The Wonder Woman comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated May 2024 with titles scheduled for release through November 2024.
Wonder Woman has stood as a symbol of feminism and queerness for over 80 years.
That’s not just a modern reading of the character. Wonder Woman is a hero who was created with great intent by psychologist and inventor William Moulton Marston, 
along with wife and co-creator Elizabeth Holloway Marston, their romantic partner Olive Byrne, and artist H. G. Peter.
Marston was famous before entering the comics sphere as the inventor of the systolic blood pressure test, which became a critical component of the polygraph – or lie detector – of which he was also a component. He was also a defender of “abnormal” sexuality, including homosexuality and sadomasochism, as regular, omnipresent aspects of human behavior. [1][2]
Marston was interested in the influence of the new breed of American superhero comics, and after being interviewed on the topic by Byrne for Family Circle became a consultant for two of the companies that later merged into DC Comics.[3]
He wanted to invent his own hero, who would win fights by the virtue of truth and love rather than power (while still being strong); his wife suggested the hero be a woman. Wonder Woman’s appearance was initially based on Byrne, the niece of famous birth control activist Margaret Sanger.[4]
The result was Wonder Woman – a literal amazon from an entire same-sex society with obvious themes of lesbianism who was as strong as Superman, wore an (at the time) outrageously skimpy outfit accessorized with bondage cuffs, and defeated enemies by tying them up and forcing them to tell the truth. In fact, Wonder Woman would most often find herself not beaten or threatened by enemies, but tied and chained along with her gang of female sidekicks – each time breaking free of her bonds to save the day.
Today this character would likely be labeled as an outrageous fantasy of social justice – a niche character made for the interests of a minority. Instead, she quickly rose to fame as one of the most recognizable superheroes of the 40s, a member of the Justice Society of America, and one of the few DC heroes to survive the Golden Age with the majority of her story and identity intact rather than being wholly reinvented for the Silver Age – solidifying her membership in DC’s “Trinity” along with Superman and Batman.
While Wonder Woman has rarely merited the multiple ongoing titles of her Trinity peers, she has enjoyed a lengthy and unbroken publication history, a prominent role in all of DC’s major event storylines, a string of high-profile creators from the 70s to today, and near-constant membership in the Justice Society and League. [Read more…] about Wonder Woman – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order
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