- Here's the thing about Wonder Woman,
we've seen her fly in some cartoons,
and certainly the comics.
But if she could fly,
then what's the deal with the invisible plane?
Well, let's try and clear up
some of Wonder Woman's history today.
(upbeat rock music)
Welcome to Comic Misconceptions, I'm Scott.
And Wonder Woman was created by
William Moulton Marston,
and debuted in All-Star Comics number eight
from 1941, with the continuation of her first story
printed in Sensation Comics number one.
It is in this story, right from the beginning,
that we see Wonder Woman's main mode
of transportation is the infamous invisible jet,
which was actually first referred to
as the transparent plane,
arguably a worse name.
But why?
Why does Wonder Woman need the invisible plane at all?
Can't she fly?
Well, originally, she couldn't.
Initially she could only jump really far,
much like how Superman was when he debuted.
Wonder Woman was formed from clay,
and her skill set was originally described as
the beauty of Aphrodite, the wisdom of Athena,
the agility of Mercury, and the strength of Hercules.
Nothing in there about the gift of flight,
so when and how was Wonder Woman first able to fly?
Well, the first time we see her have a flight-like power
was in Wonder Woman number 98 from 1958,
17 years after her debut,
where she showcased the ability to ride on air currents.
This stuck around for a bit,
but mostly she still just used the invisible jet.
It wasn't until after Crisis on Infinite Earths
when the DC Universe rebooted,
that she was officially granted the power of flight.
We see her revised origin in Wonder Woman
Volume two, issue one when she's granted with a
slightly different power set.
Demeter grants her strength and power,
Aphrodite grants her beauty and a loving heart,
Athena grants her wisom,
Artemis grants her the eye of a hunter
and unity with all beasts,
Hestia grants her sisterhood with fire,
which will open men's hearts to her,
and last, but not least,
Hermes grants her speed and the power of flight.
In the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe,
Wonder Woman's origin is changed up yet again.
For starters, she was no longer formed by clay
and brought to life by magic,
instead being a naturally born daughter of
Hippolyta and Zeus.
And in terms of her ability to fly,
it was no longer something she was born with.
Instead, in Wonder Woman number 12
we see that she needs to save her pregnant friend, Zola,
who has been pushed off the top of Mount Olympus.
We've all been there.
Wonder Woman instinctually dives after Zola
with no real plan, but thankfully Hermes is there,
and he plucks one of the feathers on his feet,
throws it at Wonder Woman,
it pricks her leg, and suddenly she can fly.
So, we've seen a few versions of the character
that could fly, but it makes you wonder
what the benefit of having an invisible jet would be, right?
Well, this is exactly the problem that the people at DC had
that they tried to solve by making the invisible plane
a shape shifting, sentient alien life form.
But to back up for a second,
and leave kind of a cliffhanger there,
I wanna note that the invisible plane
has had more origins than most characters have had.
First, it was simply thought of to be a product
of advanced Amazonian science and engineering.
Then it was written about like it was some kind of
mystical gift from Aphrodite.
In another story, she found and tamed a Pegasus,
and then traveled with it through some kind
of mystical cloud.
And when they came out the other side,
the Pegasus had somehow transformed
into a robot plane.
In the New 52, it never even belonged to Wonder Woman.
It was simply an ARGUS transport vehicle
for the Justice League of America.
But I think the weirdest origin,
besides the totally awesome Pegasus one,
is the one that comes out of the late '90s,
because the '90s were a magical time for comics.
In this story, Wonder Woman finds an ancient
underground civilization of beings
known as the Lansinarians.
They have been living underneath Antarctica
in the darkness for so long
that they have evolved so that they are born without eyes.
And to compensate for their blindness,
they use what they are calling a morphing crystal,
or a Lansinar Disk, to accommodate their needs.
If their chamber starts flooding,
the Lansinarians can't react fast enough to survive,
but the disk can automatically turn into a submarine
and securely protect everyone inside.
It can also morph into a jet, of course,
as well as a rocket ship, or even an entire floating
building called the WonderDome,
which is essentially Wonder Woman's version
of Superman's fortress of solitude, or the Batcave.
However, this disk isn't just some piece of technology
that the Lansinarians invented.
In fact, the invisible jet is actually a living organism
who belongs to a network of other crystalline entities
called The Ring, which represents the most perfect
structure in all of the universe.
The invisible jet, which at this point
is simply called the WonderDome,
or Dome for short, crash landed on Earth
a long time ago, and was found by the Lansinarians.
And when they gave him to Wonder Woman,
he fell in love with her.
Yep, the invisible jet fell in love with Wonder Woman.
Don't question it.
After discovering his origin and destiny to become
a part of the most perfect structure,
he decides against joining The Ring
because he believes that it's his job
to bring order to all of the chaos that Wonder Woman
is put through.
But sadly, Dome dies after sacrificing himself
to stop a tidal wave from taking innocent lives.
However, he does morph back into an invisible jet
right before dying so Wonder Woman
can still use him as a jet,
but he couldn't morph into anything anymore
'cause he was no longer alive.
So technically she would be flying
the equivalent of a corpse.
Since the morphing abilities that made the jet
actually useful stopped functioning,
it again stopped appearing in comics that much
because Wonder Woman can still fly
wherever she wants.
Still, it does have other benefits
such as acting as a transport vehicle for large cargo,
or groups of people who can't fly,
and it can even travel into space.
So, that's something.
And look, I know that the invisible jet
has had its fair share of criticisms and jokes
made at its expense over the years.
I mean, originally it didn't even make
the people inside invisible.
It was fast and quiet, but your enemies
are still gonna see what appears to be a person
sitting in the sky coming right towards them.
That being said, I don't think anything quite expresses
the silliness of the invisible jet
quite like DC's own comic, Wonder Woman
number 86 from 1956.
In this story, Wonder Womans' invisible plane is on loan
to a local museum that features famous vehicles.
And I kid you not, these vehicles hate the invisible plane.
I mean, they literally are somehow sentient,
and they are not at all impressed with an
invisible robot plane.
A prairie schooner, a Viking ship,
the first automobile, and more, all believe
that they are better than a vehicle
that is infinitely more advanced than them.
It can't even get the respect of its peers.
What does that say about it?
Interestingly, a similar thing happened
in real life this year.
As an April Fools Day prank,
the National Air and Space Museum set up an exhibit
for Wonder Woman's invisible jet.
Whether or not the other vehicles came to life
"Night at the Museum" style and made fun of the thing
remains a mystery, but I like to think they did.
What do you guys think?
Do you like the invisible jet?
Do you prefer Wonder Woman with or without
the ability to fly?
Why can't I have a Pegasus plane?
Let's talk about it all in the comments below.
And if you want more of your comic book questions answered,
check out a video we did about who killed Batman's parents.
We've got a whole playlist of great comic FAQs
like this one that I'm positive you will enjoy,
so click over there to go check them out.
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Once again, I'm Scott.
You can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
And I will see you guys on Friday
right here for another video.
See ya.