by Hanley, Tim
As Spoiler and then as Robin, Steph had developed a sizeable, and largely female, fan base, and her brutal death wasn’t well received. Nor was DC’s response to the fans’ displeasure. When asked why Steph didn’t have a memorial in the Batcave like Jason Todd, a former Robin who had been killed by the Joker, DC’s executive editor Dan DiDio told them that she wasn’t really a Robin. A memorial eventually came, but it took some time.*
In terms of villains, familiar characters haven’t been fridged but they’ve been rather sexualized. Catwoman got a new origin as a prostitute in Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and was drawn ludicrously proportioned by Jim Balent throughout the mid-1990s. When her series relaunched in 2011, the entire first page of the new Catwoman #1 was panels of her breasts, and she infiltrated a strip club before finishing the issue by straddling Batman in a sex scene of astoundingly awkward posing. Carol Ferris has appeared frequently in recent Green Lantern stories and has been sexualized as well. Her Star Sapphire outfit has a neckline that dips down below her navel, with grasping bits of fabric that barely contain her breasts.
Fridging and sex merged together memorably in one of DC’s biggest events of the past decade, Identity Crisis, and the murder of Sue Dibny, the Elongated Man’s wife. The Justice League had to track down her killer while covering up a terrible secret. The second issue revealed that years before her murder, Sue had been raped by the villainous Dr. Light, an event illustrated in some detail. Sue was graphically murdered and raped to provide the start of a story for the predominantly male Justice League; the terrible secret the league had to protect was that they’d erased Dr. Light’s memory of the event, and that they were now worried he’d remembered and returned to kill Sue. But he wasn’t the murderer.
Another popular trend of the Modern Age was formerly good women becoming bad guys. The culprit was actually Jean Loring, the ex-wife of the Atom. She thought that by attacking another superhero’s wife, her ex-husband might be worried and come back to her, but things quickly got out of hand and Sue died. They corrupted one female character to murder another female character, all because the first female character just missed her husband so much. It’s a laughable stereotype. Even as the archvillain of a big comic book event, the female villain’s motive boils down to a woman needing a husband.
Soon after Identity Crisis, Wonder Woman became a murderer as well, but this time for wholly justified reasons. Nonetheless, she was still vilified and ostracized. When Max Lord took control of Superman’s mind and forced him to fight his friends, Batman and Wonder Woman teamed up to stop him. Wonder Woman captured Lord, and he swore that as soon as she let him go he’d take control of Superman again. Under the truth-compelling power of the lasso, Lord said that the only way to stop him from controlling Superman was to kill him. So Wonder Woman snapped his neck.
It was an absolutely necessary killing. Superman was too powerful to let a madman control him, and Lord would’ve used him to go on a murderous spree. Wonder Woman made the hard decision and killed Lord. She was shunned for it. The event was played on screens across the planet and the world turned against her. Batman was disgusted, and even Superman disapproved. Wonder Woman may as well have been Jean Loring for the way she was treated, all because she made the difficult decision that none of the boys could.
Maybe it was better that Wonder Woman faded into the background for most of the Modern Age. Whenever a woman took center stage in a DC comic, she was killed or turned evil or sexualized. The choices were death, scorn, or objectification. While there were several good moments for women at DC over the years, the “women in refrigerators” plot device best encapsulates the era. Women were disposable and malleable, and everything revolved around male characters and their stories. The Modern Age could have used a strong Wonder Woman to counter this approach to women, but it’s hard to make much of an impact with only one series. Considering what happened when Wonder Woman stepped up to end the Max Lord situation, the background was the safest place to be. At least she’s still alive.
*Though in between there was a four-issue miniseries called The Legend of Wonder Woman, written and illustrated by Trina Robbins, along with cowriter Kurt Busiek, and set primarily in the Golden Age.
*Berger was also the editor of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and she would go from Wonder Woman to running the wildly successful Vertigo imprint at DC.
*The Eisners were occasionally good to Wonder Woman. Brian Bolland and Adam Hughes both won for their cover art, while colorist Trish Mulvihill was nominated four times and finally won in 2004. Mulvihill was the series’ most prolific creator, coloring over 100 issues of Wonder Woman in the Modern Age.
†Wonder Woman began costarring in a new series in October 2013 titled Superman/Wonder Woman. The two heroes are dating in the new DC universe, and the book is about their adventures as a superpowered couple. Wonder Woman gets second billing, and the book may as well be called Superman’s Girl Friend Wonder Woman.
‡These aren’t all the Bat-books and Super-titles, just the longer-running ones. Also, the chart doesn’t show miniseries; with miniseries, this chart would be an eight-page foldout and the Wonder Woman books would still be barely noticeable at the bottom. Off the top of my head, while I can think of maybe five or six Wonder Woman–related miniseries that came out in the past twenty-five years, I can also think of five or six Batman-related miniseries that are coming out this month.
*A 2009 direct-to-DVD animated film starred Keri Russell as Wonder Woman. It premiered poorly but has sold steadily since. Gal Gadot will play a live-action Wonder Woman in the Man of Steel sequel in 2016, in a tertiary role behind Superman and Batman. A solo Wonder Woman film has yet to be announced.
†They’re not married anymore, though. DC Comics relaunched their entire line in September 2011, and the Clark/Lois marriage never happened in the new universe, along with several other notable marriages like Barry Allen (the Flash) and Iris West, and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Dinah Lance (Black Canary). Everyone’s young and single now. It’s a happening scene.
*She became Oracle, a computer whiz who coordinated communication and information for most of the DC heroes. She starred in Birds of Prey for years before recovering and returning as Batgirl in DC’s recent relaunch, written by, wait for it, Gail Simone.
*As with most deceased comics characters, Steph was later brought back via retcon. Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a close confidante of Steph’s and family friend of Batman, had faked Steph’s death to teach Batman a lesson about employing teenagers as sidekicks. She became Batgirl in 2009 in a new series by Bryan Q. Miller and Lee Garbett. The series didn’t light up the sales charts, but it sold steadily and was a critical favorite. When DC relaunched its superhero line in 2011, Barbara Gordon returned as Batgirl and Stephanie Brown disappeared from the DC universe, much to the consternation of fans. After more than two years of heavy campaigning by fans, Steph returned as Spoiler in Batman: Eternal in spring 2014.
CONCLUSION
Wonder Woman, Known but Unknown
Superheroes have been in the news regularly throughout the Modern Age. In terms of comics, events like the death of Superman or President Obama appearing in Amazing Spider-Man received global coverage and resulted in huge sales for the books. On the big screen, superheroes have been setting box office records for more than thirty years. Comic book heroes are used to headlines like SPIDER-MAN AND BARACK OBAMA: “AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” #583 TEAM-UP HITS FIFTH PRINTING or THE AVENGERS SHATTERS BOX OFFICE RECORDS.
Wonder Woman has received press attention in recent years too, with eye-catching headlines like:
WONDER WOMAN’S NEW HAIRDO CAUSES A STIR
JOSS WHEDON DISCUSSES HIS DEFUNCT “WONDER WOMAN” MOVIE
WONDER WOMAN FINALLY GETS A PAIR OF PANTS
DC REVEALS SUPERMAN’S NEW LEADING LADY … AND IT’S A DOOZY
Entertainment Weekly didn’t even mention Wonder Woman by name in that last one, an exclusive announcement about Wonder Woman and Superman getting together. No
tice that it’s not DC REVEALS WONDER WOMAN’S NEW LEADING MAN either. Wonder Woman’s big headlines haven’t been momentous events so much as a series of fashion changes, failed projects, and a romance where she takes a backseat role. She’s faded into the background in comics, and she hasn’t done anything particularly newsworthy in a long time.
And yet, despite these past few mundane decades, Wonder Woman is everywhere. On The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper had to dress as Wonder Woman after losing a bet to his archnemesis, Wil Wheaton. On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon sang part of the Wonder Woman theme song in a recordable birthday card for her boss, Jack Donaghy. On The Simpsons, Homer mentioned that he wouldn’t mind Wonder Woman tying him up in her lasso. Wonder Woman is a cultural touchstone, and she is referenced often.
Everybody knows of Wonder Woman, but not many people know much about her. It’s common knowledge that Superman is Clark Kent and that he’s from the planet Krypton, and most people know that Batman is Bruce Wayne and he lives in Gotham City. But it is unlikely that many people could tell you that Wonder Woman is Diana Prince and she’s from Paradise Island. To most, their knowledge of Wonder Woman is limited to memories of Lynda Carter’s spin change and bullet-deflecting bracelets. Wonder Woman is well known and beloved, but few have little more than a passing familiarity with the character herself. She’s a powerful, vibrant woman in a sea of male superheroes, and for this she is loved, as she should be. But there’s so much more to Wonder Woman.
That Wonder Woman is the most well-known female superhero is more than enough for legions of fans. Because most people don’t know much about her outside of a generic concept of “female superhero,” Wonder Woman becomes a blank slate to which we attach our own modern ideas. When a woman wears a bedazzled Wonder Woman shirt from Walmart or Target, she’s probably not trying to say, “I’m a big fan of this Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez artwork from the 1970s post-mod era.” The message is more likely “I am a strong woman” or “I am a feminist.”
When Wonder Woman is viewed only through a modern lens, the fascinating and important things she’s represented for decades are easily missed. Wonder Woman has been a symbol of feminism and what it means to be a strong woman, but these aren’t concrete ideas. Feminism in the 1940s was much different from feminism in the 1970s, and the role of women in 1950s America was a far cry from the role of women today. Wonder Woman has always dealt with these ever-changing concepts, whether she was embracing them or reacting against them. When we look at the history of Wonder Woman, we can see the history of American women as a whole, from new opportunities during World War II to the limited, domestic roles of Cold War culture to the assertion of rights and the power of women that brought about the women’s liberation movement. Very few female characters have had the longevity of Wonder Woman, in comic books or any other medium. She’s weathered every crisis that the comic book industry faced and has endured for seven decades in a constantly changing American society. The story of Wonder Woman is a meaningful history, one that deserves to be known.
Every version of Wonder Woman has been simultaneously progressive and problematic. The Golden Age Wonder Woman flipped typical gender roles and was a powerful heroine who cared about everyone, even her foes. The psychological theories that made the original Wonder Woman so uniquely feminist were tied to an often sadistic fetishism, and the comics both valorized and sexualized women and their powerful traits.
By the Silver Age, Wonder Woman more resembled her fellow female characters, but she was undisputedly the strongest and most courageous female character in comics. She survived being called out in Seduction of the Innocent, and she might have secretly been a lesbian the entire time.
Female characters began to assert themselves and step out on their own in the Bronze Age, while the mod Wonder Woman fell back as everyone else stepped forward. The human Diana Prince painted a poor portrait of modern womanhood, but amidst the violence and the heartbreak, Diana remained a force to be reckoned with.
Outside of comic books, the 1970s brought new interpretations of Wonder Woman. Cast as a feminist icon and imbued with the tenets of liberal feminism, Ms. modernized the character and the Wonder Woman TV show made her a household name.
The blank slate Wonder Woman of today is an icon, but by focusing on only that, her history and her humanity are lost. While Wonder Woman has always been a mess of contradictions, she has persevered. For every villain she rehabilitated, she was copiously bound. For every time she kowtowed to Steve Trevor, she defeated an alien giant bent on destroying the planet. For every man she fell in love with, she mastered a new martial art. She isn’t a great character despite her contradictions but because of them. Wonder Woman has so many facets and incarnations, and within them lies a character who is both bizarre and brilliant. To forget her past is to miss what makes Wonder Woman such a great hero.
Acknowledgments
One thing you learn when writing your first book is that while writing is a rather solitary activity, a book is very much a group project.
This book began as an essay during my undergraduate degree in history at Dalhousie University, which was generously funded by a scholarship from Fred Fountain. As that essay grew into my master’s thesis, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, I received great help and advice from my advisor, Dr. Todd McCallum; my thesis committee, Dr. Jerry Bannister, Dr. Claire Campbell, and Dr. Anthony Enns; and Saman Jafarian and the other grad students and staff at the Dalhousie history department.
Along the road from thesis to book, I had research assistance and general help from Janelle Asselin, Geoffrey C. Bunn, Jon B. Cooke, Calum Johnston of the world’s best comic book store, Strange Adventures, Lauren Kalal from Rotary International, Alan Kupperberg, Trina Robbins, Jennifer K. Stuller, Kirsten van der Veen at the Smithsonian, and most likely many others I’m rudely forgetting.
The many books listed in the bibliography were invaluable to me, but in particular I should single out Bart Beaty’s Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture, Gerard Jones’s Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book, Amy Kiste-Nyberg’s Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code, and, most important, Les Daniels’s Wonder Woman: The Complete History. Daniels’s book provided a solid background for all of the bizarre directions I took things in my own history of Wonder Woman, and I am indebted to his years of fantastic research in superhero comics across the board.
In compiling the images for the book, I had wonderful assistance from Kate Leth (www.kateordiecomics.com), Christie and Pete Marston (www.wonderwomannetwork.com), George W. Maschke (www.antipolygraph.org), Barry Sandoval at Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com), Robert and Sharon Schulman of the fine rare books shop the Book Collector’s Library (www.tbclrarebooks.com), William Smith of the excellent pulp novel bookstore Hang Fire Books (www.hangfirebooks.com), and Roy Thomas (www.twomorrows.com).
Early drafts of the book were read by Drew Hanley, Wendy Hanley, Dr. Krista Kesselring, and Lindsay Pickrem, and their thoughts and comments were much appreciated.
I’ve also received a great deal of support for my writing online from Rich Johnston, who publishes my monthly “Gendercrunching” column at Bleeding Cool (www.bleedingcool.com) and the many guest posts Sue has let me write for the fantastic DC Women Kicking Ass (http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com). Other folks like Susanna Baird, Brian Cronin, Alexa Dickman of Ladies Making Comics, Jill Pantozzi and Susannah Polo at the Mary Sue, Vaneta Rogers, Kelly Thompson, and yet again more people I’m rudely forgetting, have also been great with links, interviews, and the like.
I wrote the vast majority of this book in the study carrels at the Tantallon Public Library, which is a quiet, pleasant place with a great staff and an excellent comics section for when I wanted to take home something to read.
My agent Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary took a chance on a new author when this book was a rough, unwieldy manuscript, for which I will be forever grateful. Yuval Taylor of Chicago Review Press bough
t it when it was somewhat less rough but still not there yet, and Michelle Hegarty of Modified Editing did most of the heavy lifting to turn it into the readable book it is now.
My best friend Lori read pretty near every draft of the book and endured me blathering on about Wonder Woman for years, and always had great insights and ideas. Huge chunks of the book are worlds better because of her input.
Finally, my parents, Lester and Darlene, my sister, Kate, my grandparents, and all of my family generally have been beyond supportive with this book. It’s been a long process, and they’ve had my back every step of the way.
Source Notes
Introduction
“Wheeee! I’m a butterfly …” Wonder Woman #182 (May/June 1969).
1. The Utopian Alternative
Wonder Woman comics from the Golden Age are collected in two formats. Wonder Woman and Sensation Comics are reprinted chronologically in seven hardcover Wonder Woman Archives editions thus far, through to Sensation Comics #58 and Wonder Woman #18. There are also three softcover Wonder Woman Chronicles collections thus far, which also include Wonder Woman stories from Comic Cavalcade, through to Sensation Comics #18, Wonder Woman #5, and Comic Cavalcade #2. Both include Wonder Woman’s first appearance in All Star Comics #8 in their first volumes. Select issues are also available digitally online through Comixology. There are various Superman Archives and Chronicles collecting Superman and Action Comics, along with Batman Archives and Chronicles collecting Batman and Detective Comics. DC uses Archives and Chronicles for its Golden Age collections, while Marvel uses Masterworks. Comics will be cited here with their issue number and publication date, and you can use those to find them in one of the collections listed above, unless the comic is from an unusual source, in which case that source will be cited as well.