Wonder Woman is a big deal these days, but there are some aspects of her history that
DC is definitely not in a hurry to acknowledge.
Whether outdated or just a little too weird for the mainstream, these elements sometimes
get swept under the proverbial rug.
Her creator’s unusual beliefs
Wonder Woman's co-creator, with artist Harry G. Peter, was William Moulton Marston, a psychologist
who was also responsible for the principles behind the lie detector.
His wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, is said to be responsible for giving him the idea
of a female superhero—and that superhero, Wonder Woman, was visually inspired in part
by their girlfriend and third spouse, Olive Byrne, right down to the metal cuff bracelets
she liked to wear.
“And all her friends and helpers are sorority girls who have spanking parties and fight
Germans and rides in an invisible plane."
"Yes.”
At the time, the trio would be considered radical feminists, believing that women not
only deserved freedom to pursue their own lives and pleasure, but were better suited
to run the world.
They attended meetings at the home of Carolyn Keatley, who led what some might call a feminist
sex cult.
In time, Marston fathered children with both Holloway and Byrne, and when he died in the
1950s, the two mothers continued to live together and raise those children as a family.
. Marston's interest in bondage and "loving submission" had a funny way of making into
the comics he wrote.
Couple that with his... unique living arrangement, and you can see why DC isn't exactly promoting
that little factoid..
That doesn’t mean it’s a secret, though.
The comics are well known for seeming pretty kinky in retrospect, and the 2017 film Professor
Marston and the Wonder Women attempted to tell the whole story.
Secret identity theft
Most people know that Wonder Woman's secret identity, when she bothers to have one, is
Diana Prince.
Since her real identity is Princess Diana, you might assume she got her American alias
just by flipping that around, but in Sensation Comics #1, she went about it a little differently.
Arriving at a military hospital, Diana comes upon a weeping nurse who happens to look just
like her.
It turns out the nurse is actually named Diana Prince, and she's crying because her fiancé
has found work in South America and she has no money to join him.
Wonder Woman has just earned a pile of cash by demonstrating her Amazon abilities onstage,
so the real Diana Prince sells Princess Diana her credentials and leaves the country.
Since Wonder Woman was trained in nursing on Paradise Island, this deception isn't a
problem for her patients.
However, she's also an undocumented immigrant who got a job with the military using somebody
else's paperwork, which…
yeah.
Um. let's just move on, shall we?.
The Justice Society’s secretary
The Justice Society of America was the first superhero team in comics and the predecessor
to the Justice League.
Unsurprisingly for 1940, the team was entirely male to start with, although the original
Red Tornado, a middle-aged housewife who became a gender-ambiguous comedy hero, made an appearance
at their first meeting in All-Star Comics #3.
Nine issues later, they welcomed their newest ally, Wonder Woman.
As their secretary.
World War II was in full swing, and the Society had just been commissioned by President Roosevelt
to become an official part of the war effort, so it made sense that they might need someone
to take minutes at their meetings.
It makes no sense, however, that the job should go to a trained warrior who's arguably more
powerful than anyone on the team.
Fortunately, the secretary aspect of her membership was quickly dropped.
That Egg supervillain
During the cold war, evil communists were not uncommon as bad guys, but none of them
were quite like Egg Fu: a gigantic egg - yes, a literal egg - with a face straight out of
the "drawing Asian faces for maximum outrage" handbook and an accent devoid of prepositions.
Lacking limbs, he attacked people with his mustache, and even managed to kill both Wonder
Woman and Steve Trevor in his first appearance.
Fortunately, Queen Hippolyta brought them back to life with Amazon technology.
It's nice to know that’s an option when things go badly.
As for Egg Fu, he went the Humpty Dumpty route, but has been brought back again and again
over the years.
Recent creators have made an effort to make the character not so over the top in 60s stereotypes,
but we’re not sure he’s worth the effort.
At the very least, we can be confident he won't be in a Wonder Woman movie anytime soon.
The embarrassing TV pilot in 1967
With the popularity of Batman in the 1960s, producer William Dozier [DOE-zhe-ur] ]started
looking for other DC superheroes to bring to television, and Wonder Woman seemed like
an obvious choice.
With writer Stanley Ralph Ross and director Leslie H. Martinson, both of whom worked on
Batman, he created a five-minute Wonder Woman pilot starring Ellie Wood Walker in the title
role.
Diana Prince is portrayed as a mousey klutz living with her mother, who is definitely
not the Queen of the Amazons, and much of the pilot consists of Walker posing in front
of a mirror wishing she was more beautiful.
"And who thinks she has the beauty of Aphrodite"
The whole thing feels sexist and unappealing,
and Wonder Woman fans should give thanks that only five minutes of it were ever made.
The embarrassing TV pilot in 2011
After another failed pilot starring Cathy Lee Crosby failed to catch on in 1974, the
third effort to bring Wonder Woman to television with star Lynda Carter was finally successful
the following year.
But the pilot for a fourth attempt in 2011 never even made it to airwaves.
It's nowhere near as bad as the 1967 version, but it's certainly not good, either.
This Wonder Woman was produced and written by David E. Kelley, of Ally McBeal fame, with
Adrianne Palicki in the title role and Elizabeth Hurley as the villainous Veronica Cale.
In this incarnation, Wonder Woman publicly goes by the name Diana Themyscira and runs
a corporation to support her costumed crimefighting, but also has a secret identity as Diana Prince,
which she uses to avoid the public eye.
Palicki has a pretty good look for Wonder Woman, and acts the role as best she can,
but the costume isn’t great, and its “metal” parts are unmistakably plastic.
Palicki did later get to prove herself as a superhero though, playing Bobbi Morse, a.k.a.
Mockingbird, on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Her sister Nubia
In 1973, superhero comics were making an effort to introduce more black characters, but with
most of the books written and drawn by white men, it didn't always go so well.
In Wonder Woman #204, Princess Diana meets another warrior who claims the title of Wonder
Woman—a black woman named Nubia who rules a floating island.
To Diana's surprise, Hippolyta reveals that Nubia is her sister, explaining that she actually
sculpted two baby girls out of different colored clay, and the dark-skinned child was stolen
by the War God Mars to be used against the Amazons.
Diana frees Nubia from the influence of Mars and they become friends as well as sisters.
However, someone at DC apparently decided this wasn't a great idea, and Nubia quickly
disappeared from the book.
And that’s kind of a shame.
Wonder Woman having a black woman as her sister, or at least a close ally, has plenty of potential.
However, the name "Nubia" is… well… yeah, and the whole "light clay/dark clay" aspect
is kinda crazy when you think about it - not the best way to explain race.
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