Wonder Woman

[WebWarlock]

Before Buffy, Before Xena, before Scully there was Wonder Woman.



If you grew up in the 70's like me you must have had a crush on Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.



With the release of the Complete First Season on DVD, I thought it would be good to start a thread on the real first woman superhero of TV, and of comics too for that matter.



I love Wonder Woman, always have. The TV series was great, but the comics were also very enjoyable.



If you get a chance pick up Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess by Scott Beatty or Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels and Chip Kidd to bring you up to speed on the Amazon Princess.



I plan to have more here soon.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Me: I think I'll have a mid-life crisis and bring home a little red convertible Vette.

My wife: Fine, as long as you don't bring home some little red-head.

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 7/14/04 9:21 am

[Hemiola]

You're the expert, WebWarlock, but if I recall correctly, one of the most interesting things about "Wonder Woman" was that its creator actually lived in a kind of "ménage à trois", with his wife and young mistress in the same house! Interestingly, the same source stated that it was the young mistress that had the habit of wearing the large wrist bracelets that gave him the idea for Diana's "bullet-repelling" wrist-wear .



I enjoyed the original comics, which I read when I was young (late '50s/early '60s). It's tough to remember individual stories, but strangely enough I remember one about Diana encountering an orphan with strange powers who says that he comes from "Wykeron", so she thinks that he must be an alien. After some adventures, it turns out that the orphan comes from the future, and that his home is really "New York"



I only watched the show in repeats. It seemed to me that only the early shows were truly loyal to the comics, i.e., taking place during WWII, and featuring all the "gadgets" the Wonder Woman fans loved: the glass robot plane, the bullet-repelling bracelets, and the "lariat of truth" .



I have to admit, though, that Debra Winger was awfully cute as Diana's younger sister .



I wonder how many here remember that Denise Crosby also played the Amazon Princess in a TV movie?

[WebWarlock]

Oh yeah, William Moulton Marston is the creator of Wonder Woman. He was a Harvard psychologist who also invented the lie detector and the personality inventory. He had a Ph.D. and a law degree.



He created Wonder Woman under the psuedonym Charles Moulton in 1941. Wonder Woman was based on his on personal beliefs. He felt that women were stronger and in general more superior than men. He did add though he flet that men and women did need each other because of their complimentary strengths.

So he wanted a positive, female superhero that was as strong as Superman, but still had all the things that he flet made women great; compassion, gentleness and caring. Wonder Woman was a warrior, but her job was not beat people up but to show them a better way. course she ended up beating a lot of people up too.



Course during those early days the Comics Code was heavily enforced and there were constant complaints of Wonder Woman's "lesbian" overtones. Course to counter this, Marston had Diana's favorite saying become "Suffering Sappho!", claiming that Sappho was such a gentle being that she could not bare to see anyone suffer!



Now the personal life of Dr. Marston was a unique one. He had a wife, Elizabeth, who also had a Mssters and a Law degree. They also lived with one of his graduate students, Olive Richard from the early 20's till his death in 1947. Marston had children with both women, in fact Elizabeth had a daughter she named "Olive" and Olive had a daughter she named "Elizabeth". The three seemed to live very happily together their entire lives.

And yes, the model for Diana, from her black hair to her Amazonian wrist bracelets was Olive. Elizabeth appeared in the comic as one of the Amazons. I guess she was tall and blonde in real life.



I think Marston's concept struck a chord in many. Only Superman and Batman have more popularity and longevity than Wonder Woman.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Me: I think I'll have a mid-life crisis and bring home a little red convertible Vette.

My wife: Fine, as long as you don't bring home some little red-head.

[chilled monkey]

In Eliza Dushku's series Tru Calling, there's one episode where Davis says to Tru "Wonder Woman has nothing on you."



Wasn't there a rumour some time ago that Eliza was going to star in a Wonder Woman movie? Do you think this could have been an 'in-joke?'

[AmbersSecretAdmirer]

I heard either Eliza or Charisma Carpenter were hot for it. I think Tru Calling rules Eliza out but CC may regret the Playboy spread if it means that the producers don't hire her.

TARA AND WILLOW 2GETHER 4EVER!!! BLESSED BE ETERNALLY!!!

[WebWarlock]

It was CC, but the deal with the Playboy spread actually means very liitle.



After all how many actresses have posed for Playboy before and still got work?



Personally I think she would be great as Wonder Woman.



check out the cover of Scott Beatty's "Wonder Woman the Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess".







CC could so do that.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Me: I think I'll have a mid-life crisis and bring home a little red convertible Vette.

My wife: Fine, as long as you don't bring home some little red-head.

[Stroke of Luck]

OH wonder woman! damn that i wasnt growing up in the 70´s but i saw it in the early 90´s and i fell in love with that series. lynda was just sexy and oh god that voice, have u ever heard her songs? geez never thought that such a petite woman can have such a great voice. i would have love to own a cd from her...but no



And no matter who will "play" WW it will be great and i wanna see that movie for sure! but who knows maybe i wont see it at all....damn country (germany) we dont even have the dvd box GRRRRR



Cu

SoL/Natti

"I wish that you were here or that I were there, or that we were together anywhere!"

[WebWarlock]

As a heads up.



Season 3 of "Justice League" starts saturdaynigth on Cartoon network.



I like their version of Wonder Woman as well.



www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/jlu/



ETA: Just watched the episode "For the Man Who Has Everything" it's sorta Superman centric, but my inner fanboy was squealing for joy when Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet made it's Cartoon Network debut. It was way freaking cool. Not a plexiglass looking jet but something that looked like light was bent around it. Wonder Woman kicked some ass in the episode as well. Plus this season we get see some other wonder women such as Supergirl, Zatana (a magic user) and Black Canary. Fans of "Birds of Prey" should recognize Black Canary as the mother of Dinah. We also got to see already Dinah father (though never mentioned in the show) Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow.



A few more good eps featuring Wonder Woman are coming up it seems. Course it will be interesting to see if the writers continue with the flirtation she is having with Batman.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Me: I think I'll have a mid-life crisis and bring home a little red convertible Vette.

My wife: Fine, as long as you don't bring home some little red-head.

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 8/12/04 7:06 pm

[screeminguitar]

Hey Warlock...You made me put a wide grin on when I read this thread.



I was a young gal when the Wonder Woman series was on which I faithfully followed. I had my first female crush on Lynda Carter...wow, she was beyond a wonder in that outfit and in character.



Yeh, I never really thought of Wonder Woman as being the stepping stone to other female super heroes to follow on the screen, but I'd have to agree that it is true. THe Bionic Woman, Xena, Buffy, Laura Croft, to name a few are other characters I have grown to love and admire later.



We need more female super-heroes! I love em'!!



Marie

[WebWarlock]

I loved the old Lynda Carter series.



But I have to admit I am enjoying the hell out of the new Justice League version of Wonder Woman.



She has the Amazon attitude and is yet still very naïve about "the patriarch's" world. There are still some divergences from established canon.



I am not sure what I feel about WW "crushing" on the Batman. I mean I can see where it makes sense, but I don't know. There is a funny scene in the last episode (or two back) where Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Batman are turned to pre-teens. Diana keeps waffling about whether she should "go with Clark or go with Bruce". Sorta out of character, but funny if you appreciate the history of the number of times DC has tried to hook up Wonder Woman with Superman.



And since I am a geek. Dakota Fanning does the voice for Pre-teen Wonder Woman and for Pre-school Kim Possible in the last Kim Possible movie. (Kim rocks as much as Wonder Woman).



I also read "Kingdom Come" recently. Set in the future, Wonder Woman plans a huge role. More of a war-monger than the "Emissary of Peace" of William M. Marston's day.



Obviously without Wonder Woman there would be no Xena.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Talent on loan from Cthulhu

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 9/2/04 6:48 pm

[WebWarlock]

Oh little thread o' mine, I come bearing great news!!!

The Wonder Woman move has a NEW writer and director!
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.ph ... 0&id=39909

There are other places with more specific news, but I will not link to them.
But here is one that is fine,
http://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18722

Yeah, I am back to looking forward to this now.

Warlock