History Of Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is the most widely recognized and the most popular super-heroine in the comic world. A creation of Dr. William Moulton Marston, who wanted to break through the biased comic world, Wonder Woman was a combination of beauty, brains and powers. She was efficient enough to fight against the evil, on the same lines as of Batman and Superman. Wonder Woman is actually Princess Diana, a member of an all-female tribe of Amazons, created by Marston, as a distinctive feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace and sexual equality to a world torn apart by the hatred of men. This distinctive creation of Marston to spread the lesson of truth, equality and love was a great success and remained a staple of the DC Comics lineup for over 60 years. In 1970, it gained more popularity by the new avatar bestowed upon it by the CBS comics. Read on further to know more interesting information on Wonder Woman.

Ask anyone about who ruled as the superhero in the comic world during the early 1940s and you would get a unanimous answer in the form of Batman and Superman. While the dominance of men in the real world was a common sight to behold, it seemed that the comic world was also subjugated with ‘man-power’, as no woman character was crafted. Creation of ‘Wonder Woman’, by a psychologist William Moulton Marston, was just an attempt to break through the prejudice and create a new kind of a superhero, one that thrived off on intelligence and love. Marston was an outspoken person and believed that comic books are an educational and inspirational force for the youth. Therefore, he wanted to showcase this inspirational force minus any kind of biases through the world of cartoons.

 

It was Marston’s wife Elizabeth who gave him the idea to create the new character in form of a woman. Olive Byrne, another woman in their relation, portrayed a model for the character that came to be known as ‘Wonder Woman’. Obsessed with truth, Marston wanted his new character to be an embodiment of righteousness and justice. He believed that women were more honest and reliable than men, and that they should utilize these strengths to realize and demand power in the real world. Marston wanted his ‘Wonder Woman’ to be a role model for young woman. He wanted young girls to see the strength, free spirit and smartness of her character. Dr. Marston’s new creation first appeared in “All Star Comics” in the December 1941 issue.

 

Wonder Woman, along with Batman and Superman, is among the three characters to have been continuously published by the DC Comics, since the company’s origination in 1944. In the comic world, Wonder Woman’s true identity is that of Princess Diana, a member of the Amazons tribe. The name was homage to the Greek mythology, and she was gasconaded to be stronger than Hercules and more beautiful than Aphrodite. It were the Olympian Gods that bestowed upon Diana all the weapons and physical and mental powers. They chose her to be the Wonder Woman to fight down the evil. Wonder Woman appeared on the television screen for the first time in the episode “It’s all Greek to Me” of the cartoon series “The Brady Kids”, which was aired on December 2, 1972.

 

The popularity of Wonder Woman in the cartoon series “The Brady Kids” made her a regular cast on the Hanna-Barbera produced series “Super Friends”. The series casted five super heroes Batman, Superman, Aqua Man, Robin and Wonder Woman who anchored the show in their different incarnations. While dozens of DC Universe heroes came and vanished from the roster, Wonder Woman continued to be a part of the series from 1973 to 1986, along with other big casts. Wonder Woman was voiced by many famous actresses including Constance Cawlfield and Shannon Farnon. Wonder Woman was brought to live action in a pilot for ABC first in 1974, by actress Cathy Lee Crosby.

 

The character of Wonder Woman in the show had neither superpowers nor identical costumes as that of its comic counterpart, which resulted in the collapse of the series, as it was not admired by the viewers. ABC decided to recast and retool the pilot by giving the role of Wonder Woman to beauty queen Lynda Carter. In its new cast, Wonder Woman fought the Nazi spies and diversionists, along with Lyle Waggoner’s ‘Steve Trevor’, the male hero of the cast. The series included all the powers of Wonder Woman as in the comic book, her truth lasso and her bracelet with the help of which she used to bounce off bullets. Inclusion of all the superpowers and a dangerous plot made the series a hit. With their hit in 1975 over the first two hour special show, ABC rushed to produce two more one-hour shows. These three shows made up the first season of the show.

 

1976-77 seasons included a total of 11 episodes, including two starring Debra Winger as Diana’s younger sister, Wonder Girl. The ABC declined to produce the show for the next season and left it open for auction which lead to the CBS television network taking over the series. The CBS gave a complete new look to the series by designing new costumes for both Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor and completely new and modern problems to tackle. It was in the 1970s that CBS got this new version of Wonder Girl into the market and even made the series available on the computers. The show was a great success running for complete two seasons and adding up to the list of fan followings from across the world.