When I was 10 years old (this was in 1977, so it's an old book - the actual publication date was March 1977), I saw a hardcover book in the Dalton's BookSellers store. It had a vibrantly colored cover and contained a brief history of Wonder Woman's creator, Charles Moulton Marston, and some of the earliest WWII era Wonder Woman comics, plus an extensive introduction and prefaces by Gloria Steinem. I'd never wanted anything more in my entire life. Thank god it was almost Christmas and my parents got it for me. I loved that book, read it over and over again, and idolized the strong, brave and good Wonder Woman. And I still have that book. The cover is the picture above.
The changing look of Wonder Woman matched the times, and it is fascinating to see how her costume reflects that progress. Initially in a loose (but short) skirt, she still managed to battle evil Nazis and brown shirts during the 1940s.
Around that time the TV series about the Amazon from Paradise Island came on, starring the gorgeous Lynda Carter. I loved that series, too, but I was a Wonder Woman fan from way back, having discovered the glorious world of comic books a couple years earlier. Back in the 1970s women had come a long way, baby, but role models were still few and far between for us. Wonder Woman was perfect - she was smart, had amazing strength and powers, cool gadgets (invisible plane! golden lasso! bullet-repelling cuffs! - to this day I love cuff bracelets), and always helped people. And she was always gorgeous when kicking bad guy ass. For a young girl who dreamed of adventures and excitement, but who still felt pressure to be pretty doing it, Wonder Woman was IT.
I have this on DVD because my husband is awesome.
According to Wikipedia:
"Created during
World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the
Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of
supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams
Justice Society (from 1941) and
Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon.
[2] She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by
Empire magazine.
[3] She was ranked sixth in
Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
[4]
In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979
Wonder Woman TV series starring
Lynda Carter, as well as
animated series such as the
Super Friends and
Justice League. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none has yet emerged from
development hell. An
animated film was released in 2009, with
Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011,
Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character.
In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time."
Here are some cool websites to check out:
http://www.wonderwoman-online.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman
http://www.comicvine.com/wonder-woman/29-2048/
