Wonder Woman and Supergirl

[Phoenixx9]

Marston however, did however, want Wonder Woman to be as strong as Superman

Yes indeed, and Marston even originally called Diana Superia, the Wonder Woman, in direct opposition to Superman.

[Jim Kelly]

Being DC's most powerful super-hero has put a bullseye on Superman's back. He's constantly being attacked for being too powerful and therefore, so the argument goes, too boring.

So I don't know why anyone would want to shift that burden onto another character like Wonder Woman or Supergirl.

In Wonder Woman, I'd like to think that any Amazon could have filled the role. So Diana can't be more powerful than her sisters or it would just be too obvious that she must be the Wonder Woman. I think what happens is that once she's selected for that mission then the gods and goddesses give her the power she needs. However, that power is conditional and Diana may not always be at full strength. That's where her Amazon training is important.

If WW is over-powered then the Amazon training doesn't really matter--she can just bulldoze her way through any danger. Holding back on some of the power, lets writers do more with her traiining and tactical skills.

[dianafan1985]

Back in the “old” days, Diana used to be under-powered, depowered, and subservient to the ridiculous ideals of male comic creators who were the products of a very patriarchal society. The book “The Feminine Mystique” gives one who was not alive during that period, an idea of how little in value women were perceived during that era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feminine_Mystique. Diana, as a result, became obsessed with marrying Steve Trevor, back in the 40s (under a different creator which pissed off Martson) her only inclusion in the Justice Society was as their secretary. In 1968, she lost all of her powers until Gloria Steinem published Ms. Magazine and publicized how sexist the whole thing was. I will never understand how anyone could feel nostalgic about the nasty way Diana was handled during this period, but to each his own. Thankfully for the past 30 years, she has been consistently portrayed as she was meant to be, and has been unswervingly Supergirl’s superior in both skill and strength. She is supposed to be Superman’s equal, and they are finally doing her justice, after 40 some years prior to the reboot, and I have no problems with that.

[lucius121]

I think Diana has a slight edge in raw strength but I think some of the posters here are delusional, it's sad that in order to build Diana up some people feel to need to put Kara down.

[RealWonderman]

Speaking of Supergirl, that Season 2 finale was AWESOME!!!!

[Stanlos]

I've been watching the reruns of the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series on MeTV, and Supergirl, last year on CBS and now on the CW.
And also the failed Wonder Woman TV show pilot that was to run on NBC.
And maybe it was the limitations of budgets and state of special effects at the time as compared to now. But TV Supergirl seems to be
vastly more powerful than either version of TV Wonder Woman just in terms of shear strength, let alone other superpowers.
So my question is how does Wonder Woman in the comic books compare to the comic books Supergirl in terms of brute strength.
Who can lift more, bend a bigger piece of steel, has a stronger punch, and can absorb more punishment? Are the TV versions
consistent with the comic books?

For the other media interpretations it depends on your method of assessing. Serial television is notorious for inconsistency as the story is the driver not the powers. The TV Wonder Woman does have the best showing of power in the Man Who Moved The World episode. The beam designed to 'destroy the planet' was blocked by WW's body (not her bracelets) and she also punched through a mountain in that one. The TV Show Supergirl hasn't done any comparable feats of that kind.

In the comics, there is no question. Back when Wizard was running, the DC press kit on their entries in the "most powerful superheroine" article placed WW at the number one spot followed by Supergirl and Mary Marvel with the text conveying that WW's strength is open-ended which coincided with the many power debates going on in her title.

More recent than though you can check out Supergirl: Power and Superman/Batman: Supergirl for very clear and express showings of how they compare. Wonder Woman is the premier superheroine and one of the two strongest heroes in the DC Universe (you don't need to guess who the other one is). There is actually an exchange expressly on the topic you bring up in JLA#118, the final entry in the Infinite Crisis build-up called CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE. You can check it out here:

http://***************.to/Comic/JLA-...e-118?id=39264

Supergirl and Power Girl are superhumanly strong but Wonder Woman (and Superman) is appreciably stronger according to the lore.

The url is not functioning within the post for some reason. Search "Read Comic Online JLA 118"

[Mel Dyer]

Why's someone always trying to establish Supergirl as being more physically powerful, than Wonder Woman, anyway? What's the motivation for that?

Wonder Woman's the Queen Bee of the DCU...period, no contest.

Supergirl's derivative of Superman; it's her entire purpose for existence. Back in the 50s, female fans of the Superman comic expressed interest in seeing what a girl would look like, with Superman's powers, and the editors of Superman answered with a little sister figure, ..Kal's cousin, 'Supergirl'. At the time, it was never about creating a female version of or equivalent of Superman, who could match him in strength and power; I'd say quite the opposite, in fact. Supergirl's purpose was to entertain young girls with the fantasy of imagining what it might be like to have Superman's powers and to be a nigh invincible hero, who couldn't lose.

Power Girl, on the other hand, was created precisely to be Superman's equal, as much as the inevitable inheritor of his office and status, on the parallel world that they shared. The prospect of Earth-2 Superman's eventual retirement to a happy, married life, with Lois, while editing the 'Daily Star', was firmly on the horizon. While he grew older and weaker, he mentored Power Girl, who eventually took his place in the Justice Society, where she found the Huntress doing much the same thing for her late father, the Batman, and her mentor, Robin. First and foremost, she was created as a feminist fantasy for the Superman comic's college aged female readers, giving them a confident, sometimes brassy, independent, career woman, who could do more than play little sister, as Supergirl was created to do, ..but stand fully as equal to Superman. This was the pop culture aspect of her purpose, and this is the big difference, between Power Girl and Supergirl that so many of us seem to have forgotten.

Wonder Woman's an entirely different animal, with a slightly broader and more complex purpose.

[Osiris-Rex]

Speaking of Supergirl, that Season 2 finale was AWESOME!!!!

Over on the Superman page they are all butt-hurt because Supergirl won and crying how awful the show is.