Amazon Shield: Wonder Woman's Amazonian shield, which she uses to protect herself from other weapons and energy blasts (in tandem with her bracelets). Much like her bracelets, it is nigh-indestructible, capable of deflecting even Ares' lightning bolts and Doomsday's thermal attacks. It can also be used as an offensive weapon, with Wonder Woman smashing it hard into the legs of Doomsday, thus momentarily managing to knock him down.
Wonder Woman is a fictional superheroine, appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a founding member of the Justice League. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in October 1941[1] with her first feature in Sensation Comics #1, January 1942. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986.[3] In her homeland, the island nation of Themyscira, her official title is Princess Diana of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta. She has no father; she was created out of clay and brought to life by the gods of Olympus. When blending into the society outside of her homeland, she sometimes adopts her civilian identity Diana Prince.[4]
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.
Gaines forwarded Jacobs’ letter to Marston, with a note: “This is one of the things I’ve been afraid of.” Something had to be done. He therefore enclosed, for Marston’s use, a memo written by Roubicek containing a “list of methods which can be used to keep women confined or enclosed without the use of chains. Each one of these can be varied in many ways—enabling us, as I told you in our conference last week, to cut down the use of chains by at least 50 to 75% without at all interfering with the excitement of the story or the sales of the books.”
Wonder Woman was taken to Zamaron where the Star Sapphires informed her that a Dark God had taken hold there, too. Diana fought the newly-emerged Karnell, Dark God of Love, who informed Diana that he and his brethren had come from the Dark Multiverse, which the Justice League had recently encountered. When Diana wore the Tenth Metal during the climax of the Justice League's battle with Barbatos, Diana had wished for the gods' return. Though she had meant the Gods of Olympus, the Dark Multiverse's gods were chosen instead, and thus she had unintentionally caused their invasion. Together with the Star Sapphire Corps, Wonder Woman was able to defeat Karnell, who retreated back to Earth. Wonder Woman left the Corps and returned home.[102] In her absence, Jason had united with the Justice League and fought the Dark Gods, who had plunged Earth into chaos. Suddenly, the Dark Gods disappeared, only for them to return with Jason at their side.[103] Jason fought Wonder Woman, but after he led her away from the Dark Gods, he revealed that he was using his armor to channel the power of Dolos, God of Deception, and was in fact deceiving the Dark Gods. Using the wisdom of Athena, Jason developed a plan to convince the Dark Gods to retreat back to their reality. He offered himself, along with the power of the Greek Pantheon, in exchange for the Dark Gods leaving Earth. The Dark Gods accepted the proposal and Diana tearfully said goodbye to her brother, who was taken with them to the Dark Multiverse. The planet was saved and its people returned to normal, but Diana was distraught over the loss of her brother.[104]
The First Born imprisoned Wonder Woman in what remained of Olympus and ordered his forces to attack Themyscira. As they watched the confrontation, the First Born offered her a place in his goals of conquest, but she steadfastly refused, causing him to thrust a spike into her side.[46] As Diana lied mortally wounded, Eris dragged her to Themyscira, for she wanted Diana to see her home destroyed and humiliate her. Recovering her strength, Wonder Woman punched Eris down and took Zola and Zeke to Olympus. Her plan was to place Zeke on the throne, so that he could be the new king of Olympus and end the bloodshed, but before she could, Poseidon revealed his presence.[47]
In an October 25, 1940, interview with the Family Circle magazine, William Moulton Marston discussed the unfulfilled potential of the comic book medium.[19] This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics.[20] At that time, Marston wanted to create his own new superhero; Marston's wife and fellow psychologist Elizabeth suggested to him that it should be a woman:[21]
Wonder Woman is the most popular female comic-book superhero of all time. Aside from Superman and Batman, no other comic-book character has lasted as long. Generations of girls have carried their sandwiches to school in Wonder Woman lunchboxes. Like every other superhero, Wonder Woman has a secret identity. Unlike every other superhero, she also has a secret history.
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.
Although she has traditionally paired with either Steve Trevor or no one as a main romantic lead, and Superman with either Lois Lane or Lana Lang, there has often been the hint of a romance between the two characters. This began in the 1960 in the series Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane which was equal parts romance and action themed. In order to drive along the romance, the theme often came up of Lois Lane believing that Superman really loved Wonder Woman (though this was mostly for the purposes of a case.) In later years the same ideas perpetuated though most in imaginary stories or alternate tellings of the future. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths the characters were briefly linked romantically in Action Comics #600 which was written by John Byrne. Subsequently the characters' interest in one another was generally portrayed as a strong friendship (this occurred under different writers, primarily Messner-Loebs and Rucka.) Following the reboot of the DC universe into the new 52 the characters once again showed a romantic interest in one another. They found common ground in the isolation which their power give them and shared a kiss in Justice League #12 in 2012. It was later on revealed by Geoff Johns that their relationship wouldn't last for long and will end badly.
Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot reacted positively to Diana's rebooted orientation, and agreed her sexuality was impacted by growing up in the women-only Themyscira. Gadot stated that Wonder Woman feels she need not be "labelled sexually", and is "just herself". "She's a woman who loves people for who they are. She can be bisexual. She loves people for their hearts."[251][252] Coming from a society that was only populated by women, "'lesbian' in [the world's] eyes may have been 'straight' for them."[253] "Her culture is completely free from the shackles of heteronormativity in the first place so she wouldn't even have any 'concept' of gender roles in sex."[254]
Marston was sure he knew what line not to cross. Harmless erotic fantasies are terrific, he said. “It’s the lousy ones you have to look out for—the harmful, destructive, morbid erotic fixations—real sadism, killing, blood-letting, torturing where the pleasure is in the victim’s actual pain, etc. Those are 100 per cent bad and I won’t have any part of them.” He added, in closing, “Please thank Miss Roubicek for the list of menaces.”
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.
Bracelets of Submission: Like all Amazons, Wonder Woman wears two nigh-indestructible gauntlets as part of her armor. They are incredibly durable, capable of deflecting even Ares' massive bolts of lightning and Doomsday's tremendously powerful and destructive thermal attack. Due to her powers as a demigoddess, she also has the ability to create a massive wave of energy outwards when she clashes them together.
Gloria Steinem, editor for Ms. magazine and a major supporter of Wonder Woman, stated "... [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."[237] Badower described a near-international incident (involving an unnamed Russian general rolling dozens of tanks and munitions through a shady mountain pass) as an outstanding example for standing up to bullies. "She ends up deflecting a bullet back and disarming the general," he says, adding that "she doesn't actually do anything violent in the story. I just think that Wonder Woman is smarter than that."[238]
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.
Candy helped Diana try on a great many outfits until she finally settled on one. Dissatisfied, thinking that she still looked too "distracting," Trevor gave her a pair of spectacles to wear. After they'd paid and left the store, Diana reluctantly allowed Candy to take her sword and shield back to Trevor's office while the two took Doctor Poison's notebook to the British War Council.
Supporting Amazons • Antiope • Artemis • Belyllioth • Cassandra Sandsmark • Department of Metahuman Affairs • Donna Troy • Ed Indelicato • Etta Candy • Ferdinand • Fury • General Blankenship • Helena Sandsmark • Hellenders • Hercules • Hippolyta • Holliday Girls • I-Ching • Julia Kapatelis • Jumpa • Lauren Haley • Lyta Milton • Mala • Micah Rains • Mike Schorr • Natasha Teranova • Nemesis • Nubia • Olympian • Orana • Phil Darnell • Philippus • Rama Chandra • Sarge Steel • Sofia Constantinas • Steve Trevor • Titans of Myth • Trevor Barnes • Vanessa Kapatelis • Warkiller • Wonder Girl • Wonder Man
Gal Gadot and Chris Pine both give a fantastic performance in this superhero film... the story was relatively original given how much of a generic formula most of this action hero genre follows... the character development was unique and special.. the story was nice and heartfelt but had some weak moments that weren't necessary and made the film longer than it needed to be... between this and The Dark Knight, DC has been keeping its legacy in modern cinema going strong..
Wonder Woman continued to use the plane for super speed, outer space, and multi-dimensional transport up until the unpowered era of Diana Prince. When Wonder Woman resumed superpowered, costumed operations in 1973, she continued to use the jet as before, but did glide on air currents for short distances. At one point, Aphrodite granted the plane the power to fly faster than the speed of light for any interstellar voyages her champion might undertake.[200] Thanks to tinkering by gremlins, the Plane even developed intelligence and the power to talk.[201] The plane proved a good friend, eager to help his "mistress" and her loved ones in any way possible. It got along especially well with Steve Trevor.[citation needed]
Ares' daughter, Harmonia, chose to help Diana, however. She gave her a powerful amulet with the power to transport across dimensions. Diana slew Deimos with her razor sharp tiara, and from him acquired the other half of Harmonia's amulet. Finally, Ares stepped in to claim the talisman, but Diana bound him with her lasso of truth. He realized that to allow humans to war would leave no kingdom for him to rule. In failure, Ares declared that he would no longer trifle with the affairs of man, and also forbade his offspring from appearing on Earth. He also took the amulet and all the power which had been collected therein.[6]
Membership Air Wave • Amazing Man • Atom Smasher • Batman • Black Adam • Captain Marvel • Citizen Steel • Cyclone • Damage • Darknight • Hawkgirl • Hippolyta • Huntress • Jakeem Thunder • Johnny Thunder • Judomaster • King Chimera • Liberty Belle • Lightning • Magog • Miss America • Mister America • Obsidian • Power Girl • Red Beetle • Red Tornado • Ri • Robin • Sand • Stargirl • Star-Spangled Kid • S.T.R.I.P.E. • Thunderbolt • Tomcat • Superman • Wonder Woman
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]
At the time of her debut, Wonder Woman sported a red top with a golden eagle emblem, a white belt, blue star-spangled culottes, and red and golden go-go boots. She originally wore a skirt; however according to Elizabeth Martson, "It was too hard to draw and would have been over her head most of the time."[189] This outfit was entirely based on the American flag, because Wonder Woman was purely an American icon as she debuted during World War II.[194] Later in 1942, Wonder Woman's outfit received a slight change – the culottes were converted entirely into skin-tight shorts and she wore sandals.[194] While earlier most of her back was exposed, during the imposition of the Comics Code Authority in the mid-1950s, Wonder Woman's outfit was rectified to make her back substantially covered, in order to comply with the Authority's rule of minimum exposure.[194] During Mike Sekowsky's run in the late 1960s, Diana surrendered her powers and started using her own skills to fight crime. She wore a series of jumpsuits as her attire; the most popular of these was a white one.[194]
^ Greenberger p. 175: "Journalist and feminist Gloria Steinem...was tapped in 1970 to write the introduction to Wonder Woman, a hardcover collection of older stories. Steinem later went on to edit Ms. Magazine, with the first issue published in 1972, featuring the Amazon Princess on its cover. In both publications, the heroine's powerless condition during the 1970s was pilloried. A feminist backlash began to grow, demanding that Wonder Woman regain the powers and costume that put her on a par with the Man of Steel."
