THE JSA FACT FILE
Wonder Woman
Diana Prince Trevor
Residence: Washington DC
Occupation: United States Military Officer
First Appearance (Golden
Age): All-Star Comics #8 (Winter 1941/42)
First Appearance (Silver Age): The Flash vol. 1 #137 (September 1963)
Character History
Wonder Woman is the daughter of Hippolyte, immortal queen of the Amazons of Paradise Island. At some point in history, Hippolyte longed for a child and was instructed by the goddess Aphrodite to mold the form of a child out of the clay of Paradise Island. When she did, Aphrodite bestowed life upon the child, whom Hippolyte named Diana, after the Roman name for Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
Diana was an exceptional child,
displaying incredible strength and agility even as a young girl. In late
adolescence, she received her bracelets of submission and drank from Paradise
Island's fountain of eternal youth, which provided her immortality for as long
as she remained on the island. She also trained in a variety of skills
including medical nursing, horsemanship, and "bullets and bracelets,"
an Amazon game that deflects projectiles with the bracelets of submission. When
these events actually occurred is unknown, since, as an Amazon, Diana was
immortal while she remained on Paradise Island.
In 1941, Lt. Steve Trevor, a U.S.
Army intelligence agent, crashed his plane in the waters near Paradise Island.
His body was found floating in the wreckage by Diana, who to this date had
never seen a man. She carried the injured Trevor to her laboratory where she
nursed him with the aid of Dr. Althea. Tirelessly, Diana used Amazon science to
develop a purple healing ray that could heal extensive injuries. Steve Trevor
died from his injuries shortly before the completion of the ray, but once
completed, it proved capable of restoring life to the newly dead. While nursing
Trevor, Diana had become infatuated with him, a fact which distressed the
Amazon queen.
Meanwhile, in Olympus, Ares, the god
of war (also known as Mars) taunted Aphrodite with the fact that most of
Earth's nations were at war with one another. War, he claimed, ruled the world.
Aphrodite reasoned that an Amazon in America would help inspire that nation
once it entered the war and ordered Hippolyte to select an Amazon to escort
Trevor back to America. Hippolyte was directed to hold a contest to select the
most skilled of her sisters to enter Man's World as a champion of love in a
world at war. As Hippolyte feared, Diana's infatuation with Trevor led her to
apply for the contest immediately. When Hippolyte denied her, Diana designed a
mask to hide her identity from her mother and entered the contest anyway.
The contest was grueling, resulting
in the elimination of all other contestants save the mystery girl (Diana) and
her friend Mala. The final test was the unique Amazonian skill of deflecting
projectiles with their amazonium bracelets. At the height of this round, Diana
successfully completed the "bullets and bracelets" trial while Mala
was wounded. When she revealed her identity, Hippolyte was dismayed but
accepting. She gave Diana the costume with which she would represent her people
in America and magical implements to aid her. These included a lariat that
compelled complete honesty and obedience in anyone ensnared and a jet that was
visible only to the eyes of Amazons. Diana adopted a code-name to identify her
as the first mystery-woman to the American people: Wonder Woman (All-Star
Comics vol. 1 #8).
As Wonder Woman, Diana took Trevor
to a hospital in Washington D.C. She then began exploring her new home,
intercepting a bank robbery in the process. Using the "bullets and
bracelets" routine, she quickly defeated the felons. She departed quickly
as the police arrived but not before attracting the attention of Al Kale, a
local promoter. Kale offered Wonder Woman the chance to obtain the money she
would need to establish herself in a new identity. Kale designed a show based
on the Amazon's skill at deflecting bullets, which quickly became a hit. When
Diana read that Steve Trevor had recovered, she quickly resigned from Kale's
enterprise. Furious, Kale absconded with Diana's earnings but was quickly
apprehended. With her recovered funds, Wonder Woman wondered how best to
establish an identity that would allow her to be close to Trevor. Approaching
the hospital, she encountered Diana Prince, a U.S. Army nurse, weeping at the
entryway. Inquiring on the source of her distress, Wonder Woman learned that
Prince's fiancé had transferred to the West Coast, leaving her alone. Seeing
the striking resemblance between herself and the young nurse, Wonder Woman
suggested that she assume Diana's position at the hospital in exchange for the
Amazon's accrued wages with Kale. Prince accepted at once, and Wonder Woman had
a new identity. Disguising herself, Wonder Woman visited Trevor as his nurse,
Diana Prince (Sensation Comics vol. 1 #1).
When Trevor returned to active duty
in the Army, Diana Prince accepted a job as a secretary in the office of
Colonel Darnell, one of Trevor's associates. In this position she joined the
U.S. Army with the rank of Yeoman. In a subsequent adventure, Diana and Trevor
prevented the poisoning of the local water supply by Dr. Poison, a criminal
chemist. In the course of this adventure, they were assisted by an appendectomy
patient named Etta Candy. Candy, who was enrolled at Holliday college and a
member of the Beta Lambda Sorority, become a fast friend of Wonder Woman, even
joining the Army for a time to be associated with her (Sensation Comics
vol. 1 #2).
Wonder Woman's success in the United
States infuriated Ares, who dispatched one of his most trusted lieutenants to
defeat her. The Duke of Deception, an immortal of unknown origin, captured
Wonder Woman and Trevor early in the War but was easily defeated (Wonder
Woman vol. 1 #2). He later arranged to have Wonder Woman branded a traitor
by her own nation, but was thwarted by the Amazon and her JSA colleague, the
Flash (Wonder Woman vol. 1 #239-240).
In addition to thwarting Ares and
his minions' attempts to prolong the War, Wonder Woman routinely encountered
agents of the Axis, particularly Nazi Germany. Prominent among these were the
Red Panzer (Wonder Woman vol. 1 #228), the Iron Claw (World's Finest
vol. 1 #248) and Baroness Paula von Gunther (Wonder Woman vol. 1 #1).
Ultimately, von Gunther was reformed by Amazonian psychotherapy at
Transformation Island.
Wonder Woman also encountered
members of the criminal element. One of the more dogged of these was Doctor
Psycho, a criminal psychotherapist. Dr. Psycho was a stunted, deformed figure
who had been traumatized into a powerful hatred of women by childhood ridicule.
Using a young girl named Marva as a medium, Psycho developed methods to form
"ectoplasmic" constructs with which to battle Wonder Woman. Psycho was
routinely defeated however, a circumstance that only reinforced his hatred of
women (Wonder Woman vol. 1 #5, #160).
Another significant adversary was
the schizophrenic Priscilla Rich. Rich was a wealthy socialite suffering from
considerable mental instability when she hosted a charity function with Wonder
Woman as the guest of honor. When the heroine received more attention that
herself, Rich slipped into an alternative evil identity, the Cheetah. Creating
a costume of animal skin, the Cheetah attempted to poison the Amazon but
failed. She later confronted Wonder Woman directly but was defeated in personal
combat. Rather than sending her to prison, Wonder Woman transported the Cheetah
to Transformation Island in an attempt to cure her schizophrenia (Wonder
Woman vol. 1 #6). Rich repeatedly escaped, however, and served as a
constant source of antagonism for Wonder Woman. Whether she was ultimately cured is unknown.
In 1942, Wonder Woman encountered the Justice Society of America. A male-dominated organization, the JSA declined Wonder Woman full membership, despite the fact that she possessed more raw ability than any of the current membership except the Spectre (All-Star Comics vol. 1 #11). She was, however, offered a position as "secretary," which she accepted. She also accepted full membership in the more loosely organized All-Star Squadron (All-Star Squadron #17). In later years, Wonder Woman became more active in the JSA and was eventually inducted as a full member.
After World War II ended, Diana
Prince remained in the Army as her relationship with Trevor deepened. By the
end of the War, she had achieved the rank of Lieutenant and was a fully
certified intelligence agent. She also became more active as a member of the
Justice Society as some of the more war-weary members retired. She was active
as a member of the JSA when she was summoned along with her fellows before the
House un-American Affairs Committee. Based on a recent case, the HUAC concluded
that the JSA had ties that ran contrary to American interests and demanded they
reveal their identities and submit to Congressional interrogation. The JSA
declined and formally disbanded (Adventure Comics #466).
Unlike most of the other mystery-men of the time, Wonder Woman remained active after the HUAC meetings of 1951 due to her special relationship with the U.S. military. When Vandal Savage captured the JSA in 1963, Wonder Woman was among those whom he snared. Upon their rescue by the Flashes of two Earths, the JSA resumed active duty with Wonder Woman as a regular member (The Flash vol. 1 #137).
During the mid-1960s, Wonder Woman
married Steve Trevor, now a General in the armed forces. Together they had a
daughter, Lyta. Wonder Woman remained a semi-active member of the Justice Society
throughout her career and in the military until the late 1970s, when she
retired from the military and revealed her identity to the world (revealed in Wonder
Woman vol. 1 #300). By the 1980s, Lyta was college-aged and enrolled at the
University of California - Los Angeles. Shortly after classes started, she met
Hector Hall, son of Hawkman Carter Hall. The two conspired to become
super-heroes, with Lyta adopting the code-name Fury.
During the 1980s, Wonder Woman tended to be an active member of the Justice Society, taking part in a number of cases, including answering a call from Superman that resulted in her drowning in the river of Koehaha, the Stream of Ruthlessness. Wonder Woman then went on a rampage, competing with an equally maddened Hawkman for an Egyptian secret of immortality. The goal of this quest was to secure immortality not for herself, but for the aging General Trevor, who was well into his seventies at this point. Wonder Woman was aging at a much slower rate due to her Amazonian physiology, insuring that she would outlive Trevor by decades. In the ensuing struggle with Hawkman over the secret, Trevor was severely injured. Shortly thereafter, the addictive effect of Koehaha lured Wonder Woman back to the river where she was cured of its effects after a confrontation with the Ultra-Humanite (Infinity Inc. #3-10). Wonder Woman transported Trevor to an island near Paradise Island to be treated by the Amazons' advanced medicine. During the time, she was called to testify before a Senate Sub-Committee in the so-called "Batman Diary" hearings (America vs. the Justice Society #1-4). While Trevor recovered, the Anti-Monitor initiated the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Wonder Woman again returned to active duty. As the Crisis closed, a remnant of Earth-Two's Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor persisted and the Gods of Olympus offered them immortality and a place in the hallowed halls of Mount Olympus (Crisis on Infinite Earths #12). It is not clear whether this was the actual Wonder Woman of Earth-2 as her daughter and her memory persisted on current Earth-Two. If Diana Trevor lives and is active on Earth-Two presently has not been revealed.
Power and Abilities
Wonder Woman's powers were the result of her Amazonian
heritage. Her abilities, which represented the pinnacle of Amazonian physiology
coupled with divine blessing, included super-strength, super-speed (though not
at the same level as the Flash) and the ability to soar aloft for brief
periods. Wonder Woman was also trained
by her Amazonian sisters in a variety of martial techniques unique to Amazons.
Most notable among these was the ability to deflect projectiles with her
Amazonium bracelets. As with all Amazons, Wonder Woman was immortal so long as
she remained on Paradise Island. Upon leaving Paradise Island, she lost her
immortality and ages, albeit more slowly than normal mortals. Finally, Wonder
Woman possesses magical equipment given to her by her mother on Paradise
Island. In addition to her bracelets, these included an invisible airplane and
a magical golden lariat that compelled those ensnared by it to obedience to
whoever held the free end. Her ruby earrings also had the power to create an oxygen supply allowing her to service in the vaccum of space and her tiara was a linguagraph, allowing her to understand all languages.
Weakness and Limitations
Wonder Woman can be wounded or slain by any mortal projectile that she is unable to deflect. She has a superior metabolism, more resistant to blunt injury than normal mortals, but is not invulnerable. She loses her superior abilities and becomes a normal mortal woman when her Amazonian bracelets were bound together by a man. If her bracelets are removed, she runs amok in a kind of "berserker rage."
