This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

A "television pilot" (also known as a "pilot", "pilot episode", and "series premiere") is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Television networks use pilots to discover whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized. After seeing this sample of the proposed product, networks will then determine whether the expense of additional episodes is justified. They are best thought of as prototypes of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television succeed to the series stage,^[1] although the figure may be even lower.^[2]

Pilot season[link]

Each summer, the major American broadcast television networks—including ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC—receives about 500 brief elevator pitches for new shows from writers and producers. That fall, each network requests scripts for about 70 pitches and, the following January, orders about 20 pilot episodes.^[3] By spring, actors are cast and production crews assembled to produce the pilots.^[4]

Casting is a lengthy and very competitive process. For the 1994 pilot of Friends, casting director Ellie Kanner reviewed more than 1,000 actors' head shots for each of the six main roles. She summoned 75 actors for each role to audition, then chose some to audition again for the show's creators. Of this group, the creators chose some to audition again for Warner Bros. Television executives, who chose the final group of a few actors to audition for NBC executives; as they decide whether to purchase a pilot, network executives generally have ultimate authority over casting.^[5] Since the networks work on the same shared schedule, directors, actors, and others must choose the best pilot to work for with the hopes that the network will choose it. If it is not chosen, they have wasted their time and money and may have missed out on better career opportunities.^[6]

Once they have been produced, the pilots are presented to studio and network executives, and in some cases to test audiences; at this point, each pilot receives various degrees of feedback and is gauged on their potential to advance from one pilot to a full-fledged series. Using this feedback, and factoring in the current status and future potential of their existing series, each network chooses about 4 to 8 pilots for series status.^[3] The new series are then presented at the networks' annual upfronts in May, where they are added to network schedules for the following season (either for a fall or "mid-season" winter debut) and at the upfront presentation the shows are shown to potential advertisers and the networks sell the majority of the advertising for their new pilots.^[6] The survival odds for these new series are low, as only one or two shows survive for more than one season.^[3]

Types of pilot[link]

Standard pilot[link]

Production[link]

If a network isn't totally sold on a potential series' premise but still wants to see its on-screen execution, and since a single pilot can be expensive to produce, a pilot presentation may be ordered. Depending on the potential series' nature, a pilot presentation is a one-day shoot that, when edited together, gives a general idea of the look and feel of the proposed show. Presentations are usually between seven to ten minutes, however, these pilot-presentations will not be shown on the air unless more material is subsequently added to them to make them at least 22 or 45 minutes in length, the actual duration of a nominally "30 minute" or "60 minute" television program (taking into account television commercials). Occasionally, more than one pilot is commissioned for a particular proposed television series to evaluate what the show would be like with modifications. Star Trek and All in the Family are famous examples of this presentation-to-pilot-to-series situation.

An example of change between the making of a pilot and the making of a series is To Tell the Truth in 1956. The show's original title at pilot was Nothing But the Truth and was hosted by Mike Wallace; by the time it became a series, the title was changed and Bud Collyer was tapped as host.

Broadcast[link]

Pilots usually run as the first episode of the series, and more often than not is used to introduce the characters and their world to the viewer. However, the post-pilot series may become so different that it would not make sense for the pilot to be aired. In this case, the pilot (or portions of it) is often re-shot, recast, or rewritten to fit the rest of the series. The pilot for Gilligan's Island, for instance, showed the castaways becoming stranded on the island. However, three roles were recast before going to series, with the characters either modified or completely altered to the point where the pilot could no longer be used as a regular episode. As a result, CBS aired Gilligan's second produced episode, which had the characters already stranded on the island, first; the story from the pilot was largely reworked into a flashback episode which aired later (with several key scenes re-shot). Even Gilligan's theme song, which was originally done as a calypso number, was rewritten and recomposed to be completely different.

Demos[link]

Since the mid 1990s, television producers and networks have increasingly used presentation tapes called "demos" in lieu of full-length pilots.^[2] These demos tend to be substantially shorter than a standard episode, and make limited use of original sets and post-production elements. The idea is merely to showcase the cast and the writing. These types of pilots are rarely broadcast, if ever, although the material is sometimes partially retrofitted onto a future episode of the resulting series.

Some series sold using demos:

• One Tree Hill
• Saul of the Mole Men
• Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
• Charmed
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• King of the Hill
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Suits

Backdoor pilots[link]

A backdoor pilot is defined by Variety as a "pilot episode filmed as a standalone movie so it can be broadcast if not picked up as a series."^[7] It is distinguished from a simple pilot in that it has a dual purpose: It has an inherent commercial value of its own while also being, as Alex Epstein describes it, "proof of concept for the show, that's made to see if the series is worth bankrolling."^[8]

This definition also includes episodes of one show introducing a spin-off. Such "backdoor pilots" most commonly focus on an existing character from the parent series who is planned for their own spinoff show — for example, when Denise, an established character on The Cosby Show, was planned to be spun off to A Different World, a Cosby Show episode was devoted to Denise traveling to visit the college which would become the new show's setting, and meeting some of the new show's supporting characters. A less successful example was the final episode of One Day at a Time in May 1984, which was supposed to serve as a spinoff featuring Pat Harrington, Jr.'s "Dwayne Schneider" character in a new setting; the network ultimately passed on the potential series.

In other cases, however, an episode of the parent show may also focus on one or more guest characters who have not previously appeared in the show; for example, the backdoor pilot for the television sitcom Empty Nest was an episode of The Golden Girls, which relegated that show's regular stars to supporting characters in an episode devoted to new characters who were introduced in that episode as their neighbors. Feedback on the episode resulted in Empty Nest being extensively reworked before its debut; while the "living next to the Golden Girls" setting was retained, the series ended up featuring different characters than the original Golden Girls episode.

A historically important venue for backdoor pilots has been the anthology series. They have variously been used as a place to show work still being actively considered for pickup, and as a venue for completed work already rejected by the network. With the decline of anthology series, backdoor pilots have increasingly been seen as episodes of existing series,^[9] one-off television movies, and mini-series. As backdoor pilots have either failed to sell or are awaiting audience reception from its one-time broadcast, networks will not advertise them as pilots, only promoting them as a "special" or "movie." It is thus often unclear to initial viewers of backdoor pilots that they are seeing a pilot of any kind, unless they have been privy to knowledgeable media coverage of the piece.

Unintentional pilots[link]

While, as listed above, there are many telemovies or episodes within series intended as pilots, there are often telemovies or episodes within other series which are so popular that they inspire later TV series. Popular examples are South Park, which began as a duo of shorts its creators made soon after meeting in film class at the University of Colorado (a second was later made as a video Christmas card for Fox), and Family Guy, which began life as a short, entitled The Life of Larry, that Seth MacFarlane made when he was attending Rhode Island School of Design before he was commissioned to do a second short, titled Larry & Steve, and later adapting the idea into a series. A two-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man introduced the character of Jaime Sommers who, despite being killed off at the end of the story, was so popular that not only was she brought back to life a few months later, but a spinoff series, The Bionic Woman, was commissioned. The 2006 Doctor Who episode School Reunion was devised as a one-off reunion appearance by the character Sarah Jane Smith, but ended up leading to a spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Put pilot[link]

A put pilot is a pilot that the network has agreed to air. If the network does not air the pilot episode, the network will owe substantial monetary penalties to the studio. Generally, this guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network.^[10]

Unsold pilot[link]

Unsold television pilots are pilots developed by a company that is unable to sell it to a network for showing.

As distinguished from "first episode"[link]

A pilot episode is generally the first episode of a new show, shown to the heads of the studio to whom it is marketed.

The television industry uses the term differently from most viewers. Viewers frequently consider the first episode available for their viewing to be the pilot. They therefore assume that the first episode broadcast is also the episode that sold the series to the network. This is not always true. For instance, the episode "Invasion of the Bane" was not a pilot for The Sarah Jane Adventures because the BBC had committed to the first season before seeing any filmed content^[11]—yet it is routinely referred to as a pilot.^[12][13]

Sometimes, too, viewers will assign the word "pilot" to a work that represented the first appearances of characters and situations later employed by a series—even if the work was not initially intended as a pilot for the series. A good example of this is "Love and the Television Set" (later retitled "Love and the Happy Days" for syndication), an episode of Love, American Style which featured a version of the Cunningham family. It was in fact a failed pilot for the proposed 1972 series, New Family in Town, not a successful pilot for 1974's Happy Days.^[14] So firmly embedded is the notion of it as a Happy Days pilot, however, that even series actress Erin Moran views it as such, as well as its creator, Garry Marshall.^[15]

On other occasions, the pilot is never broadcast on television at all. Viewers of Temple Houston, for example, would likely have considered "The Twisted Rope" its pilot because "The Man from Galveston" was only publicly exhibited in cinemas four months later. Even then, "The Man from Galveston" had an almost completely different cast, and its main character was renamed to avoid confusion with the then-ongoing series.

See also[link]

• Channel 101 and Channel 101 NY, venues for the public exhibition of demos

References[link]

External links[link]

• NYTimes: No Smooth Ride on TV Networks’ Road to Diversity (2009)
• GetListy:BestTVPilots
• Unsold TV Pilots 1956-1966 http://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/unsold_pilots_on_television_56_66.php
• Pilots created as a "pitch element"

It has been suggested that Diana Prince be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2011.

Wonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941). The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986.^[1]

Wonder Woman is a warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." ^[2] Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight (even though the original Wonder Woman did not have this ability), super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses animal-like cunning skills and a natural rapport with animals, which has been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.

Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon.^[2] She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by Empire magazine.^[3] She was ranked sixth in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.^[4]

In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979 Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such as the Super Friends and Justice League. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none has yet emerged from development hell. An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character.

In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.^[5]

Publication history[link]

Creation[link]

In an October 25, 1940 interview published in Family Circle titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books.^[6] This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. Family Circle published a follow-up article two years later from issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was Marston's wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superheroine:

William Moulton Marston, a psychologist already famous for inventing the polygraph (forerunner to the magic lasso), struck upon an idea for a new kind of superhero, one who would triumph not with fists or firepower, but with love. "Fine," said Elizabeth. "But make her a woman."^[7]

Marston introduced the idea to Gaines, co-founder of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman with Elizabeth, whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman.^[7] Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship.^[8] Both women served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced the character's creation.^[7] Wonder Woman debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston and with art by Harry G. Peter.

Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work more efficiently.^[9]

"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote.^[1] Although Gloria Steinem placed Wonder Woman on the first standalone cover of Ms. in 1972, Marston, writing in an earlier time, designed Wonder Woman to represent a particular form of female empowerment. Feminism argues that women are equal to men and should be treated as such; Marston's representative of femininity is a 6-foot-tall Amazon wielding a golden lasso that forces obedience on those it encircles.^{[neutrality is disputed]} In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men but to be superior to men.^{[original research?]}

In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote:

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.

During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the female member,^[10] albeit as the group's secretary, since the custom was that characters who had their own comic books would hold only honorary membership.

Evolution of the character[link]

Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland — to "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis.

During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped,^[11] along with other characters'. The new origin story increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots: receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury."^[12]

At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers in order to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Becoming a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.

Due in part to popular demand -- including Gloria Steinem choosing to feature the original super-powered version of Wonder Woman on the cover of the first issue of her Ms. Magazine -- in the early 1970s the character returned to her superhero roots in Justice League of America and to the World War II era in her own title.

Following the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter relaunched the character, writing Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world.

In August 2010 (issue #600), DC Comics replaced the character's iconic stars-and-stripes singlet with a blue jacket (later discarded), red and gold top and dark pants, retaining only her tiara and lasso.^[13]

In 2011, DC Comics relaunched its entire line of publications to attract a new generation of readers. In this new continuity, Wonder Woman wears a costume similar to her original costume. Also, her origin is significantly changed and she is no longer a clay figure brought to life by the magic of the gods. Instead, she is a demigod, the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus.

Powers and abilities[link]

Pre-Crisis[link]

Originally, Wonder Woman owed her abilities to the goddess Aphrodite creating Amazons superior to men, with Diana being the best of their kind.

The Golden Age Wonder Woman was later updated by Marston to be able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs because of her Amazon training, endowing her with extraordinary strength and speed. According to her first appearance, she is stronger and more agile than a hundred of the best human athletes. In Sensation Comics #6 (June 1942), she is able to tear a steel door off its hinges. In one of her earliest appearances, she is shown running easily at 60 mph.^[14] In the same comic, she jumps from a building and lands on the balls of her feet. She can even type at a rate of over 160 words a minute during a test given to her. It was implied, and ultimately confirmed, that any woman who underwent Amazon training would gain superhuman strength.^[15] The TV series took up this notion,^[16] and in the first episode of Super Friends, Diana states to Aquaman, "...the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain." In early Wonder Woman stories,^[17] Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy.

Her powers would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male. However the effects of this varied.^[18]

In the television series, her magic belt allowed her to retain her powers when she was not on Paradise Island; removing it weakened her.^[16] Also, she had no powers when she was her alter ego Diana Prince; there was no given explanation for this.

In the comic books, with the inclusion of Wonder Girl and "Wonder Tot" in Diana's back-story, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #105 reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena — "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules."^[12] Wonder Woman's Amazon training also gave her limited telepathy, profound scientific knowledge,^[12] and the ability to speak every language known to man and beyond. She was even fluent in caveman^[12][19] and Martian.^[19]

Although Wonder Woman's mythos was returned to its original interpretation between 1966 and 1967, new abilities were added: super breath, the ability to blow jet streams or transform water into snow, which apparently came from Hercules; ventriloquism; imperviousness to extremes of heat and cold; the ability to ride the air currents as if flying, even sensing air updrafts with her fingers; telepathy, including the ability to project images; microscopic vision; the ability to vibrate into another dimension; the ability to bestow wisdom to other beings; the ability to throw her tiara with such skill it could stop bullets; and others, according to the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes.^[20]

Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly according to the needs of the story. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert Kanigher, for example, portrayed Wonder Woman as being so strong that she, after standing atop her hovering plane and lassoing it with her magic lasso, was able to effortlessly lift Themyscira out of the way of an approaching tsunami using just one hand. As prominently featured in all existing Wonder Woman Showcase (Volumes 1 to 4) her strength and even speed seem to be limitless. She could lift and throw buildings and houses. Lasso and swirl huge items like Ferris' wheels and Icebergs. She was able to make a coin into a bridge with her strength, or drill through a mountain within seconds, as well as hurl spaceships with enough accuracy she could bowl over a whole fleet. Her fingernails could cut through a steel door.^[21] She was even able to flip straight over while nearly paralyzed, and split a tree falling on her with her Amazonian boots.^[22] Kanigher showed Wonder Woman as a preteen able to lift whales, push a ship away from a whirlpool, and also as a toddler able to blow so hard on her birthday cake that she sent it into orbit.^[23]

In the Silver and Bronze ages of comics, Wonder Woman was able to further increase her strength. She was unable to remove her bracelets without going insane. In times of great need, however, she would do just that, in order to temporarily augment her power tenfold. Since she would become a threat to friend and foe alike, she would use Amazonian berserker rage only as a weapon of last resort.^[24]

Before Crisis on Infinite Earths there were two Wonder Women: the first one lived on Earth-Two; the second, on Earth-One. The first canonical appearance of the Earth-One Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #80 (February 1956). Their first published meeting is Justice League of America (vol. 1) #100 (August 1972); however, their earliest meeting within the DC continuity is Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #228 (February 1977), which takes place in 1943, prior to the events of the Justice League of America story.

Post-Crisis[link]

Wonder Woman's body is a mystical creation made from the clay surrounding Themyscira. Through divine means, her disembodied soul was nurtured in and retrieved from the Cavern of Souls.^[25] Once the soul was placed into the body, it immediately came to life and was blessed with metahuman abilities by six Olympian deities.

Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, blessed Diana with strength drawn from the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the physically strongest heroes in the DC Universe and the strongest female herione of all (John Byrne/ Paul Soriano from Wonder Woman)in the DC Universe.^[26] She has been observed assisting in preventing large chunks of the Moon from crashing onto the Earth,^[27] supporting the weight of bridges,^[28] or hefting entire railroad trains.^[28] and hold her own against beings such as Superman and Captain Marvel. Furthermore, unlike most of her contemporaries in Man's World, Diana is willing to use deadly force, which gives her more options to deal with opponents as circumstances dictate.

While not invulnerable, she is capable of withstanding great concussive force,^[26] shrugging off high-powered rifle fire with some pain but little injury,^{[citation needed]} being knocked through a building, and even surviving a warp-core explosion.^{[citation needed]} She is durable enough to survive the rigors of space until she runs out of breath. While her superhuman strength affords her great resistance to blunt-force trauma, her skin can be cut by weapons if they are sharp enough. Her muscles do not produce lactic acids, giving her great stamina. This allowed her to once battle a clone of Doomsday.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, blessed Diana with great beauty and a loving heart.

Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, granted Diana great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess. Athena's gift has enabled Diana to master over a dozen languages (including those of alien origin), multiple complex crafts, sciences and philosophies, as well as leadership, military strategy, and armed and unarmed combat. She can mimic voices, although it is more difficult for her to mimic a man's voice. More recently, Athena bound her own eyesight to Diana's, granting her increased empathy.^[29]

Artemis, goddess of the hunt, animals, and the Moon, graced Diana with the Eyes of the Hunter and Unity with Beasts. The Eyes of the Hunter ability gives Diana a full range of enhanced senses, including telescopic vision and super hearing. Unity with Beasts grants her the ability of empathy particularly that to communicate with all forms of animal life and to calm even the most ferocious of beasts.^[28]

Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, granted Diana "sisterhood with fire, that it might open men's hearts to her." This power has been shown to control the "Fires of Truth," which Diana wields through her lasso, making anyone bound by it unable to lie. This ability also grants her resistance to both normal and supernatural fire.^{[citation needed]}

Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly. She is one of the fastest beings (obviously inferior to the Flash Family and an equal to Superman). By concentrating, Diana can mystically defy the laws of gravity and propel herself through the air to achieve flight. She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light.^[26] She is swift enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. Her brain can process information at an incredibly fast rate. She had many speed blitz showcases mostly with Superman and The Flash. In recent Justice League stories, she even kept up with the Flash and the two also used their superspeed to save a city in The Brave and The Bold.

Diana possesses the ability to relieve her body of physical injury and toxins by becoming one with the Earth's soil and then reforming her body whole again.^[30] During John Byrne's run, it was stated that this is a ritual so sacred that it is used only in the most dire of circumstances.^[31]

She is able to astrally project herself into various lands of myth.^[32] Her physical body reacts to whatever happens to her on the mythical astral plane, leaving her body cut, bruised, or sometimes strengthened once her mind and body are reunited. She can apparently leave the planet through meditation, and did this once to rescue Artemis while she was in hell.

Skills[link]

All versions of Diana depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts. Batman even noted that she is the greatest Melee fighter of all. In some versions, her mother trained her, as Wonder Girl, for a future career as Wonder Woman. From the beginning, she is portrayed as highly skilled in using her Amazon bracelets to stop bullets and in wielding her golden lasso.^[33] She is a superior warrior who has beaten Batman, Big Barda, and Black Canary in sparring matches. The modern version of the character is known to use lethal force when she deems it necessary.^[34]

Weapons[link]

Diana has an arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.

Her bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven indestructible and able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts.^[35] Diana can also slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making Superman's ears bleed.^[34] Recently, she gained the ability to channel Zeus's lightning through her bracelets as well. Zeus explained to her that this power had been contained within the bracelets since their creation, because they were once part of the Aegis, and that he had only recently unlocked it for her use.^[36]

The Lasso of Truth, or Lariat of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea.^[28] It is virtually indestructible;^[28] the only times it has been broken were when truth itself was challenged, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur,^[37] and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity.^[38] In Sensation Comics #6 (June 1942), Hippolyta claims that not even Hercules can break it. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. It also at one time had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding other kinds of mind control; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel.^[39] Diana wields the lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.

As early as the 1950s,^[23] Wonder Woman's Golden Tiara has also doubled as a dagger and a throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang.^[28] Its sharpness and mystical nature proved enough to cut even Superman.^[34]

Diana once possessed the Sandals of Hermes, or talaria, which granted the wearer great speed and flight, and the ability to travel beyond the mystical veil that protected the island of Themiscyra from Man's World. They were passed on first to Artemis and later to Wonder Girl. Diana also once possessed the Gauntlets of Atlas, which magnify the physical strength and stamina of the wearer; they too were passed on.

The Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age portrayals of Wonder Woman showed her using an Invisible Airplane that could be controlled by mental command. It was variously described as being either a creation of Amazon technology or the legendary winged horse Pegasus transformed into an aircraft. Its appearance varied as well; originally it had a propeller, while later it was drawn as a jet aircraft resembling a fighter plane. The post-Crisis or Modern Age Wonder Woman has continued to use the Invisible Plane, in the form of a small lightweight disc of alien (Lansinar) technology that, when triggered by her thoughts, transforms into a transparent version of whatever object or vehicle is appropriate for her needs. This disc was revealed to be a sentient life-form. Following the "One Year Later" continuity jump, Diana was given a new invisible plane, created by Wayne Industries, because her original invisible plane was stuck on Themyscira.

Diana occasionally uses additional weaponry in formal battle, such as ceremonial golden armor with golden wings, war-skirt, chest-plate, and a golden helmet in the shape of an eagle's head. She also possesses a sword forged by Hephaestus that is sharp enough to cut the electrons off an atom.^[28]

As a recent temporary inductee into the Star Sapphires, Wonder Woman gained access to the violet power ring of love. This ring allowed her to alter her costume at will, create solid-light energy constructs, and reveal a person's true love to them. She was able to combine the energy with her lasso to enhance its ability.

In other media[link]

Collected editions[link]

Merchandise[link]

On January 28, 2011, Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced that DC Comics's iconic heroine Wonder Woman will team up with MAC Cosmetics to create a Wonder Woman makeup collection that will be available in MAC stores in the spring of 2011. The collection includes blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara, mineral powder and nail polish.^[40]

Toys[link]

Wonder Woman has been released in numerous forms by Mattel including Barbie Dolls, Polly Pockets, and DC Universe Classics action figures in Traditional Costume and Blackest Night Star Sapphire Costume.

See also[link]

	United States portal
	Comics portal
	Feminism portal
	Gender studies portal
	Speculative fiction portal
	Superhero fiction portal

• Alternative versions of Wonder Woman for Elseworlds and other characters to bear the title
• Amazons (DC Comics)
• Darna
• Diana Prince
• List of Wonder Woman enemies
• List of Wonder Woman supporting characters
• Orana (DC comics)
• Portrayal of women in comics
• List of female action heroes
• Woman warrior
• Wonder Woman in literature

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wonder Woman Official website at DC Comics.com
• Origin story of Wonder Woman at DC Comics.com
• Carol A. Strickland's Wonder Woman site
• AmazonArchives.com
• Wonder of Wonders
• Wonder Woman Wiki
• Glen, Joshua (April 4, 2004). "Wonder-working Power". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/04/04/wonder_working_power/. 
• Malcom, Andrew H. (February 18, 1992). "She's Behind the Match For That Man of Steel". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DF1539F93BA25751C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print.