As Themyscira's emissary to Man's World, Diana has made it her duty to lead by example, even if the differences between her birthplace and new home sometimes present hurdles for her to jump. She has come to represent the possibility and potential of life without war, hate or violence, and she is a beacon of hope to all who find themselves in need. She stands as an equal among the most powerful Super Heroes, with a sense of purpose to protect the world from injustice in all forms.
13 years after Slipknot's imprisonment, after examining the photo of Wonder Woman and the Wonder Men taken in 1918 Belgium, Lex Luthor uses facial recognition software to deduce that the great Amazon warrior is in fact still alive, under the alias of "Diana Prince," working at the Louvre Museum, and he obtains footage of Diana in Paris, France, which has her exiting a taxi and entering a shop, in civilian clothing.[5]
Wonder Woman was minorly associated with the series 52, and in the One Year Later universe following Infinite Crisis she becomes a member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. The most memorable story arc from this era was the much maligned Amazons Attack story arc, which many fans felt was not engaging nor did it do enough service to the well-established characters. After Gail Simone took over the series, a number of memorable story arcs took place, foremost among them Rise of the Olympian and Warkiller. Following the departure of Gail Simone the character was relaunched into the storyline Odyssey, where she must discover who she is and what has happened to her life. During this period she also took part in the events of Blackest Night where she was first a Black Lantern and later a Star Sapphire.
As early as the 1950s,[210] Wonder Woman's tiara has also been used as a razor-edged throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang.[183] The tiara allows Wonder Woman to be invulnerable from telepathic attacks, as well as allowing her to telepathically contact people such as the Amazons back on Themyscira using the power of the red star ruby in its center.[63]
Wonder Woman engaged the First Born, but he quickly gained the advantage and attempted to kill Zeke. However, War challenged the First Born to a fight while Wonder Woman recovered. Then, Wonder Woman grabbed a spear and impaled both Ares and the First Born. As he died, Ares congratulated Wonder Woman for being a great warrior. Wonder Woman spared the First Born's life and went with Hades to take Ares' body to the River Styx.[36]
In 2011's The New 52, DC Comics relaunched its entire line of publications to attract a new generation of readers, and thus released volume 4 of the Wonder Woman comic book title. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang were assigned writing and art duties respectively and revamped the character's history considerably. In this new continuity, Wonder Woman wears a costume similar to her original Marston costume, utilizes a sword and shield, and has a completely new origin. No longer a clay figure brought to life by the magic of the gods, she is, instead, a demi-goddess and the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus. Azzarello and Chiang's revamp of the character was critically acclaimed, but highly divisive among longtime fans of the character.[47][48][49][50]
After recruiting a newly mortal, but still very bitter Hera into her group of companions, Wonder Woman retreated to London. Lennox revealed that there had been seven bastard children of Zeus. He and Diana were two, two others had been killed, and three remained. He suggested that for information on where the baby had been taken, Diana should contact their sister Siracca in Libya.[26] Her encounter with Siracca did not begin well, but after Wonder Woman appealed to her sense of family, she suggested that Diana seek out their brother Milan in New York City.[27]
In March 2005, Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures announced that Joss Whedon would write and direct the film.[74] Early drafts of his screenplay included Steve Trevor as the narrator, a fierce battle between Diana and her mother over Trevor's welfare, and after leaving Themyscira, his need to frequently rescue a Diana rendered helpless by the modern world.[75] Whedon was not able to complete a final version of his screenplay, and left the project in 2007.[76][77]
Olive Byrne met Marston in 1925, when she was a senior at Tufts; he was her psychology professor. Marston was already married, to a lawyer named Elizabeth Holloway. When Marston and Byrne fell in love, he gave Holloway a choice: either Byrne could live with them, or he would leave her. Byrne moved in. Between 1928 and 1933, each woman bore two children; they lived together as a family. Holloway went to work; Byrne stayed home and raised the children. They told census-takers and anyone else who asked that Byrne was Marston’s widowed sister-in-law. “Tolerant people are the happiest,” Marston wrote in a magazine essay in 1939, so “why not get rid of costly prejudices that hold you back?” He listed the “Six Most Common Types of Prejudice.” Eliminating prejudice number six—“Prejudice against unconventional people and non-conformists”—meant the most to him. Byrne’s sons didn’t find out that Marston was their father until 1963—when Holloway finally admitted it—and only after she extracted a promise that no one would raise the subject ever again.
When Diana returns she takes on the persona of Diana Prince, now a secret agent and member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. She is partnered with Nemesis and the two report to Sarge Steel. Her first assignment is to retrieve her sister Donna Troy, who has been kidnapped by several of her most persistent enemies; their powers have been augmented by Circe. After this is accomplished, Diana takes back the title of Wonder Woman.[9]
Supporting Amazons • Antiope • Artemis • Belyllioth • Cassandra Sandsmark • Department of Metahuman Affairs • Donna Troy • Ed Indelicato • Etta Candy • Ferdinand • Fury • General Blankenship • Helena Sandsmark • Hellenders • Hercules • Hippolyta • Holliday Girls • I-Ching • Julia Kapatelis • Jumpa • Lauren Haley • Lyta Milton • Mala • Micah Rains • Mike Schorr • Natasha Teranova • Nemesis • Nubia • Olympian • Orana • Phil Darnell • Philippus • Rama Chandra • Sarge Steel • Sofia Constantinas • Steve Trevor • Titans of Myth • Trevor Barnes • Vanessa Kapatelis • Warkiller • Wonder Girl • Wonder Man
John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!
With a new decade arriving, DC president Jenette Kahn ordered a revamp in Wonder Woman's appearance. Artist Milton Glaser, who also designed the "bullet" logo adopted by DC in 1977, created a stylized "WW" emblem that evoked and replaced the eagle in her bodice and debuted in 1982.[39] The emblem in turn was incorporated by studio letterer Todd Klein onto the monthly title's logo, which lasted for a year and a half before being replaced by a version from Glaser's studio.[40] With sales of the title continuing to decline in 1985 (despite an unpublished revamp that was solicited), the series was canceled and ended in issue #329 (February 1986) written by Gerry Conway, depicting Steve Trevor's marriage to Wonder Woman.
Diana's bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven NIGH-indestructible (the Omega Beams of Grail have proven able to shatter them), and are able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts.[203] Diana can slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making strong beings like Superman's ears bleed.[63] Recently, she gained the ability to channel Zeus's lightning through her bracelets as well. Zeus explained to her that this power had been contained within the bracelets since their creation, because they were once part of the Aegis, and that he had only recently unlocked it for her use.[204] After the 2011 relaunch of the character, it was revealed that Diana was the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta[136] and that the bracelets are able to keep the powers she had inherited from Zeus in check.[189] In addition, Hephaestus has modified the bracelets to allow Wonder Woman the sorcerous ability to manifest a sword of grayish metal from each bracelet. Each sword, marked with a red star, takes shape from a flash of lightning, and when Wonder Woman is done with them, the swords disappear, supposedly, back into her bracelets. As such, she has produced other weapons from the bracelets in this way such as a bow that fires explosive arrows, spears and energy bolts among others.[205]
Lennox suggests meeting Siracca, a fellow demigod daughter of Zeus as well. She travels to Lybia and finds a girl trapped in a vase. The girl tells Wonder Woman that when the soldiers came, everyone hid in a bunker. Leading her down, she triggers a trap which sends a plethora of knives, swords and daggers at her. Blocking them all but one, Diana looks to find the girl dissolving to sand. Crying at her failure, her time to mourn is cut short as the real Siracca, albeit in a zombie like form, ambushes her.
After the death of Superman, Wonder Woman became depressed and began to remember her origins differently, questioning aspects of her past such as whether she truly was mocked as a child and her relationship with Ares. In a fit of rage Diana crushed the helmet of War. Realizing that she shouldn't have been able to do that, she used the Lasso of Truth on herself and discovered that she had been deceived. Diana traveled to Olympus for answers, but found it abandoned. She also found herself unable to return to her home of Themyscira.[7]
By the end of the war, Diana began to lose faith in both humanity and herself after Ares opened her eyes to humanity's potential for evil. While she still believed in the power of love and compassion to change humanity for the better, Diana was left sobered and emotionally broken over certain events from the war, such as the use of Dr. Poison's gas to massacre the entire village of Veld, and Steve Trevor's self-sacrificing death. After witnessing a "century of horrors", Diana largely stepped away from heroics until she witnessed the seemingly unstoppable Doomsday wreck havoc; ultimately joining in to battle him alongside Batman and Superman. After witnessing Superman's own sacrifice to stop the monster, however, Diana turned once again towards heroics; demonstrating not only her underlying belief in her own core values, but also in the positive effect true heroes can have on the world.