Wonder Woman: The Complete History - The Life and Times of the Amazon Princess [Hardcover]

There can't be many people who haven't heard of Wonder Woman, arguably the first female superhero and one of the "big three" (the others being Batman and Superman). She was created by Dr William Moulton Marston--who also invented the lie detector--as an antidote to masculine comic book adventures that are drenched in violent testosterone-fuelled imagery and portray women as helpless weaklings who have to rely on the men to untie them from the train tracks in the nick of time. Wonder Woman was certainly no weakling; dressed in stars and stripes, armed with bullet-deflecting bracelets and a magical lasso and flying around in an invisible jet, she had no qualms about saving her boyfriend Steve Trevor from certain doom in each issue while dealing a swift blow to the odd Nazi soldier as well. However, most people who aren't die-hard comic fans will only have memories of the camp and kitschy 1970s TV show starring the leggy and beautiful Lynda Carter (who also contributes the book's Forward). As compelling and faithful as this small screen adaption was, there is so much more to the WW mythology as Les Daniels admirably proves in this gorgeous hardback volume. It features lots of covers and extracted scenes from the comic books from her earliest appearance to her latest 1990s image changes and plenty of photographs of the plethora of WW merchandise created over the years. And for those of you old enough to remember the TV show who want to refresh your memories of the infamous theme song, the lyrics are also here in all their star-spangled glory. This is a wonderful nostalgic journey through the life and times of the first lady of Superheroes and a real appreciation of WW's staying power and campy cult status. Beautifully packaged, absorbingly written and wonderfully illustrated, this is a must-have for comic fans. --Jonathan Weir

These days we devour super-sized meals, ogle strutting supermodels and experiment with superconductivity. But once upon a time there were only superheroes. Murmur their names, and from out of memory's deep emerge lazy summer afternoons spent on covered porches with a bottle of Orange Crush and a bag of Fritos, weekly bike rides to the revolving wire racks in corner drug stores and, of course, our increasingly daring leaps, from picnic tables and brick fireplaces, with an old sheet fluttering from 9-year-old shoulders: "I can fly, I can fly." And we could -- if only during that moment when we flexed our knees and pushed off into the air. Then, for one blissful second, we were commensurate with our dreams.

But, ah, those names, how they thrilled and fed our imaginations: the Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Aqua-Man and Hawkman, the Mighty Thor, and a little later the Silver Surfer, Spiderman and the X-Men. To the ignorant eyes of parents, our carefully tended stacks of 20, 50 or 2 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

This title explores Wonder Woman's history from her earliest origins to her most recent transformations. The book traces her evolution through comic books, graphic novels, television and merchandise and includes interviews with famous "Wonder Woman" writers and artists, and original sketches.

Les Daniels is the author of several pop culture histories, including Superman: The Complete History and Batman: The Complete History (both from Chronide Books), and DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favourite Comic Book Heroes. Action Figure Designer: Alex Ross's fully painted art has brought him critical acclaim and multiple awards. His first major work was the best-selling, four-issue miniseries Marvels (Marvel Comics) in 1993. His next major project came in 1996 with the award-winning painted series Kingdom Come (DC Comics). Like Watchman and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, it is considered seminal work in the comic industry. His most recent work includes Unde Sam (Vertigo/DC Comics), a Superman statue based on Kingdom Come, and the statue for the Superman MPE. He lives in New York. Action Figure Sculptor: Joe DeVito Illustration and sculpting are equal pursuits for artist Joe DeVito. His paintings have spanned every genre in paperback fiction, and his work appeared in a wide range of magazines, including Newsweek and MAD. Most recently, he has created limited edition sculptures of famours characters such as Doc Savage and Tarzan, designed a number of Hasbro toys for the Lost World, and sculpted the statue for the Superman Masterpiece Edition. He lives in New York. --This text refers to the Misc. Supplies edition.