Top 10 Wonder Woman Facts

According to Wonder Woman's first origin story, she wasn't originally made of flesh and blood. Her mother, Hippolyta, was lonesome for a child. She fashioned a statue out of clay as a substitute. Seeing how sad she was, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, took pity on her and brought the statue to life. That origin has been changed in recent years, but long-time fans have a fondness for the story of the clay statue that became a mighty warrior for justice.

Millions of kids in the 1970s thrilled at the sight of Lynda Carter as TV's Wonder Woman. But though Carter is forever identified with the role, she wasn't the first actress to portray the Amazon Princess in live action TV. That honor belongs to the Cathy Lee Crosby, the former tennis player turned actress. Carter starred in the 1974 pilot that preceded the 1975 series. Crosby wasn't bad, but she wasn't the natural choice for the part that Carter was. And a very poor script didn't help matters much.

One of the cool things about Wonder Woman has always been her unique mode of transportation. Who else can zoom around in an invisible plane? (Of course, she can also fly all by herself, but that probably gets tiring.) Somewhere along the way, writers decided that the plane was not only invisible – it was also sentient. Not only that, it was capable of turning itself into forms other than a plane. Thus, when needed, it became WonderDome, Wonder Woman's invisible fortress home away from home. Now, is she invisible when she is in there or not? Come on guys make up your mind.

Wonder Woman’s real life creator William Moulton Marston went on record by describing bondage and submission as an acceptable and noble practice. As a result, Wonder Woman and her pals often found themselves chained or otherwise bound with alarming frequency in the early days. Marston even wrote in a weakness for Wonder Woman that made chaining her bracelets together take away her super strength. There was an undeniable kinkiness to some of the scenes which helped to lead to the comics censorship movement of the 1950s – and the founding of the restrictive Comics Code.

DC comics relaunched its entire comics line in 2011, calling it the New 52 series. Even long time characters like Wonder Woman found themselves undergoing changes in terms of origin, character, appearance, and focus. The New 52 was an attempt to breathe new life into the comics and to look at familiar characters in a new light, and modernize the entire universe all at once. It also makes sense that the long awaited feature film version of the character is based on the New 52 version – although with changes to make the character more cinematic as well.

Wonder Woman is no stranger to crooks and guns, and "bullets and bracelets," a technique in which she uses her metal accessories to deflect gunfire is one of her favorites. Those bracelets are made of tough stuff, and are a key piece of Amazonian armor. In the comics they are created from Amazonium, described at one point as the hardest metal known to man. On the 1970s TV show, the bracelets are crafted from the similarly durable Feminum, a metal that can only be found in Wonder Woman's homeland. Whatever they're made of, they're effective – and go very well with her outfit.

Speaking of her outfit, Wonder Woman's costume has been both lauded and derided. In recent years, many objected to the amount of cleavage that it revealed, while others argued that it was so skimpy that it wouldn't provide much protection in a fight. However, in the 1940s, what raised ire among the parents was how low the costume plunged in the back. Yes, there was a hue and cry over how Princess Diana's back might corrupt American children.

Fans of Wonder Woman know all about her magical lasso, which compels anyone entangled in it to tell the truth. The Amazon's creator, William Moulton Marston, may have drawn from his own experience when creating the lasso. In his career as a psychologist and inventor, Marston created one of the components of the first lie detector machine. His systolic blood pressure test notes changes in blood pressure when a person is lying, a fact which was first suggested to Marston by his wife. The Lasso compels you!

When conceiving Wonder Woman, Marston wanted to create a woman with Superman's power but a distinctly feminine outlook. He found a great deal of inspiration from early feminists and especially from birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger. Marston knew Sanger well; as a matter of fact, Sanger's niece was the mother of two of Marston's children. Much of Wonder Woman's viewpoints and self-confidence seem to have been influenced by Sanger.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Wonder Woman Was Originally to Be Named Suprema

She Served as Secretary of the Justice Society of America

The Amazing Amazon Appeared in an Anti-AIDS Ad in France

She Can Lift Thor's Hammer

Her First Comic Is Worth Over $1,000,000

December 7, 1941 was a day that would live in infamy. The bombing of Pearl Harbor propelled the United States into World War II. A short time later, the December 1941 issue of All-Star Comics hit the stands, featuring the debut of everyone's favorite Amazon Princess. As part of Diana's mission in man's world was to fight for justice while simultaneously advocating for peace, the timing was certainly foruitous. Many of her early adventures found her involved in the war in various ways. When it came to the war effort, Rosie the Riveter had nothing on Wonder Woman.

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