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Date and Issue: Number 19 / March, 2000.
The rising star of Wonder Woman came to prominence when she was splashed over the television screens of millions of homes in the mid to late seventies. It's amazing how television can lift your profile, but Wonder Woman was actually created back in the 1940's, which many collectors may not have known.
Along with Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman is one of the three longest running comics and is the only female character being published continuously since its creation more half a century ago. Wonder Woman was created in 1941 by Charles Moulton, pen name of psychologist William Moulton Marston. Marston was responsible for the creation of the polygraph, better known as the lie detector. With a great knowledge of psycho dynamics and sexual behaviours, Marston made Wonder Woman one of the biggest pop culture symbols of feminism and liberation.
Wonder Woman made her debut in a short story on the number 8 issue of All Star Comics (December 1941- January 1942). A centrefold with the story of the Amazon Princess was featured in that issue and gained a good response from the readers. Shortly thereafter Wonder Woman appeared in the debut issue of Sensation Comics #1 of January 1942 "featuring the sensational new adventure strip-character Wonder Woman!". With a cover by Jon Blummer and a longer version of her origins Wonder Woman was once again a hit among readers, and became the lead character on Sensation Comics. In Summer of '42, Wonder Woman debuted in her own comic book as well as joining the Justice League of America.
It's been a 59 year career without interruptions for Wonder Woman. Almost 500 issues comprising both series, without counting the 29 issues of Comic Cavalcade during the 40s, and the hundred issues of Sensation Comics, not to mention The Justice League of America and many guest appearances. Meanwhile it's most likely that Wonder Woman is here to stay, and a long life is waiting for her. A bright new future is still ahead for Diana, Princess of Themyscira. No doubt, she's amazing. Better yet, she's a wonder.
Wonder Woman is Diana, daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons. Formed by Hippolyta out of the clay of the isolated island home of the Amazons, she was given life by five goddesses (Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter and Hestia) and one god (Hermes), along with various powers including super-strength, wisdom, flight and the ability to draw out the truth from the hearts of men. Diana was chosen to represent the Amazons in the outside world after winning a contest of skills amongst the Amazons.
After losing a second contest of skills arranged by Hippolyta to protect her daughter, Diana was replaced by Artemis, a renegade Amazon, as the new Wonder Woman. Diana subsequently regained her role as Wonder Woman but was killed in battle with Neron. She was revived and granted godhood by Zeus, and for a time, resided on Mount Olympus as the Goddess of Truth while Queen Hippolyta herself took over her daughter's role as Wonder Woman.
As Wonder Woman, Hippolyta travelled through time back to the 1940s, during which she fought against Hitler and the Axis powers as a member of the Justice Society of America. Diana subsequently returned to Earth to continue with her efforts to bring her message of peace and equality to a chaotic world, and reclaimed the mantle of Wonder Woman from her mother.
More recently, Zeus stripped her of her godhood for failing to keep out of mortal affairs, and Diana subsequently lost all her powers when Cronus and his monstrous children launched an attack on Mount Olympus, and defeated the Olympians, decimated the Hindu pantheon, and tried to storm the gates of Heaven itself. However, he over-reached himself when he tried to seize the powers of the Presence (i.e. GOD) for himself, and Diana regained her powers.
Diana also learnt that she had a mystical "twin" sister, Donna Troy, the original Wonder Girl, and also gained a new protege, Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark, the new Wonder Girl. Cassie was granted the strength of ten mortal men and the power of flight by Zeus, who admired her audacity, courage and youthful zeal. Cassie is now a member of Young Justice.
Collectors have generally had an achilles heel for Wonder Woman, and while many won't admit it, there are thousands of shrines to her legend in bedrooms around the world. There have been many dolls (or action figures if you prefer) made in her honour over the years including the newest one from Mattel - "Barbie as Wonder Woman" (shown at left). The majority of Wonder Woman memorabilia hit the market to coincide with the television series and the image is most likely to be that of Lynda Carter or her likeness. There is some truly fantastic items out there in the secondary market - the seventies was certainly a boom time for television toys - and a quick look at some of the internet auction sites showed up plenty of gems at prices that may surprise many collectors who 'had one of those' On the previous page is a copy of Sensation Comics #29 (5/44) featuring what is probably the first visit to New York for one of Wonder Woman's "sister" Amazons! Mala's visit takes the usual twists an turns you can imagine, and is a great lead off story for the book's other features: the Gay Ghost; Little Boy Blue; the Black Pirate; Mr. Terrific; and Wildcat. With minor flaws this reached a high bid of $177. (1) A pair of Wonder Woman socks! Marked 1979 D.C. Comics, Inc., these 'Toastee' slipper socks are mint in the original package. These days you can get almost any character on a pair of socks, but back in the seventies, these would have been somewhat of a rarity. At $95, collectors certainly thought so. (2) Before the TV series, Mego produced this carded version of Wonder Woman as part of their Superheroes series. There were several of these listed on the internet with prices ranging from $250 to $320 for a mint version. (3) Mattel have just released Barbie as Wonder Woman and many auction sites had her listed at around $100. (4) This Wonder Woman dress up kit is NRFB and the kit contains: Wonder Woman Face Powder Blush, Lip Gloss and Wonder Woman Tiara. The legend on the back says: Diana, the Amazon Princess of Paradise Island now lives in the United States and has assumed the identity of Diana Prince. In a flash, Diana can change herself into Wonder Woman. Now, with the help of her fabulous lip gloss, her beautiful blush, and her powerful tiara, you too can become the Princess of Paradise Island, The One and Only Wonder Woman. This went for $65 at auction. (5) DC Wonder Woman comic by John Byrne - some of the best WW artwork ever. (6) A `Soft head' PEZ dispenser. This is the rare first version made with a rubber head. It's valued at around $200. Don't get this confused with the two later plastic heads. (7) A late 70's lighter in a similar style to Zippo. $60. (8) This is definitely the best item I have seen. A pair of Wonder Woman roller skates! They are marked DC Comics 1975 and were sold at auction for just $26. (9) The box reads EVIL DOERS, BEWARE! Here comes the one and only Wonder Woman The Mightiest Miss on TV. This is a very cool doll and stands 13" tall and is fully poseable. Made by MEGO for DC COMICS and dated 1976 on the box. There is also other clothing in a sealed bag inside the box. Sold at auction for $320. (10) This is a TV1 Poster of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, that was used to promote the Australian television cable TV premiere of Wonder Woman in May 1998. It measures 274mm x 400mm. This went for $48 on the internet. (11) Another of the fascinating Wonder Woman items found on the internet was this pair of figural scissors. Made by Dyno Mdse. Corp. Year 1978 Made in Hong Kong. These were sold for $18. There were also tons of other great items including Phonecards issued by the Singapore Post Office in conjunction with DC Comics which were sold for $30 for a set of three, a 1976 Wonder Woman Pepsi Collector Glass - On the side of the glass towards the bottom it has the Pepsi logo and says Super Series. Underneath this says 1976 National Periodical Publications, Inc. At $25, it's a nice collectable. Take a look through your closets and see if you have any old Wonder Woman comics or merchandise from the tele vision series that gave Lynda Carter a huge name. Who knows... it could be worth something!
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