Wonder Woman
by
Wonder Woman was originally created as a feminist, antiwar icon in the 1930s by a queer polyamorous thrupple. But over eight decades of storytelling, her mostly male creators and audience have consistently pushed her into more traditional, heteronormative storytelling spaces, including ones that downplay queerness and glorify war. Today, as more women creators reclaim the character, her thematic roots are being challenged again, as they ponder portrayals of feminism, queer identity and war, and challenge their relationship to each other as portrayed in the comics themselves. Best known globally from her portrayals on the 1970s TV show featuring Lynda Carter and the 2017 film starring Gal Godot and considered by many to be the most prominent female comic book superhero of all time, Wonder Woman made her debut in All-Star Comics #8 (All-American Publications, Winter 1941) just after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. The original Wonder Woman comics were imbued with creator William Moulton Marston’s highly fetishized ideas about women, emotional intellect, and romantic, sexual, and political power; his interest in BDSM practices; and a surrealist approach to story within the comics themselves (and substantial input from his wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston; their spouse, Olive Byrne; and artist H....
This essay may be found on page 223 of the printed volume.