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Wonder Woman is an incredible character.
Created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, Princess Diana of Themyscira first
appeared in 1941’s All-Star Comics #8.
This was during the Golden Age of comics, a time where superheroes were abundant; Superman,
Batman, Green Lantern, The Atom, The Flash, and so many others popped up during this era,
but Wonder Woman filled a void that these heroes created.
Diana brought something new to the table: a strong, female superhero born of her own
devices.
Regardless of how Wonder Woman was canonically created, she left Paradise Island with one
mission: to unify the world and birth an era of peace.
Other female characters of Wonder Woman’s time had much weaker motivations.
Sandra Knight’s Phantom Lady, for instance, was a character that essentially fought crime
because she was a bored, rich socialite.
She appeared in a whopping twenty-three issues of 1941’s Police Comics from publisher Quality
until she disappeared for awhile upon its cancellation.
Y’know, as phantoms are known to do.
Eventually, Sandra was brought back into the limelight, mainly because Matt Baker’s promiscuous
drawings of the character proved to be quite popular.
This type of art was known as “good girl art,” which, frankly, is a really gross
term.
Regardless, it was a real problem during the 40’s.
With comics like Torchy, Canteen Kate, and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Matt Baker and
his colleagues thrived drawing “attractive young women, usually in skimpy or form-fitting
clothing, designed for erotic stimulation.”
That’s the, uh, definition of the term, not me being gross.
Anyway, Wonder Woman was drawn in a somewhat different way.
Yes, her costume fell privy to some of the same design trends that were popular back
then; the exposed legs, high heels, and busty cleavage, but she was put in positions of
power rather than shown as a sex object.
Look at these covers from her first solo series.
Riding a horse?
Hell yeah!
Throwing some construction equipment?
Rad!
And, what’s that, Wonder Woman for president?!
Enough said.
Getting back on track here, the Phantom Lady was just one example of this trend of one-dimensional
female characters in comics.
Marla Drake’s Miss Fury stumbled into crimefighting because--oh, no!
It can’t be!
Another woman was wearing the same dress as her to a costume ball!
Because of this, her housemaid suggested a different outfit so Marla slipped into a very
uncomfortable looking catsuit and oh, hey, superpowers!
Miss Fury didn’t really have a mission, she just fought crime because “why not,”
I guess?
And then, of course, there’s Betty and Veronica of Archie Comics!
Arguably as popular as Wonder Woman at the time, these two were created solely as love
interests for Archie Andrews, local redhead of Riverdale.
Their first duo book was originally called Archie’s Girls: Betty and Veronica, because
that’s all they were, Archie’s girls.
Now, this was, to be fair, a popular naming scheme for new side-characters’ stories;
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen for instance, but this sort of “pre-title” kinda defeats
the point of these books.
A comic created to tell stories about side characters elsewhere becomes a minor title
about that guy who you once saw in a Superman comic.
Makes the book, and by proxy, the character, less independent.
That was a weird side-tangent, moving on!
While most female characters of the 40’s had poor motivations, Wonder Woman stood apart
as a soldier of justice and peace.
A huge part of her character nowadays is that she’s a founding member of the Justice League,
DC’s flagship super team.
But, she didn’t initially join the superteam, or at least the original version of the superteam,
as a fighter.
You see, In the Golden Age, Diana joined the Justice Society of America in All-Star Comics
#13 after proving herself as an equal and fighting alongside the rest of the JSA.
She was offered the illustrious position of secretary by Hawkman.
Fortunately, Diana got her chance to fight the good fight two issues later in All-Star
Comics #15, while her allies were nowhere to be found!
After learning that they were all busy tracking down a supervillain, Diana decided to gather
the girlfriends of the remaining JSA members, put them in genderbent versions of their boyfriend’s
costumes, and crack the case before the men could.
The story ends with Wonder Woman and co.
finding the culprit, Brain Wave, who promptly meets his demise after getting spooked and
falling out a window.
Just a stand up supervillain.
With the exception of Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman’s team was then never seen as superheroes again.
Just like that, they went back to being arm candy for their superhero boyfriends and nothing
else.
Even Hawkgirl, an immortal Egyptian princess, was initially nothing more than Hawkman’s
girlfriend.
Somehow, though, Diana Prince stood out.
She wasn’t the girlfriend of an already established superhero or a bored socialite
who stumbled into crimefighting; she’s a bonafide demigod born out of clay on an island
removed from the rest of the world filled of warrior women who want to save the world
from evil and usher in an era of lifelong peace.
Despite a billion sexist ideals trying to put her down, she defied them and turned into
the cultural icon she is today.
Secretary for the JSA, leaving her island partly because she was falling for the first
man she ever saw, Steve Trevor, conforming to the same skimpy costume trends as her forgettable
peers, and even being called an “anti-male lesbian,” by the infamous Fredric Wertham
solely because she’s a powerful woman.
“The Lesbian counterpart of Batman may be found in the stories of Wonder Woman.
Where Batman is anti-feminine, the attractive Wonder Woman and her counterparts are definitely
anti-masculine.
Wonder Woman has her own female following.
They are all continuously being threatened, captured, almost put to death.
Her followers are the "Holiday girls", i.e. the holiday girls, the gay party girls, the
gay girls.
Wonder Woman refers to them as ‘my girls’” That guy is just chock full of wisdom.
But, nothing stopped her.
Even during the decline in the publication of superhero comics of the 50’s, Diana was
one of a handful of heroes to retain her own solo comic.
Wonder Woman went on to become one of DC’s holy trinity alongside Batman and Superman,
now three of the most recognizable superheroes of all time.
In the grand scheme of things, Diana is probably the most recognizable female superhero ever.
You don’t hear about the likes of Phantom Lady or Miss Fury nowadays, but Wonder Woman?
She’s everywhere.
The Brady Kids, Super Friends, her own show starring Lynda Carter, countless appearances
in the Justice League TV show, and a standalone animated movie in 2009 slowly made more and
more aware of Wonder Woman’s strength as a character.
Not to mention her appearances in games like Justice League Heroes, Injustice, LittleBigPlanet
2, and Scribblenauts Unlimited, further extending her reach.
And now, finally, she’s the star of the first female-led big blockbuster superhero
movie ever to be worth its salt.
I can’t imagine a better heroine to receive the honor.
Except maybe Spider-Woman, but, like, don’t actually do that, I don’t want you to ruin
my favorite superhero?
Not that they ruined Wonder Woman, the movie, it w- it was okay, I DON’T KNOW, I’VE
DUG MYSELF A HOLE!
She’s even served as a symbol for feminists, pacifists, and LGBT rights, appealing to everyone,
becoming strong, relatable strong role model.
Honestly, any female superhero could’ve become what Wonder Woman is, but Marston was
the man who had the brilliance to create a hero so strong during a time when other female
heroes were so weak.
At the end of the day, she broke free from the, sometimes literal, chains that bound
her, defied a generation of superheroes and became, well, quite a wonder.
I am so sorry.
Anyway, hope you learned something interesting in this video.
There is so much intrigue in Wonder Woman’s character and I wanted to focus on a part
that I feel isn’t talked about much.
To me, it’s so wildly interesting that out of all the characters created in the 40’s,
Wonder Woman stood out and became one of the most recognizable icons in pop culture.
And, honestly, it’s ridiculous that it took this long to get at least a passable superhero
movie starring a woman!
What do you all think?
Am I crazy for thinking that Wonder Woman is an incredible superhero who stood apart
from the crowd?
Probably not, but I’ll stop leading the question.
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Next time I save the state of this show with the power of LOVE!