Wonder Woman Archives, Volume 1

This collection reprints Wonder Woman's first appearance in All Star Comics no. 8 from December 1941-January 1942, the Wonder Woman stories in Sensation Comics nos. 1-12 from January-December 1942, and Wonder Woman no. 1 from Summer 1942. Creator William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman to advance a feminist message of female strength. By modern standards, many of these stories appear regressive since Marston could not push his message too forcefully, though readers who view them from a 1940s perspective will appreciate them. Unfortunately, despite his progressive (for their time) views on gender, Marston, like many 1940s comics writers, fills his stories with racial caricatures. As the inventor of the lie detector, Marston often show more portrays lie detectors or has Wonder Woman use her magic lasso to compel her enemies to obey her and tell the truth. The lasso, combined with the frequency with which characters tie each other up or otherwise bind each other, fed into Fredric Wertham's condemnation of the character in the 1950s. Though Marston intended this trope to reflect suffragist propaganda that portrayed women as breaking shackles, those unaware of this context interpreted the art at its most basic level. Readers of these classic Wonder Woman stories should also read Jill Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman for background and context. show less

This was a very interesting read, from a historical perspective. Published in the early 1940s, Wonder Woman's first stories are groundbreaking with the first major super heroine. However, the stories are also indicative of attitudes of the era with a bit of misogyny and some very racist caricatures of all the non-white characters. Keeping the historical context in mind, it was good to read the quirky origins of this iconic super hero, even though the storytelling style was a bit of a slog for me at times.

I honestly could not finish this book. I think it was written too long ago for me to enjoy it because Wonder Woman annoyed me more than anything. She chose to leave her entire people for some guy she literally didn't even know, which turned me away almost immediately.

I honestly could not finish this book. I think it was written too long ago for me to enjoy it because Wonder Woman annoyed me more than anything. She chose to leave her entire people for some guy she literally didn't even know, which turned me away almost immediately.

I honestly could not finish this book. I think it was written too long ago for me to enjoy it because Wonder Woman annoyed me more than anything. She chose to leave her entire people for some guy she literally didn't even know, which turned me away almost immediately.

This was for the Canvas Network course, Gender through Comic Books. Wonder Woman is great but she's not my most favorite character, no particular reason why.