When an alien called Andros wants to preserve Earth, to prove to the Council of Planets that Earth is not as violent as it seems, he is sent to Earth to prove it to them... if he fails, Earth will be destroyed and Wonder Woman must help him out.
-- this plot is from 1975. ultimately Andros comes to know that the violence is needed to stop the nazi's who really are bad. but earth only get's a 50 year extension, and by then things are expected to be all nicey-nicey on earth by 1992! oh boy, are we in for it. The story also makes reference to the aliens having their own satellite in orbit (valis?). Rich stew here, maybe could use it's own thread?
I'd always heard that the character was invented to promote lie-detectors, but here's a more in depth 'secret origin' (from the wiki) that opens some other cans of worms:
In an October 25, 1940 interview conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym "Olive Richard") and 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 (a follow up article was published two years later in 1942).[4] 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 the future DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero.
In the early 1940s the DC line was dominated by superpowered male characters such as the Green Lantern, Batman, and its flagship character, Superman. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was his wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superhero:
“ 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.'[5] ”
Marston introduced the idea to Max Gaines, cofounder (along with Jack Liebowitz) 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).[6] In creating Wonder Woman, Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship.[7] Marston's pseudonym, Charles Moulton, combined his own and Gaines' middle names.
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.
"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote.[8] 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 adversaries to tell the truth. In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men: they could be superior to men.
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. ”
