Wonder Woman,
Amazon or Princess?

Wonder Woman was created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston, who was an educational consultant for Detective Comics, Inc. (now DC Comics). At the time, the genre was dominated by male masculine superheroes. Marston, as history reports, was the creator of the systolic blood-pressure test. Because this later lead to the polygraph or lie detector test, Marston was convinced that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work faster and more accurately. In an issue of The American Scholar from 1943, Marston was quoted as saying:

"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."

And in December of 1941, Marston's "good and beautiful woman" made her first appearance in All Star Comics, issue #8. Shortly after, she went on to become the first woman heroine to have her own comic book and the rest is comic history.

"Armed with her bulletproof bracelets, magic lasso, and her Amazonian training, Wonder-Woman (whose "real" name was Princess Diana) was the archetype of the perfect woman from the mind of her creator, Dr. Marston. She was beautiful, intelligent, strong, but still possessed a soft side. At that time, her powers came from "Amazon Concentration," not as a gift from the gods.

Wonder Woman's "magic lasso" was supposedly forged from the Magic Girdle of Aphrodite, which Queen Hippolyta (Wonder Woman's mother) was bequeathed by the Goddess. To make the lasso, the god Hephaestus had borrowed the Olympian belt, removed links from it, and forged the magic lasso from it. It was unbreakable, infinitely stretchable, and could make all who are encircled obey the commands of the wielder, most notably to tell the truth."

From her inception, Wonder Woman was not out to just stop criminals, but to reform them. On a small island off Paradise Island was Transformation Island, a rehabilitation complex created by the Amazons to house and reform criminals. A basic underlying premise in the emotional makeup of Wonder-Woman was the act or understanding of "loving submission." In loving submission, one would be kind to others and be willing and open to surrendering to them out of unconditional love.

Through later years, Wonder-Woman would have her abilities expanded. Her earrings would give her air to breathe in outer space, her "Invisible Plane" was given an origin, and her tiara was found to be an unbreakable boomerang.

With this quick synopsis of the origins of Wonder Woman, I hope I have piqued your curiosity. For a more in depth historical development, you can jump to this Wonder Woman article.

Now if you happen to be into collecting and reading more about the Amazing Adventures of Wonder Woman, I have researched some excellent resources. Here is an excellent collection of Wonder Woman comics and back issues. I don't think you will be disappointed. And of course, the ole standby, Amazon , has a multitude of items to tickle your taste buds. Don't stay too long though, and come back here.

You will be able to find other links to some very interesting and informational resources throughout my site. To get back to my comic book page, just close this browser. If you arrived at this page first, then by all means, look at my main URL in your address window and go there for some amazing comic book information.