She is also a survivor. Along with her elder brethren, Superman and the Batman, she has become one of the industry's longest continuously running characters. In fact, the 1980's have provided her with her greatest popularity. She was molded from the clay of her home, Paradise Island and was given great power by the Gods of ancient Greece. By Hippolyte, her Queen Mother, she was named Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Champion of the Amazons. By the populace of Patriarch's World she was named Wonder Woman.

Princess Diana's creators, writer Charles Moulton (the nom-de-plume of psychologist and inventor Willam M. Marston) and artist H.G. Peter could not have fully realized how portentious their act was to be. As the Amazon Princess donned her now-familiar star-spangled costume for the first time in a four-color adventure, the role of a real woman in the less colorful but highly tumultuous world of reality underwent a period of great change. The end of 1941 marked the entrance of the United States into the Second World War. As Wonder Woman fought side-by-side with her male equals, the non-fictional world called upon its own heroines to aid their male partners in the fight against tyrrany from abroad.

With the introduction of fighter pilot Steve Trevor as Diana's original love interest, Wonder Woman joined in the fight against the Axis power. However, she fought for the love of mankind rather than any political affiliations.

Of course, the younger readers saw the world more simply. They cheered the heroes in the white hats and booed the vilains in the black hats. Everything was black and white, even in a four-color comic book. With the need for heroes so intense, the sale of comics were phenomenal and Wonder Woman was the role-model a young girl could look up to. While the boys imagined leaping tall buildings in a single bound or joining the war effort as boy commandoes, a young girl could dream of being an Amazon and be a memeber of the greatest girls' club in the world. After all, Amazons got to use spears, run, ride horses. An Amazon was also incredibly tough and would never stand for any young buck yanking her pigtails. In a male-dominated society full of "No Girls Allowed" signs, Themyscira was truly a paradise. Of course, an island populated by beautiful warrior-women was no doubt enticing to young male readers as well. However, since no man was allowed to set foot on Paradise Island, the female readership could have their revenge vicariously: a "No Boys Allowed" placard had been tacked on by no less than the Gods themselves.

While no telescope on earth could ever locate a planet called Krypton, the libraries were full of books about Amazons. Although no reference is ever made of Hippolyte having a daughter named Diana, somehow the library's acknowledgement of the Amazon legend gave a form of historical integrity to Wonder Woman.

Perhaps the most significant addition to the Wonder Woman mythos was the fact that women and girls from the outside world would often travel to Paradise Island to share an adventure or two with Diana. Usually, the visitor was Etta Candy, a chubby young girl with an insatiable sweet tooth and a penchant for getting into trouble. Although she was introduced as a comic relief character, Etta and her girlfriends were also an empathetic link with the young female reader.

Of course, the war ended and Wonder Woman's future adventures would run the gamut from mythological fantasy to battles with malevolent extra-terrestrials. Diana went through so many changes that her initial uniqueness was getting lost in the transitions. The most radical change came in the Sixties when Wonder Woman discarded her familiar costume and turned her back on Paradise Island to become a crime-fighting martial artist using her alias of Diana Prince, the name she selected to assimilate into Patriarch's World. This transformation was interesting but it just wasn't the Moulton concept - the costume eventually returned.

Wonder Woman was never meant to be the female equivalent to Superman or even Batman. Diana was unique because she was the first heroine in comics who was not a distaff version of a male existent of similar name and power. She was not an alien from another planet nor a black-caped crimefighter. She was the embodiment of theological and philosophical principles handed down through the centuries.

And that brings us to the Wonder Woman of the Eighties. With enlightened times come new perspectives. The new Diana never participated in the Second World War. She doesn't even use the alias of Diana Prince. No longer a standard crimefighter, she now publicly expounds the Themysciran ideals of love and equality which are the cornerstone of her intense faith as an Ambassador from Paradise Island. Joining her in her mission of peace is college professor Julia Kapatelis, her mentor and guide through this strange new world. Steve Trevor and Etta Candy are there, too, although they are now a good deal older and wiser.

For over four decades, Wonder Woman has triumphed and survived. Now, with the classic Greek myths once again her foundation, the legend of Wonder Woman is rejuvenated. Strengthened with the breath of new life, Diana stands amid the lush green hills of her beloved Paradise Island and looks hopefully to her future - and winks gratefully at her past.