The fictional DC Comics character Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston. She was introduced in All Star Comics #8 (October 1941), then appeared in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942), Six months later, she appeared in her own comic book series (summer 1942). Since her debut, five regular series of Wonder Woman have been published, the fifth launched in June 2016 as part of DC Rebirth.
The Golden Age
Wonder Woman was introduced in All Star Comics #8 (October 1941), during the era known to comics historians as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". Following this debut, she was featured in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942), and six months later appeared in her own comic book series (Summer 1942). Wonder Woman took her place beside the extant superheroines or antiheroines Fantomah, the Black Widow, the Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, and Canada's Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Until his death in 1947, Dr. William Moulton Marston was credited with writing all of the Wonder Woman stories; however, later in life, he hired assistant Joye Hummel to ghostwrite stories for him. H. G. Peter penciled the book in a simplistic yet easily identifiable style.
Armed with bulletproof bracelets, a magic lasso, and Amazonian training, Wonder Woman was the archetype of Marston's perfect woman. In Wonder Woman's origin story, Steve Trevor, an intelligence officer in the United States Army, crashed his plane on Paradise Island, the Amazons' isolated homeland. Using a "Purple Ray", Princess Diana nursed him back to health and fell in love with him. When the goddess Aphrodite declared that it was time for an Amazon to travel to "Man's World" and fight the evil of the Nazis, a tournament was held to determine who would be the Amazon champion. Although forbidden by her mother Queen Hippolyte to participate in the tournament, Princess Diana did so nevertheless, her identity hidden by a mask.
After Diana won the tournament and revealed her true identity, Queen Hippolyte relented and allowed her daughter to become Wonder Woman. Diana returned Steve Trevor to the outside world and soon adopted the identity of Army nurse Lt. Diana Prince (by taking the place of her exact double by that name) in order to be close to Trevor as he recovered from his injuries. Afterward, he became Wonder Woman's crimefighting partner and romantic interest.
In her guise as a nurse, Diana cares for Trevor and frequently overhears his intelligence discussions, allowing her to know where she is needed. Prince is eventually hired to work for Trevor in the War Department as his assistant. Trevor periodically suspects that Diana and Wonder Woman might be the same person, especially since he frequently catches Diana using her tiara or lasso.
Wonder Woman was assisted by the Holliday Girls, a sorority from a local women's college led by the sweets-addicted Etta Candy. Etta stood out for several reasons: she had a distinctive figure, she occupied a central role in many storylines, and had an endearing propensity for exclaiming "Woo-woo", which echoed the "Hoo-hoo" catchphrase associated with the popular vaudevillian comedian Hugh Herbert. Etta took her place with Steve Trevor and Diana as the series' most enduring characters.
During 1942 to 1947, images of bound and gagged women frequently graced the covers of Sensation Comics and Wonder Woman. In Wonder Woman #3 (Feb.-March 1943), Wonder Woman herself ties up several women, dresses them in deer costumes and chases them through the forest. Later she rebinds them and displays them on a platter. In addition, Diana is rendered powerless if she allowed a male to chain her bracelets together, although Marston reasoned this as a message to readers warning against allowing men to take away the liberties of women. Male characters were also commonly bound, mainly by Wonder Woman herself, although less prominently than women were, and members of both sexes were often dressed in reviling clothing after being captured and enslaved.Wonder Woman #11 (December 1944) The comic's sexual subtext has been noted, leading to debates over whether it provided an outlet for Marston's sexual fantasies or whether it was meant (perhaps unconsciously) to appeal to, and possibly influence, the developing sexuality of young readers.
The bondage and submission elements had a broader context for Marston, who had worked as a prison psychologist. The themes were intertwined with his theories about the rehabilitation of criminals, and from her inception, Wonder Woman wanted to reform the criminals she captured (a rehabilitation complex was created by the Amazons on Transformation Island, a small island near Paradise Island). A core component in Marston's conception of Wonder Woman was "loving submission", in which kindness to others would result in willing submission derived from agape based on Moulton's own personal philosophies.
Alongside the bondage themes in Marston's work, there was a strong feminist presence in Wonder Woman's stories with one titled Battle for Womanhood which saw Diana foiling a plot to discourage the government from allowing women in the workplace.Wonder Woman #5 (July 1943) The villain of the piece, Doctor Psycho, was partially inspired by Marston's anti-feminist and anti-suffrage undergraduate advisor, Hugo Munsterberg. Other stories included a future storyline with a woman US President and a depiction of a lost 'Golden Age' where men shared equal labour, housekeeping and childcare responsibilities with their wives.Wonder Woman #7 (December 1943)Wonder Woman #9 (June 1944)
During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America featured in All Star Comics as its first female member. Reflecting the mores of this pre-feminist era, Wonder Woman served as the group's secretary, despite being one of the group's most powerful members.
Comic strip A Wonder Woman newspaper comic strip was produced in 1944, but lasted less than a year. The entire run of the strip was collected in a hardcover book published by The Library of American Comics in 2014. Several of the World War II-era comic book stories featuring Wonder Woman were collected by Chartwell Books in 2015.
Upon William Moulton Marston's death in 1947, the writing duties on Wonder Woman were briefly shared between Hummel and Robert Kanigher, until Hummel shortly quit to care for her step-daughter with her last story being published in 1949 after which Kanigher took over sole writing duties. Diana was written as a less feminist character and began to resemble other traditional American heroines. Notably the comic's 'Wonder Woman of History' centre fold, which depicted the lives of influential and inspirational women, was dropped much to Hummel's objections. Peter produced the art on the title through issue #97, when the elderly artist was fired (he died soon afterward). During this time, Diana's abilities expanded. Her earrings provided her the air she needed to breathe in outer space, and she piloted an "invisible plane", originally a propeller-driven P-40 Warhawk or P-51 Mustang, later upgraded to a jet aircraft. Her tiara was an unbreakable boomerang, and a two-way wrist radio similar to Dick Tracy's was installed in one of her bracelets, allowing her to communicate with Paradise Island.
The Silver Age Dr. Fredric Wertham's controversial and influential Seduction of the Innocent (1954) argued that comic books contributed to juvenile delinquency, and alleged that there was a lesbian subtext to the relationship between Wonder Woman and the Holliday Girls. Reacting to Wertham's critique and well-publicized Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency, several publishers organized the Comics Code Authority as a form of preemptive self-censorship. Due to a confluence of forces (amongst them the Code and the loss of Marston as writer), Wonder Woman no longer spoke out as a strong feminist; she began to moon over Steve Trevor, and, as time wore into the Silver Age, also fell for Birdman and Merman.
Prior to the start of the Silver Age of Comic Books in 1956, three superheroes still had their own titles: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Superman was available in "great quantity, but little quality." Batman was doing better, but his comics were "lackluster" in comparison to his "atmospheric adventures" of the 1940s. Wonder Woman, having lost her original writer and artist, was no longer "idiosyncratic" or "interesting".
Wonder Woman experienced significant changes from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Harry G. Peter was replaced by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito with issue #98 (May 1958)Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 90: "Wonder Woman's origin story and character was given a Silver Age revamp, courtesy of writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru." and the character was revamped, as were other characters in the Silver Age. In Diana's new origin story (issue #105 (December 1958)), it is revealed that her powers are gifts from the gods. Receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury". Further changes included the removal of all World War II references from Wonder Woman's origin, the changing of Hippolyta's hair color to blonde, Wonder Woman's new ability to glide on air currents, and the introduction of the rule that Paradise Island would be destroyed if a man ever set foot on it.
Several years later, when DC Comics introduced the concept of the Multiverse, the Silver Age Wonder Woman was situated as an inhabitant of Earth-One, while the Golden Age Wonder Woman was situated on Earth-Two. It was later revealed, in Wonder Woman #300, that the Earth-Two Wonder Woman had disclosed her secret identity of Diana Prince to the world and had married her Earth's Steve Trevor.
In the 1960s, regular scripter Robert Kanigher adapted several gimmicks which had been used for Superman. As with Superboy, Wonder Woman's "untold" career as the teenage Wonder Girl was chronicled. Then followed Wonder Tot, the infant Amazon princess (in her star-spangled jumper) who experienced improbable adventures with a genie she rescued from an abandoned treasure chest. In a series of "Impossible Tales", Kanigher teamed all three ages of Wonder Woman; her mother, Hippolyta, joined the adventures as "Wonder Queen".
The Diana Prince era and the Bronze Age
In 1968, under the guidance of scripter Dennis O'Neil and editor/plotter/artist Mike Sekowsky,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." Wonder Woman voluntarily surrendered her Amazon powers and status to remain in "Man's World" rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension where they could "restore their magic" (part of her motivation was also to assist Steve Trevor, who was facing criminal charges).
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.Greenberger p. 172: "The staid book suddenly looked new and vibrant, thanks to a new color scheme and mod designs from Sekowsky. He was heavily influenced by then-popular British television series The Avengers." 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 version of the Black Canary. Soon after the launch of the "new" Wonder Woman, the editors severed all connections to her old life, most notably by killing off Steve Trevor.