“Beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena,
stronger than Hercules and swifter than Mercury!â€
By Joe Elliott
Wonder
Woman is one of the true wonders of comic book fandom. She first made her
appearance during the Second World War and more than 75 years later she’s still
going strong. Throughout the decades she has been transformed numerous times,
yet through it all she has for the most part maintained her basic form and
personality, one driven by a thirst for justice and in defense of the
defenseless. Born of Amazonian royalty, she is Princess Diana of Themyscira, a sub-continent
located somewhere in the blue mists of time, also known as Paradise Island. Her
mother, Queen Hippolyta, is the ruler of this all-female happy domain, a
position that Diana herself will presumably fill one day. That is, until a man
shows up. Steve Trevor, a U.S. Army pilot, literally drops out of the sky, and,
badly injured, into the care of the Amazons. Trevor is the first male Diana
ever sees and she immediately falls head-over-heels in love. She is eventually
chosen to fly the convalescing pilot back to Washington in her invisible plane
where she enlists in the fight for “America, the last citadel of democracy, and
of equal rights for women.†She at first disguises herself as Steve’s
caretaker, the demure nurse Diana Prince. However, it isn’t long until she bursts
upon the public scene as the tiara crowned, red bustiered, magic lassoed,
“Amazonium†braceleted, kick-booty female warrior we all know and many of us
love. She will spend the rest of the war fighting the Axis powers, along with
an assortment of other bad actors. Following the end of the conflict her job
description broadens out to include a greater variety of crusader of justice
duties, along with a few weird detours here and there.
Created by psychologist William “Charles Moulton†Marston (yes, a man!),
Wonder Woman was given a special mission from the start. Marston believed there
weren’t any real female superheroes that young girls could look up to and
emulate. "Not even girls want to be girls so long as our
feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power,†he is quoted as
saying. Wanting to change this, he came up with the idea of a female comic book
character who had all the physical strength and moral courage of a Superman or
Batman, but also was smart, intuitive, and, yes, sexy. In Marston words, a
super hero with “the allure of a good and beautiful woman." In addition to
all her other qualities, Wonder Woman was also compassionate and caring, traits
perhaps more easily expressed openly by a woman than a man. She was, in short,
the best of both worlds. Above all, she was a strong woman who, though she
considered others’ advice, in the end always made up her own mind about how
best to act in a situation. She might love dear ol’ Steve, but there were
moments when she realized he was wrong and so acted accordingly. And while she
has definitely seen her ups and downs through the years, the decade of the Sixties
being, I think, an especially problematic one in her long illustrious career,
as she, along with millions of others, searched for a new personal identity
(and a stable of writers), she nonetheless endured it all and remains today a
contender; one truly worthy of the appellation “Super Hero.†Her broader
cultural influence is also noteworthy, inspiring many as she has, including a
little Ohio girl and WW fan-atic
named Gloria Steinem.
Wonder Woman has continued to evolve and change in terms
of her appearance and, to some degree, personality; gifted or saddled, according
to how you look at it, with a bewildering array of modern storylines by a
myriad of agenda-centric artists. She is about to be reincarnated yet again,
this time on the big screen, in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot in the title
role. Whatever else they do with the character, I fervently hope the filmmakers
will endow this newest WW with the qualities that first made her great and
defines the essence of that greatness. According to actress Lynda Carter, who
singlehandedly pirouetted into motion a new generation of WW fans, “she’s the symbol of the extraordinary
possibilities that inhabit us, hidden though they may be.
And
that, I think, is the important gift Wonder Woman offers women. Perhaps our
real challenge in the 21st century is to strive to reach our potential while
embracing her values. Wonder Woman is fearless. She sees the good in everyone,
convinced they are capable of change, compassion and generosity. She’s
kindhearted and hopeful, and she has a great sense of humor. Who knows? Maybe
she really can save the world.â€
Joe
Elliott, a writer and educator, lives in Asheville, North Carolina