Wonder Woman!

As a kid I was disappointed that this was not a comic book

This is the real life story about how comic book Amazon princess Wonder Woman had her super powers restored by feminist icon Gloria Steinham. In 1972 Gloria was waiting to publish Ms. Magazine and wanted to use Wonder Woman, whom she considered to be a symbol of female empowerment, on the first cover. Of course she asked DC Comics for permission only there was one problem; DC had depowered Wonder Woman and took her out of her uniform and put her into mod clothing! 

As a kid I was disappointed that this was a comic book

The mod Wonder Woman was an attempt to make Diana relevant to the late 1960’s so editor Carmine Infantino tasked writer Denny O'Neil and artist Mike Sekowsky with changing the Amazon into a secret agent. Wonder Woman was made over into an Emma Peel type, and that was arguably the most controversial period in the hero's history. 

An illustration by DC Comics artist Murphy Anderson had been commissioned to make art for a story Ms. was planning to write on Wonder Woman but then it was decided that this would be an ideal cover for the first issue of the magazine. Here are some more examples of Murphy Anderson’s work.

Was Murphy Anderson inspired by this cover?

And the rest is history. DC comics rebooted Wonder Woman in 1973 by restoring her powers and, for the most part, her original appearance.

However, her appearance on MS  encouraged  the use of Wonder Woman as a symbol for feminism and empowerment. In 1973, a year after the MS. Magazine cover, Carol Clement drew a speculum wielding Wonder Woman for the Los Angeles Women's Center newsletter that instructed women on how to do their own vaginal exams. 

William Moulton Marston

William Moulton Marston was the creator of Wonder Woman. He lived an unconventional  lifestyle, living with his wife and mistress at the same time, fathering children with both. In 2017 there was a movie about the life story of Dr. William Marston, Harvard psychologist and inventor, He, along with his wife, invented a crucial component  of lie detector tests, however this movie is about the relationship between his wife and his lover, who became her lover after his death and how they both inspired the iconic super heroine Wonder Woman. Marston could be considered one of the few feminist men of his era.

Wonder Woman addressed the UN in her comic book too

But Wonder Woman’s involvement with the real world  was not over! Wonder Woman was made a UN ambassador in 2016, which was also her 75th anniversary! Her time as a UN ambassador was short lived though. Current Wonder Woman Gal Gadot and 1970’s Wonder Woman Lynda Carter appeared together at the UN but make no mistake, the fictional Wonder Woman was considered the ambassador. She lost her job in response to a petition, “Reconsider the Choice of Wonder Woman as the UN's Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls” signed by 30,000 UN employees. Wonder Woman always seems to court controversy even in real life!

Is the future of Wonder Woman filled with bondage? Wonder Woman often relied upon her golden lasso to tie people up. What if the situation were reversed? Wonder Woman: Bondage By Frank Miller And Bill Sienkiewicz. Here at the Strangest Adventures, we hope not but who knows these days? Sometimes the world is a dark place. We continue to think of Wonder Woman as a fictional hero and symbol that inspires millions of people every day.

Wonder Woman's first uniform included a skirt!

Batman Turns 75 Years Old! Part 2

DC Comics has created several tributes to Batman’s 75^th Anniversary. For the first video, DC Comics has turned to Bruce Timm, who produced Batman: The Animated Series, which began in 1992. Many fans consider that one of the best versions of Batman; I certainly do. Mr. Timm reached back into 1939 as a source of inspiration for his video. It shows one of the first cases of Batman, who matched wits with his very first adversary, mad scientist Dr. Hugo Strange.

 

The second video was created by Darwin Cooke and takes place in the future where Batman Beyond operates, mentored by the now old and retired Batman from Batman: The Animated Series. Appropriate for Mr. Cooke to do this tribute, since he designed the opening credits for Batman Beyond. Mr. Cooke is also responsible for one of my favorite graphic novels, New Frontier, which focuses on a group of heroes in the late 1950’s; it fills me with dewy-eyed nostalgia.  And that was made into an outstanding animated feature film by Bruce Timm!

But I digress. In this anniversary video, Batman must defeat robotic versions of Batman, and the robots are patterned after various historical versions of Batman, even including the Batman I grew up watching, Adam West’s 1966 version, which is now, by the way, in comic book form! More about that in it's own post. 

These are both enjoyable videos but they can’t distract me from the fact that DC has no current Batman series (Beware the Batman was canceled before one complete season was aired!) nor is a Batman movie coming out in this anniversary year. In this case though, we’ll take what we can get and look forward to 2016’s Batman Versus Superman: Dawn of Justice. Let’s hope Ben Affleck and Director Zach Snyder don’t ruin it!