Wonder Woman is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in Sensation Comics #1 in January 1942. She was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter in 1941. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne,Lepore, Jill, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. are credited as being his inspiration for the character's appearance. She is the biological daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta. She is one of the first DC superheroes and is one of the most influential superheroes of all time. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously ever since.
An Amazon-Olympian princess and warrior, Wonder Woman is known in her homeland, the island nation of Themyscira, by her official title Princess Diana of Themyscira. When blending into the society outside her homeland, she sometimes adopts her civilian identity, Diana Prince. Wonder Woman's original/first origin story dates from the Golden Age of Comic Books, which relays that she was sculpted from clay by her mother, Queen Hippolyta, and given a life as an Amazon and Olympian by birth, along with superpowers as gifts from the Greek goddesses.
Following DC's continuity re-setting storyline Flashpoint in 2011, Diana was one of multiple characters who had their origins significantly altered, as in the Post-Flashpoint continuity she was re-written as the biological daughter of the Greek god Zeus. This current canon origin for Diana has been used in multiple adaptations since; it was the origin of Diana from the DCEU live action universe (2013-2023) and the DCAMU animated universe (2013-2020).
However, alternate universe continuities have continued to use her original clay origin and it was re-established as her origin in DC's mainline continuity in the early 2020s after DC had begun re-inserting elements of pre-Flashpoint DC canon into the post-Flashpoint DC universe.
Other popular adaptations like the DC Animated Universe have also established their own takes on Diana's origin, with their iteration of Diana potentially being the daughter of Hades, who claimed to have helped Hippolyta, a past lover of his in this continuity, mold her from clay. This included briefly losing her powers entirely in the late 1960s, and being reinvented in the 1980s by artist George Pérez with an athletic look which emphasized her Amazonian heritage. She possesses an arsenal of magical items, including the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in older stories, a range of devices based on Amazon technology.
Wonder Woman's character was created during World War II; the character in the story was initially depicted fighting Axis forces as well as an assortment of colorful supervillains, although over time her stories came to place greater emphasis on characters, deities, and monsters from Greek mythology. Many stories depicted Wonder Woman freeing herself from bondage, which counterpointed the "damsels in distress" trope that was common in comics during the 1940s. In the decades since her debut, Wonder Woman has gained a cast of enemies bent on destroying her, including her archenemy Cheetah and classic villains such as Ares, Circe, Doctor Poison, Giganta, Doctor Psycho, and Doctor Cyber, along with more recent adversaries such as Veronica Cale, the Silver Swan, Genocide and Grail. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society of America (1941) and Justice League (1960).
The character is an archetypical figure in popular culture recognized worldwide, partly due to being widely adapted into television, film, animation, apparel, merchandise, video games, and toys, with Wonder Woman Day celebrated on October 21 of each year (the anniversary of her first appearance).The exception to this was in 2017, when Wonder Woman Day was held on June 3 to tie in with the release of the 2017 Wonder Woman film: Shannon Farnon, Susan Eisenberg, Maggie Q, Lucy Lawless, Keri Russell, Rosario Dawson, Cobie Smulders, Rachel Kimsey, and Stana Katic, among others, have provided the character's voice for animated adaptations. Wonder Woman has been depicted in film and television by Linda Harrison, Cathy Lee Crosby, Lynda Carter, Megan Gale, Adrianne Palicki, and Gal Gadot.
Publication history
Creation
In an October 1940 interview with the Family Circle magazine, William Moulton Marston discussed the unfulfilled potential of the comic book medium. 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. 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:
Marston introduced the idea to Gaines. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman, whom he believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman. Marston also drew inspiration from the bracelets worn by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship. Wonder Woman debuted in All Star Comics #8 (cover date Dec/Jan 1941/1942, released in October 1941). While Marston wrote the story, H. G. Peter did the artwork, and Marjorie Wilkes was responsible for inking, lettering, and transcribing the scripts. Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest than men in certain situations and could work more efficiently.
Marston designed Wonder Woman to be an allegory for the ideal love leader; the kind of woman who he believed should run society. "Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world", Marston wrote.
In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote:
Marston was an outspoken feminist, polyamorist, and firm believer in the superiority of women. He described bondage and submission as a "respectable and noble practice". Marston wrote in a weakness for Wonder Woman, which was attached to a fictional stipulation that he dubbed "Aphrodite's Law", that made the chaining of her "Bracelets of Submission" together by a man take away her Amazonian super strength.
Golden Age
Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevora United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homelandto "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis.All Star Comics #8 (October 1941)
In her first appearance in All-Star Comics Vol. 1 #8 (January 1942), one of the most iconic moment, Diana enters the Amazon tournament in disguise, wearing the identity of "Contestant Number 7." The final trial is to deflect bullets with her bracelets—an ultimate test of Amazonian skill. Diana succeeds flawlessly. When Queen Hippolyta meets the winner, Diana removes her mask, revealing her true identity. Hippolyta realizes it was her daughter all along, and acknowledges that Diana truly deserves the title of Amazon Champion.
During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the team's secretary.All Star Comics #12 (August/September 1942)
Silver Age
During the Silver Age of the 1960s, under writer Robert Kanigher, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped,Wonder Woman #98 (May 1958) along with other characters'. The new origin story increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots: receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, strong as Hercules, and swift as Hermes."Wonder Woman #105 (April 1959)
At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Wonder Woman was always Diana Prince and opens a mod boutique. She acquires a Chinese mentor named I Ching, who teaches Diana martial arts and weapons skills. Using her fighting skill instead of her powers, Diana engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.Wonder Woman #179 (1968) This phase of her story was directly influenced by the British spy thriller The Avengers and Diana Rigg's portrayal of Emma Peel."We were all in love with Diana Rigg and that show she was on." Mike Sekowsky, quoted in Les Daniels, Wonder Woman: The Complete History (Chronicle, 2004), p. 129.
Bronze Age
In the early 1970s the character returned to her superhero roots in the Justice League of America and to the World War II era in her own title.Wonder Woman #204 This, however, was ultimately due to the popularity of the TV series at the time also having Wonder Woman set in the WWII era, and was shifted back to the 1970s era once the TV show did the same.
With a new decade arriving, DC president Jenette Kahn ordered a revamp in Wonder Woman's appearance. Artist Milton Glaser, who also designed the "bullet" logo adopted by DC in 1977, created a stylized "WW" emblem that evoked and replaced the eagle in her bodice and debuted in 1982. The emblem in turn was incorporated by studio letterer Todd Klein onto the monthly title's logo, which lasted for a year and a half before being replaced by a version from Glaser's studio. The series was canceled with issue #329 (February 1986) written by Gerry Conway, depicting Steve Trevor's marriage to Wonder Woman.
Modern Age
Following the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter rewrote the character's origin story, depicting Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world. Pérez incorporated a variety of deities and concepts from Greek mythology in Wonder Woman's stories and origin. His rendition of the character acted as the foundation for the modern Wonder Woman stories, as he expanded upon the widely accepted origin of Diana being birthed out of clay. The relaunch was a critical and commercial success.
21st century 2010s
In August 2010 (issue #600), J. Michael Straczynski took over the series' writing duties and introduced Wonder Woman to an alternate timeline created by the Gods in which Paradise Island had been destroyed and the Amazons scattered around the world. In this timeline, Diana is an orphan raised in New York. The entire world has forgotten Wonder Woman's existence and the main story of this run was of Diana trying to restore reality even though she does not properly remember it herself. A trio of Death Goddesses called The Morrigan acted as the main enemy of Wonder Woman. In this run, Wonder Woman wears a new costume designed by Jim Lee. Straczynski determined the plot and continued writing duties until Wonder Woman #605; writer Phil Hester then continued his run, which ultimately concluded in Wonder Woman #614.
Following the events of the Flashpoint storyline in 2011, DC rebooted their primary comics continuity and in The New 52 continuity, Wonder Woman was one of the many major books to be relaunched for the start of the new continuity, with Brian Azzarello as the author and Cliff Chiang as the artist. In this new continuity, Wonder Woman's costume was changed to one inspired by her original Marston costume (except with a red-black-silver color scheme rather than the classic red-blue-gold).