Writer Eric Luke next joined the comic and depicted Diana as often questioning her mission in Man's World, and most primarily her reason for existing. His most memorable contributions to the title was having Diana separate herself from humanity by residing in a floating palace called the Wonder Dome, and for a godly battle between the Titan Cronus and the various religious pantheons of the world. Phil Jimenez, worked on the title beginning with issue #164 (January 2001),[42] and produced a run which has been likened to Pérez's, particularly since his art bears a resemblance to Pérez's. Jimenez's run showed Wonder Woman as a diplomat, scientist, and activist who worked to help women across the globe become more self-sufficient. Jimenez also added many visual elements found in the Wonder Woman television series. One of Jimenez's story arcs is "The Witch and the Warrior", in which Circe turns New York City's men into beasts, women against men, and lovers against lovers.[43][44][45]
Wertham’s papers, housed at the Library of Congress, were only opened to researchers in 2010. They suggest that Wertham’s antipathy toward Bender had less to do with the content of the comics than with professional rivalry. (Paul Schilder, Bender’s late husband, had been Wertham’s boss for many years.) Wertham’s papers contain a scrap on which he compiled a list he titled “Paid Experts of the Comic Book Industry Posing as Independent Scholars.” First on the list as the comic book industry’s number one lackey was Bender, about whom Wertham wrote: “Boasted privately of bringing up her 3 children on money from crime comic books.”
Having learnt of Wonder Woman's inability to return to Themyscira, Doctor Veronica Cale, a wealthy and powerful woman, set into motion a plan to use Wonder Woman to find Themyscira. Years earlier, Cale's daughter Izzy had her soul stolen by the gods Phobos and Deimos. They told Veronica that they would only return her daughter to her if she helped them find Wonder Woman, and got the location of Themyscira from her. Seeing no other option, Cale had formed a team called Godwatch, dedicated to locating Diana and Themyscira.
Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #179 (Nov. 1969) showed Wonder Woman giving up her powers and returning her costume and title to her mother, in order to continue staying in Man's World. The reason behind this was that all the Amazons were shifting to another dimension, but Diana was unable to accompany them as she needed to stay behind to help Steve, who had been wrongly convicted.[92] Thus, she no longer held the title of Wonder Woman and after meeting and training under a blind martial arts mentor I-Ching, Diana resumed crime fighting as the powerless Diana Prince. She ran a mod-boutique as a business and dressed in a series of jumpsuits while fighting crime.[36][61][62][93][94] During this period, Samuel R. Delany took over scripting duties with issue #202. Delany was initially supposed to write a six-issue story arc, which would culminate in a battle over an abortion clinic, but Delany was removed reportedly due to criticism from Gloria Steinem, who, not knowing the content of the issues Delany was writing, was upset that Wonder Woman had lost her powers and was no longer wearing her traditional costume.[95]
If you're looking for a certified God of War on a personal vendetta against a pantheon of gods, Wonder Woman has you covered. The current version of Diana hacking and slashing her way through the DC Universe, anyway. After unintentionally bringing a new collection of "Dark Gods" into the comic book universe, it falls to the daughter of Zeus to save Earth from their malice.
Now a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills, and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology. During this time she fought villains such as Catwoman, Doctor Cyber, the hippie gang Them!, and the campy witch Morgana.[9]
When Hippolyta and the other Amazons were trapped in a demonic dimension, she started receiving visions about the death of Wonder Woman.[107] Fearing her daughter's death, Hippolyta created a false claim that Diana was not worthy of continuing her role as Wonder Woman, and arranged for a contest to determine who would be the new Wonder Woman, thus protecting Diana from her supposed fate.[108] The participants of the final round were Diana and Artemis, and with the help of some mystic manipulation by Hippolyta, Artemis won the contest.[109] Thus, Diana was forced to hand over her title and costume to Artemis, who became the new Wonder Woman and Diana started fighting crime in an alternate costume.[110] Artemis later died in battle with the White Magician – thus, Hippolyta's vision of a dying Wonder Woman did come true, albeit not of Diana as Wonder Woman.[111] Diana once again became Wonder Woman, a request made by Artemis in her last seconds. Artemis would later return as Requiem. Prior to Artemis' death, Hippolyta would admit to her daughter about her own part in Artemis' death, which strained their relationship as Diana was unable to forgive her mother for sending another Amazon to her death knowingly for the sake of saving her own daughter.
Before Steppenwolf could kill Cyborg, Superman comes and saves him, by easily overpowering the New God. Bruce tells Superman he needs to buy Cyborg some time to separate the Mother Boxes and to help civilians, Superman catches up with Barry, saying he got the ones on the right. After subduing Steppenwolf again, Victor calls Superman for help with the Mother Boxes. Steppenwolf is not down yet and tries to attack, but Superman freezes Steppenwolf's Axe and Diana breaks it with her Sword, which finally leads to Steppenwolf realizing he has been defeated and is overwhelmed with fear for the first time. He is attacked by his own Parademons before he returns back to Apokolips.[8]
Diana's treacherous paternal half-brother, based on the Greek mythological god of war, who masquerades as a speaker for peace on the Imperial War Cabinet as part of his deceptive master plan of conquest and destruction.[32][33][34] Describing the Sir Patrick persona of his character, Thewlis said, "Sir Patrick's entire drive through the other half of the story is to bring about the armistice. That's his whole intention no matter what's going on. He meets Diana and see in her somebody who is sympathetic to his cause, quite vehemently so."[35]
With Wonder Woman arriving in pursuit, Strife warned of the prophecy Apollo and Artemis feared: a child of Zeus would kill a god to take the throne. That child could be either Diana or Zola's child. Sending Zola back with Hermes to have her baby in peace, Diana warned that if they were not left alone, she would fulfil the prophecy herself. Unfortunately, upon her return to Michigan, Diana found that Hermes had betrayed them, and once Zola gave birth to her son, he whisked the child away, and gave it to Demeter. Diana swore to get the boy back and bring Hermes to justice.[25]
Meanwhile, the New God Orion had learned that a great danger was to be found on Earth in the form of the child of a god. He sought out his old friend Milan for help. Nearby, Diana and Lennox decided to seek Milan by themselves, leaving Zola and Hera to bicker with one another in the meantime. They found him in the old subway system with Orion. Though their encounter began violently, Lennox managed to explain that they had accounted for six of the seven children of Zeus.[28] Orion believed that one of those seven was the child that he had been sent to kill. Lennox and Diana concluded that he was referring to Zola's kidnapped son, and so they convinced Milan to search through the ether until he located the boy in the arms of Demeter.[29] When they all returned to Manhattan to find Zola and Hera in a bar with War, Diana managed to convince her uncle to lead her to Demeter's domain.[30]
Aquaman has also had run-ins with the Olympian sea deities. Poseidon had long relinquished the title of Sea King to Orin of Atlantis, but when Aquaman's subjects lost faith in him, Poseidon arranged a challenge with his son Triton.[37] Aquaman bested Triton and the godling fell from grace with his father. In anger, Triton slayed Poseidon and claimed his power.[38] Aquaman freed Poseidon by appealing to Lord Hades. When they returned from the dead, Poseidon slew his son in turn. Disgusted with mortal affairs, Poseidon bequeathed his trident to Aquaman.[39] Aquaman somehow lost the Trident, though, as it was last seen with Queen Clea.[40]
Voiced by Keri Russell. A movie based on the storyline written by George Perez, Gods and Mortals. This movie shows Wonder Woman's origins and how she decided to operate outside of Themyscira. Long time ago, there was a war between Ares and Hippolyta, and Hippolyta had the advantage, and was about to kill Ares, but then Hera told her not to kill Ares, but the deed, done by Ares, would not go unnoticed. From there on the Amazons got their own Island, by a request from Hippolyta, where they kept Ares a prisoner. Years further, Hippolyta wished for a child, and she made a child out of clay praying for the gods to make it a child. The next morning she wakes up and sees that a little child is in front of her. She was named Diana.
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]
The Diana Prince alias also played an important role after the events of Infinite Crisis. Wonder Woman was broadcast worldwide killing a villain named Maxwell Lord, as he was mind controlling Superman into killing Batman. When Wonder Woman caught him in her lasso, demanding to know how to stop Superman, Maxwell revealed that the only way to stop him was to kill Lord, so as a last resort Diana snapped his neck.[63][64] To recover from the trauma of killing another person, the Amazon went into a self-imposed exile for one year.[65] On her return to public life, Diana realized that her life as a full-time celebrity superhero and ambassador had kept her removed from humanity. Because of this she assumed the persona of Diana Prince and became an agent at the Department of Metahuman Affairs. During a later battle with the witch Circe, a spell was placed on Diana leaving her powerless when not in the guise of Wonder Woman.[66]
Villains Angle Man • Baron Blitzkrieg • Baroness Paula Von Gunther • Badra • Bizarra • Blue Snowman • Captain Wonder • Cheetah • Children of Cronus • Circe • Cyborgirl • Dark Angel • Decay • Devastation • Doctor Cyber • Doctor Poison • Doctor Psycho • Duke of Deception • Eviless • Genocide • Giganta • Hypnota • Jinx • Mask • Medusa • Minister Blizzard • The Morrigan • Osira • Queen Atomia • Queen Clea • Queen of Fables • Shim'Tar • Silver Swan • Superwoman • Tezcatlipoca • Trinity • Veronica Cale • Villainy, Inc. • White Magician • Zara
With the decision to relaunch the DC Universe into the new 52, this was done by the Flashpoint story arc, where the Reverse Flash has modified the past with a vastly different modern DC Universe having resulted. In this universe Diana leads a dystopian society of Amazons that have taken over England after a battle between the Amazons and the Atlanteans led by Aquaman.
Although seemingly only a purely decorative aspect of her costume, in the golden and silver ages, her earrings were sometimes depicted as giving her the ability to breathe in outer space. Gelignite Grenade Earrings and Grappling Hook Bracelet - In her depowered mod girl phase, Diana on rare occasion employed these devices, which were concealed to look like regular parts of her costume. She acquired them from a demolitions expert and villain which she had helped reform. The grenades were strong enough to blast through a thick steel door and the grappling hook could support easily her body weight to aid in climbing.
Coming to America for the first time, Wonder Woman comes upon a wailing army nurse. Inquiring about her state, she finds that the nurse wanted to leave for South America with her fiancé but was unable due to shortage of money. As both of them looked identical and Wonder Woman needed a job and a valid identity to look after Steve (who was admitted in the same army hospital), she gives her the money she had earned earlier to help her go to her fiancé in exchange for her credentials. The nurse reveals her name as Diana Prince, and thus, Wonder Woman's secret identity was created, and she began working as a nurse in the army.[59][88]
After Sekowsky's run ended in the early 1970s, Diana's roots were reverted to her old mythological ones and she wore a more modernized version of her original outfit, a predecessor to her "bathing suit" outfit.[194] Later, in 1976, her glowing white belt was turned into a yellow one.[194] For Series 3, artist Terry Dodson redrew her outfit as a strapless swimsuit.[195]
Diana was born circa 5000 years ago on the newly-created island of Themyscira to Zeus and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, mere months after the War of the Gods. Zeus intended for the child to one day grow strong enough to defeat Ares, the God of War. Fearful for her daughter's safety, Hippolyta lied to Diana about her true parentage, instead telling Diana that she'd sculpted her from clay and prayed to Zeus to bring her to life. Diana would believe this story for most of her life.
Paquette detailed the changes he made to Wonder Woman's costume, stating that he removed the iconic American flag theme and instead incorporated a Greek influence: "The animal associated to Aphrodite is a dove so instead of an eagle on [Wonder Woman's] breastplate, it will be more of a dove. It's not the American eagle, it's the Aphrodite dove. Stuff that creates [the letter] W is by accident, so it's not like she already has a letter of the alphabet on her [costume]. In the end I've created a structure so it feels inevitable for Wonder Woman to look the way she does."[246]
The American theme of Diana's costume was explained by Pérez in the Challenge of the Gods storyline in which Diana engaged in a series of trials arranged by Zeus as punishment for refusing his advances. Diana met the spirit of Steve Trevor's mother, Diana Trevor, who was clad in armor identical to her own. Trevor revealed that during World War II she had crashed on Themyscira while on duty as a U.S. Army pilot. She blundered into an Amazon battle against Cottus, a multi-armed demon, at the portal to the underworld. Trevor was drawn into the battle, although she was armed only with her side arm. She wounded the beast before suffering a mortal blow, allowing the Amazons to reseal the portal.[37]
In all three films Diana has been in, she is never referred to as "Wonder Woman". Likewise, the alias isn't seen anywhere in print either. The closest it has come is the logo used in Lex Luthor's data, being two "W"s. Likewise, Bruce Wayne is only called "Batman" three times in the run of the DCEU. Once by Perry White, once by Barry Allen, and once by Aquaman.
In an October 25, 1940, interview with the Family Circle magazine, William Moulton Marston discussed the unfulfilled potential of the comic book medium.[19] This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics.[20] At that time, Marston wanted to create his own new superhero; Marston's wife and fellow psychologist Elizabeth suggested to him that it should be a woman:[21]
Flash and Cyborg save all the hostage, which Silas Stone tells Victor that Steppenwolf can not get the final Mother Box. Batman then jumps down into the Knightcrawler and saves Wonder Woman after a Parademon manages to briefly knock her out. The Knightcrawler gets attacked by Steppenwolf, and Barry helps Wonder Woman get her sword so she can help Batman.
While Diana stood admiring the replica, Bruce Wayne appeared. He proceeds to angrily confront her by grabbing Diana's arm and asking her about the information device that she had stolen. Bruce claims to see right through her "babe in the woods" act, saying that while Diana doesn't know him, he's met "a few women like [her]". Diana, however, calmly smiles and retorts that Bruce has never met any women like her. She then proceeds to tell Bruce that she was unable to obtain anything from Bruce's device, due to Lex Luthor's data having military-grade encryption. Diana explains her intention to re-obtain her photograph from Luthor, stating that she only borrowed Bruce's device, and has already returned it to him shortly beforehand (placing it into the glove compartment of his car), before calmly excusing herself and leaving.[5]
Upon becoming a super-heroine, Wonder Woman became a founding member of the Justice League. Her ambassadorial duties required her to visit Washington D.C., with army officer Steve Trevor as her liaison. When Parademons stormed Metropolis, Wonder Woman resolved to defend the city, meeting the heroes Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman.[12] They also met the young hero Cyborg, who attempted to warn them against the evil alien conqueror Darkseid. Unfortunately, Cyborg's warnings were meaningless, as Darkseid had already arrived.[13] Although Darkseid had initially beat them without effort, Green Lantern rallied them in order to confront Darkseid as a team.[14] Wonder Woman proved crucial in Darkseid's defeat, stabbing him in one of his eyes to prevent him from using his Omega Beams. This gave Superman and Cyborg enough time to throw Darkseid back into his home-world.[15]
Arcane Lore Expert: Wonder Woman, as both an Amazon demigoddess and an antiquities expert, possesses immense knowledge of and skill in wielding mystical artifacts and arcane lore, notably her Sword of Athena and Lasso of Hestia. Her encyclopedic knowledge was demonstrated when Wonder Woman reacted in dismay to Lex Luthor's speech (knowing how he had twisted the Olympians' history concerning Zeus and Prometheus), when she instantly identified a Parademon in Commissioner Gordon's sketch, and when she explained the history behind Steppenwolf and the 3 Mother Boxes to the remainder of the Justice League.
If you're looking for a certified God of War on a personal vendetta against a pantheon of gods, Wonder Woman has you covered. The current version of Diana hacking and slashing her way through the DC Universe, anyway. After unintentionally bringing a new collection of "Dark Gods" into the comic book universe, it falls to the daughter of Zeus to save Earth from their malice.