Wonder Woman, feminist Icon? Queer icon? No, love icon

ABSTRACT

Born at the height of World War II, Wonder Woman fought against the axis powers and misogyny! She was (and continues to be) a beacon of female empowerment and queer identities. As her creator William Moulton Marston proclaimed, Wonder Woman is inspiration “for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.” Yet while Wonder Woman has been both a feminist as well as queer icon, inspiring many, she was later--as fate would have it--marketed primarily to young boys in the comics world. A look at Wonder Woman through the ages captures the evolution of her message about gender, war, identity and the many audiences she has in one life inspired, and in another endured. In this essay, I consider the many lives of Wonder Woman both within comics and without. We will herald the new incarnation of Wonder Woman who not only reflects female power, but inspires it in female as well as male readers.

KEYWORDS:

• Wonder Woman
• Queer
• Feminist
• Marston

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. George Pérez relaunched Wonder Woman for DC comics in 1987. He wrote the series from 1987 to 1992 and drew the first 24 issues of the reboot. See Joan Ormrod (2018). Wonder Woman 1987–1990: The Goddess, The Iron Maiden and The Sacralization of Consumerism in this issue.

2. ‘Like many Progressive Americans, Marston believed that women were instrumental to bringing about a kinder, gentler civilisation. Based on his study of people’s responses to social stimuli, he concluded that women were fundamentally motivated by love, a constructive force that caused people to act out of concern for others. Men, Marston found on the other hand, were driven by appetite, a destructive impulse that fostered selfishness and greed.’ Finn (2014, 8).

3. Marston imagined that the Nazis were agents of Ares in ‘Marston and Peter pitted their amazon champion against Nazis who were clearly bloodthirsty, sexually deviant pawns of Ares.’ Marc Edward DiPaolo (2007, 155).

4. Paula von Gunther and Reform Island first appeared in Wonder Woman vol. 1 #4. Marston and Peter (1943).

5. As Noah Berlatsky, argues, ‘there is no way to imagine liberating yourself from bondage without imagining bondage, with all its connotations. Wonder Woman can’t break her chains if she isn’t tied up in chains in the first place.’ (2015, 21).

6. Robert Kanigher took over the book from Marston and would write Wonder Woman until 1968. Carolyn Cocca also notes that ‘In her post-Second World War incarnation, Wonder Woman is no longer anti-normative or antiestablishment’ (Cocca 2016, 30). The origin story of Wonder Woman having been born of clay moulded by her mother and brought to life by Aphrodite was lost. Wonder Woman’s mother, Hippolyta, tells her that her father was lost at sea” (Kanigher and Andru 1959).

7. See Carol Tilley (2018), ‘By Sappho’s Stylus! Reading Wonder Woman with Wertham’ regarding the anti-comics crusaders of the 1940s and 50s.

8. Wertham notably falsified his data as Carol Tilley (2012) has shown. See Carol L. Tilley. 2012. “Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications that Helped Condemn Comics.” Information and Culture 47.4: 383–413.

9. For a history of the anti-comics crusades, and the implementation of the comics code authority, see David Hajdu (2009).

10. Trina Robbins states in The Great Women Superheroes that by 1955 Wonder Woman was the only action heroine leading her own comic series. Trina Robbins (1996, 206).

11. Dennis O’Neil depowered Wonder Woman in issue 178 of her first series. His thoughts behind taking away her powers rationalised her disempowerment: ‘I saw it as taking a woman and making her independent, and not dependent on superpowers. I saw it as making her thoroughly human and then an achiever on top of that, which, according to my mind was very much in keeping with the feminist agenda’ Daniels (2004, 126). O’Neil stated in a later interview, ‘I consider the original “Wonder Woman” run one of the lesser moments of my career. I think we tried something that just flat-out didn’t work. Gloria Steinem wrote [about it] in “Ms. Magazine” but was generous enough not to use my name’(Dueben 2011).

12. See Wonder Woman vol. 1, 212–222.

13. See Ian Gordon (2017), Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Gordon explores publication history of comics at DC Comics, continuity, and the re-telling of stories.

14. See Wonder Woman vol. 1 # 204 for the introduction of Nubia (Kanigher and Heck, 1973). See Camden and Zullo, ‘Introduction’ for the story of Nubia.

15. One fan wrote to DC regarding Wonder Woman losing her virginity, ‘One thing has me troubled, this whole losing the virginity thing…I just don’t like this Trevor guy’ “See Wonder Woman vol. 2 #180, letters page (Jimenez, 2002).”

16. Due to editorial mandate, Wonder Woman was forced to kill Maxwell Lord, in Wonder Woman, vol. 2 #219.

17. Diana is transformed into the God of War by Azzarello and Chiang (2014, 23).

18. Noah Berlatsky, laments another rewriting of Wonder Woman’s narrative, where violence is placed at the core. He argues, ‘rather than building on perhaps the most original origin in superhero comics’, Azzarello simply dumps it. … ‘Hipployta’s lie was that there could be a female community and a female magic that is not inhabited by, and powered by, men. Wonder Woman’s foolishness was in accepting and believing her’ (191).

19. Karen Armstrong suggests, ‘human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to place our lives in a larger setting, that revealed an underlying pattern, and gave us a sense that, against all the depressing and chaotic evidence to the contrary, life had meaning and value.’ Armstrong (2004, 2).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Phil Jimenez

Phil Jimenez was born and raised in Los Angeles and later Orange County California. Jimenez moved to New York City to attend college at the School of Visual Arts where he now teaches. He is best for his work as writer/artist on Wonder Woman (2000-2003), main penciler of the crossover event Infinite Crisis, and his collaborations with Grant Morrison on New X-men and The Invisibles. Jimenez was also the artist of Astonishing X-men and Amazing Spider-Man. He recently both wrote and drew Superwoman for DC Comics. He is currently drawing the forthcoming Black Label Wonder Woman book written by Kelly Sue DeConnick.