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Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman: The Complete History

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The super-powered trilogy that captured the world's greatest superhero triumvirate of all time is now available in paperback. Relive the adventures of Krypton's favorite son inside and outside the comic book world in The Complete History . Uncover the Caped Crusader's mysterious real-world origin and his evolution into a hugely successful TV and movie franchise in The Complete History . Follow the Amazon Princess as she evolves from curiosity to feminist icon in the Eisner Award winning Wonder The Complete History . Each book is filled with enough archival comic book art, photographs, and in-depth history to satisfy the most demanding fan—and is now priced to appeal to the most casual reader. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all related characters, names, and indicia are trademarks of DC Comics 2004.

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Les Daniels

55 books23 followers
Les Daniels was one of the earliest historians of comic books and an author of horror novels.

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5 stars
122 (35%)
4 stars
132 (38%)
3 stars
74 (21%)
2 stars
11 (3%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Valentine.
9 reviews2 followers
October 8, 2007
Firstly, I absolutely disagree with the previous reviewer, particularly since this was not quite a biography of William Moulton Marston, but rather a look at the "life" of his creation, the nearly seventy-year old Wonder Woman.

I read this book during a particular bad period of my life when I was holed up in bed with a bad back injury, so this book has a LOT of meaning for me.

Wonder Woman is an ICON. She is one of the most recognized characters worldwide since she has been around since the early 1940s, making her debut in "All-Star Comics" #8. William Moulton Marston who wrote Wonder Woman tales under the pseudonym Charles Moulton created her as a female answer to Superman, in a way trying to empower young girls. Elements of his personal life made it into his creation from the character's resemblance to one of the two women in his life to her magic lasso which made those bound by it tell the truth, fitting for the man who had a hand in the development of the lie-detector. Wonder Woman's history is explored within the pages of this book from the controversial bondage scenes which permeate a good portion of Marston's run to the sapphic undercurrent that was cited as promoting lesbianism/homosexuality, which was still considered a disorder in that era and was discussed in the book that almost killed the entire comic book industry: "Seduction of the Innocent," published in the 1950s.

Wonder Woman survived the death of her creator, the controversy surrounding her stories, and even the McCarthy era to become an enduring icon that has seen life beyond print, from plastic toys to animation and a memorable three season run on television as portrayed by Lynda Carter. Only going up to her career as of 2000, this title is essential reading to those who enjoy the Amazing Amazon and want to know more about the behind the scenes aspects of her creation as well as see some interesting ephemera from her decades of existence.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,678 reviews62 followers
September 14, 2015
Jill Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman got a lot of buzz lately, but it's important to note that Les Daniels's Wonder Woman: The Complete History did it first (2000) and arguably better. Instead of focusing on the man behind the woman, as Lepore does, Daniels keeps Princess Diana and her story front and center, tracing the development of the character through the decades. Graphic design superstar Chip Kidd handled the art direction for this volume, which means it's gorgeous as well as informative - another leg up on Lepore, who frequently resorts to describing panels that this volume simply includes. In terms of the depth of research, Secret History definitely has the edge on Daniels, but that doesn't necessarily make Lepore's work a better read, just a more thorough one (at least in regards to Marston's personal history and family life). If you spend a significant portion of your childhood in Wonder Woman underoos, the Complete History is definitely the can't-miss book.
Profile Image for Shannon Willow.
19 reviews11 followers
Want to read
June 27, 2012
"The Complete History" is, perhaps, a bit of a misnomer. The book was engaging and informative, but somewhat limited in scope. It largely covered Wonder Woman as a pop-culture and political figure in our world, and talked only passingly about each of Princess Diana's incarnations.

I got a lot out of this book, in terms of learning about her creator, William Moulton Marston, what his aims were, and how each writer/editor that came after him tried to either live up to Marston or avoid all association with Wonder Woman's bizarre Golden Age. I learned a lot about her on screen incarnations (including the never-quite-made-it, pre-Carter version)

Despite featuring a card drawn by Bruce Timm, her on-screen exploits in Bruce Timm's version of the JLA were strangely ignored in the book. In fact, the stories she was involved in were basically ignored unless there was some sort of impact in the real world.

Nonetheless, it was a highly informative and enjoyable book.
Profile Image for Courtney.
Author 1 book28 followers
October 13, 2007
Yup, the creator of W.W. was into bondage. He had two wives (simultaneously...and they liked each other and all lived together). He invented the lie detector. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard (among other things). He believed (really) that women should rule the world. He created Wonder Woman to further his philosophical ideals on this last point.

This book is fascinating. No one who comes in my houe and picks it up can put it down.
Profile Image for John Yelverton.
4,319 reviews39 followers
March 7, 2012
An amazing book to see the evolution of Wonder Woman throughout the years.
Profile Image for S.E. Martens.
Author 3 books49 followers
November 13, 2023
Picking this up on a whim at a used bookstore in downtown Toronto circa 2007 kickstarted a lifelong obsession with this character . . . This is an excellent overview, highlighting different eras, with lots of beautiful artwork.

**2023 reread** While it doesn't have the exhaustive detail of The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (and it doesn't draw in the wider context of 1920s-30s feminist writing), this still provides a really solid background on the character. It touches briefly on her creator and it also highlights a bunch of weird merchandise over the eras, which is fun. Chip Kidd does a fantastic job with the art direction/design of the book as it packed full of beautifully reproduced WW art from different eras.

Since more than 20 years have elapsed since this was published, I would love to see it revised and revisited.
Profile Image for Wayland Smith.
Author 23 books59 followers
August 23, 2013
I'm a hero geek, so of course I read this. It's a good history of the development and early years of the character. Most of the focus is on behind the scenes kind of things, like the unusual lifestyle of Diana's creator.

I did learn some things, and think Mr. Daniels covered the topic well. He did a good job with his similar books on Batman and Superman as well. If you're interested in comic books, their history, or, of course, Wonder Woman, I recommend the book. It's just over 200 pages, but much of that is art/pictures.

And Lynda Carter, many people's personification of Diana after the tv show, wrote a nice forward to the book.
Profile Image for Hank Stuever.
Author 3 books2,030 followers
July 22, 2013
Terrific research, illustrations. There is SO MUCH resting just under the surface of what we all know and appreciate about Wonder Woman. It's a goldmine of symbolism, classics, feminism, sex, psychology, weird behavior, gender -- you name it.
Profile Image for Melissa Rininger.
41 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2018
The life and times of Wonder Woman is compacted into this collection of iconic history by Les Daniels and filled with alluring artwork that sweeps the reader’s eyes from one page to the next with fierce excitement and curiosity. I am not sure if this is my favorite Wonder Woman book because Lynda Carter penned an introductory letter expressing what Wonder Woman means to her and then inviting the reader to enter the world of Wonder Woman as presented by Daniels, or is this my favorite Wonder Woman book because of the way Daniels compacts Wonder Woman’s history filled with fascinating facts, limiting his personal point-of-view as a writer and allowing the reader to consume the sourced information in order to come to one’s own conclusions.

If you are looking for a book that is easy to read but filled with sourced material, then this book is probably your best bet. Daniels covers everything from creator Charles Moulton Marston and how his life influenced the creation of Wonder Woman to how DC maintained continuity of Wonder Woman’s history in comics and her status as a female icon. Daniels even covers that failed attempt when DC Comics collaborated with Mattel Toys to create Wonder Woman and the Star Riders (if Barbie and Gem had a love child the Star Riders would be the result). From well known facts to obscure details that only the most hardcore Wonder Woman fan would know, this book has it all.
Profile Image for Jack.
119 reviews4 followers
May 14, 2024
Like the other two books about DC Comics' iconic trio of heroes, the best part about this one is the copious use of art, photos, and collectibles. You can enjoy looking at this book without reading a word. It does provide a great history, though, so do read it! This is the first time I've read in-depth reports of WW's creator and the polyamorous family life that surely influenced the character's genesis. The ups and downs of the character after his passing is well presented. This history ends around 1999 with multiple higher-ups disappointingly going to great lengths to point out that she (and, by extension, all the Amazons of Themyscira) is totally heterosexual, man! "She's a feminist and she likes men," proclaims then-publisher Jeanette Kahn.
The author is clearly very enthusiastic about his subject, and it comes through very well. I enjoyed this volume as much as the Superman book and much more than the Batman book.
Profile Image for Michael P..
Author 3 books69 followers
September 10, 2021
An absolutely fantastic history on the publishing and other media profile of this pivotal character. Look, I don't like Wonder Woman comics. I don't like them a lot. Those I read as a kid are just strange and reprints of the older stories are not just strange but also creepy. Daniels helps me understand that these stories really were strange and sometimes creepy, it isn't just me, but he takes us behind the scenes to understand the idealism that resulted in the comics being written this way, then takes us on a strange journey to how successive writers tried different approaches to the character with nothing sticking for long. The next writer always takes the magazine in a different direction and often contradictory direction. I think this is a great and informative book. If somebody who does not enjoy different incarnations of the character feels this way, you just might like it too.
Profile Image for Denise Spicer.
Author 16 books71 followers
February 22, 2018
Though filed under GN (graphic novel), this book is more a history of the Wonder Woman comic book story than a graphic novel per se. It features many, many pages of reproduction comic book illustrations. The text of this 201 page book also covers the origin of the story, the writers and artists who developed it, and photos of various types of interesting Wonder Woman memorabilia. Has an index.
Profile Image for Gary Sassaman.
286 reviews4 followers
September 2, 2021
This book, along with the Superman and Batman Masterpiece Editions, is a wonderful little history of a specific time in comics history, The Golden Age. Comics historian Les Daniels is perfectly complimented by Chip Kidd's stellar and innovative design and layout and the book itself is a work of art, filled with comics panels and pages, original art and sketches and promotional and merchandising items that are seldom seen.
Profile Image for wildct2003.
3,285 reviews4 followers
May 23, 2017
Covers many aspects of Wonder Woman in our culture (comics, TV shows, dolls, etc.) Lots of pictures of items from the past 60 years (printed in 2000).
Profile Image for Karen.
963 reviews2 followers
January 4, 2021
A bit of biography, some history of the strip and the character, along with some excerpts of classic stories. Great for collectors and new fans.
Profile Image for Abigail.
Author 7 books34 followers
November 26, 2017
Since watching Wonder Woman this summer I've been a little obsessed with the character. So it's been fun to read about her origins and her writer William Moulton Marston, and how her character changed throughout the years.  I learned a lot about Wonder Woman, and I enjoyed that.

Though this book's title is "The Complete History" this book actually felt more like a brief overview of the character. I feel like it could have been a little longer. I also didn't like the writer very much, his comments at time felt unnecessary and rude. He makes snide comments about feminists and about Marston's life.  The Wonder Woman comics have been mostly written by men, and that felt unfortunate to me. I don't think a lot of the comic writers knew what they were doing with her character, but Daniels doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

All in all I think this book was still a pretty good read. You can learn a lot, and it's only 208 pages so it doesn't take long to read. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.
Profile Image for Jeff Raymond.
3,092 reviews207 followers
October 19, 2012
This is sort of a coffee table book-style treatment of the history of Wonder Woman, both as a character and of the people who created her. In some ways, it's great - in others, kind of lacking.

The book is great in the respect that it has a lot of photos of memorabilia, of different Wonder Woman publications and such that probably wouldn't see the light of day unless you were a heavy collector. It also tosses some older comics into the context of the times, which is kind of neat - especially for a superhero like Wonder Woman who has gone through so many incarnations.

The interesting parts for me were the parts discussing how Moulton created Wonder Woman, and how much of a foil for much of his studies and ideology regarding feminism and sexuality Wonder Woman truly was. I'd love to read a much larger take on that someday, but starting there and then discussing the context of the Lynda Carter show and the pressures that future writers faced, it was very interesting.

The downside is in two places. For one, it's much less about the Wonder Woman story and more about the story of how the Wonder Woman story came to be. Those hoping for a history of the actual saga are going to be missing something. The other downside is that it effectively ends right around the Crisis on Infinite Earths even though the book was written in the mid-2000s. There's plenty of opportunity to expand, especially during the Rucka era, that would have been beneficial.

Regardless, a good entry-level piece about one of the more iconic heroes out there. Worth a look if you're interested in this sort of thing.
Profile Image for Marsha.
Author 2 books35 followers
May 6, 2012
Yes, here she is, the original wonder girl in a metal brassiere, lariat in hand. She was invented by a Dr. William Moulton Marston, a guy with a fair amount of scientific genius, genuine exuberance and (to me) an odd desire to see women being tied up.

But he also was a firm believer in female emancipation. In his day he predicted that women would rise to become the more powerful sex, wielding power over men through sexual power. Okay, so his ideas weren’t that advanced but he had something going for him. Strangely enough, he didn’t consider that women should bid for equality with men only superiority over them. (Good for him!)

The drawings, the comics, the origins, the stories that reflected the mores, values and spirit of their times and the genius of WW’s creator are all here. This book is packed with information about cartoon’s enduring superheroine goddess, posing as Diana Prince, and you should run out and get it if you have any geekboy or geekgirl love for this comic heroine whatsoever.
Profile Image for Marcus Vinicius Medeiros.
26 reviews1 follower
October 1, 2012
I´ve been reading Wonder Woman comics since the 80´s revamp by George Pérez, when I was 8 years old, and it´s always good to know more about my favorite super-heroes. This book have some beuatiful illustrations from the glorious past of the heroine, not only comic book pages but also toys, animation, TV series and photos of her writers and artists. The most insightful sections were the ones about the early years of Wonder Woman, the so-called Golden Age of comics in the 40´s, which were full of bondage and the concept of "submission to a loving authority". Wonder Woman - The Complete History come more than 10 years ago, so it´s not updated, but still a good reading.
Profile Image for Anna.
97 reviews
August 15, 2016
This a history of Wonder Woman from the 40's up to the 90's. There are lots of nice "coffee table book" pictures (which is great!), but not as much information as I would have liked. It turns out I read this book back in 2009, but had no recollection of having ever done so. According to my ratings, I enjoyed it less this time around (two stars vs. three). I felt like Les Daniels' Complete History of Superman was an all around stronger book.

Profile Image for Karen Cox.
79 reviews4 followers
November 15, 2014
This was an interesting study of the origins of the character and her creators. I wish the author had spent more time on the lives of Olive Byrne and Sadie Holloway after Marston's death. Her research is excellent and conclusions interesting, but the book is shorter than it could have been. Still, it's worth reading for fans of the character and for those interested in mid-20th century feminism.
Profile Image for J..
Author 7 books42 followers
February 10, 2011
Les Daniels' books about the "Big 3" at DC Comics should be issued to people--they're THAT good. Of the 3, I like this one the best because there's much more focus on the writers and their aims. Kidd's layout is stunning. An absolute must have for anyone who loves comics history. HIGHLY recommended.
Profile Image for Chriss.
229 reviews8 followers
January 26, 2008
An interesting look at the history, views and culture behind the development of everyone's favorite superhero lady. Bondage imagery in early comics? You bet! All kinds of interesting information, as well as some page scans from the original.
Profile Image for Eli.
201 reviews19 followers
May 30, 2010
This is a delightful book, telling the story of Wonder Woman and her creators through text and lots of graphics. I suspect I will perennially pick it up to read a few pages in bed at night, and learn a few more interesting facts each time.
Profile Image for Josie.
18 reviews
March 1, 2011
This is an awesome compilation that not only tells the story of the creation & history of Wonder Woman, it is full of photographs & comic pages. Large format pages really show off all the visual content. Foreword by Linda Carter <3.

"She's a wonder, Wonder Woman."
Profile Image for Bear.
877 reviews4 followers
February 3, 2016
Interesting history - Marston certainly had a bondage issue going on...hence the handcuffs, er, I mean bracelets and the golden lasso of truth with which to tie people up, er, I mean wrangle the truth out of the bad guys...
Profile Image for M.L.D..
Author 24 books26 followers
December 20, 2013
Wow. Who knew that the origins of Wonder Woman were so kinky? I sure didn't, not until I read this. Find out why Wonder Woman was constantly getting tied up, bound, chained, and trussed like a chicken in her early adventures!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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