The 6 Essential Wonder Woman Comic Books to Read

The reviews are in, and it appears Wonder Woman is one of the most promising aspects of the continued DC cinematic universe, which is set up in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman. Wonder Woman’s first solo film, set for a June 2017 release, has already begun its promotional push with the release of its first promotional image. Figuring out exactly who these women are, and what to expect from a Wonder Woman film, requires returning to her long history of comic book appearances. We’ve compiled the high (and low) points for you below, in a handy guide to over 70 years of comic book adventures.

Wonder Woman’s first appearance

Wonder Woman first appeared in comic books in December 1941, as a minor character in All-Star Comics, issue 8. Right out the gate, Wonder Woman’s shtick was a direct comment on men. The first sentence ever published on her character was “At last, in a world torn by the hatreds and wars of men, appears a woman to whom the problems and feats of men are mere child’s play.” Subsequent panels revealed Wonder Woman’s superhuman strength and her role on Paradise Island as the only daughter to the queen, Hippolyte.

Wonder Woman saves a man, despite having never seen one before, and falls in love with him while he lies prone in a hospital. Alarmed, Hippolyte tells Wonder Woman a long story about how men enslaved women for centuries, before Hippolyte and her friends escaped by sea to Paradise Island. The story, given that it was written and published in the early ‘40s, is markedly interesting for its straight-forward reading of feminism, which hangs its hat on overthrowing the oppressive patriarchy and putting women in masculine-typical societal roles. It’s also fun to note that many of the characters on Paradise Island, including the queen and doctor, are dressed in sexy clothing. Hippolyte doesn’t look like a Queen, so much as she resembles a young co-ed wearing a vinyl “sexy royal” costume to a frat party. She even has cone breasts!

Now that the men are gone, we are free to wear our restrictive metal bras and strange S&M medical uniforms!

It’s easy to mock rudimentary gender politics in fiction, but Wonder Woman’s debut was, at the time, a huge step forward for diversity in superhero stories. The heroes who came before her were men, but were also chugging along in storylines meant to emulate a Christian definition of male martyrdom. Before Wonder Woman, the only conceivable way to live life with superheroes was to dedicate one’s every move to justice and the American way. Wonder Woman was the first superhero to enter contemporary society and be appalled at the way things were.

Wonder Woman appeared in a follow up issue of Sensation Comics in 1942, and in that same year, her very first solo comic book hit stands.

Wonder Woman #1

As evidence from her comic’s 1942 cover, Wonder Woman has been an equestrian since day one. That’s another great little easter egg from Batman v Superman, which featured Diana on horseback as a nod to her long history.

In her first solo issue, Wonder Woman takes Steve Trevor, the injured dude from All Star Comics, back to the United States and drops him off at the hospital. Comically, she accidentally leaves behind a bit of parchment that explains her backstory. When a bystander reads the historical parchment (which turns out to be super long), we get Diana’s full backstory. It’s the same story Hippolyta told her daughter in All Star Comics, but it’s rendered with more emotional detail.

Diana, like Marvel’s Thor and his Norse figures, is very aware of the Greek gods and the literal power they have on earth. After Mars wills men on earth to enslave women, Aphrodite helps a large number of women escape to an island by showing Hippolyte the way. After landing on Paradise Island, Hippolyte crafts herself a daughter out of clay, and Aphrodite breathes life into it, and the subsequent little girl who appears grows up to be Wonder Woman. Notable here is that Wonder Woman doesn’t have a father. Diana, unlike Superman, maintains all of her powers — strength, speed, beauty, wisdom — no matter where she is.

The comic then returns to the present, and we see Diana learning from Steve Trevor that the Axis powers — Germany, Italy and Japan — threaten to consume the world. Aphrodite tells Diana’s mother that “Man’s World”, as the Amazons have come to call it, will be lost entirely unless one of the female champions returns to help the Allies. Diana volunteers, gets her Lasso of Truth from her mother, and dons the red, white and blue of the United States in order to make her WWII alignment crystal clear.

Other notable details from Wonder Woman’s debut volume include: Diana’s “mental radio” which is an old-fashioned radio Diana attaches to her head with a metal ring and Diana’s strong suspicion of both Germans and the Japanese.

Wonder Woman’s very first Justice Society role

DC debuted the first-ever superhero team in 1942 with the Justice Society of America, of which Wonder Woman was an early member. Though she was arguably just as strong as the other, male, members of the society, Diana accepted her assigned role as the team’s secretary. On several occasions, Diana hung back from the action, admitting that she was only an “honorary” member and therefore not really prepared for actual combat.

In 1948, Wonder Woman, having become a full member of the Society, welcomed the team’s second female member, a badly drawn Black Canary. When The Justice Society of America’s comics folded in 1951, Wonder Woman was the only character whose solo comics survived the cancellation. She finished out what comic nerds call The Golden Age (late 1930s to early 1950s) defeating America’s heroes and preaching a non-violent approach to warfare.

The Silver and Bronze Age

In the late 1950s, Wonder Woman’s origin story was rewritten. Unprompted by “Man’s World” this time, Diana trained as a superhero among her own (female) people, readying herself for a Hunger-Games style showdown conducted in the name of Pallias-Athena. Since her own mother was appointed as the judge of these proceedings, Diana suggested all the Amazons wear masks and costumes made to look like hers.

Diana wins, obviously, and her mother gives her a penny and tells her she will only win the contest if she can turn that penny into a million dollars, in twenty four hours, so that money can be donated to a children’s charity. (Yep.)

Steve Trevor appears again, Wonder Woman saves him, and the two travel to Minneapolis–St. Paul, for some reason. After a series of ridiculous stunts involving animals and destroying children’s beach parties, Diana realizes she can use her super strength to mold her single penny into an entire bridge connecting the Twin Cities. The mayor gives her a check for a million dollars as a thank you, and she wins her title back home.

In Wonder Woman comics published in the 1960s, Diana gives up her super powers in order to live among normal humans in “Man’s World,” and she trains in martial arts and espionage. In the 1970s, Wonder Woman comics saw the central character join the The Justice League of America and return to a WWII era time period.

Contemporary comics

Wonder Woman’s comics, before the revamping DC calls its “New 52” collection, were marked by otherworldly sequences involving portals, alternate dimensions and angry gods.

She picked up a protege in Wonder Girl, and her imagery became increasingly sexual. Gone were the original’s comics intent to market themselves to young girls; Diana was now rendered with the male comic collector’s gaze in mind, and in some cases appeared practically naked.

When she wasn’t being posed in suggestive panels as eye candy, she was written as a maternal figure of DC’s growing pantheon of young, angry superheroes. During the late 90s and early 2000s, DC maintained a focus on expanding its universe beyond its central heroes, hoping to snag every possible reader with a hero who looked, acted and thought like them. Wonder Woman remained a staple, but she was often paired with young lookalikes or fighting female heroes without commenting on what the supermen were up to.

New 52, Wonder Woman as she stands now

In September 2011, DC revamped every single one of its primary characters, including Wonder Woman. No longer a child made out of clay and the intention of two women, Diana was born to Hippolyta and Zeus. Instead of being characterized as virtuous, post-2011 Wonder Woman was definitively rebellious, and earned a new nickname: The Goddess of War.

This new storyline opened Wonder Woman’s life up to half-siblings, including Lennox Sandsmark, eventual father to Wonder Woman’s niece, Wonder Girl. Wonder Woman’s first villain in her new series was Zeus’ eldest son by Hera, his lawful wife.

Wonder Woman’s storylines experienced a lot of tumultuous rearranging in regards to sex, lineage and violence. Rather than a blessed daughter of a goddess, Diana was now the bastard daughter of the OG god, Zeus, and many characters from her home-world resented her. She also learned of corruption in her female society, and the dark underbelly of how Paradise Island continued existing: as it turned out, the Amazons were raping and killing male soldiers, drowning any sons they had through this process and celebrating their daughters.

In 2013, DC comics introduced Diana’s daughter, Fury, in an alternate dimension the publisher calls “Earth 2”.

How all of this will affect the film

We know from early marketing information that Wonder Woman’s first live action feature film will include her relationship with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), and that conflicts will arise between the Amazons, played by Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright, and between Diana herself (Gal Gadot) and Ares, who has yet to be cast.

Time period will also be a crucial choice for Warner Bros, who featured Wonder Woman in their present-era Batman v Superman film, although she’s typically embedded into WWII-era politics in her comic books. CinemaBlend reported a year ago that Diana’s origin film was to be set in the 1920s, but they reversed their position five months ago, stating the film was likely to include WWI-era flashbacks, but would ultimately tie in to BvS’s timeline.

No matter where Diana happens to be in time, it’s likely her core values, defined in the vast majority of her comics as empathy, wisdom and truth, will prevail. She’s not quite the curmudgeon that Batman has become, but she certainly has a more nuanced and skeptical view of humanity than Superman.

Photos via Entertainment Weekly

The 6 Essential Wonder Woman Comic Books to Read