Is Wonder Woman the most rebooted character in comics history?

[Pinsir]

With that 5G thing happening (or not??), I’ve been thinking a lot about Wonder Woman and her consistent reboots, particularly in the past decade. I’ve read a lot of Wonder Woman comics though and I know WW has a turbulent history in regards to reboots/course changes/ adjustments, so many in fact, that due to Wonder Woman 70+ years of continual publishing, that I think she might be the most rebooted character in comic history.

Here’s a list I compiled of all the various reboots I think WW has endured;

• Silver Age Reboot (1958): Robert Kanigher wrote Wonder Woman for over a decade before he really started to produce some great work and made the character his own. The story the ‘Million Dollar Penny’ is a retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin story, with it taking place in contemporary times (the late 50’s) as opposed to WWII. A lot of people tend to consider this story to be the first introduction of Earth 1 WW with the DC Comics wiki even listing it as the first appearance of Wonder Woman. Following stories like “A Wondergirl Story” (Wonder Woman v1 #105) also changed core elements of the character, such as WW having a father and that her powers were a gift from the Greek pantheon.

• First Golden Age Reset (1965): Following the Silver Age Reboot, Robert Kanigher produced a series of crazy, but great stories, which famously had Wonder Woman interact with her teenage and toddler self. Apparently though, this created a continuity nightmare and Kanigher was eventually asked to clean the title up. In the story “The End of the Beginning” (Wonder Woman v1. #158) Kanigher makes cameo and removes Wondergirl and co. from continuity, establishing in its space a continuity that closely resembled the original Golden Age WW stories (Wonder Woman is a military secretary, Etta Candy returns, etc)

• The New Wonder Woman (1970): This is probably one of the more famous ones; Steve Trevor is killed, WW is stripped of her power and then she undergoes martial arts training by a man known as I-Ching.

• Bronze Age Reset (1973): The I-Ching era was controversial from the start and, despite its pop culture legacy, the character reverted back to her superhero stories in a few short years. In this issue, called “The Mystery of Nubia” (Wonder Woman v1 #204) I-Ching dies and Hippolyta wipes WW’s memories, but she regains her powers. In the Twelve Labours of Wonder Woman story arc WW does regain her memories and Steve Trevor is revived, but then he’s later killed off again?

• Second Golden Age Reset (1980): Hippolyta wipes WW’s memories again and tries to keep her on the island, but then a Steve Trevor from another dimension arrives on the island and the cycle begins anew. This era tries desperately to recapture the magic of the Golden Age comics by reintroducing Etta Candy, and Col. Darnell as well as focusing more on her rogues gallery.

• Crisis on Infinite Earths (1987): This is the first truly hard reboot, with Wonder Woman’s entire previous continuity being wiped from existence (initially, that is) and featuring a new origin story by George Perez.

• The New 52 (2011): Across the board continuity wipe for DC Comics, with few exceptions.

• Rebirth (2016): Another company wide adjustment that saw a lot of the changes WW underwent during the New 52 era.

• 5G (2020): The newest company wide adjustment, which features Wonder Woman first appearing in WWII again. Perhaps this should also be known as the Third Golden Age reset?

[Agent Z]

Most of these are really stretching the definition of reboot. I'd say Vampirella has been rebooted more times than Diana if we go this route.

Also, the I-Ching era doesn't have a pop culture legacy. It's a period of the character's history that only the niche comic book audience would know about.

[Nyssane]

Rebooting? No.

Restructuring? Maybe. Compared to other comics characters, she does seem to have her entire mythos relaunched every time a new writer comes onto the book. So I guess if you include "soft" reboots, then it's possible she takes the cake.

[Gaelforce]

Hmm...

Have you met Hawkman? And Hawkgirl(s)/Hawkwoman?

[Jim Kelly]

I think there's some more reboots/resets/relaunches than just those that the OP listed. But, I imagine that there's some characters that have had even more kicks at the cat.

[SiegePerilous02]

Just looking at the major heroes at DC, I think Superman is about on par with her.

It's just that her reboots tend to be even more drastic than his where basic things (like her supporting cast and where she lives) tend to be messed around with more. Superman at least keeps Smallville, the Kents, Metropolis, the Daily Planet, Kryptonite, etc, even if the exact details get screwed with.

[Koriand'r]

I think there's some more reboots/resets/relaunches than just those that the OP listed. But, I imagine that there's some characters that have had even more kicks at the cat.

Yeah, the "She's Back" after the Deathstroke 2 parter, the Heinberg era and the Odyssey are missing. Though extremely temporary, that last one almost qualifies as a reboot.

[Jim Kelly]

Some more resets, revivals, relaunches that I can think of from before Crisis:

• Not really a reset, but after Marston died and Kanigher took over, there was a change in Wonder Woman stylistically before the reboot in 1958.
• After Kanigher's first return to the "Golden Age" in the 1960s, things went back to how they used to be, before Diana went mod and gave up her powers.
• When Kanigher took over again he ignored some of the continuity from the mod Diana period and after the brief Nubia stories, there was another return to the "Golden Age," prior to the 12 trials.
• That was followed by another return to the "Golden Age" when there were stories purportedly set on Earth-Two but they contradicted the Marston stories, so they would be more like the first season of the TV show.
• Things then went back to more or less where they were on Earth-One, with Steve "Howard." But then Diana lost her memories and everything started all over again with a new Steve Trevor.
• But then after that, when Roy Thomas and Gene Colan came onto the series, they again relaunched Wonder Woman. And that's pretty much how things stayed until the Crisis.
• Then there was the Kurt Busiek and Trina Robbins four issue THE LEGEND OF WONDER WOMAN, yet another return to the "Golden Age"--but again not really because of continuity differences. Which filled the publishing gap before the Perez reboot.

[king81992]

I think that dubious honor goes to Donna Troy or the Hawks.

[Dr. Poison]

I think that dubious honor goes to Donna Troy or the Hawks.

Power Girl may beat Diana as well.

[king81992]

Power Girl may beat Diana as well.

Power Girl is usually depicted as an older version of Supergirl from an another dimension. She was also considered an Atlantean for a bit.

Donna has at least 5 origins and only one of them make sense, but that's the origin DC refuses to stick with.

[numberthirty]

If you can extend it to a team as the "Character...", Doom Patrol gets sort of complicated.

[numberthirty]

Measuring it in "Each Time A Title's 'Focus' Has Shifted..."?

Seems like Swamp Thing could wind up being in the running.

[Jim Kelly]

If you consider Power Girl another version of Supergirl, then in total there's been many versions of Supergirl. Even before Crisis, there were a few tweaks--but after Crisis the attempts at relaunching Supergirl and/or Power Girl exploded.

[king81992]

If you consider Power Girl another version of Supergirl, then in total there's been many versions of Supergirl. Even before Crisis, there were a few tweaks--but after Crisis the attempts at relaunching Supergirl and/or Power Girl exploded.

I consider all of Supergirl's counterparts to be their own characters(Cir El needs to make a comeback somehow).

Supergirl's problem in the comics is that writers can't decide if they want her to be a nice girl or a mean and angry one.