Something for the girls

Although Marston wanted the comic to be current, and to reflect the changing political situation in America (he foresaw the inevitability of involvement in the Second World War, and perceived the resurgence of the women's movement on the home front as a consequence of the drafting of the male workforce), he also realized the need for Wonder Woman to have a mythological dimension. So, to this end, he invented an origin story set on Paradise Island, the secret twentieth-century home of the Amazons where no man may set foot. This race of immortal super women is ruled by Queen Hippolyte, who has a daughter, Princess Diana: 'as lovely as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena, with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules'.
The Princess eventually leaves the island to become 'Wonder Woman', in order to help America, and in particular, American women. She is armed only with a costume resembling the American flag, and a magical lasso: a device which not only compels anybody it binds to obey her, but also to confront their innermost feelings and motivations (again, an incentive to reform). In a story from 1943 entitled 'Battle for Womanhood', she uses the lasso to rescue a woman whose life has been shattered by her scheming husband. The wife tells Wonder Woman, 'What can a weak girl do?' She replies, 'Get Strong! Earn your own living - join the WAACs or WAVES and fight for our country!'