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Wonder Woman (1942)
Wonder Woman
Learn the secret origin of Wonder Woman--how she was created and how she became the Amazon's champion in Man's World! Includes four stories starring the Amazon Princess, written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston.
Features:
"The Origin of Wonder Woman"
"Wonder Woman Goes to the Circus"
"The Master Plan of Paula Von Gunther"
"The Greatest Feat of Daring In Human History"
Features:
"The Origin of Wonder Woman"
"Wonder Woman Goes to the Circus"
"The Master Plan of Paula Von Gunther"
"The Greatest Feat of Daring In Human History"
68 pages, ebook
First published May 31, 1942
12 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
William Moulton Marston
134 books51 followersDr. William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen names Charles Moulton and William Marston, was an American psychologist, feminist theorist, inventor, and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman. Two women, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne (who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship), served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced her creation.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 2, 2015
While I really enjoyed getting to read Wonder Woman's early stories, the blatant sexism and racism throughout made it difficult to fully appreciate.
October 24, 2023
So it's 1940s Comics...and you've got your casual(?) Racism/Sexism....if you can put that to one side...you've got...
1.Aphrodite's Girdle? Who knew
2.There is mention of WW invisible plane..but we never see it....come on, you know what I mean.
3.Etta Candy ..eats candy.lots...she even tells a soldier to come back sometime and "eat her candy"!!! Good Grief.
4.and she has a brother Mint Candy...not so Candy Orientated.
5.Paula Von Gunther..Nazi villainess!!
It was 64 pages....came out quarterly and was a very fun read....different world ..different times..different war!!
1.Aphrodite's Girdle? Who knew
2.There is mention of WW invisible plane..but we never see it....come on, you know what I mean.
3.Etta Candy ..eats candy.lots...she even tells a soldier to come back sometime and "eat her candy"!!! Good Grief.
4.and she has a brother Mint Candy...not so Candy Orientated.
5.Paula Von Gunther..Nazi villainess!!
It was 64 pages....came out quarterly and was a very fun read....different world ..different times..different war!!
January 30, 2024
Facsimile edition.
I gotta say, this was wild. I think my highlights were:
1. WW saying a woman thrown down a mine shaft was probably there for a reason
2. WW telling Etta to lay off the candy because if she's fat she won't get any suitors
Classic 40s bullsh*t right there.
If you don't let it bother you, it's kind of hilarious, but at surface value it's extremely problematic. WW is depicted as such a stereotype, despite being this heroic leader of women.
It's also a product of its time in terms of the wordiness of it. So much text and narration. I'm a big fan of how comics have evolved from this, with better artwork and less text. This issue has way too much going on.
Still, interesting to take a look back at WW history.
I gotta say, this was wild. I think my highlights were:
1. WW saying a woman thrown down a mine shaft was probably there for a reason
2. WW telling Etta to lay off the candy because if she's fat she won't get any suitors
Classic 40s bullsh*t right there.
If you don't let it bother you, it's kind of hilarious, but at surface value it's extremely problematic. WW is depicted as such a stereotype, despite being this heroic leader of women.
It's also a product of its time in terms of the wordiness of it. So much text and narration. I'm a big fan of how comics have evolved from this, with better artwork and less text. This issue has way too much going on.
Still, interesting to take a look back at WW history.
December 21, 2017
3.5
Okay so I read this on a whim and it was much better than I was expecting. It was full of action and adventure. It reminded me of the very old Archie comics I used to find in antique shops and book sales because of the way it was styled and told. Wonder Woman's adventure reminded me very much of the T.V. show with Linda Carter and it was cool to see the connection between the show, the comic, and the block-buster film. I like dhow the Amazons were a bit more tech-savvy. It was a lot more believable.
Okay so I read this on a whim and it was much better than I was expecting. It was full of action and adventure. It reminded me of the very old Archie comics I used to find in antique shops and book sales because of the way it was styled and told. Wonder Woman's adventure reminded me very much of the T.V. show with Linda Carter and it was cool to see the connection between the show, the comic, and the block-buster film. I like dhow the Amazons were a bit more tech-savvy. It was a lot more believable.
January 14, 2021
Sexist and racist, 1942 at its finest, but the graphics were awesome and full of adventure. Cheesy at best, but this is a long serie and I wanted to start with the beginning. One down a million more to go!
February 3, 2015
always a plus re-reading this classic tale of the Amazonian Princess. Hard to imagine how revolutionary Wonder Woman was during that time...
June 1, 2024
It's funny that they're already retconning All-Star Comics #8, but I really like the idea of Steve dying as a means of suggesting that--in Wonder Woman feminism--men need to experience a rebirth in a fundamentally new context (literally Paradise Island in the story; metaphorically and more broadly a matriarchal society) in order to heal.
They also make it so that it's Hippolyte's speculation that Diana has fallen in love with Steve rather than Diana's own impulsive infatuation, which is also interesting.
"Fatsis"? "Fatsis"? And this is after I was impressed that Etta wasn't the butt of many jokes. Bleh.
With any of its pros and cons, it's kind of a longwinded retelling of her origin, but for a #1 it's understandable.
The depiction of Burmese/Japanese people in the circus story is a bummer. It's helped the slightest bit by an explicitly racist bully being depicted as bad, but between the grotesque art and the general othering of these people… it just feels like a different, disappointing tone than what was in the Sensation Comics I'd read (or WW's first appearance in All-Star Comics). I'm not going to insist "I didn't like this so WMM couldn't have written it" but it does feel like it's coming from a completely different person.
No matter what, maybe WW should stick to American and Nazi villains… I hope there isn't a lot more of this questionable stuff moving forward.
(A third story? Yeesh; big book.)
Kinda meta with the lie detector and the girl reading Sensation.
Diana losing her lasso (and it being used by a boy on her sister) is pretty interesting; it's some clever drama.
(A FOURTH story?!)
Diana being wrong-minded and fat-shaming about Etta doesn't feel in line with a lot of the other WMM WW I've read to this point, but what's weird is that Etta being unbothered and proud DOES feel like WMM. Someone saying what Diana said wouldn't be shocking, but Diana saying it is. I feel like WMM writes her kinder than that elsewhere; it feels out of character and like--again--those words should be in someone else's mouth.
And this story feels pretty racist too. What a bummer.
Overall, the third story has some good ideas, but the first story is kind of boring and the second and fourth are pretty objectionable, so… not a great outing.
I'd been getting really excited about early Wonder Woman and William Moulton Marston (as a reminder, WW #1 isn't Diana's first comic at all), but this was a really disappointing read. I hope that further Golden Age stories are far less problematic and as inspiring as peaks like Sensation Comics #8 were. More often than not, anyway. Wonder Woman's first year in print started out so strong and the stories in this issue just feel like they come from such a wildly less progressive perspective in ways that make me wonder how independent WMM was as a creative force in them. Like, even without the racism and other problematic parts, the tone and style and intention just feels very different than what was going on in Sensation Comics.
The stories here just aren't half as ambitious or positive; they feel like jingoistic propaganda rather than feminist propaganda. I expected some amount of this as Wonder Woman's appearances got deeper into World War II, but this issue was jarring in that regard.
They also make it so that it's Hippolyte's speculation that Diana has fallen in love with Steve rather than Diana's own impulsive infatuation, which is also interesting.
"Fatsis"? "Fatsis"? And this is after I was impressed that Etta wasn't the butt of many jokes. Bleh.
With any of its pros and cons, it's kind of a longwinded retelling of her origin, but for a #1 it's understandable.
The depiction of Burmese/Japanese people in the circus story is a bummer. It's helped the slightest bit by an explicitly racist bully being depicted as bad, but between the grotesque art and the general othering of these people… it just feels like a different, disappointing tone than what was in the Sensation Comics I'd read (or WW's first appearance in All-Star Comics). I'm not going to insist "I didn't like this so WMM couldn't have written it" but it does feel like it's coming from a completely different person.
No matter what, maybe WW should stick to American and Nazi villains… I hope there isn't a lot more of this questionable stuff moving forward.
(A third story? Yeesh; big book.)
Kinda meta with the lie detector and the girl reading Sensation.
Diana losing her lasso (and it being used by a boy on her sister) is pretty interesting; it's some clever drama.
(A FOURTH story?!)
Diana being wrong-minded and fat-shaming about Etta doesn't feel in line with a lot of the other WMM WW I've read to this point, but what's weird is that Etta being unbothered and proud DOES feel like WMM. Someone saying what Diana said wouldn't be shocking, but Diana saying it is. I feel like WMM writes her kinder than that elsewhere; it feels out of character and like--again--those words should be in someone else's mouth.
And this story feels pretty racist too. What a bummer.
Overall, the third story has some good ideas, but the first story is kind of boring and the second and fourth are pretty objectionable, so… not a great outing.
I'd been getting really excited about early Wonder Woman and William Moulton Marston (as a reminder, WW #1 isn't Diana's first comic at all), but this was a really disappointing read. I hope that further Golden Age stories are far less problematic and as inspiring as peaks like Sensation Comics #8 were. More often than not, anyway. Wonder Woman's first year in print started out so strong and the stories in this issue just feel like they come from such a wildly less progressive perspective in ways that make me wonder how independent WMM was as a creative force in them. Like, even without the racism and other problematic parts, the tone and style and intention just feels very different than what was going on in Sensation Comics.
The stories here just aren't half as ambitious or positive; they feel like jingoistic propaganda rather than feminist propaganda. I expected some amount of this as Wonder Woman's appearances got deeper into World War II, but this issue was jarring in that regard.
June 12, 2022
Origin 1st part https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
2nd part https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Both parts collected here (with alterations?) & additional material
Also check his ‘women in history’ mini comic which accompanied wonder women
2nd part https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Both parts collected here (with alterations?) & additional material
Also check his ‘women in history’ mini comic which accompanied wonder women
June 17, 2020
Has not aged well.
Read
July 23, 2020DNF 30%
It had a great beginning but after 20 pages it just went downhill for me.
It had a great beginning but after 20 pages it just went downhill for me.
October 22, 2021
Wow this was much longer than I expected.
May 21, 2022
Imagine dating a woman that you know for a day who drugged you, tried to kill your sister and a national hero.Damn he thirsty.
April 14, 2016
I grew up knowing of Wonder Woman but never really getting into her as a superhero. Truth be told, I'm not a huge superhero fanatic but this semester I'm taking a course on comics and was asked to read a DC comic from the Golden Age and a companion issue of the same superhero published within the last 15 years. I thought I would give Wonder Woman a shot after I finished watching Jessica Jones on Netflix.
December 28, 2017
Puoi trovare questa recensione anche sul mio blog, La siepe di more
Devo ammettere che, se non fosse stato per la 2017 Read Harder Challenge, avrei avuto scarse probabilità di leggermi il primo fumetto su Wonder Woman e, con il senno del poi, non penso ne avrei sentito la mancanza.
Il fatto è che, sebbene possa essere esaltante vedere una supereroina intenta a salvare il mondo, non ho potuto fare a meno di rabbrividire di fronte al razzismo che contraddistingue la raffigurazione delle persone di colore. Okay, stiamo parlando di un fumetto del 1942, quando gli USA avevano dichiarato guerra al Giappone, ma ho letto altre opere sulla guerra e in queste al nemico, ancorché nemico, viene riconosciuta la dignità di essere umano.
Questo è il primo motivo per cui non riesco a definire questo fumetto femminista: il razzismo non ha niente a che fare con quello che per me è il femminismo e l’idea che solo le donne bianche debbano emanciparsi dal patriarcato è fuori da un mondo giusto.
La concezione stessa della donna bianca di William Moulton Marston, però, non mi è sembrata poi tanto femminista: all’interno di questo numero, c’è una storia a fumetti su Florence Nightingale, che è raffigurata come una specie di super-angelo del focolare, intento a salvare i soldati inglesi affidati alle sue cure amorevoli, senza curarsi di chi lo accusava di viziarli. È un personaggio che trasmette l’idea di una che ha la verità in tasca e che pretende che le altre persone seguano le sue direttive senza discutere: molto poco emancipatorio e ancor meno femminista.
Suppongo che con il tempo il personaggio di Wonder Woman sia cambiato e si sia evoluto: se siete più espert* di me sulla questione, sarò felice di saperne di più, scrivetemi nei commenti!
Devo ammettere che, se non fosse stato per la 2017 Read Harder Challenge, avrei avuto scarse probabilità di leggermi il primo fumetto su Wonder Woman e, con il senno del poi, non penso ne avrei sentito la mancanza.
Il fatto è che, sebbene possa essere esaltante vedere una supereroina intenta a salvare il mondo, non ho potuto fare a meno di rabbrividire di fronte al razzismo che contraddistingue la raffigurazione delle persone di colore. Okay, stiamo parlando di un fumetto del 1942, quando gli USA avevano dichiarato guerra al Giappone, ma ho letto altre opere sulla guerra e in queste al nemico, ancorché nemico, viene riconosciuta la dignità di essere umano.
Questo è il primo motivo per cui non riesco a definire questo fumetto femminista: il razzismo non ha niente a che fare con quello che per me è il femminismo e l’idea che solo le donne bianche debbano emanciparsi dal patriarcato è fuori da un mondo giusto.
La concezione stessa della donna bianca di William Moulton Marston, però, non mi è sembrata poi tanto femminista: all’interno di questo numero, c’è una storia a fumetti su Florence Nightingale, che è raffigurata come una specie di super-angelo del focolare, intento a salvare i soldati inglesi affidati alle sue cure amorevoli, senza curarsi di chi lo accusava di viziarli. È un personaggio che trasmette l’idea di una che ha la verità in tasca e che pretende che le altre persone seguano le sue direttive senza discutere: molto poco emancipatorio e ancor meno femminista.
Suppongo che con il tempo il personaggio di Wonder Woman sia cambiato e si sia evoluto: se siete più espert* di me sulla questione, sarò felice di saperne di più, scrivetemi nei commenti!
July 24, 2016
Well...gonna make this one short.
Pros: Harry Peter's artwork and the first story retelling Wonder Woman's origin.
Cons: The other three stories. Even if we excuse the fact that it is a first time writer and co., still a little much 1940s in this comic, I mean all the crazy "-isms" come into play here--I mean damn! Just read All-Star Comics (1940-) #8 and Sensation Comics #1 and call it a day.
Thank Athena for George Pérez and Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals being the foundation of modern Wonder Woman.
Pros: Harry Peter's artwork and the first story retelling Wonder Woman's origin.
Cons: The other three stories. Even if we excuse the fact that it is a first time writer and co., still a little much 1940s in this comic, I mean all the crazy "-isms" come into play here--I mean damn! Just read All-Star Comics (1940-) #8 and Sensation Comics #1 and call it a day.
Thank Athena for George Pérez and Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals being the foundation of modern Wonder Woman.
March 20, 2018
Very fun read. A bit less entertaining through a 2017 lens than a '42 one. There were some stereotypes which I wasn't too thrilled with, but this is still the best way to start reading Wonder Woman comics.
September 22, 2014
I wish I could rank this higher, because I love Wonder Woman, but I have several issues with this first volume.
April 1, 2017
I love wonder woman but this comic definitely reflects the attitude of the world during the time it was written.
Read
September 12, 2017Read around a half, not feeling it anymore, might return to it at some point, but, for now, it's a DNF. (As I read a big chunk of it I still count it as read.)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews