Wonder Woman

I've never been much of a comic reader, when I was younger I read mostly archie comics, or sabrina the teenage witch. However I wish I would have known how awesome wonder woman comics were, now later in life I have become a fan of wonder woman. Crazy I know, but one of my friends (bethany) pointed out to me some of the powers and core values of the character wonder woman and it has become a character I am a huge fan of.

I mean just read this quote by the creator, William Moultan Marston, of wonder woman "Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women' s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."

If you know nothing about wonder woman here is the story: 

"Born the daughter of Queen Hippolyta on Paradise Island to a race of Amazon Warriors, Diana is a princess, an ambassador, a warrior and a superhero. Using divine powers, granted to her by the Gods of Olympus, Diana went to the United States of America to fight for peace, justice and truth as Wonder Woman. 

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Amazons were in fact reborn from the souls of abused and murdered women from ancient days. In 1200 B.C. a debate occurred in Mount Olympus on how mankind should be made to believe in the Gods. Ares, the God of war wanted to descent upon the world with his army and force mankind into following the Gods. This was opposed by the others Gods present including Artemis, who wished in peace and wanted to make a new race that would lead men on the right path. Zeus turns his back on them and they decide to proceed without his blessing. 

With the aid of Charon the ferryman, the gods reach the Womb of Gaea, were the souls of women who were abused and murdered at the hands of men were preserved by Gaea herself. Artemis sends the souls to Greece were they form into adult women. Aphrodite observes that one soul still remains in the Womb to which Athena replies the time has not yet come for that one.The new race in Greece are approached by the Gods who bestow them with the skill of hunting and the purpose of leading humanity in the right path. They appoint Hippolyte and Antiope as the rulers while Menalippe is the Oracle. The civilization is named the Amazons. 

Stories of this civilization, named as Themyscira by the poets spread throughout Greece and reaches the ears of Heracles who is driven into attacking the city behind the scenes by Ares, who seeks to sabotage the gods' plan. Heracles approaches the Amazons but is defeated by Hippolyte upon which he fakes friendship and declares the Amazons as allies. When their guard is down he poisons Hippolyte and his army attacks the women in full force taking Hippolyte, Antiope and the other survivors captive. 

In his cells, Hippolyte is freed by Athena who reminds her of her purpose and asks her to avoid revenge and pursue peaceful means. Hippolyte escapes and frees the rest of the Amazons. She relies Athena's message to the women but blinded by their thirst for revenge, the Amazons slaughter the men ruthlessly. The Gods appear and tell them they have failed in their purpose and banish them to an Island known as Paradise to guard the terrible evil within as punishment. They are also granted Immortaility as long as they do not stray from their new purpose, which would eventually purify their souls. 

The Amazons build a nation and live there for Millennia. It is during this time that Hippolyte, leader of the Amazons feel an unexplainable yearning. She conveys this to the Oracle who tells her she was the only one pregnant during her death and thus the yearning she feels is the call of her unborn child. As per her advise, Hippolyte goes to the shore at sunrise and makes a clay form of a baby. She then cries out to Artemis. Seeing this the Gods decide it was time for the remaining soul in the womb of Gaea to depart. 

The soul is sent to the clay form, which then becomes a real child , blessed with Gaea's gift, life. Demeter grants the baby great strength, Aphrodite grants her great beauty and a loving heart, Athena grants her great wisdom, Artemis grants her the eye of the hunter and unity with beasts, Hestia grants her sisterhood with fire and Hermes gives her great speed and the power of flight. Hippolyte names her after a holy warrior Diana and she grows up knowing the love of a thousand mothers. Thus Diana of Themyscira was born.

Wonder Woman embodies Marston's vision of woman as intelligent, honest, and kind. 

Why Wonder Woman was Created:

Wonder Woman’s appearance in the early golden age of comics made her the first prominent female superheroine. The psychologist William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman somewhat as a counter reaction to the presence of prominent male superheroes (at this time Superman, Batman and Captain America) with the hopes that the character could serve as an inspiration for young children (though in certain ways it was geared more towards female readers.) Marston had been partially motivated to create this character because of the accomplishments of his own wife, who was also an accomplished academic at a time when it was difficult for women to fulfill this role. As a result, the first Wonder Woman series contained many complimentary articles and features which sought to provide guidance to a presumed female readership. There were articles for instance on the different career paths that women could pursue (according to the standards of the 1940s) as well as a series of stories on famous and accomplished women, called the Wonder Women of History. Marston introduced the character in All-Star Comics #8 in 1941. She became the lead character in Sensation Comics in 1941, and got her first solo book in 1942.

And of course the best thing about Wonder Woman is her accessories, I mean only a female superhero would have accessories with magical powers:

Lasso of Truth

The Lasso of Truth forces people to tell the truth. It was forged by Hephaestus from the Golden Girdle of Gaea that Antiope had once worn. It is able to restore people's lost memories get rid of illusions or cause illusions to those it holds and heal the holder's body cure insanity and protect people who are in close proximity to it from magical attacks.

Bracelets of Victory

These are a pair of steel
cuffs that are indestructible because they were created from the remains of Zeus’s Aegis shield. Wonder Woman can use her super reflexes to deflect projectiles, blades, punches, or any form of offensive attack used against her. She can also use them to deflect an object back into her enemies. When Diana crosses them to protect her from impact with larger projectiles as well as damage inflicted by explosions and collisions with hard surfaces, the bracelets generate a small energy shield.

Royal Tiara

Her tiara is razor sharp and can be used so as to return to her when thrown. It is also magical and can therefore be used to injure those susceptible to magic, such as Superman.

The Invisible Plane

The invisible plane was Diana’s major means of travel. It was controlled telepathically and would appear almost instantly.

Battle Armour

When faced with a larger threat, Diana will wear her Amazon battle armour for added protection as well as use martial weapons such as swords.

Martial Weapons

Diana is depicted as quite skilled in a number of martial weapons. She has shown to be adept with swords, battle axes and spears. She tends to favour swords though in particularly difficult fights. Her knowledge of martial weapons extends to other less conventional weapons, including broken bottles.

Magical Sword Materializing the sword

On occasions Wonder Woman has employed a magical sword of unknown (though presumably Amazon) origin. This sword has been used most specifically against those with the power of invulnerability as invulnerability generally does not work against magical items.

Sandals of Hermes

Given to Diana by Hermes, they allowed her to travel between Themyscira and the outside world. These sandals have also been given to Artemis and Cassandra Sandsmark as they also provide the power of flight.

Gauntlet of Atlas

These gauntlets allow the strength of any who uses them to be increased by ten.

Earrings

Although seemingly only a purely decorative aspect of her costume, her earrings were sometimes depicted as giving her the ability to breathe in outer space. They were also known as Gelignite Grenade Earrings and Grappling Hook Bracelet, and used as grenades, the grenades were strong enough to blast through a thick steel door and the grappling hook could support easily her body weight to aid in climbing.

Power Rings

For a short time during the Blackest Night crossover, Wonder Woman was empowered by first a Black Power Ring with the ability to bring back life, and then by a violet Power Ring with the power of love.

Other Super powers Wonder Woman possesses:

Superhuman Strength

Her level of super strength (as granted to her by Demeter) is comparable to that of the Earth itself (as this is where she derives her powers). She is thus strong on a level with the strongest other DC’s characters including Superman and Captain Marvel. It is generally accepted that she is not as strong as Superman, but that she is one of the few in the same class as he is. On one occasion she even used her massive strength to move the Earth (though this was under duress and aided by Superman and the Martian Manhunter.)

Superhuman Speed

Granted by Hermes (God of Messengers), her top speed has never been well documented, but she has been shown to be faster than half the speed of light. The Flash has said that Wonder Woman can easily keep up with him and she has been seen keeping up with Flash going faster than hypersonic speed. She can disarm human opponents of their weapons instantly and she can immobilize her opponents in the blink of an eye. She is such a well trained athlete that in combat, her reflexes even surprise the likes of Superman.

Invulnerability/Durability

Granted by Demeter (Goddess of the Earth), she is immune to radiation and the coldness of space; she also possesses a high level of resistance against fire and high temperatures, she has been shown taking fire, lava, thermonuclear explosions, hell fire and even superman's heat vision, however, her invulnerability has a vulnerable point against piercing weapons. Wonder Woman can fight with and withstood considerable damage in the form of hand to hand combat with opponents such as Superman and Gods. Wonder Woman possesses a high resistance to damage and magical attacks.

Flight

Granted by Hermes, the Greek patron of messengers and thieves, this ability allows her to fly at fast speeds. Wonder Woman is able to fly at hyper-sonic speeds able to keep up with Superman.

Healing Factor

Granted by Demeter (Goddess of Earth). In the rare instance when Wonder Woman is harmed, her body heals from any injury instantly without scarring

Divine Wisdom

Granted by Athena (Goddess of Wisdom), this gives her a degree of wisdom beyond that of most mortals and gives her a strong moral sense. This also aids her in her tactical ability. She is among the smartest and wisest members of the Justice League of America, along with the Martian Manhunter and Batman.

Super Stamina/Agility

Wonder Woman can fight to she drops dead, she does not need to rest. Wonder Womans's agility is on a super-human level.

Great Beauty

Although not a real power in itself, she received a blessing of great beauty from Aphrodite.

Enhanced Sense

Granted by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). Eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and smell are all on super-human level. Wonder Woman has the (Hunters Eyes) which allows her to always hit her mark and see far distances.

Other assorted divine powers

For a time she was given enhanced vision by Athena, which gave her the ability to see in darkness and through illusions. Due to her wisdom she can learn languages faster than a regular person, she can talk to animals. She has also been shown to project herself astrally in order to commune with the gods and ask for special favors from them. She has also been shown to take on the abilities of certain of her patron goddesses as when she became a form of divine midwife to save the life of an unborn child.

Martial Combat

Wonder Woman is trained in the a variety of martial arts, making her a master of unarmed and armed combat (even proving adept with pistols). Before Flashpoint Batman considered Diana the best female fighter on the planet, even putting her ahead of Superman, due to the combination of her power and the depth of her training. Even when depowered, she is on par with some of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the DC Universe.