Wonder Woman

The Superhero: A Boy's Club

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were two young boys from Cleveland, Ohio, who combined their love of science fiction stories, pulp magazines, adventure movie serials, and Sunday newspaper funnies to change the world. Siegel was a writer, Shuster an artist, and in 1938, their amalgam of genre and form came together to give birth to the superhero. The character of Superman would be the boys' legacy to popular culture and debuted in Action Comics #1.

Imitations of their new archetype quickly followed. By 1941, comics that featured superheroes—larger than life characters with secret identities, costumes, and a greater purpose—were flying off newsstands and rolled up in the back pockets of a generation of children. Superhero comics were overwhelmingly written for (and by) young men. A few masked woman popped up here and there, some heroic, some villainous, but none as iconic as Superman. Missing was a female superhero who could capture the national imagination, but she soon came from an unusual mind.

Dr. Marston and His Wonder Woman

William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) was a quintessential Renaissance man; a Harvard-educated doctor and lawyer who was also a writer, an editorial consultant, and the inventor of the systolic blood pressure test—a precursor to what is known today in its evolved form as the polygraph lie detector test. Marston was also a notoriously shameless and successful self-promoter. After Marston paid tribute to All-American Comics (later DC Comics) in an article for the women's magazine Family Circle, executive M. C. Gaines hired the psychologist as an editorial advisor for the company. The position ultimately led to the creation of Wonder Woman.

Marston denounced what he called the “bloodcurdling masculinity” of superhero comics and felt it necessary to counter this offense with a female character who exhibited maternal tenderness, compassion, and physical and emotional strength, all combined with an “alluring” beauty. He believed the most important element of human happiness was love. His feminine superhero would teach humanity to value this above all else.

Gaines was sufficiently convinced Marston's character would attract the elusive female market—or at least appeal visually to males who already consumed comics. Written by Marston under the pseudonym “Charles Moulton” and drawn by Harry G. Peter, Wonder Woman debuted in the December 1941 issue of All Star Comics (issue #8). One month later, she began a regular appearance in Sensation Comics (#1). An eponymous title saw print 6 months after her initial debut.

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