Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark, also known as Wonder Girl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by John Byrne and first appeared in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #105 (January 1996). The second Wonder Girl, Cassie is a sidekick of the superheroine Wonder Woman and has been featured as a member of the Teen Titans.

When Cassie was introduced, she was the daughter of an archaeologist, Dr. Helena Sandsmark, a friend of Wonder Woman's. To help Wonder Woman during an adventure, she borrowed magical artifacts which bestowed upon Cassie superpowers, with which she fought crime as Wonder Girl. Later, Zeus, king of the Greek gods, grants her real powers. Later revelations showed that Cassie was in fact a demigoddess and the daughter of Zeus and Dr. Sandsmark.Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #105 (1996) Following the 2011 storyline Flashpoint, which rebooted DC's main comics universe, the newly-established New 52/Post-Flashpoint continuity retroactively changed Cassie's father from Zeus to a British demigod named Lennox, with Zeus being Lennox's father instead and now Cassie's grandfather.Teen Titans (vol. 4) #19 (June 2013)

Publication history Cassandra Sandsmark initially appears as a supporting cast member in Wonder Woman. She later appears as part of an ensemble in Young Justice and Teen Titans. She appeared in supporting roles in 52, Supergirl, and the 2006 relaunch of the Wonder Woman series. In September 2007, she appeared in the six-issue limited series Wonder Girl: ChampionNewsarama.com: HEROES CON/WW PHILLY '07: J. TORRES ON WONDER GIRL: CHAMPION - NEWSARAMA written by J. Torres and illustrated by Sanford Greene and Nathan Massengill.

Fictional character biography Cassie spent most of her time at her mother's place of work, the Gateway City Museum of Antiquities, where she had a penchant for getting into trouble. She quickly befriended her mother's new employee, Wonder Woman, and was eager to help her. During a fight with a Doomsday clone and another battle with Decay, she created a costume and used magical artifacts (the Sandals of Hermes and the Gauntlet of Atlas) to help Wonder Woman, much to her mother's horror. Cassie later had the opportunity to ask Zeus for a boon, and requested real superpowers. Zeus granted her request, but gave Dr. Sandsmark the ability to deactivate them. Dr. Sandsmark, however, reluctantly accepted her daughter's wish to be a superheroine and rarely, if ever, used this ability. Artemis was assigned as her teacher.

Even without her powers, Cassie was a problem child, and frequently had to change schools. Throughout her teens, she attended Holliday School for Girls, Brewer High School, Dennis Peterson High School, Gateway City High School, and eventually the Saint Elias School for Girls.

Young Justice

Cassie heavily idolized Donna Troy, the original Wonder Girl, and to that effect wore a black wig over her natural blonde hair (it also helped to conceal her identity). Donna gave Cassie the second costume she wore as Wonder Girl, but Cassie was afraid to wear it lest it were ruined. As Wonder Girl, Cassie joined Young JusticeYoung Justice #4 (1999) due to her crush on Superboy. She became close friends with Arrowette, Secret, and Empress. During her time with that group, the dark god Oblivion caused Wonder Woman's Wonder Dome palace to destroy Gateway City. Artemis ordered Cassie to help with crowd control instead of wasting time putting on her Wonder Girl disguise. Agreeing with her, Cassie revealed her secret identity before news cameras for the first time in her superhero career.Wonder Woman (vol. 2) issues 140 and 141. Towards the end of the Young Justice series, Cassie became the leader of the team, beating Robin during an election for command due to inner-team tension following the recent revelation of Batman's security protocols against the rest of the Justice League, which made Young Justice uncomfortable that Robin had similar plans to use on them. Her secret identity was again publicly revealed when the second Silver Swan attacked her at her high school.

Young Justice was disbanded after the events of Graduation Day,Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day (1999) a crossover with Titans. During these events, Optitron offered to fund both the Titans and Young Justice. Donna Troy was seemingly killed by a rogue Superman android, leaving Cassie shaken and causing both teams to disband.

Teen Titans

Cassie later joined some former members of Young Justice in the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans.Teen Titans (vol. 3) #1 (2003) Early on, she was gifted with a lassoTeen Titans (vol. 3) #2 (2003) by Ares, the Greek god of war and frequent enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Despite appearing similar to Wonder Woman's lasso, Cassie's expelled Zeus' lightning when used in anger.Teen Titans (vol. 3) #6 (2003) Over the course of the series, Ares often appeared to Wonder Girl to warn her about "the coming war".Teen Titans (vol. 3) #8 (2003)Teen Titans (vol. 3) #15 (2004) During her time with the Titans, Cassie also developed a relationship with Superboy, for whom she had harbored feelings before and throughout Young Justice.

In "Titans Tomorrow,""Titans Tomorrow": Teen Titans (vol. 3) #17–19 (2005) the Titans were thrown 10 years into their future, where they encountered future versions of themselves. In this future, Cassie inherited the mantle of Wonder Woman after Diana was killed during "the Crisis." She was also referred to as "Ares' champion" and was in a relationship with Superboy. It was not revealed whether they were married or merely dating.

It was also during her Titans membership that she was revealed to be Zeus' daughter, a fact both Zeus and her mother kept from her for most of her life. Cassie was originally told by her mother that her biological father had died. Wonder Woman knew about Cassie's link to Zeus but chose to hide this from Cassie as well at the request of Cassie's mother. In "The Insiders,""The Insiders": Teen Titans (vol. 3) #24–25 (2005)"The Insiders":Outsiders (vol. 3) #24–25 (2005) she was beaten by Superboy as a result of his possession by Lex Luthor; though she recovered, Superboy secluded himself at the Kent farm in Smallville,Teen Titans (vol. 3) #26 (2005)Infinite Crisis #1 (2005)Supergirl (vol. 5) #2 (2005) and there was a strain on their relationship until the events of Infinite Crisis.

When the Teen Titans and the Outsiders learned that Donna Troy was still alive in The Return of Donna Troy, Cassie was among the heroes that traveled to the planet Minosyss to reunite with her. Having had false memories implanted by the Titans of Myth, Donna savagely beat Cassie until Cassie was able to restore her true memories.The Return of Donna Troy #3 (2005)

Infinite Crisis

During a battle against Brother Blood and a handful of zombie Titans, she acknowledged that her powers were fluctuating and sometimes disappearing altogether.Teen Titans (vol. 3) #30–31 (2005) Despite this, Cassie attempted to help Superboy after he was beaten to near-death by Superboy-PrimeInfinite Crisis #4 (2006)Teen Titans (vol. 3) #32 (2006) After saving him, Wonder Girl and the Titans infiltrated a LexCorp laboratory to find a way to cure Superboy.Robin (vol. 2) #146–47 (2006) While the other Titans flew to Blüdhaven following an attack from the Society, Cassie remained at Titans Tower to watch over Superboy. When he awoke, the pair of them reconnected and remembered their past in Young Justice, which seemed so much happier and easier. Conner then took Cassie to Smallville, and, afraid that it would be their last night together, they consummated their love.Teen Titans (vol. 3) Annual #1 (2006)

Ares again appeared to her and informed her that the reason behind her weakening power was that Zeus was taking back the powers he had granted to her as he left the mortal plane. Ares then offered Cassie some of his power in exchange for becoming his champion and acknowledging him as her brother.Teen Titans (vol. 3) #33 She joined Superboy and Nightwing up north, with powers returned, to assist in the assault on Lex Luthor's tower. Superboy sacrificed his life to defeat Superboy-Prime and destroy the tower.Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)

The Cult of Conner

Directly after Infinite Crisis, the Teen Titans fall apart. Cassie, feeling abandoned by her best friends, leaves the Titans during the year in which 52 takes place, following Robin's departure. Cassie becomes involved in a cult heavily influenced by Kryptonian culture. She sets up an altar in Titans Tower with Kryptonian crystals and a gold figure with the Superman-insignia, which means "hope" in Kryptonian. Soon, Ralph Dibny approaches her because someone defaced the grave of his wife Sue with an upside down 'S' Shield, which in Kryptonian means "resurrection".

About five days later, Cassie and her fellow cult members meet with Ralph. Cassie mentions that it was another member, Dev-Em, who led her to join. Cassie explains that the goal of the cult is to resurrect Superboy. As a test of their process, they intend to resurrect Sue Dibny. Cassie and Ralph attend a ceremony designed to resurrect Sue, but Ralph grows suspicious and with the help of other superheroes, disrupts the ceremony, destroying the Kryptonite which was essential to the process. Cassie leaves with Dev-Em, blaming Ralph for destroying her chances to resurrect Superboy. After stopping Weather Wizard in Metropolis, Cassie meets Supernova and refers to him incorrectly as Kon-El, who actually turns out to be Booster Gold in disguise.

One Year Later

During "One Year Later", Wonder Girl is seen attempting to stop Gemini of the Brotherhood of Evil from escaping S.T.A.R. Labs with valuable technology, revealing that she had been following the Brotherhood for some time. She also sports a new costume influenced by that of the late Superboy. She now wears a Golden Age Wonder Woman-themed t-shirt and denim jeans.Teen Titans (vol. 3) #34 (2006)

She temporarily rejoins the team,Teen Titans (vol. 3) #35 (2006) under the suggestion of Cyborg so that they may combine forces to defeat the Brotherhood of Evil. After the Teen Titans and Doom Patrol defeat the Brotherhood of Evil, she decides to rejoin the team permanently. When she goes to tell Robin of her decision, she discovers his secretive and unsuccessful attempts to bring back Superboy. Though obsessed with having Conner back, Cassie reacts in horror and in an attempt to quell Robin's anger at Cassie, the two kiss. For a while the two refused to talk about the incident beyond coming to the agreement that it was a mistake, but they both have discussed it with others.Wonder Woman (vol. 4) #4 (2007)Supergirl (vol. 5) #11 (2007)Supergirl (vol. 5) #12 (2007) With her life in disarray, Cassie has been having difficulty with her personal life, often having major confrontations with her mother. Cassie has gained a new friendship with the recently returned Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, who has shared with her in mourning the loss of Superboy and Paradise Island.Supergirl (vol. 5) #10 (2006)

Cassie was also still very furious at Wonder Woman following the events of Infinite Crisis, due to her belief that Wonder Woman abandoned her after Conner's death to play secret agent in a new civilian identity that Batman created for her after Infinite Crisis. She was also not pleased that Robin was aware of Diana's whereabouts during the year after Infinite Crisis and did not inform her about it. Diana and Cassie have not been able to discuss their past differences, leading to Cassie to turn to Supergirl and the now resurrected Donna Troy instead for emotional support dealing with Conner's death.