Seventy years ago, Dr. William Marston created an Icon. I am not going to even modify it with adjectives such as "feminist," "comic," or "pop culture" icon, because to do so, that would limit what and who Wonder Woman, his creation, really is.
Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941), but Wonder Woman 1 debuted in the Summer of 1942, seventy years ago. Philip Charles Crawford, writes in "The Legacy of Wonder Woman"(March 1, 2007 that Dr. Marston created Wonder Woman as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men."
This Icon has been published continuously in three volumes since her creation. There have been brief hiatus, but that was when The Legend of Wonder Woman and Amazons Attacks.I have been a fan of Wonder Woman the majority of my life. And I have seen her transformation throughout those years. So when I spoke with Jim Burleson about perhaps we should celebrate Wonder Woman's Anniversary, I had a vested interest with the character. She is my favorite Character of all time!!! Jim was kind enough to graciously permit us to celebrate this event during the con. This is the only celebration marking the anniversary. The Marston Estate, both Pete and Christie, were invited. However, due to health concerns, they could not make it. Also, David Harrigan, the Artassassin, created two lovely badges with Wonder Woman and other heroines.
I want to share now an entry of another blog of why I love Wonder Woman so much. She is many things to many people. Now she has gone through another permutation, yet the character at its core still remains intact of a woman searching out for peace.
Granted the Wisdom of Athena, the strength of Hercules, the Speed of Mercury and the Beauty of Aphrodite by the Gods, Princess Diana of Paradise Island renounced her immortality and entered Man's World as the Most Legendary Amazon--Wonder Woman.
These are the words that began every Wonder Woman Comic in the Silver Age. Ah, those memories.
My love for Wonder Woman began with the TV series Super Friends. I began watching it in 1974 I believe. Naturally I liked Batman and Robin at first, because you could not go to a rodeo or wrestling match in the 70s without having them and the Batmobile come out. Superman was a given hero for a young boy. In the midst of it all was a hidden Wonder, a woman who could hold her own, who was strong, intelligent (a scientist after all), and beautiful. She reminded me of someone, my Mother who raised my brother, my sister, and me basically as a single parent. Wonder Woman was the character I identified with more on Super Friends because of my mother. Just like my mom, the real life Wonder Woman, Princess Diana had long black hair, was strong, a warrior, and was the heart of the family. Wonder Woman was the heart of Super Friends. Then, on a fateful day in November of 1975, I watched the New Original Wonder Woman. When Steve Trevor wakes up in the plane and calls Diana “Angel” for the first time, she smiles. I was in love with Lynda. Again, in the TV series, Wonder Woman’s love for peace, harmony, and doing right was reiterated. Little did I know that this woman and her values would mold me into the man I am today. I can still hear those words, ""MY MISSION IS TO SAVE, NOT TAKE LIVES... IT'S THE CODE THAT I LIVE BY" - from The Man Who Could Move The World (Wonder Woman - Season 2).
In 1976, unknown to many people, Spiderman and Iron Man played a minor role in me discovering Wonder Woman as the comic book icon. I was at the Piggly Wiggly and saw some comic books. I got Marvel Team up issue 50 with Spiderman and Iron Man. I read it and read it. On the evening of the July fourth, it was a sleepless night because my baby sister was really sick. I held the vigil with my mother, and my company that night was that comic book. We took my sister to the hospital, and we had to get medication. We went to the only Pharmacy that was open 24 hours, mind you, it was 1976. Well, my brother and I are wandering around the store and we discover the comic rack. My brother sees the Superman Bicentennial Collector’s Edition, but what caught my eye was Wonder Woman battling a black lightning in Wonder Woman 225. I bought that one instead. Wonder Woman had a comic? And then I realized she had another sister in Teen Titans. Well, the rest is history.
Now how did Diana form me into who I am today? Well, she made me a scholar much like she is. In issue 225, Wonder Woman was saying this weird thing, “Great Hera.” I had to look up what she meant. She spoke weird, after all. She talked about Hell (Hades), a planet (Pluto), a fish (I thought Sappho was some sort of fish, it had to be), the Space Program (Apollo), etc. Needless to say, I began looking up the words she spoke and discovered a new world of Heroes and Gods. I loved reading. Wonder Woman allowed my interest in other cultures to be peaked. I wanted to become a cultural anthropologist/archeologist and a medicine doctor, because that was what I was expected to do after high school. I excelled in science after all. Needless to say I was considered weird; I was smart, but I also drew and wrote, and had won awards in History. I really wasn’t material for the medical field but that was what I was expected to do by my high school teachers. However, my thoughts and heart were in the mythic imaginary and historical world Diana had brought me. I loved to read about the ancient cultures, their stories, and wanted to study them.
By my second semester of college, I had decided to become a Psychologist. My sister has developmental disabilities and this was more interesting to me at this point. Besides, Dr. William Moulton Marston, the creator was Wonder Woman was a Psychologist. I actually went around bragging about that the creator of Wonder Woman also created the lie detector. He is my idol after all. Wonder Woman was clearly shaping me into the man I was going to be in college. I was studying Psychology, and the Mythic Historical World that took me originally to anthropology would resurface again in Linguistics and the study of languages. She could speak many languages, and I wanted to be like her. I also had become a writer at this point. Eventually, I got a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a second Bachelors Degree in Spanish (linguistics). Then later, I received a Masters Degree in Spanish Linguistics and a Ph.D. Degree in Romance Linguistics.
My life would have been so different if it had not been for Wonder Woman. I would not be who I am. This woman who seemed to be in the background of a cartoon series had come to the foreground in my life. She had all these values of peace and love. My fondest memory of Diana is her depiction in the Phantom Zone miniseries in the 80s. The villains from the Phantom Zone escape and Superman is imprisoned. Only Wonder Woman and the rest of the heroes are left to defend the Earth. My favorite scene is when Wonder Woman faces her foe, a disfigured Kryptonian male who had never been touched because he was so grotesque. Well, she felt sympathy and touched him and he became healed.
Another favorite story is Wonder Woman 286, where a fan of her dies. She always showed her love and compassion. That is what made Wonder Woman different and unique. She was neither the gadget person nor the strong alien. She was woman who was trained since birth and raised by her mom to show love and compassion.
This message resonated in the 70s and 80s. It made sense and it was what made me love Wonder Woman. It was not the costume, not her powers; it was her love and compassion. Why? Remember who she reminded me of at the beginning. She reminded me of my mother. And like my mother, she has always been an example and a constant in my life. Her actions of love and compassion, her use of her intellect, her respect for life, is what makes her Wonder Woman. It is what makes my mom Wonder Woman after all.So, if you see me at the Con, you will know why 70 years is important. And you will see me thanking Jim Burleson :)
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