Circe.
Ares.
And Cheetah.
The three arch-nemeses of Wonder Woman.
As the female superhero turns 75, there are those who argue her real arch-enemy was those who stood in the way of women’s rights.
Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Ohio Humanities Council and the Cleveland Public Library are hosting a symposium this week to explore how Wonder Woman and other female comic-book heroines have furthered women’s rights.
Wonder Woman was born in the midst of World War II. Her creator William Moulton Marston — along with his wife, Elizabeth — set out to create a superhero who in the words of Marston “is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world.”
Marston, a psychologist best remembered at the time for creating the polygraph, penned in Wonder Woman’s debut in All Star Comics No. 8 in December 1941 that this female superhero would be unlike her male counterparts at the time like Superman.
“At last, in a world torn by the hatred and wars of men, appears a woman to whom the problems and feats of men are mere child’s play,” the comic book opened. “A woman whose identity is known to none, but whose sensational feats are outstanding in a fast-moving world. With a hundred times the agility and strength of our best male athletes and strongest wrestlers, she appears as though from nowhere to avenge an injustice or right a wrong!”
These lofty powers and gender-changing ideals were short-lived; once the war ended, the likes of Rosie the Riveter were pushed back to what were considered at the time more traditional roles in the workplace and home.
Wonder Woman was not immune either, explains Kent State English professor Vera Camden. She was stripped of most of her super powers and became a less assertive character for decades to come.
“This was supposed to be about women having power and not in a punitive way, but having power to do good, to do justice,” Camden said.
It wasn’t until Gloria Steinem led a crusade to convince DC comics to restore Wonder Woman’s powers in the 1970s, Camden said, that she once again became a powerful female crusader for women’s rights in the comic books.
“Wonder Woman offers an ideal of love and tolerance, but she can also kick butt if she needs to defeat the bad guys,” Camden said.
Steinem chose to use an image of Wonder Woman for the first cover of Ms. magazine in July 1972, and recalled in a biography the fight with DC and the day they finally waved the white flag.
“Okay. She has her magical powers back, her lasso, her bracelets, she has Paradise Island back, and she has a black African Amazon sister named Nubia. Now will you leave me alone?” was how Steinem recalled the now infamous call from DC Comics.
With Wonder Woman as the face of the symposium, the series of free events at the Cleveland Public Library on Thursday through Saturday will examine the historical trends that have “changed the world of comics, American popular culture and feminism.”
The speakers include:
• Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, the creative team of Harley Quinn, Starfire, and Harley Quinn and Power Girl.
• Phil Jimenez, writer/artist of Wonder Woman and Superwoman, and artist of Astonishing X-Men, New X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man and The Invisibles.
• Joan Ormrod and David Huxley, editors of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics and of Superheroes and Identities.
• Cameron Stewart, writer/artist of Batgirl, Motor Crush and artist of Batman and Robin and Fight Club 2.
• Trina Robbins, author of The Great Women Superheroes, Wonder Woman, and editor of Babes in Arms and The Complete Wimmen’s Comix.
• Genevieve Valentine, author of Catwoman, Xena: Warrior Princess and the novels The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti.
• Carol Tilley, author of Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics and a Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards judge.
• Former CNN correspondent Laura Siegel, daughter of Cleveland’s Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman.
• Peter Coogan, Kent State alumnus, director of the Institute for Comics Studies and author of Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre and co-editor of What is a Superhero?
Camden said she’s been a part of a lot of symposiums over the years, but not one that has created a buzz like this. She credits the public’s love affair with Wonder Woman and comic book superheroes in general.
“This [event] is not an Ivory Tower kind of kind,” she said. “This is for the public and I hope it encourages people to read and go out and get their hands dirty in print.”
Craig Webb, who was a fan of Ghost Rider, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.