WONDER WOMAN 705
career has included appearances in her own long-running self-titled comic; indeed,
along with Superman and Batman, she was one of only three superheroes to appear
continuously in their own titles through the 1950s with the demise of superhero com-
ics in that decade. She was, however, considerably toned down in response to charges
by critics such as Fredric Wertham that comics were dangerous infl uences on children
and that her stories, in particular, had a lesbian subtext. Critics of that time also com-
plained of the unusual amount of bondage in comics featuring Wonder Woman, often
involving her golden lasso, though bondage was in fact a common image in the comics
of the day.
In the 1960s, Wonder Woman’s Hellenic roots were emphasized in a revamping
of the character. By 1969, however, in what can be interpreted as one of a number of
attempts on the part of male writers to tame the Amazon Princess (sometimes by hyper-
sexualizing her), she lost her super powers when she gave them up in order to remain on
Earth after the other Amazons decided to move to another dimension. Now as Diana
Prince, without a superhero identity, she became the owner of a mod boutique. Even
without super powers, however, she trained under her Chinese mentor I Ching to be-
come enough of an expert at martial arts and weapons to continue her fi ght against evil
even as a mortal human. Wonder Woman was brought to new prominence in American
culture with the success of the popular Wonder Woman television series that aired from
1975 to 1979, with Lynda Carter in the title role.
Th e popularity of this series (in which Wonder Woman has super powers) caused
the character to return to her superhero roots. After the 1985 Crisis on Infi nite Earths
series she was re-launched by George Pérez and Greg Potter with a completely reworked
origin story. Now an emissary to our world from the fi ctional island nation of Th emy-
scira (formerly Paradise Island), her body is revealed to be composed of the mystical
clay surrounding the island, given super abilities by a group of Olympian gods. Since
then the character has made a number of important appearances and gone through a
variety of transformations, playing a key role in the main DC continuity as well as in
the Elseworlds miniseries Kingdom Come (1996), in which she becomes pregnant with
Superman’s daughter, or in Darwyn Cooke’s Th e New Frontier (2004), in which she
challenges Superman over U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Th e 1986 miniseries Legend
of Wonder Woman is an aff ectionate tribute to her legacy by writer Kurt Busiek with
art in homage to Peter by Trina Robbins ; the 2002 graphic novel Th e Hiketeia , by
Greg Rucka and J. G. Jones, stages a notable confrontation between Wonder Woman
and Batman. In 2007, Gail Simone became the fi rst woman to regularly write Wonder
Woman stories. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman’s origin story was clarifi ed in a self-titled
direct-to-DVD animated movie released in 2009.
Whatever her importance within the DC universe, Wonder Woman is probably most
important as an icon of feminine strength and capability within the popular culture of
the real world. She is an iconic fi gure often referred to in other works of popular culture
and has exerted a central infl uence on the evolution of female heroes in the comics. Her
infl uence extends to other media as well, and she is often cited as one of the inspirations
