Wonder Woman Unbound

COMICS/LITERARY CRITICISM/POPULAR CULTURE WONDER WOMAN UNBOUND “I’ve never seen more information about Wonder Woman than in Wonder Woman Unbound. Tim Hanley tells us everything we’ve never asked about Wonder Woman because it simply never occurred to us: from her mythic Golden Age origins through her dismal Silver Age years as a lovesick romance comic character, and worse yet, when she lost her costume and powers in the late 1960s. Our favorite Amazon’s saga be- comes upbeat again with the 1970s advent of Gloria Steinem and Ms. magazine, and Lynda Carter’s unforgettable portrayal of her on television. And it’s all told with a dollop of humor!” —Trina Robbins, author of Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists, 1896–2013 ith her golden lasso and her bullet-deflecting bracelets, WWonder Woman is a beloved icon of female strength in a world of male superheroes. But this close look at her history portrays a complicated heroine who is more than just a female Super- man. When they debuted in the 1940s, Wonder Woman comics advocated female superiority and the benefits of matriarchy; her adventures were also colored by bondage imagery and hidden lesbian leanings. In the decades that followed, Wonder Woman fell backward as American women began to step forward. Ultimate- ly, Wonder Woman became a feminist symbol in the 1970s, and the curious details of her past were quickly forgotten. Exploring this lost history adds new dimensions to the world’s most beloved female character, and Wonder Woman Unbound delves into her comic book and its spin-offs as well as the motivations of her creators to showcase the peculiar journey of a twentieth-century icon. TIM HANLEY is a comic book historian. His blog, Straitened Circum- stances, discusses Wonder Woman and women in comics, and his H column “Gendercrunching” runs monthly on Bleeding Cool. He has AN ’ also contributed to several comic book sites, including DC Women Kicking Ass and Women Write About Comics. He lives in Nova Scotia. L E Y An A Cappella Book WWU_cover.indd 1 1/28/14 2:45 PM WONDER WOMAN UNBOUND WWU_title pages.indd 1 1/20/14 10:46 AM WONDER WOMAN UNBOUND THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE WORLD’s MOST FAMOUS HEROINE TIM HANLEY WWU_title pages.indd 3 1/20/14 10:46 AM Copyright © 2014 by Tim Hanley All rights reserved Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, IL 60610 ISBN 978-1-61374-909-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hanley, Tim. Wonder Woman Unbound : the Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine / Tim Hanley. pages cm Summary: “With her golden lasso and her bullet-deflecting bracelets, Wonder Woman is a beloved icon of female strength in a world of male superheroes. But this close look at her history portrays a complicated heroine who is more than just a female Superman. The original Wonder Woman was ahead of her time, advocat- ing female superiority and the benefits of matriarchy in the 1940s. At the same time, her creator filled the comics with titillating bondage imagery, and Wonder Woman was tied up as often as she saved the world. In the 1950s, Wonder Woman begrudgingly continued her superheroic mission, wishing she could settle down with her boyfriend instead, all while continually hinting at hidden lesbian leanings. While other female characters stepped forward as women’s lib took off in the late 1960s, Wonder Woman fell backwards, losing her superpowers and flitting from man to man. Ms. magazine and Lynda Carter restored Wonder Woman’s feminist strength in the 1970s, turning her into a powerful symbol as her check- ered past was quickly forgotten. Exploring this lost history as well as her modern incarnations adds new dimensions to the world’s most beloved female character, and Wonder Woman Unbound delves into her comic book and its spin-offs as well as the myriad motivations of her creators to showcase the peculiar journey that led to Wonder Woman’s iconic status”— Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61374-909-8 (pbk.) 1. Wonder Woman (Fictitious character) 2. Women in literature. 3. Gender identity in literature. 4. Comic books, strips, etc.—United States. 5. Literature and society—United States. I. Title. PN6728.W6H34 2014 741.5'973—dc23 2013045111 Unless otherwise indicated, all images are from the author’s collection Front cover design: Tim Hanley Cover layout: Jonathan Hahn Interior design: PerfecType, Nashville, TN Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 To my parents Contents Introduction ....................................ix Part 1: The Golden Age # 1 The Utopian Alternative ...........................3 # 2 Damsels in Distress ..............................25 # 3 Amazon Princess, Bondage Queen ...................43 Interlude 1: Wonder Woman’s Extra Features ...............73 Part 2: The Silver Age # 4 A Herculean Task ...............................89 # 5 Focus on the Family, or Superman Is a Jackass ........107 # 6 Conforming to the Code .........................127 Interlude 2: Letters and Advertisements ...................151 Part 3: The Bronze Age # 7 Wonder Woman No More ........................161 # 8 Doin’ It for Themselves ..........................175 # 9 Restoration and Re-creation ......................197 # 10 The Mundane Modern Age .......................225 Conclusion ....................................243 Acknowledgments ..............................247 Source Notes ..................................251 Bibliography ...................................285 Index ........................................295 Introduction heeee! I’m a butterfly on the first day of spring!” “W So exclaimed Diana Prince in Wonder Woman #182, her arms raised and her eyes closed, reveling in the joy of trying on expensive dresses in a trendy boutique in London. The year was 1969, and Wonder Woman had recently given up her superpowers, trading her bullet-deflecting bracelets and golden lasso for a normal life as her alter ego, Diana Prince. Wonder Woman was a princess of the Amazons, the mythic race of warrior women, but when her sisters decided to leave for another dimension, Wonder Woman chose to stay behind with her boyfriend, Steve Trevor. Unfortunately, Steve died soon after she renounced her powers, and Diana set out on a quest to track down his killer. This brings us to London, where she took a hiatus from avenging Steve’s death to go on a shopping spree with her new friend, Reginald Hyde- White. Reggie footed the bill for all of Diana’s new mod fashions, and later that afternoon declared his love for her. Steve had just died three days before, and Diana had only met Reggie that morning, but our heroine was unable to resist his charms and kissed Reggie pas- sionately. However, their love was short-lived: Reggie was employed ix INTRODUCTION by Steve’s killer, and he betrayed Diana later in the issue. Enraged, she attacked Reggie, nearly crippling him, and the story ended with a weeping and broken-hearted Diana running off into the night. Wonder Woman is a recognizable figure: gold tiara, invisible jet, fights bad guys, looks like Lynda Carter. She’s a role model for many, and the most famous female superhero in a genre dominated by males. She’s also been a feminist icon since Gloria Steinem put her on the first cover of Ms. magazine in 1972. This gal, with no superpowers and no star-spangled outfit, cavorting with strange men, isn’t the Wonder Woman that most people are familiar with. Fans today tend to have a very iconic but generic concept of Wonder Woman, a combination of nostalgia for the 1970s TV show and vague associations with feminism. She is important and beloved as the most famous superheroine of all time, a bastion of female representation in a male-dominated genre, but she’s a symbol more than a living, vibrant character. This is largely due to a lack of exposure; for the past thirty years, aside from her one sparsely read monthly comic, Wonder Woman has lacked the publication, television, and film presence of her fellow superheroes. The modern Wonder Woman is practically nonexistent outside of T-shirts and other memorabilia. However, the early decades of Wonder Woman’s history were incredibly bizarre, and these versions of the character fell by the wayside after Lynda Carter and Ms. magazine in the 1970s. Created in 1941 by a psychologist named William Moulton Marston, the original Wonder Woman looked and acted a lot like her modern-day counterpart, but she had an unusual background and some strange secrets. As years passed, new creators further convoluted the character, muddying her odd yet feminist origin. While American women grew from complacent housewives to protesters for women’s liberation, gaining new strength and independence as they moved forward together, Wonder Woman fell backward. Wonder Woman was created during the Golden Age of comics, before the temporary workplace gains of World War II, at a x Introduction time when women were told that their only place was in the home. An Amazon princess and the most powerful warrior of her race, Wonder Woman ignored these expectations. Her comics didn’t just suggest equality of the sexes; they flat-out demonstrated that every woman had innate power and that Wonder Woman was superior to her male counterparts. By the 1950s, as the Silver Age of comics began, American women started to chafe under the limitations of their domestic lives just as Wonder Woman wanted to settle down. When women took to the streets in the late 1960s to demand their rights and Bronze Age heroines left behind the men who kept them down, a heartbroken Wonder Woman gave up her superpowers and sat out the women’s liberation movement. Wonder Woman grew opposite to the evolution of American women. But as it always is with Wonder Woman, there were further complications.

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