What if Wonder Woman had been active for over a century in the comics?

[Fuzzy Mittens]

The movie established that Wonder Woman started out back in 1917 and the sequel implies shes been at it that whole time, making her a superhero whose been at it for over a century.

So on that note I thought it might be an interesting thought experiment to posit what would it be like if this had been the case for Wonder Woman in the comics? What if she started out in WW1 and never seeing a reboot, simply went through time naturally? What would be different? What would happen? How would it change things?

There was a comic similar to this called 'Superman Batman: Generations" where it posited what if the two heroes had been active since the respective years of their creation with time progressing for them in a realistic manner, but ive never seen the concept given much thought in respect to Wonder Woman outside of Marston and the occasional writer who toys with the idea of Wonder Woman eventually replacing Hippolyta as queen of the Amazons or forsakes her humanity to become a god.

So on that note, thoughts?

[LordUltimus]

Since Superman/Batman: Generations operated under the idea that each decade of comics is reflected in their world (Superman starts out leaping tall buildings but gets stronger until Silver Age power levels, Batman starts out serious then gets silly then gets serious again), there'd be no application to Wonder Woman in 1917 since her comic started in the forties.

[Powerboy]

Since Superman/Batman: Generations operated under the idea that each decade of comics is reflected in their world (Superman starts out leaping tall buildings but gets stronger until Silver Age power levels, Batman starts out serious then gets silly then gets serious again), there'd be no application to Wonder Woman in 1917 since her comic started in the forties.

Yes. I think a better way to handle it if they ever wanted to keep her history reasonably intact is to have her appear in times of great need starting with WWII. Then have her return to Paradise Island and back to "Man's World" at intervals and imply that her adventures in past decades happened during those intervals.

I would personally just have her appear in WWII and then not again until the Post-Crisis era. She could have decided that actions don't always speak louder than words and she needs to express her philosophy. Or maybe, with the perspective of having experienced the world in the 1940s, her influence started a movement that has drastically changed the world for the better by the 1980s prompting her return.

Although the Golden Age WW was an interesting basic concept, she never really came alive for me as a "real person" until the Post-Crisis era (and I say that with all respect to Lynda Carter).

I loved Superman/ Batman: Generations. Of course, inevitably, the Golden and Silver Age parts came across as pseudo- Golden and pseudo-Silver as they were really recreations written in the Post-Crisis era but they were the best attempt to integrate the whole history that I've seen.

[Dr. Poison]

While i would prefer Diana to make her debut in during World War II, I would settle for World War I as long as she gets to be a member of the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron. This set-up could also be used to restore Donna Troy's original origin where adult Diana rescues toddler Donna from the burning building. As for Steve and Etta, they can stay youthful thanks to the blessings of one of Diana's patrons and tell the world it's due to high consumption of green tea.

[Gaelforce]

While i would prefer Diana to make her debut in during World War II, I would settle for World War I as long as she gets to be a member of the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron. This set-up could also be used to restore Donna Troy's original origin where adult Diana rescues toddler Donna from the burning building. As for Steve and Etta, they can stay youthful thanks for the blessings of one of Diana's patrons and tell the world it's due to high consumption of green tea.

This, please!

Diana should be back in the JSA again, but I get the feeling the DC thinks this somehow steps on Batman and Superman who always have to have been the first heroes. I was very surprised when Diana got to be the oldest in the movies, but DC doesn't seem to translate movies to comics so well.

[Dr. Poison]

This, please!

Diana should be back in the JSA again, but I get the feeling the DC thinks this somehow steps on Batman and Superman who always have to have been the first heroes. I was very surprised when Diana got to be the oldest in the movies, but DC doesn't seem to translate movies to comics so well.

Well, DC did allow Diana to be the first hero in James Robinson's New 52 Earth 2 series, hence all of the heroes being referred to as "Wonders" on that earth.

[Gaelforce]

Well, DC did allow Diana to be the first hero in James Robinson's New 52 Earth 2 series, hence all of the heroes being referred to as "Wonders" on that earth.

Unfortunately, this was never mentioned again by any writer in the series :/

[VonHammersmark]

I think Wonder Woman would come to realise our world is more complicated than Paradise Island and consequently abandon her moral absolutes in favour of a more realistic view of human nature. And she'd take her fight to other lands where they've got bigger human rights issues than manspreading, gender pronouns and the fact that Victoria’s Secret won’t cast plus-size models on their show

[Powerboy]

This, please!

Diana should be back in the JSA again, but I get the feeling the DC thinks this somehow steps on Batman and Superman who always have to have been the first heroes. I was very surprised when Diana got to be the oldest in the movies, but DC doesn't seem to translate movies to comics so well.

At this point, I would think that would already be out the window since there were WWII heroes long before Superman or Batman in current continuity. But I think WW more easily works with a history going back decades than Batman or Superman do largely because of the supporting cast of those two.

[SiegePerilous02]

If this ever happened, I'd like her full Golden Age history to be restored. That would allow things like Baroness Paula von Gunther to exist in her original Nazi context, and allow for multiple Cheetahs: Priscilla in the Golden Age, and Barbara Ann during the present. Ares would be free in the world during WWII, and Wonder Woman can travel back and forth between Paradise Island and our world, until Ares is imprisoned there at the end of WWII. And Diana chooses to remain in our world as Diana Prince while Themyscira is cut off from her for the time being. Maybe after the first age of superheroes, she continues to operate from the shadows like she might apparently be doing in the movie, but never walk away from us. Deimos and Phobos would conspire to get to Themyscira in the modern day, and lead to Barbara being cursed into being the new Cheetah after Veronica Cale is dragged into their schemes. If Priscilla plays a big role in Diana's early adventures, Deimos and Phobos allowing Barbara to get cursed into the Cheetah specifically would be a bit of a cruel joke on their part to spite Diana on multiple levels.

Since Steve had little going on throughout the Silver, Bronze and Post-Crisis ages, I think killing him off like in the movie would be fine, and allow for a resurrection or ghost story or whatever in the modern day like in 1984. I'm not sure about Etta, I'd love her to be around in some capacity but it may be overkill to do some supernatural stuff with Steve and also extend it to her.

Donna would somehow get to Themyscira after being rescued from the fire, and be sent by Hippolyta to Man's World to train with Diana as Wonder Girl.

This, please!

Diana should be back in the JSA again, but I get the feeling the DC thinks this somehow steps on Batman and Superman who always have to have been the first heroes. I was very surprised when Diana got to be the oldest in the movies, but DC doesn't seem to translate movies to comics so well.

It's weird that DC doesn't want Wonder Woman preceding Superman and Batman, but see no problem with a bunch of other (relative) B-listers and below preceding them. Like, I prefer Superman being the first, but if anybody can debut before him, better it be friggn' Wonder Woman over Johnny Thunder.

Clark is also ageless once he reaches his 30s in plenty of versions anyway, it wouldn't be the worst idea to have him debut in 1939 and still be around in the modern day. Batman's kind of unavoidably stuck, but 2/3 of the Trinity can debut before the JSA and run around with them with ease.

[Jim Kelly]

While I liked GENERATIONS, it was a lot easier for John Byrne to render a faithful Batman and Superman for the 1940s. As he went along in his story, it became harder to make the chracters completely faithful to the publishing history of the 1960s or 1970s, for example, while still making his continuity work.

I think of PROMETHEA. In that Grant Morrison backdated his "Wonder Woman" character to ancient times and he used other iterations of strong females besides just the Amazing Amazon as models for Promethea.

H. G. Peter started out in the early 1900s with an art style influenced by Charles Dana Gibson, who was famous for the "Gibson Girl" which was a popular female archetype of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Also, Frank Godwin was a guest artist on several 1940s Wonder Woman stories and his career began in the early 1900s working for the newspapers. So there's some influences for an early 20th century Wonder Woman.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Hmm...How would one go about approaching the legacy villains.....

[Agent 86]

I think this has the potential to be awesome.

They could try to paper over some events in man's world by having Diana return to Themyscira for missions on Paradise Island, in Tartarus, on Olympus, etc as a way of explaining her absence.

And we could have various versions of Cheetah starting with Priscilla Rich back in the day. Not to mention Wonder Woman joining various superhero groups from time to time, including the Justice Society of America (as a member, not their secretary).

I'm not so sure about mainstay human companions like Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. On the one hand, I'm inclined to go with the originals and then skip a generation or two and re-introduce their grandchildren or great-grandchildren. It could be a way to "explain" their different iterations, occupations and personalities. Or maybe Trevor and Candy's descendants are always loyal to Wonder Woman and join in her adventures in some form when she's in man's world.

[AmiMizuno]

I think this has the potential to be awesome.

They could try to paper over some events in man's world by having Diana return to Themyscira for missions on Paradise Island, in Tartarus, on Olympus, etc as a way of explaining her absence.

And we could have various versions of Cheetah starting with Priscilla Rich back in the day. Not to mention Wonder Woman joining various superhero groups from time to time, including the Justice Society of America (as a member, not their secretary).

I'm not so sure about mainstay human companions like Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. On the one hand, I'm inclined to go with the originals and then skip a generation or two and re-introduce their grandchildren or great-grandchildren. It could be a way to "explain" their different iterations, occupations and personalities. Or maybe Trevor and Candy's descendants are always loyal to Wonder Woman and join in her adventures in some form when she's in man's world.

Diana has saved Steve before.So why not now? That she creates a inventions that would save Steve and Etta. I mean Steve was brought back by Aphrodite I believe.