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Wonder Woman

Real Name: Diana
Nicknames: The Amazing Amazon; Princess Di
Former Aliases: Princess Diana; Miss America
Other Current Aliases: Diana Prince

Status

Occupation: Emissary to the world of Man, Protector of Paradise Island; former Goddess of Truth
Legal Status: Citizen of Themyscira, formerly Princess of Themyscira
Identity: Public
Marital Status: Single
Group Affiliation: Justice League of America
Base of Operations: Themyscira; formerly JLA Watchtower; formerly Gateway City; formerly Boston, Massachusetts

Origin

Born on Themyscira, Princess Diana was given great powers by the Gods. She left her homeland and became an emissary to the world of Man.

Wonder Woman did not keep her identity a secret, and she was not at first a "super-heroine". Indeed, her character was in many ways that of a babe in the woods, innocent and without guile. Diana spoke only Themyscirian, a combination of classical Greek and Turkish. She had to learn English when she arrived in America, rather than knowing the language intuitively. Nonetheless, Diana was trained as a warrior and had no compunction against using deadly force when called for. Through Pérez's tenure on the book, Diana dealt with war, injustice, inequality, death, and conflicts involving the Olympian Gods.

The supporting characters of the comic were altered as well. For instance, Steve Trevor was changed into an Air Force officer considerably older than Diana's apparent age, thus sidestepping the traditional romance between the two. Instead, Trevor became involved with Etta Candy, who herself became a mature military officer of good standing and a large, but realistic physique. The Greek war god Ares and the Greek witch Circe eventually were written to become two of Diana's greatest enemies. Diana's enemy list also included the Cheetah who was a woman who could transform into a powerful and ferocious feline-humanoid creature.

Place of Birth: Themyscira

Known Relatives: Wonder Woman (Queen Hippolyta) (mother, deceased), Donna Troy (magically created clone), Antiope (Aunt)

First Appearance: Legends #6

History

Post-Crisis Beginnings

Post-Crisis, Wonder Woman was rebooted in 1987. Writer Greg Potter, who previously created the Jemm, Son of Saturn series for DC, was hired to rework the character. He spent several months behind the scenes working with editor Janice Race on new concepts before being joined by writer/artist George Pérez. Potter dropped out of writing the series after issue #2, and Perez became the sole plotter with help from writer Len Wein, who wrote the series' finished dialogue.

Comic book fans and critics consider Perez's 60-issue run one of the highlights of Wonder Woman's history. Pérez and Potter gave her a pro-woman personality, and Perez's extensive research into Greek mythology gave more depth and verisimilitude to Wonder Woman's world than in her previous incarnation.

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Wrap around Cover for Wonder Woman (Vol.2) #1

A significant change in Diana's history was that she was one of the late comers to the super hero community--relatively 5-6 years after most of the other heroes had debuted. This meant that she was not one of the founding members of the Justice League. Her place in history was replaced by Black Canary. Diana emerged on the scene during the Legends storyline.

Diana was the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, the first child born on Paradise Island in the three thousand year history that the immortal Amazons lived there. The Amazons had been created around 1200 B.C. when the Greek goddesses drew forth the souls of all women who had been murdered by men. One soul was left behind, the one that would be born as Diana. That soul originally belonged to the unborn daughter of the first woman murdered by a man (whom Hippolyta was the reincarnation of). In the late 20th Century, Hippolyta was instructed to mold some clay from the shores of Paradise Island into the form of a baby girl. Six members of the Greek Pantheon then bonded the soul to the clay, giving it life. Each of the six also granted Diana a gift: Demeter, great strength; Athena, wisdom and courage; Artemis, a hunter's heart and a communion with animals; Aprhodite, beauty and a loving heart; Hesita, sisterhood with fire; Hermes, speed and the power of flight. Diana grew up surrounded by a legion of sisters and mothers. When she was a young woman, the gods decreed that the Amazons must send an emmissary into Man's World. Queen Hippolyta ordered a contest to be held, but forbade Diana from participating. Diana disobeyed and did so anyway in disguise, easily winning the contest and being named the Amazon's champion. She was given a uniform fashioned from the standard of someone who had visited the island a few decades earlier.

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Wonder Woman v. Ares

Before embarking on her mission, Diana was given the Lasso of Truth, forged by Hephestus himself. She was also given the Sandals of Mercury, which allowed her to instantly traverse great distances in seconds. Diana's mission was one of peace, but part of it initially involved defeating a mad plot by Ares to destroy the world. Diana ventured into the world by starting at Boston. There she met a Harvard professor, Dr. Julia Kapatelis, and her daughter, Vanessa Kapatelis, as well as the Air Force Officers Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. Diana stayed with Julia and Vanessa and over the course of a month or two, Diana learned to speak English. She was attacked their home by Decay, one of Ares' minions, and after a battle that spilled out into the streets of Boston she first came to the public's eye and was given the name Wonder Woman. Upon discovering Ares' plan (one that involved creating a nuclear holocaust), Diana managed to foil it, battling through his sons Phobos and Deimos before finally convincing him the error of his ways with the Lasso. After defeating the God of War, Diana returned home for healing at the hands of Poseidon himself.

After returning to Boston, Diana agreed to hire Myndi Mayer to be her publicist, getting her image out to the world at large. She spent the next several months touring the world, conducting interview and learning a lot about the world. She also met most of the Justice League, and after meeting Superman she realized that she was instantly enamored with him.

She also gathered the attention of Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah, who desired to take the Lasso of Truth from Diana. She lied to Wonder Woman about having found the lost Girdle of Antiope to get close to her, but after touching the Lasso her truth was made clear. Diana was frustrated and angry over her naive trust of Minerva. That same night, Barbara decided to take it by force and attacked as the Cheetah. Diana managed to fight her off, and afterwards she decided it was time to return home again.

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Challenge of the Gods

The gods were pleased with Diana's work--one was a little too pleased, however. Zeus offered to make Diana a goddess if she agreed to sleep with him. Diana refused, as Zeus decreed she must be punished. The other gods managed to deflect the full brunt of Zeus's wrath. He decided that Diana must pass the Challenge of the Gods. He ordered her to go into the pits beneath Paradise Island and retrieve his fondest treasure. Diana accepts the challenge. Hippolyta was not pleased, and though she could do nothing to stop Diana from descending into the depths, she did resolve to follow after her (fighting past Phillipus first). Wonder Woman battled all number of evil monsters in the pits, from the Hydra to the Echidna, but got some help from the spirit of Diana Trevor. Diana Trevor, the mother of Steve Trevor, revealed that she had been an Air Force Pilot who crashed landed on the island and then died helping the Amazons in battle. It was for her that Diana was named, and it was her standard that was used to fasion the Wonder Woman costume. Hippoylta catches up with her daughter, and together they fight even more mythological beasts until they discover Zeus's treasure: Heracles himself! The demi-god had been changed to stone and made to bear the weight of the island for thousands of years. Diana and Hippolyta freed him, and brought him back to the surface. Faced with his punishment of thousands of years, Heracles was repentant and begged forgiveness for what had happened between he and the Amazons. The Amazons forgave him at last, and after a celebration he returned to Olympus. The gods were well pleased with Diana. Hippolyta was pleased as well, and ordered her daughter to return to Man's World and continue her mission.

Once Wonder Woman was back, Myndi Mayer quickly arranged another publicity stunt, this time at a fair. Things got ugly, however, when the first Silver Swan arrived on the scene. Wonder Woman battled the Swan along the cost but could not capture her. Returning to Boston, Diana stayed with Vanessa while her mother was in Greece. She found herself distracted more and more with thoughts of Superman, eventually asking Myer to arrange a meeting between the two.. Diana and Superman had their "date," which included a battle to free Olympus from the grip of Darkseid after he had laid waste to it. Afterwards, Superman and Wonder Woman decided it would be best if they just remained friends, but Superman trusted Diana enough with the secret of his dual idendity. Wonder Woman is one of the few people who affectionately refers to him as "Kal."

The gods decided it was time to take a vacation (or "Cosmic Migration" as they called it) even as Diana decided to go with her friends to Greece, to see the ancient home of her people. She met Julia Kapetelis's parents, but felt a strange sensation in regards to one of the smaller islands that was long said to have a bad history. As it turns out, Circe made that island her home, and she sent her minions to capture Diana and drag her back in chains. Circe revealed her whole history--including the history where she murdered Antiope, Hippolyta's sister. Circe also revealed the prophesy she learned from Hecate, who was responsible for her power, and her belief that if either she or Diana kills the other than the spirit of Hecate will consume the other. Circe resolves to use a spell that will degenerate Diana back in the clay from which she was created. Even with the help of her friends, Diana only carried the day with the timely intervention of Hermes, who had not yet left Olympus.

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When Diana returned to Boston, she learned of the death of Myndi Mayer--someone had apparently shot her in the face with a shotgun in her own home. A man named Steve London was framed for the death, but Diana learned that the man responsible for blasting her was a man named Skeeter Boyd. Skeeter died trying to escape from Diana, grabbing hold of an electrified fence and frying himself. He had not, in fact, actually killed Myndi--an overdose of alcohol and cocaine had killed her before he delivered the blast. Diana was left to question how something like this could happen..

Called back to Paradise Island, Diana was summoned by the gods to come to Olympus with Hippolyta and Menalippe. It was still in ruins from Darkseid's rampage. The gods announced their decision to depart from the Earth, possibly forever, possibly not. They needed Diana's help to shatter what was left of Olympus so they could move on and allow the healing to begin. Their destiny now in their own hands, Diana called for a vote among the people whether or not they should open the gates of the island and allow men to come there. The Amazons voted yes, and Diana returned to Boston to invite Julia and Vanessa to be the first guests.

Shadows of the Past

Diana is shocked when Hermes shows up in Boston. He explains that he feels the journey of the rest of the gods is folley and seeks to assert himself, as a god, in Boston. He wins a few converts through bribes and healing, despite Diana's protestations. Hermes is tricked, however, by Phobos and Eurayle into unleashing Ixion the Assassin from his prison beneath the Earth. Ixion went on a rampage across Boston, killing hundreds and damaging the old U.S.S. Constitution. Wonder Woman bound Phobos in her Lasso and Hermes decapitated Eurayle. Even together they could not stop Ixion, however, and he had to be struck down by jet fighters. Diana blamed himself for what happened, as she had not taken a stronger position against Hermes when he first arrived.

Wonder Woman stood along with the rest of the world's heroes to battle against the alien alliance that tried to conquer Earth during the Invasion! crossover.

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Cheetah next decides to resurface. She uses a pair of Khunds, still on Earth after the INVASION, to create a diversion so she can steal Wonder Woman's magic lasso. Suspecting that Dr. Baraba Minerva stole the lariat (but not knowing yet that she and Cheetah are one and the same) Wonder Woman travels to Minvera's home in England (this coincides with a trip to the first meeting of Justice League Europe, but Diana decides not to remain part of the team at this time). Minerva's manservant, Mr. Chuma, poisons Diana and proceeds to tell her the whole story of how Minerva became Cheetah (see Cheetah entry for details). The poison has no effect on Diana, however, and she tracks Cheetah to Egypt where out in the hidden city of Bana-Mishdall she finds the lost colony of Amazons. Their leader, Queen Anahid incapacitated Diana with a poisonous dart and locked her up. The high priestess tries to kill Diana but inadvertantly poisons herself. Diana breaks free and realizes that Cheetah will be on the prowl that very night--but she is still groggy from the poison. The mercenary Amazons had been hired to pacify a nearby village. Armed for war, Wonder Woman fights them back and is attacked by Cheetah. After a very tough battle, Wonder Woman defeats her adversary and locks her up (Mr. Chuma dies in the all the fighting). Queen Anahid, mortally injured by Cheetah, dies after commanding that Diana be spared. The Amazons call off the raid and tell her their history. They are indeed the descendents of Antiope, Hippolyta's sister, though they are not immortal (see Antiope, Pythia). They have in their possession the other Golden Girdle of Gaea. They are a nation of mercenaries and have been since Antiope's death. Pythia, blaming Theseus and all men for her mother's death, was their first leader (see also Circe). The city is attacked by Hermes, who has learned of the rogue Amazons and is madder than hell. He has come for the Golden Girdle. Diana manages to convince him to cease his attack. One of the Amazons, Faruka, decides to use all the chaos to try and seaize power, using a (cyborg?) Amazon called Shim'tar. With Hermes weakened by Gaea's status, Diana fights Shim'tar alone, battling to a standstill. The Egyptian govenment, outraged at the massacre at one of their villages, orders an air strike on the hidden city. Not even Hermes is able to intervene. The entire city is destroyed, leaving Wonder Woman, Minerva, and Hermes alone in the desert. Wonder Woman has recovered both her lasso and the Golden Girdle. After a brief stop back in Boston, Diana returns the Girdle to her mother on Themyscara.

The time has come for Themyscara to welcome the world more openly. Twelve delegates are chosen: Asmund Lindel, the Norway delegate to the U.N.; Maritza Nitumbe, a South African botanist; Phyllis Haller, an American feminist bestselling author and sociologist; Vladimir Morakov, a Russian neurosurgeon; Robert Cantwell, Scottish history teacher and war veteran; Rabbi Benjamin Hecht and Unitarian minister Reverand Alan Withersppon, the only two religious leaders to respond to Diana's invitation (the Vatican was silent); Lin Koo Teng, a survivor of Tienamen Square; Rovo Quashi, a blind man from Ethiopia; Henri Tibet, a parapelegic architecht from Canada; Felix Zumac, a Haithian zoologist and anthropologist; and Lois Lane, everybody's favorite reporter from the Daily Planet. Hermes, shedding his immortality, grants Diana the ability to use her winged sandals to take the delegates to Themyscara. The delegates all arrive to a magnificent greeting by the Amazons. No one suspects that Eris, daugther of Ares, is plotting discord. She nearly succeeds in turning everyone against one another when her plans are discovered and thwarted. Afterwards, the delegates all deliver their favorable report to the U.N. while the Amazons comence the cleanup. Julia is on a dig overseas and Vanessa is at summer camp. Hermes, shorn of some of his divinity, has been staying with Steve Trevor.

Wonder Woman had her second run in with the Silver Swan, now more powerful than ever, when Valerie was attempting to escape from her "benefactors." Wonder Woman and Etta Candy were captured by Hank Armbruster's thugs, but working together they were able to break free. Usng her Lasso on Armbruster, Diana was able to unveil the depth of his lies to Valerie. The Swan walked away, no longer the villain.

With Themyscara known to the world and the gods departed from Earth, Queen Hippolyta decided it was indeed time to take a more active role. The Amazons removed their bracelets and decided to come to Man's World and see all that it had to offer.

Hippolyta, Menalippe, Phillipus, and other came to stay at a hotel in Gotham City. Diana encountered Hermes again, who had rebuilt a temple unto himself and proceeded to hit on Diana again--or did he? This Hermes turned out to be Mercury, and Wonder Woman had to help the true Hermes battle his "evil twin" at their temple. Mercury was able to win the battle, taunting the humbled Hermes as he departed the field. Hippolyta and the others decided they needed to present themselves as more than just an extension of Wonder Woman, and Steve Trevor told her that he needed some space as well, as Etta was growing jealous of the two of them. When Vanessa also got angry at Diana for being late to her birthday party and even Julia wanted some space, Diana decided to return home to recharge. While at home, Diana was contacted in her sleep by Hermonia as well as Pariah, both of whom offered warnings about an impending crisis. Waking from this nightmare Diana seemed to drift into another one, this one involving a badly beaten and injured Hermes. Diana suspected that Circe was behind her ill fortune lately.

Back in Boston, Wonder Woman encountered Hermes--who announced his intention to destroy Boston. Diana told him she would never let it be so--but from Hermes' point of view, it was the Amazon who was threatening the city, and so they began to battle one another, all because of the illusions of Dr. Psycho, who had been posing as a therapist for Vanessa. Diana and Hermes stopped short of killing one another when one of Vanessa's teachers interrupted the insane villain. Diana and Hermes, relieved of their delusions, join together to track down their tormentor. Realizing that he had been twisting the mind of Vanessa as well, Diana was able to share her thoughts with Vanessa and track him down in his lair. There she found Vanessa's teacher, whose unborn baby had been tortured by Dr. Psycho as well. Meanwhile, the Amazons are attacked in their hotel by masked assassins, who also murder the police officers at the building and frame it on the Amazons themselves. The word quickly spreads, and by the time she takes the injured teacher to the hospital, the police try to arrest her for murder. Diana protests their innocence while alerting the police to the location of Dr. Psycho, whom she left tied up with her Lasso. However, when the police arrive, he is no where to be found; the Lasso is tied to a chair but no one is there. Before the Boston P.D. take her in, she convinces them to allow her to help deliver the child, which she successfully does. A news report indicated that armed Amazons broke into the hotel in Gotham and slaughtered police and civilains alike.

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Diana allowed herself to be taken into custody where she learned the horrible tally: Hippolyta was missing, Philippus was gravely injured, Menalippe and Epione had been arrested (the former with injuries), Mnemosyne and Timandra had been arrested in other cities, Pythia and Euboea were unaccounted for, and Hellene had been killed. There was also an unidentified Amazon who was killed at the hotel, prompting a scare that there could be dozens of murderous Amazons running about. Vanessa comes to the police station with news her mother is missing. Diana manages to convince the police to let her see the unidentified Amazon. The dead woman is unknown to her, but the tell-tale claw marks raking her body lead her to believe she was killed by the Cheetah. Comissioner Gordon reluctantly order Diana arrested, but Diana, fearful for the safety of her friends, breaks out of the jail. Recovering her Lasso, she frees Menalippe from her hospital before catching up with Pythia and Euboea and taking them all back to Paradise Island.

War of the Gods

At home, many of her Amazons sisters are crying out for vengeance, believing their queen to have been murdered. Diana asserts herself as the rightful leader of the Amazons, no matter what they decide to do. As they are debating, the Oracle announces that the gods have returned. No sooner does she do so when Diana is summoned to Mt. Olympus. The gods announced that something was terribly wrong with the order of things. They too had seen Pariah and did not understand his importance. Zeus had expended much of his power just summoning Hermes from the Earth, and it had taken the combined energy of the rest of the pantheon to summon Diana there. They told her that Donna Troy had also turned up. Just then, a new set of beings walked in like they owned the place--it was the Roman pantheon, led by Jupiter himself. The Roman gods announced that they had a human champion that would battle against the Greek's Wonder Woman--that champion was none other than Captain Marvel. Diana was forced to defend herself against a possessed Captain Marvel even while Hermes and Mercury engaged in round two. Circe began to unveil her master plan, unleashing chaos across the globe.

While Diana was on Olympus, Heracles traveled to Paradise Island. Once there, earthquakes began to rock the island. Traveling beneath it, Heracles found Atlas with the island on his shoulders. This was the Roman Atlas, and he mistook Heracles for Hercules. Once they got that straightened out, they were just as confused as anyone. Back in the U.S., Mnemosyne, Timandra, and Epione were being transported by a military escort that was attacked by Amazons--but no Amazons the three prisoners recognized! These Amazons left a few surivors in the escort to tell the tale, then gassed the three prisoners and took them with them. Diana, after the battle with Marvel, was transported back to Boston.

Diana ended up at the house of a police inspector, Edward Indelicato, whom she was friends with. She recounted her story and Edwards agreed to help her. Diana, sensing that Cire trully was to blame for all the madness going on, decided that she had to track down Dr. Fate for assistance, who gave her a spell that made her invisible so she could return to Boston. The spell wore off when she (literally) ran into the Silver Swan, which was dumb luck as Valerie had been looking for Diana to give her some guidance. Diana had little to give, however, as distracted as she was by everything else going on.

A call to Black Canary put Diana in contact with Batman, whom she asked to retrieve the missing Themysciran goblet that she believed would help exonerate her people for the massacre in Gotham. Diana then banded together with Zatanna, Phantom Stranger, Spectre, Dr. Fate, Flash (Wally West), Madam Xanadu, and Geo-Force to try and undo the spells Circe had woven. Circe had expected this, and planned on cultivating the energy from the spells the group was now casting--but her plan backfired and her spells were undone: yet the war continued.

Circe had been betrayed by her ally Kaslak. In addition to replacing the relics Circe needed for her spell, he also allowed Pythia into Circe's lair. Phytia managed to free her captured sisters as well as Julia Kapatelis. Wonder Woman met back up with Batman, who had recovered the Goblet, but told her that it was, in fact, a forgery that had been coated with some unknown material. Diana followed the trail back to Egypt, were she discovered the temple of Bana-Mighdall that she thought had been destroyed. There she found Lobo battling Shim'tar. When some more Rouge Amazons arrived, Diana had Lobo fight them while she tackled Shim'tar, demanding to know what had become of her mother. After a tough battle, Diana manages to strike Shim'tar to the ground--only to unmask her and find that it was none other than Hippolyta!

Now the truth finally came together. Cheetah had a confrontation with Edward Indelicato and explained the whole truth to him. While she had been in prison, Circe's minion Mikos came to her, transforming her permanately into the form of the Cheetah--although now, Minerva's mind remained fully in control. Circe was hardly benevolent, however, and insisted that Cheetah join her bestiamorph army. Cheetah was to help Kaslak steal the proper artifacts for Circe to cast her spell. This included the Goblet, which Circle resolved to switch with a fake that would suit her own ends. She engaged the remnants of the Rogue Amazons, all part of a plot to discredit Diana and Themyscara. She also hired Doctor Psycho to keep Diana distracted. When Hippolyta touched the fake goblet in Gotham, it transformed her into the new Shim'tar. Mikos removed Shim'tar from the building but failed to get the real goblet after Maxie Zeus's assassins showed up, hired by Cheetah to try and double cross Circe. Phillipus was attacked by one of the Rogue Amazons at the scene and witnessed Helene's death at the hands of the Cheetah.

Time was running out for Diana. She tracked down Hermes, but he was unable (or unwilling) to heal Hippolyta, so Diana resolved to take her mother back to Paradise Island. She was attacked en route by fighters, but with the help of Starman she managed to evade them. On the shores of the Island, she would face Circe at last. Circe had fought her way through Hermes to get to Diana, but she would not simply kill the Amazon and risk Hecate's curse. Cutting them off from other heroes gathered on the Island (Starman, Hawkwoman, Aquaman, and Dolphin), Circe used her magic to revert Diana back into the clay of the island, the very same clay from which she was born. Having destroyed Wonder Woman, Circe departed, ready to grasp final victory. As the Amazons mourned their fallen princess, Superman rallied Earth's heroes for the final battle. (see War of the Gods for more details about this arc as a whole).

The war had been costly. Much of the Island was in ruins and would need to be rebuilt, and Menalippe and other Amazons had lost their lives. The United Nations, thankfully, fully exonerated Themyscara from all charges, and Queen Hippolyta was alive and well. Diana returned to the U.S. just in time to attend Vanessa's Juior High graduation. This turning point also marked the departure of George Perez as the lead writer for the series.

Conflict at Home and Beyond the Stars

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The New Team Takes Over

After Pérez left the series, other writers and artists tried to follow in his footsteps, with varying degrees of success. William Messner-Loebs wrote the character respectfully and the series sold well, but the artwork done by Mike Deodato portrayed the Amazon in skimpy outfits and sexualized poses, which drew criticism from feminists, and also portrayed all the Amazons as exclusively Caucasian,( with the exception of Phillipus),including the Amazon, Euboea, who was already established as being of Asian descent during Perez's run.. His most remembered contribution to the title though was the introduction of the red-headed Amazon Artemis, who eventually took over the title of Wonder Woman for a short time. John Byrne later tried a "back to basics" approach with mixed reviews, including a period with Diana's mother Hippolyta as Wonder Woman. Phil Jimenez produced a run which was likened in some ways to Pérez's, particularly since Jimenez' art bears a striking resemblance to his.

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Brian Bolland's Famous Cover of WW #72

Recently, the writing on the series was turned over to Greg Rucka, whose initial story arc involved a book Wonder Woman had written which caused controversy. The initial arc was full of political subtexts, but more recent storylines have involved the mythology aspect.

Infinite Crisis Era

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Wonder Woman took a dark turn during 2005, particularly in the final portion of the four part "Sacrifice" storyline, one of the major lead-ins to Infinite Crisis. Issue #219 of the current Wonder Woman title ("Sacrifice," Part 4) ended with Diana breaking the long-standing do-not-kill code of DC superheroes. While under the mind control of Maxwell Lord, Superman brutally beat Batman and engaged in a vicious fight with Wonder Woman, thinking she was his enemy, Doomsday. During the fight with Superman, she realized that even if she could somehow beat Superman the problem would not be solved, because he'd still be under the absolute mental control of Max Lord. She created a diversion that lasted long enough for her to race back to Max Lord and demand he tell her how to free Superman of his control. Bound in her lasso of truth Max replied, "Kill me," and Wonder Woman snapped his neck. (See The OMAC Project for more about this storyline.)

The ramifications of this action are expected to resonate in the future; her relationships with both Superman and Batman are seriously strained. (The cover of #220 shows Wonder Woman being arrested by police; however, no such event actually occurs within the issue itself. Wonder Woman voluntarily surrendered to the authorities in issue #222.) The status of Wonder Woman amongst the other heroes and the public at large is uncertain; in the final pages of The OMAC Project, the Brother Eye satellite (the deranged Artificial Intelligence controlling the OMACs) broadcast the footage of Wonder Woman murdering Maxwell Lord, preceded by the word MURDER, to media outlets all over the world.

This isn't the first time Wonder Woman has been shown "crossing the line". In Mark Waid's mini-series Kingdom Come, Wonder Woman is also shown taking a life, albeit in battle and directly in order to save the life of another. However, it should be noted that Kingdom Come takes place in an alternate reality's future, and is therefore not canonical.

In Issue #221, Wonder Woman defended herself from several OMACs who attacked her in her own home. Having repelled the assailants, she was delivering an injured boy to the hospital at the close of the issue and saw a broadcast of the damaging video on the waiting room's television. She witnessed first-hand how people viewing the footage reacted with fear and revulsion; Brother Eye had managed to kill the faith the world had in her. At the start of Infinite Crisis, Batman and Superman distrust her: the latter can only see her as a coldblooded murderer, the former sees in her an expression of the mentality that led several members of the League to decide to mindwipe their villains. (When he tried to stop the League from mindwiping Dr. Light after the villain brutally raped Sue Dibny, Batman's memory was also altered.)

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To make matters worse, in Infinite Crisis #2 Brother Eye, acting out of vengeance for the murder of Lord, initiated the final protocol Truth and Justice which aims at the elimination of all Amazons. A full-scale invasion of Themyscira is set into motion, utilizing every remaining OMAC. Diana and her countrywomen, now isolated and alienated from the outside world, are fighting for their lives. In Infinite Crisis #3, the Amazons prepare to destroy the OMACs with a powerful new weapon. However, Wonder Woman realizes that Brother Eye is watching and transmitting, and that unleashing such destructive violence would only exacerbate the effects of her killing of Maxwell Lord. After the weapon (the Purple Ray of Death) is used once, Wonder Woman convinces the Amazons to shut it down. She then calls upon Athena, who transports Paradise Island and the Amazons remaining on it to another dimension. However, Wonder Woman chooses not to join them, and is left to face the OMACs alone.

The second Wonder Woman series was among several series that were cancelled at the conclusion of the Infinite Crisis storyline, specifically as part of the "One Year Later..." event focused around the weekly series 52. The final issue was #226. At the end of Infinite Crisis, we see Diana giving up the mantle of Wonder Woman to get in touch with her "human" side. This is probably inspired by her meeting with the Wonder Woman of Earth 2.

One Year Later

In June 2006, a third Volume of Wonder Woman was launched with Allan Heinberg as writer and Terry Dodson on Art. Taking place one year after Infinite Crisis, Diana has passed on the mantle of Wonder Woman to Donna Troy and is currently working under the mantle of Diana Prince, a secret agent. This is strikingly similar to her Pre-Crisis "I ching" era. Whether or not Diana will take up the mantle of Wonder Woman again remains to be seen.

Characteristics

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers

Known Powers: Diana received gifts of power from the Gods:

Beauty: Granted by Aphrodite (Goddess of Love).

Wisdom: Granted by Athena (Goddess of Wisdom). possesses great wisdom and intelligence, though the degree varies from author to author. She is among the most intelligent members of the Justice League of America, along with the Martian Manhunter and Batman.

Super-Strength: Granted by Demeter (Goddess of the Earth). Diana is literally as strong as the earth because of her link to the planet granted to her by Demeter. She is quite possibly capable of lifting anything on earth.

Super Stamina: Granted by Demeter (Goddess of the Earth). Diana's stamina gives her incredible resistance to blunt force trauma, capable of shrugging off punches from beings such as Superman and Captain Marvel. However, Diana's skin is not totally invulnerable and can be pierced by sharp projectiles with sufficient force distributed over a small surface area (such as bullets).

Magical Resistance: Born of the clay of Themyscira, and given life and divine powers by the gods themselves, Diana has heightened resistance to magical attacks. She is highly experienced in battling foes who use sorcery as a weapon. As a divine creation herself, she is less susceptible to manipulation by magic than many of her fellow powerhouse heroes.

Enhanced Healing: Granted by Demeter (Goddess of Earth). Like the Earth, Diana is constantly renewing herself, allowing her to quickly heal. In cases where she was gravely injured or poisoned, Diana showed the ability to physically merge with the earth, causing whatever injuries or poisons to be expelled from her body as it regains shape.

Oneness with fire: Granted by Hestia (Goddess of the Hearth). Apparent immunity to fire as well as making her a focus of truth.

Enhanced Senses: Granted by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). Her Sight, Smell, hearing are greatly increased, She also possess the "Hunters Eye" which allows her to always hit her mark.

Animal Rapport: Granted by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). Unity with the animal kingdom and the ability to tame wild beasts.

Athena's Sight: Granted by Athena (Goddess of Wisdom). Wonder Woman was briefly blinded, then had her sight restored by Athena. Since then, she has had the sight of Athena, a power that apparently grants increased insight. (For example, Diana can often detects others' emotions, and is now so fully immune to Doctor Psycho's illusions that she usually is not even aware of what illusions he is attempting to project).

Super-Speed & Flight: Granted by Hermes (God of Messengers). Diana also possesses incredible speed and reflexes, and is capable of unassisted flight at supersonic speeds (frequently generating a sonic boom). On the ground, Diana is easily fast enough to deflect bullets with her silver gauntlets.

Weaknesses: Although Wonder Woman is very durable, piercing weapons can still harm her.

Known Abilities: Diana is the finest warrior ever born among the Amazons of Themyscira. She is a master of armed and unarmed combat, proficient with nearly every weapon ever made (especially the bow and the javelin) and the exotic martial arts styles of the Amazons. Because those martial skills are unknown outside of Themyscira, it is almost impossible to defeat her in battle. Diana is also an accomplished strategist and tactician, trained in the arts of leadership, persuasion and diplomacy, and possesses a great deal of courage as well.

Strength Level: Wonder Woman's physical strength is superhuman, comparable to that of Superman.

Miscellaneous

Equipment:

• Indestructible Gauntlets: modeled after the shackles the Amazons were once enslaved with. The gauntlets were formed from the remains of Zeus's legendary Aegis shield, and were re-forged for her use by Hephaestus. Diana's superhuman reflexes enable her to use the gauntlets to easily deflect projectiles (such as bullets) and powerful energy blasts from beings such as Ares and Darkseid. She is even fast enough to protect herself from multi-vector attacks. At close-range the gauntlets block blades, weapons and punches. In some stories, Diana has used the gauntlets as a dual defensive/offensive weapon, redirecting energy blasts back to their point of origin or other targets. When crossed, the gauntlets generate a remnant of the Aegis itself, forming an impenetrable barrier just in front of them which allows Diana to protect herself and those behind her from area attacks.

• Lansarian Morphing Disk: Wonder Woman has at her disposal a small lightweight disc of alien (Lansinar) technology that, when triggered by her thoughts, transforms into a transparent version of whatever object or vehicle is appropriate for her needs. The device has been used for several purposes, including a communication device, but is most frequently used by Wonder Woman in the form of an invisible jet plane, thus reintroducing this vehicle for the first time in post-Crisis continuity. She has also used the amorphous disc in partnership with Green Lantern's power ring, to hold Earth's moon together while shifting its orbit.
  

Transportation: Flight commonly. Invisible Jet

Weapons:

Lasso of Truth

Boomerang Tiara: Diana's golden tiara also doubles as a throwing weapon, as it is razor-edged and can cut through most substances.

Notes

• The character of Wonder Woman was originally created by William Moulton Marston.

• According to DC comics official statistics, Wonder Woman stands 5 ft 11 in and weighs 140 lbs.

• The prospect of Wonder Woman and Superman as a possible romantic couple has long been a question posed by fans, with the two characters occasionally being depicted as having a mutual on again/off again attraction to each other, perhaps because they view each other as male/female reflections of themselves. During the John Byrne era of Superman, the Man of Steel had intense dreams and fantasies about Wonder Woman, which he suspected might have been his subconcious telling him Wonder Woman was his most likely chance for a potential romantic partner. The idea of Wonder Woman and Aquaman as a couple has also been proposed, in part because of their frequent team pairings in the Super Friends cartoons, and also because it would be an allusion to Wonder Woman's Silver Age romance with Manno the Mer-Man.

• Wonder Woman's exact strength range has never been precisely determined, but it appears to be between the strength levels of Superman and Captain Marvel.

Trivia

• In the alternate future seen in Kingdom Come Superman and Wonder Woman became a couple and are expecting a child together.

• In Dark Knight Strikes again not only have Superman & Wonder Woman become a couple (albeit estranged) they have a daughter Lara.

Recommended Readings

• Wonder Woman (Volume 2)
• Wonder Woman (Volume 3)
• Wonder Woman: Gods of Gotham

Animated

File:Wonder Woman 003.jpg

Wonder-Woman by Bruce Timm

The animated Justice League series on the Cartoon Network in the 2000s was the first chance to add Wonder Woman (voiced here by Susan Eisenberg) to the DCAU, her rights having been previously tied up in possible movies and television shows. To introduce her anew into a landscape already populated by famed and experienced heroes like Batman and Superman, Bruce Timm and his team decided to take a cue from the George Pérez newcomer-to-Man's-world interpretation. This Diana started off with complete innocence of Man's world, coupled with a certain adherance to Amazonian dogma and class structure (causing her teammates to react to her attitude by calling her "Princess" somewhat disdainfully). Also like the Pérez version, she does not keep a secret identity, and so she quickly becomes an international celebrity for her heroism (as seen in Maid of Honor). Seemingly unique to this incarnation, though, is the noticable effect of Man's World on Diana. Her first appearances are marked by her constantly acting off of Amazonian beliefs and ideas (in Fury, she questions how necessary men really are), but as time passes, she becomes more interested in men - in particular, Batman, with whom she has a consistently flirtatious relationship (a source of controversy among fans) - and also experiences the emotional excesses of Man's world, as compared to the Amazons (who are portrayed as emotionally stunted and stiff). She finds joy, but she also begins to develop a massive temper that on multiple occasions needs to be derailed by her teammates (Hereafter, Hawk and Dove, Eclipsed, and many more). After recent episodes that have dealt directly with her temper, Diana seems to be keeping it relatively in check and has adopted the role of ambassador of the Amazons (on the request of her mother) as first seen in To Another Shore, making for another comic-borne trait that the DCAU Wonder Woman has taken to heart.

Related Articles

• Wonder Woman image gallery
• Wonder Woman/Appearances
• Superman
• Cheetah
• Batman

External Links

• The Wonder Woman Pages
• DCU Guide: Wonder Woman

References

• Wikipedia: Wonder-Woman

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