''The Legend of Wonder Woman'' is a series starring

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

, published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The series was created by Renae De Liz, with colors, inks, and letters by her husband, Ray Dillon. It functions as a modern retelling of Wonder Woman's Golden Age origin, with heavy influence from the original comics by

William Moulton Marston William Moulton Marston (May 9, 1893 – May 2, 1947), also known by the pen name Charles Moulton (), was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the lie detector. He was also known as a se ...

. The series was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Digital/Webcomic.

Publication history

The digital-first series began in November 2015 and consisted of 27 chapters released weekly. It was collected in nine single issues throughout 2016, then published in hardcover December 13 the same year. A proposed second volume was in the works until it was cancelled by DC. An earlier series, published by DC in 1986, was also titled ''The Legend of Wonder Woman''. The last pre-''

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...

'' Wonder Woman story, it was a tribute to the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

Wonder Woman that was written and illustrated by

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

. The four-issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

was published during the time between the first and second volumes of ''

''.

Plot

Volume One

As a child, Diana senses danger looming towards her island, Themyscira. She coerces the Captain of the Guard, Alcippe into training her in the arts of battle. As she grows older, Diana becomes a fearsome fighter, though she longs to find the answer to her ominous feelings. One day, she finds Air Force pilot Steve Trevor crash on the island. She keeps him a secret from the other Amazons as she tends to his wounds, though they eventually discover his presence. Diana wins the competition to return Steve to the United States, where she meets

Etta Candy Etta Candy is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as the best friend of the superhero Wonder Woman. Spirited and vivacious, with a devil-may-care attitude, Etta debuted as a young white woman with ...

and the Holliday Girls. Meanwhile, Ares and Hades send their champion, Thomas Byde (calling himself the

Duke of Deception The Duke of Deception is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Based on Dolos (mythology), Dolos, the Greek mythological deity of deceit and lies, he is a longstanding recurring adversary of the superhero Won ...

) to aid the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Diana disguises herself as a nurse to get onto the front lines, but is easily defeated by the Duke of Deception. She later loses her powers completely by turning away her patron gods, deciding to live a peaceful life with Steve and Etta. Quickly after, Diana is summoned by duty to return to the battle, despite the loss of magic in her equipment. She manages to defeat the Duke of Deception with the aid of Pegasus, then regains her powers in time to defeat the deadly Titan.

Volume Two

A second and third volumes were planned for ''The Legend of Wonder Woman'' but were cancelled by DC Comics. Writer Renae De Liz later posted on her

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account her plans for future volumes had included various villains from Wonder Woman's lore, such as Cheetah, Blue Snowman, Giganta, and

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...

Characters

* Princess Diana/

The princess of the Amazons. As in the main DC Universe, Diana won the right to become Wonder Woman and return injured air force pilot Steve Trevor back to "man's world". *

A boisterous student at Holliday College, Etta immediately befriended Diana when she arrived at the United States. Etta continued to play a large role in the series, joining Diana in her adventures as her sidekick. *

Steve Trevor General Steven Rockwell Trevor is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Wonder Woman. The character was created by William Moulton Marston and first appeared in ...

A young pilot who crash landed on Paradise Island. After being brought back to the United States by Diana, he continued to play a prominent role in Diana's life, eventually becoming her romantic interest. *

The primary antagonist of the story. Once a mortal man named Thomas Byde, the Duke of Deception served as Ares's champion. *

Queen Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gre ...

Queen of the Amazons and Diana's mother. * Alcippe
General of the Amazons and presumably Hippolyta's lover. She trained Diana in the ways of battle, and eventually revealed her former name to be Philippus. * Priscilla Rich
A wealthy socialite who has allied with the Nazi party. * Antiope and

Melanippe :''The name Melanippe is the feminine counterpart of Melanippus.'' In Greek mythology, Melanippe () referred to several different people: * Melanippe, daughter of the Centaur Chiron. Also known as Hippe or Euippe. She bore a daughter to Aeolus, Me ...

Sisters of Queen Hippolyta. Antiope served Ares while Melanippe was a priestess of Hades. Both plot against Queen Hippolyta presumably under the orders of their respective Gods. * Pegasus
A mythical creature that aided Diana in her journey. * Holliday Girls
A group of college students that help Diana on her adventure. The group consists of Etta, Glamora Treat, Lita Little, and Millie and Tillie Heyday. * Lt. Lawrence Stone
Steve's commanding officer and Etta's romantic interest. *

Perry White Perry White is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the editor-in-chief of the Metropolis newspaper the ''Daily Planet''. The character maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards and ...

A young reporter that Diana questions about the Duke of Deception. *

Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Wayne's loyal and tire ...

A young child who the Holliday Girls recruit to help in their performance in the United Kingdom. * Troia
An amazon that was in Diana's class as a child. * Jumpa
Diana's kanga which is briefly seen on Themyscira. * Pamela Smuthers
Etta Candy's arch-rival.

Follow up

Despite the cancellation of the second volume of ''The Legend of Wonder Woman'', DC Comics published a follow-up story written by Renae De Liz set in the same universe in the ''Wonder Woman: 75th Anniversary Special''. In the story, Wonder Woman confronts Baroness von Gunther and her subordinates Red Panzer and Mavis. After using the lasso of truth on the Baroness, she discovers that the Baroness's daughter, Gerta, had been kidnapped by the Nazi forces in order to force Baroness von Gunther's compliance. Wonder Woman saves the young girl and returns her to her mother, who vows that she has been set free.''Wonder Woman: 75th Anniversary Special'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Wonder Woman 2016 graphic novels Wonder Woman titles