The Secret History of Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman first appeared in the comics in late 1941. Marston hired the illustrator Harry Peter to draw the strip. At 61, Peter was ancient in the world of comic books—Mayer, by contrast, was 24—but Marston liked that he was experienced in the world. Lepore notes that Peter also had lived through the height of the suffrage movement and had even drawn for some of its publications. For example, he occasionally illustrated the “Modern Woman” page alongside Lou Rogers. Marston, it seems, not only wrote the stories but also directed Peter and the other artists in the illustrations and details, such as color choice.

Discussion of what exactly Wonder Woman should look like took place just as Captain America debuted and became popular, so it was decided certain elements from that would be used. In early sketches, Wonder Woman looked like a Varga girl, a popular pin-up illustration series by artist Alberto Vargas published monthly in Esquire magazine. Soon she took on her trademark outfit of tiara, red halter, large belt with her initials, blue shorts, and boots. Her bracelets, copied from Olive Byrne’s, were a constant.

In an early issue called “Introducing Wonder Woman,” her origin story is given just as Marston had explained to Mayer. They all thought they had found a character to offset some of the criticism of comic books: she uses her strength for good and never actually kills anyone; is against guns, using her bracelets to deflect bullets; and fights for democracy against fascism. 

Despite attempts to proactively fend off criticism, Wonder Woman was listed with other publications as harmful to youth by a group named the National Organization for Decent Literature, which was run by Catholic bishops. When Charlie Gaines wrote to ask why, he was told she wore too little clothing. This did not bother him—it sold magazines—and he was not about to change it.

Wonder Woman only gained popularity when she joined what was called the Justice Society of America. This had begun in All-Star Comics in 1940 as a league of nine superheroes. Over time, the number and makeup changed as some new characters joined and others left. Gaines often used it as a trial for new characters, sometimes taking a reader survey to gauge their popularity. When he asked readers to choose one of six superheroes to join the Justice Society, Wonder Woman received over 80% of the votes, and she debuted in an issue published in mid-1942.

Gaines did worry about possible censorship, so he consulted another psychologist for expert advice. Lauretta Bender was the director of the children’s ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York and had conducted research on children and reading. She and a colleague had published an article in 1941 about the effects of comic books on children. They concluded that comics help children deal with trauma and other issues that may present themselves as behavioral issues, allowing them a way to work through them. As they wrote, “The comics may be said to offer the same type of mental catharsis to its readers that Aristotle claimed was an attribute of the drama” (209). 

In this chapter, the author draws connections between Wonder Woman stories and events that happened during the Progressive Era and the fight for woman suffrage. However, these story lines were only the ones written by Marston for his comic strip; Gardner Fox, another comics writer, was in charge of Wonder Woman’s depiction in the Justice Society series, and he largely sidelined her. As Lepore notes, when Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society, she was made its secretary. She was often left out of plots entirely.

On the other hand, in Marston’s series, Wonder Woman took center stage fighting for women’s rights and on behalf of children. In one story in the summer of 1942, for example, Wonder Woman discovers a plot by the Nazis to raise the price of milk in America, which would deprive American youth of nourishment and stunt their growth, which would allow the Nazis to conquer the country. This was taken from a real life incident from the 1910s and 1920s when a Hearst newspaper accused New York politician Al Smith of conspiring to increase milk prices. Wonder Woman leads the students of Holliday College in a demonstration against the scheme, riding a white horse at the head of the procession. This, too, came from a real event when suffragist Inez Milholland Boissevain rode a white horse in a 1913 protest in the nation’s capital.

Other stories drew on the labor movement, in particular the Lawrence Textile Strike in 1912 and the ongoing struggle for a woman’s right to work outside the home. A victory for the latter was won in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). In total, 150,000 women joined the military in various noncombat roles to free up men for fighting. This was a step toward equality, though it did not go far enough for some. Margaret Sanger, for one, argued that the government ought to give the women Corps members contraception so they could control their pregnancies since any woman who got pregnant was dismissed.

Wonder Woman became the most popular superhero after Superman and Batman, so Gaines decided to give the character her own comic book. At the same time, Marston issued a press release to reveal he was the actual creator of Wonder Woman (he always wrote under the pseudonym Charles Moulton). In it, he explained the allegory he was making, noting that his intention was to inspire both boys and girls to see women as equal to men and to let girls dream of doing great things in areas where boys dominated.

The first issue of Wonder Woman—the entire comic book devoted to the character—also included a new feature that became regular: a section called “Wonder Women of History.” In each issue, a real woman from history was profiled, such as Sojourner Truth, Marie Curie, and Clara Barton. This section was initially written by tennis champion Alice Marble, whom Gaines had met at a cocktail party. It seems that someone else took over in later issues, possibly Marston, but Marble’s name continued to be used in the byline.

This supported Marston’s goal of giving girls confidence and debunking the idea that men are superior to women. The issue in which Susan B. Anthony was profiled, for example, lists three great emancipators in American history: George Washington, for creating the country; Abraham Lincoln, for abolishing slavery; and Anthony, for freeing women. This same issue had a Wonder Woman tale called “Battle for Womanhood” that reflected the ongoing world war raging in 1943. The evil male character decries women’s influence, lamenting that with them in charge war would forever be overcome. This was exactly Marston’s hope—that women’s greater love would teach the world to resolve its differences without fighting. For the time being, Wonder Woman exhorts women to do their part by joining WAAC or WAVE, and her friend Etta Candy does just that, exclaiming, “Women are gaining power in the man’s world!” (227).