In
April 1966 DC comics published issue 161 of their Wonder
Woman series of graphic adventures, by Charles Moulton. The
picture above is the front cover, telling us that Diana, the
Amazonian is turned into a mummy by: The Curse of
Cleopatra.
WONDER WOMAN was published monthly by National Periodical
Publications Inc., 2nd & Dickey Streets, Sparta,
Illinois, 62286, USA.
There
were fourteen full colour pages to this story, at roughly 6
insets per page:
Page
1 - Wonder Woman is wound in bandages by mummy
Page
2 - Countess Draska Nishki hurls Diana in office
Page
3 - Countess drugs Diana, Steve almost finds out
identity
Page
4 - Diana sneezes, blowing Steve hard against wall
Page
5 - On a drive the couple notice billboards for same
film
Page
6 - Wonder Woman saves billboard and is machine gunned
Page
7 - Wonder Woman catches aircraft firing at her
Page
8 - Wonder Woman meets Magnum Magnus film maker
Page
9 - Wonder Woman on Egyptian film set, actors drugged
Page
10 - How the curse of Cleopatra started with jealous
lover
Page
11 - The curse comes true as actors fall after kissing
Page
12 - Wonder Woman plays part and is lassoed
Page
13 - Wonder Woman is compelled to destroy Magnus's set
Page
14 - Wonder Woman captures Countess Draska Nishki
Wonder Woman is published by DC Comics. The character is a founding member of the Justice League. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 published October 21, 1941 with her first feature in Sensation Comics #1 in January 1942. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously ever since. In her homeland, the island nation of Themyscira, her official title is Princess Diana of Themyscira. When blending into the society outside of her homeland, she sometimes adopts her civilian identity Diana Prince.
Wonder Woman's origin story (from Golden to Bronze Age) relates that she was sculpted from clay by her mother Queen Hippolyta and was given a life as an Amazon, along with superhuman powers as gifts by the Greek gods. In 2011, DC changed her background with the retcon that she is the biological daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, jointly raised by her mother and her aunts Antiope and Menalippe. The character has changed in depiction over the decades, including briefly losing her powers entirely in the late 1960s; by the 1980s, artist George Perez gave her an athletic look and emphasized her Amazonian heritage. She possesses an arsenal of magical items, including the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in older stories, a range of devices based on Amazon technology.
Wonder Woman's character was created during World War
II; the character in the story was initially depicted fighting Axis forces as well as an assortment of colorful supervillains, although over time her stories came to place greater emphasis on characters, deities, and monsters from Greek mythology. Many stories depicted Wonder Woman freeing herself from bondage, which counterpointed the "damsels in distress" trope that was common in comics during the 1940s. In the decades since her debut, Wonder Woman has gained a cast of enemies bent on destroying her, including classic villains such as Ares, Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Poison, Giganta, and Doctor Psycho, along with more recent adversaries such as Veronica Cale and the First Born.
Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960).
The character is an archetypical figure in popular culture that has been adapted to various media. October 21 is Wonder Woman Day, commemorating the release of her first appearance in All Star Comics #8 (with the exception of 2017 which held the day on June 3 to tie in with the release of the film of the same name).
Wonder Woman has been featured in various media from radio to television and film, and appears in merchandise sold around the world, such as apparel, toys, dolls, jewelry, and video games. Shannon Farnon, Susan Eisenberg, Maggie Q, Lucy Lawless, Keri Russell, Rosario Dawson, Cobie Smulders, Rachel Kimsey and Stana Katic among others, have provided the character's voice for animated adaptations. Wonder Woman has been depicted in both film and television by Cathy Lee Crosby, Lynda Carter, and in the DC Extended Universe films by
Gal Gadot.
