She's the Amazonian superhero who changed the world when she first emerged in late 1941. Shirking the passive portrayal of women as typists, librarians, or young girls in love (at least most of the time), she was a butt-kicking, take-charge champion of justice who very quickly became a star and holds her place next to the likes of Superman and Batman as one of the longest running superhero characters of all time. And she recently turned 75 years old.
So Mental Floss asked DC Comics to dig deep into her history for some fascinating facts about the warrior goddess who deflects bullets with her gauntlets, wields the golden Lasso of Truth, and fights all manner of man and beast in her globe-spanning adventures. The woman who left her Amazonian home on Paradise Island to look after military officer Steve Trevor and aid him in his fight against the Nazis has grown through some amazing adventures since then.
Wonder Woman is one of those characters who's so iconic that the idea of her often outweighs the real thing. She's got the crown, the lasso, the invisible airplane, and a cute little outfit, but there's a lot more to her than that. As the premiere of Wonder Woman approaches, now is the perfect time to dive deep into her backstory. Did you know, for example, that her creator was a psychologist who espoused principles of free love, or that Wonder Woman was partially inspired by birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger?
Read on for a list of facts to impress your fellow moviegoers (and for more, check out Jill Lepore's excellent book The Secret History of Wonder Woman, especially if you're interested in additional information about William Moulton Marston's "nonconformist" lifestyle).
She's the Amazonian superhero who changed the world when she first emerged in late 1941. Shirking the passive portrayal of women as typists, librarians, or young girls in love (at least most of the time), she was a butt-kicking, take-charge champion of justice who very quickly became a star and holds her place next to the likes of Superman and Batman as one of the longest running superhero characters of all time.
And she recently turned 75 years old. So Mental Floss asked DC Comics to dig deep into her history for some fascinating facts about the warrior goddess who deflects bullets with her gauntlets, wields the golden Lasso of Truth, and fights all manner of man and beast in her globe-spanning adventures. The woman who left her Amazonian home on Paradise Island to look after military officer Steve Trevor and aid him in his fight against the Nazis has grown through some amazing adventures since then.
16.) SHE WAS AN INSTANT SENSATION
When Wonder Woman debuted in All-Star Comics #8 (dated December 1941, released in October 1941), she took the comics world by storm. But her then-publisher All-American Publications knew that they had something great. Her next appearance followed just a few weeks later in Sensation Comics #1 (dated January 1942), and she was one of the first superhero characters to get her own book, in the summer of 1942. "Superman was first, Batman was second, and Wonder Woman did it in less than a year from the moment she was first created," DC Comics archivist and librarian Benjamin LeClear tells mental_floss. "It's just mind-boggling." She initially had psychic powers like telepathy and astral projection, and she became invulnerable to electric shocks.
2.) Wonder Woman’s iconic bracelets were directly inspired by one of Marston’s wives. Marston was only legally married to one woman (Elizabeth Holloway Marston), but he also had two children with Olive Byrne, who lived with him until his death. After Olive “married” Marston, she wore a bracelet on each wrist to symbolize their relationship. Wonder Woman’s, unlike Byrne’s, were capable of stopping bullets.
3.) In 1942, Wonder Woman was banned for not wearing enough clothes. When the National Organization for Decent Literature blacklisted Wonder Woman’s book Sensation Comics, the publisher wrote a letter to the bishop in charge of the organization, asking why Wonder Woman had been banned. “Practically the only reason for which Sensation Comics was placed on the banned list of the NODL was that it violates Point Four of the Code,” the bishop replied. “Wonder Woman is not sufficiently dressed.”
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4.) Wonder Woman was the first female member of the Justice Society, a precursor to the Justice League. Marston, however, did not write the Justice Society stories; a man named Gardner Fox did. Fox made Wonder Woman the secretary of the Society and always had her stay behind while the men flew off to fight the bad guys.
5.) She was very nearly called Suprema. Editor Sheldon Mayer convinced Marston to just call her “Wonder Woman” instead.
6.) Early issues of the comic featured a section called Wonder Women of History, edited by tennis champion Alice Marble. Marble, who won 18 Grand Slams, was named associate editor after suggesting that Wonder Woman add a section on real superwomen. Her first pick was Florence Nightingale; other featured icons included Sojourner Truth, Nellie Bly, Marie Curie, Joan of Arc, and Sacagawea.
7.) The original Wonder Woman had pretty radical politics. After World War II, Wonder Woman became much less powerful, but while Marston was in charge, he had her fight on behalf of striking textile workers, abused wives, and families who can’t afford milk for their children.
8.) Margaret Sanger, the famous birth control activist, also served as one of the inspirations for Wonder Woman. Sanger’s niece was Olive Byrne, one of Marston’s partners. Byrne introduced Marston and his wife to Sanger’s ideas when she brought Sanger’s book Woman and the New Race to one of their “non-conformist” gatherings at Marston’s aunt’s house.
9.) Wonder Woman used to be really into bondage. Leaving aside the fact that Wonder Woman’s own weapon is literally a rope, there are many instances in early comics where she and other women find themselves tied up and/or chained. Despite repeated requests from his editors that he tone it down with the bondage, Marston kept it up because he felt that it was a good way to illustrate Wonder Woman’s ability to free herself.
10.) Dr. Psycho, one of Wonder Woman’s original nemeses, was inspired by a professor of Marston’s who felt that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Hugo Münsterberg didn’t even think women were fit to serve on juries; Dr. Psycho at one point tried to stop women from contributing to the war effort.
11.) Wonder Woman’s homeland is an island where men aren’t allowed. Originally, this island was called — get ready — Paradise Island (it’s now called Themyscira). Diana’s mother Hippolyta brought the Amazons there after Hercules stole her magic girdle, and Aphrodite told them that they’d be safe so long as they wore bracelets and didn’t talk to men.
12.) Wonder Woman covered the first issue of Ms. magazine. Radical feminists later attempted to use Gloria Steinem’s affection for Wonder Woman (a government operative herself) as evidence that she was a CIA operative whose magazine was actually a capitalist attempt to destroy feminism from within.
- ) Superman and Wonder Woman dated for a while in 2012. Wonder Woman’s traditional love interest is Steve Trevor, the army officer who crashes on Paradise Island/Themyscira and ruins the perfect matriarchal situation they have going on there, but in a 2012 issue of Justice League, Wonder Woman and Superman took things to the next level.
14.) In 2015, Wonder Woman became the first DC hero to officiate a same-sex wedding. When Clark Kent expressed confusion that Wonder Woman would be supportive of same-sex marriage, Wonder Woman replied, “Clark, my country is all women. To us, it’s not ‘gay’ marriage. It’s just marriage.”
15.) And in 2016, writer Greg Rucka confirmed that Wonder Woman is bisexual.
She lives on an island with only women, remember? “You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship,” Rucka said of Wonder Woman’s life on Themyscira. “And the only options are women. But an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, 'You’re gay.' They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist. Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other women? …. The answer is obviously yes.”.
- HER CREATOR ALSO INVENTED AN EARLY LIE DETECTOR TEST
William Moulton Marston invented one of the first “modern” lie detector tests after realizing how people's blood pressure changed when they were lying. He constructed the first version in 1915 and published his findings in 1917. Beyond his involvement with the police and government, Marston was also an early champion of women's rights, so it's no surprise that he created Wonder Woman while pulling from his extensive knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology.
- SHE WAS ORIGINALLY MADE OF CLAY.
Originally, Wonder Woman was made of clay by her mother, Queen Hippolyta, and then brought to life. Later writers would add that the Olympian deities gave her powers reflecting her original description: "Beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury." In the post-New 52 era of the past few years, Wonder Woman became the daughter of Zeus proper, but as part of the ongoing Rebirth storyline she has learned that her past is a lie and is setting out to discover the truth.
17.) 'Wonder Woman' Banned by Several Nations in Racist Protest Against Israeli Actress
Algeria and Tunisia are boycotting the global block buster Wonder Woman. The movie is in it's third weekend and move to 2nd place for the first time (behind Cars 3) making $40.8 million bringing box office figures in the United States alone to $274.6 million.
Earlier in June, Lebanon banned the film.
Tunisia's Culture Minister said the People's Movement, an Arab nationalist party, complained that the film was being shown. In Algeria, Wonder Woman was set to show June 8 at a film festival. However, they pulled the movie claiming there were exhibition rights issues.Ironically, June 8 is during the 50th anniversary of Israel's occupation of the Gaza strip. The occupation came at the end of the Six Days war. Lebanon banned the movie because the film's lead actress, Gal Gadot, is an Israeli and a former soldier in the Israeli army.
Gadot has also openly expressed her support of her nation's military actions, according to Movie Guide.
Other films, like Fast and Furious 6, Furious 7, and Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, featured Gadot. None of them were boycotted and they did well in the country. A Lebanese boycott group says on their Facebook page that Gadot is a supporter of Israel's military and policies against the Palestinian region of Gaza.Grand Cinemas and the Warner Brothers in Lebanon announced the ban on their Twitter feeds.
18.) 8. GLORIA STEINEM GOT WONDER WOMAN’S POWERS BACK.
The famed feminist grew up loving Wonder Woman, and after she got Ms. magazine rolling in December 1971, she got permission from DC to put her favorite childhood icon on the July 1972 cover with the tagline "Wonder Woman for President." (She had previously run for the Oval Office in a storyline set 1000 years in the future, published back in the 1940s.)
"Gloria Steinem put her on the cover in her classic bathing suit and tiara look and asked DC what was going on with Wonder Woman at the time," LeClear recalls. "She was horrified to find out she had no superpowers. She said that could not stand. Girls and women needed to know about the strength and power that was Wonder Woman as a superhero, so based on that we put her back [into her classic mode]." The classic costume also returned with the emergence of the TV series starring Lynda Carter in 1975.
Steinem also gets credit for collecting all of Wonder Woman's Golden Age adventures into a book many years before the graphic novel trend set in. She commissioned and paid for it.
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