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Veronica Cale is a fictional comic book villain appearing in books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of Wonder Woman. She was created by Greg Rucka in Wonder Woman v2, #196 (November 2003). Rucka has stated his intent as creating a "Lex Luthor for Diana".^{[1][dead link]}

Fictional character biography[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Veronica Cale is a founding partner (with her friend Leslie Anderson) in Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals. Having worked hard to get to this position she resents Wonder Woman for finding acceptance in Patriarch's World so easy, and finds her message of peace simplistic, reasoning that it is easy to preach an end to conflict if you are a superstrong demi-goddess. When Diana writes Reflections, a study of Amazon philosophy, Cale uses selected quotations from the book to spin the media against her.

When the book's most outspoken critic loses a debate, she arranges to have him killed at a demonstration, making it look like the book's proponents are responsible. She also uses Doctor Psycho to inflame both crowds.

Cale is subsequently bound, gagged, and locked in a closet by Psycho who impersonates her for a brief period, before she is rescued by Wonder Woman. This does not change her opinion of the superheroine, but does have an influence on Dr. Anderson which Cale finds worrying.

She is later coerced by Circe into applying as legal guardian of Circe's daughter Lyta as a way of removing Lyta from the Amazon island of Themyscira. The process is stopped mid-way through once Ares kidnaps Lyta from the island, leaving Circe to abandon her scheme with Cale.

This story plot was to have a larger part in the Wonder Woman comic but was dropped due to the Infinite Crisis storyline. Cale's reaction to the media furor surrounding Wonder Woman's killing of Maxwell Lord and its consequences have not been recorded.

Cale also played a role in the creation of the third Silver Swan, Vanessa Kapatelis, by buying her from Sebastian Ballesteros, the then-current Cheetah, and turning her into a cyborg to fight Wonder Woman.

She resurfaces in Week 26 of 52 as one of the abducted scientists on Oolong Island (and the only female among the group). She suffers a breakdown after unleashing the Four Horsemen upon the Black Marvel family. When Black Adam starts his world-wide crusade for vengeance, her conflicting feelings cause her to seduce the mentally unstable Will Magnus. When Black Adam actually arrives on the shores of Oolong Island, she attempts to take the blame for it, walking out to confront the maddened Adam. She is subsequently entirely ignored.

According to author notes in the fourth volume of the collected 52 editions, Cale was supposed to originally die at this point, casually slain by Black Adam. Further discussion changed her fate.

Subsequently, Cale leads the remaining mad scientists to form an independent collective. Their first problem is the return of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips. Cale ingests a semi-organic containment unit and uses it to absorb the Horsemen's essences. She is later seen undergoing an operation to remove the unit.

Other versions[link]

In a pastiche of Golden Age stories printed as a back-up strip in Wonder Woman v2, #200, Cale is reinvented as a perfume manufacturer called Veronica Callow. When Wonder Woman refuses to promote her new perfume, Callow tries to discredit Wonder Woman by creating a robot duplicate named Superba who commits crimes.

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• Actress Elizabeth Hurley was to be playing Cale in David E. Kelley's television revival of Wonder Woman for NBC before not being picked up by the network.^[2]

Video games[link]

• Veronica Cale appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Debra Cole. Her voice is heard on the intercom during the Oolong Island alert telling her workers to get back to work. Cale herself is located on the second floor balcony of the central building in Oolong Island's first area.

See also[link]

• List of Wonder Woman enemies

References[link]

Elizabeth Hurley
Liz Hurley campaigning for Breast Cancer Awareness, London October 2010
Born	Elizabeth Jane Hurley (1965-06-10) 10 June 1965 (age 47) Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
Nationality	English
Other names	Liz Hurley
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Arun Nayar (m. 2007–2011)
Partner	Hugh Grant (1987–2000) Shane Warne (2010–present; engaged)
Children	Damian Charles Hurley (born 2002)
Website
www.elizabethhurley.com

Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English model and actress. In the 1990s, Hurley became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant.^[1] In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral,^[2] Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los Angeles premiere in a plunging black Versace dress held together with gold safety pins, which gained her instant media attention.^[3]

Hurley has been associated with the cosmetics company Estée Lauder for over 15 years since the company awarded Hurley her first modelling job at the age of 29.^[4] It has featured her as a representative and model for its products, especially perfumes such as Sensuous, Intuition, and Pleasures, since 1995.^[5] As an actress, her best known cinematic works to date have been as Vanessa Kensington in Mike Myers' hit spy comedy, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and as the Devil in Bedazzled (2000).^[6] Hurley currently owns an eponymous beachwear line.^[7]

Early life[link]

Hurley was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, the younger daughter of Angela Mary (née Titt) and Roy Leonard Hurley.^[8] Her father was a Major in the British Army; her Anglican^{[citation needed]} mother was a teacher at Kempshott Infant School.^[8] She has an older sister, Kate, and a younger brother, Michael James Hurley.^[9]

Aspiring to be a dancer as a young girl, she took ballet classes and later briefly studied dance and theatre at the London Studio Centre.^[10] While in her teens, she became involved with punk fashion, dyeing her hair pink and piercing her nose.^[6] "When I was 16 – this was about 1981, 1982 – the thing to be in Basingstoke, the suburb I grew up in, was punk," she explained.^[11] She also reportedly associated with the New Age Travellers in her youth.^[12]

Career[link]

Fashion[link]

Hurley with fashion designer Valentino Garavani at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival

In 1995, with no prior modelling experience, Hurley was introduced as an Estée Lauder spokesmodel.^[4][6] She later recounted, "I was far from an ingénue, having had my first modelling job at 29."^[4] Hurley has since featured in ads for Lauder's 'Pleasures', 'Beautiful', 'Dazzling', 'Tuscany per Donna', and 'Sensuous' fragrances as well as participated in campaigns for the company's other cosmetics.^[13] She was replaced as the face of Estée Lauder by Carolyn Murphy in 2001. However, she continues to work with the company non-exclusively, signing a contract for the 16th year with Lauder in 2010.^[5] In 2005, she modelled for Saloni, Liverpool Department Stores of Mexico, and Lancel.^{[citation needed]} She was part of the seasonal advertising campaigns for Jordache, Shiatzy Chen, Got Milk?, Patrick Cox, MQ Clothiers of Sweden, and Lancel in 2006^{[citation needed]} and Monsoon in 2007.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, Hurley was unveiled as the seasonal campaign face for Blackglama mink.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2005, Elizabeth Hurley Beach, her beachwear line that she also models every summer, was launched at Harrods in the UK. It debuted later that year in select Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the United States and other European countries.^[14] She told Tatler magazine, "I was on Necker Island for a fashion shoot and even as [Richard Branson] was lying back in a hammock, he was on the phone, doing deals, managing his empire. But then I thought I am never going to have even a holiday home, let alone an island, unless I start a business that I can do without disrupting Damian's school days."^[15] In May 2008, Hurley designed and modelled a capsule collection of 12 swimsuits for the Spanish clothes brand MANGO.^[16] Hurley has appeared three times on the cover of British Vogue.^[17] She is signed to TESS Management in London.^[18]

Film[link]

Hurley made her first film appearance in Aria (1987).^[8] She has since appeared in the movies Passenger 57, EDtv, Bedazzled, and Serving Sara. In 1997, she received her first and only acting award, the ShoWest Supporting Actress of the Year, for her performance in the spy spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.^[6] When Hugh Grant founded and became the director of Simian Films in 1994, Hurley was credited as one of the producers for the company's two Grant vehicles, Extreme Measures (1996) and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999).^[19] In 2000, she was publicly criticised for breaking a five-month acting strike to film an Estée Lauder advertisement, for which she was fined $100,000 (£70,000 in 2000) by the Screen Actors Guild and labelled "Elizabeth Scably" by protesters.^[20][21]

Television[link]

Hurley at the launch of Estee Lauder's new fragrance, Sensuous, in July 2008

In the late 1980s, Hurley portrayed the title character in a five-part television drama, Christabel. After appearing in John Cleese's The Human Face (2001), she hosted the inaugural season of the British reality series Project Catwalk on Sky1 in 2006. The show drew tepid ratings with only 1% of its target audience tuning into the first few episodes.^[22] Hurley was almost universally criticised as a presenter. Marcelle D'Argy Smith, a former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, called her "witheringly boring" and added: "Liz Hurley has no fashion experience whatsoever. She wore a dress and has appeared at premieres."^[22] GQ 's Dylan Jones defended her as someone "immersed in the fashion world as a celebrity."^[22] Hurley was ridiculed by critics for her "aspirational Basingstoke-gone-jetset accent and dead fish stare,"^[22] while also being described as "the not-nice-but-dim host."^[22]

She was dropped after one season because her bosses reportedly believed she was too wooden.^[23] It was later revealed that Hurley had asked contestants to send her free clothes off the record.^[24] In 2011 Hurley filmed a guest star role in the series pilot of NBC's Wonder Woman as the villain Veronica Cale, potentially recurring.^[25] The network decided not to pick up the series. However, in July 2011, it was announced that Hurley would join the cast of Gossip Girl for a guest-arc. She will portray Diana Payne in the fifth series, who producers describe as "a sexy, smart, self-made media mogul and all-around force to be reckoned with" and that "Diana’s entrance on the Upper East Side will change the lives of all our characters – including, and especially Gossip Girl herself."^[26]

Charity[link]

Hurley has been active in Estée Lauder's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, as part of which the company created an "Elizabeth Pink" lipstick whose sales benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.^[27] Hurley, whose grandmother died of breast cancer,^[28] was the mistress of ceremonies at "The Hot Pink Party" that marked the tenth anniversary of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.^{[citation needed]}

Hurley supported The Prince's Trust by co-presenting the 2003 Fashion Rocks event in its aid^[29] and helping launch the Get Into Cooking youth initiative in 2004.^[30] She has also helped raise funds for End Hunger Network,^[31] ARK children's charity,^[32] and the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.^[33]

Personal life[link]

Hurley was a struggling actress in 1987, when she met Hugh Grant while working on a Spanish production called Remando Al Viento. While dating Hurley,^[6] Grant gained international notoriety for soliciting the services of a female prostitute in 1995. Hurley stood by him and accompanied Grant to the premiere of his movie Nine Months.^[6] After 13 years together, Hurley and Grant announced an "amicable" split in May 2000.^[34] According to The Guardian,^[1] Hurley was "then known as 'Hugh Grant's girlfriend,' now known as 'Hugh Grant's former girlfriend,'" due to the high-profile nature of their relationship.^[35]

Hurley with her then husband Arun Nayar at the Ampney Crucis Village Fete in 2008

On 4 April 2002, Hurley gave birth to a son, Damian Charles Hurley.^[36] The baby's father, Steve Bing, denied paternity by alleging that he and Hurley had a brief, non-exclusive relationship in 2001.^[37] A DNA test, however, established Bing as the child's father.^[38] Hugh Grant is his godfather.^[39] Hurley is godmother to Patsy Kensit and Liam Gallagher's son Lennon and two of David and Victoria Beckham's sons (Brooklyn and Romeo).^[40]

In late 2002, Hurley started dating Indian textile heir Arun Nayar, who has run a small software company since 1998.^[41] On 2 March 2007, Hurley and Nayar married at Sudeley Castle and then had a second traditional Hindu wedding at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.^[42] The Indian celebrations included a sangeet at Nagaur Fort^[43][44] and a reception at Mehrangarh Fort.^[45] The wedding ceremonies, photos of which were sold to Hello! magazine for a reported £2 million,^[46] were attended by numerous celebrities, including Elton John, who gave Hurley away.^[47] Hurley, whose net worth was estimated at £13 million in 2003,^[48] resided on a 400-acre (1.6 km²) organic farm in Barnsley, Gloucestershire, with her son and husband.^[49][50]

On 12 December 2010, following press reports linking her romantically with Australian cricketer Shane Warne,^[51][52] Hurley announced via her Twitter account that she and her husband Arun had separated several months earlier.^[53] Hurley filed for divorce on 2 April 2011, citing Nayar's "unreasonable behaviour" as the cause;^[54] this is a conventional ground for divorce under English law. The divorce was granted on 15 June 2011.^[55] On 30 September 2011, three months after her divorce, it was reported that Hurley and Warne were engaged and she was spotted wearing a large sapphire ring,^[56] with their engagement confirmed via Twitter shortly thereafter.^[57]

Filmography[link]

Theatre

• The Cherry Orchard – A Jubilee (Russian & Soviet Arts Festival)
• The Man Most Likely To (Middle East tour)

Documentary film

• Signé Chanel (2005) ... Herself
• Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008) ... Herself

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elizabeth Hurley

• Official website
• Elizabeth Hurley at the Internet Movie Database
• Elizabeth Hurley at the Fashion Model Directory

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]

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	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.