After the success of both Wonder Woman and its sequel Wonder Woman 1984 - a new plethora of fans are wondering if Wonder Woman can be found within the DC Universe, Marvel, or both.
Wonder Woman is part of the DC universe and has been since her first comic book appearance in All-Star Comics #8. Although she has appeared in Marvel comics for special events, her character belongs solely to DC.
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Wonder Woman’s First Appearance
We also saw her break onto the scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, before then, Wonder Woman first appeared in All-Star Comics #8 in 1941, only two years after the release of Batman.
She is by the far the oldest and most iconic female superhero of all time. All-Star Comics later went on to merge with National Periodical publications which then went on to become Detective Comics now known as DC Comics.
One of the founding members of the Justice League of America, this makes Wonder Woman a hero from the DC Universe, not Marvel.
What makes the origins of Wonder Woman so unique is that, unlike most superhero origins that are created by comic book writers and artists, Wonder Woman was created by the psychologist William Marston who, with this wife, Elizabeth Holloway was supposedly responsible for creating the first prototype of the polygraph test (lie detector).
Professor Marston was an interesting character who had a background in Law, Science, Psychology and helped Maxwell Charles Gaines (who basically invented comic books) to bring a hero to the masses that would help silence the misogyny that existed among the early male heroes.
The character herself was inspired by his wife Elizabeth Holloway and their polyamorous partner Olivia Byrne.
Their relationship together created lots of controversies in the academic arena and later on, inspired the feature film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women in 2017.
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Wonder Woman’s Powers and Origin Explained
Wonder Woman, also known as Princess Diana of Themyscira, was the daughter born of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus, which not only makes her royalty among the Amazons but also a demigoddess with a multitude of powers including superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and in some comic books and films - the ability to fly.
Her bracelets (inspired by Marston’s partner Olivia Byrne) would often be used to reflect the attack of bullets and other propellants.
She would also use other tools such as her Tiara which she would use as a weapon to throw or her Lasso of Truth (again inspired by the lie detector).
The Amalgam Universe – DC and Marvel Collide
Despite Wonder Woman existing exclusively within the DC Universe with other iconic heroes such as Batman and Superman, fans may sometimes confuse her with another character that was inspired by her.
In 1996, DC Comics and Marvel Comics came together to create a publishing imprint, Amalgam Comics. It was here that they merged some of their most loved characters into one.
We saw Superman and Captain America merge to become Supersoldier, Batman was combined with Wolverine to become Dark Claw. However, our favorite DC princess and Storm from the X-men came together to be known in the Amalgam Universe as “Amazon”, one of the more powerful women in the universe!
In conclusion, despite these mini-series being popular among fans, the world’s most famous female superhero Wonder Woman still belongs to DC, not Marvel.
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