Tresser) Nubia The Olympian Orion Paula von Gunther Philippus Poseidon Queen Desira Queen Hippolyta Helena Sandsmark Sarge Steel Steve Trevor Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark / Donna Troy) Zeus Zola
Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly.[183] She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light.[181] She can react quickly enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. After the 2011 relaunch of the character, Wonder Woman does not naturally possess the power of flight. She gains it once she is hit by a feather thrown by Hermes.[184][185][better source needed]
Arcane Lore Expert: Wonder Woman, as both an Amazon demigoddess and an antiquities expert, possesses immense knowledge of and skill in wielding mystical artifacts and arcane lore, notably her Sword of Athena and Lasso of Hestia. Her encyclopedic knowledge was demonstrated when Wonder Woman reacted in dismay to Lex Luthor's speech (knowing how he had twisted the Olympians' history concerning Zeus and Prometheus), when she instantly identified a Parademon in Commissioner Gordon's sketch, and when she explained the history behind Steppenwolf and the 3 Mother Boxes to the remainder of the Justice League.
^ Callahan, Timothy (November 28, 2011). "When Words Collide: The New 52 First Quarter Review". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 16, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012. What is worth reading? "Wonder Woman," definitely. It's the best of the new 52. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are telling a clean, poetic story with a strong mythological pull and a fierce warrior of a Wonder Woman.
On November 3, 2016, Rupert Gregson-Williams was hired to write and compose the film's music.[138][139] He was joined by Evan Jolly, Tom Howe,[140] Paul Mounsey,[141] and Andrew Kawczynski,[142] who provided additional music. The soundtrack was released on CD, digital, and vinyl the same day as the film.[143] Australian musician Sia sang a song for the film, titled "To Be Human", featuring English musician Labrinth. Written by Florence Welch and Rick Nowels, the track is also featured on the soundtrack.[144] The soundtrack also features samples from Wonder Woman's theme "Is She with You" from the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL.
Writer Eric Luke next joined the comic and depicted Diana as often questioning her mission in Man's World, and most primarily her reason for existing. His most memorable contributions to the title was having Diana separate herself from humanity by residing in a floating palace called the Wonder Dome, and for a godly battle between the Titan Cronus and the various religious pantheons of the world. Phil Jimenez, worked on the title beginning with issue #164 (January 2001),[42] and produced a run which has been likened to Pérez's, particularly since his art bears a resemblance to Pérez's. Jimenez's run showed Wonder Woman as a diplomat, scientist, and activist who worked to help women across the globe become more self-sufficient. Jimenez also added many visual elements found in the Wonder Woman television series. One of Jimenez's story arcs is "The Witch and the Warrior", in which Circe turns New York City's men into beasts, women against men, and lovers against lovers.[43][44][45]
In order to defeat them, Superman and Wonder Woman collected the magic armor created by Hephaestus and intercepted Zod and Faora while they were building a portal to the Phantom Zone. At first, they defeated Zod and Faora by detonating their armor at point-blank range, but Zod and Faora were revitalized by a beam of sunlight sent by Apollo, which gave the criminals enough strength to beat Superman and Wonder Woman and trap them in an abandoned nuclear reactor. As a last-ditch effort to stop their enemies, Superman and Wonder Woman caused a nuclear explosion, but not before Clark told Diana that he loved her. The explosion trapped Zod and Faora back in the Phantom Zone, and Superman shielded Wonder Woman with his cape.[62] The two heroes barely survived the explosion and Superman took Diana to Hessia, who used a healing crystal to save her.[63]
