25 things you didn’t know about Wonder Woman

7. Wonder Woman was originally pretty kinky

Elizabeth, Olive, and William weren’t just working on creating a new and interesting female superhero, however. They also formed a character that was initially really into bondage.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at some of the earliest Wonder Woman comics. Throughout her adventures, Wonder Women either ties or restrains opponents with her lasso. She’s even bound herself a number of times. Furthermore, the Amazons on Themyscira often engage in wrestling and what appears to be the most thinly veiled bondage play you’ll see in 1940s comics. However, similar themes could be glimpsed in other media throughout the early 20th century. Later writers and artists, however, quickly dropped these themes when audiences caught on.

Much of this came back to Marston’s ideas about psychology, diametric opposites, and the nature of domination and submission. He also wanted readers to become more familiar with what he called “sex love training”. As he stated,

"the only hope for peace is to teach people who are full of pep and unbound force to enjoy being bound… only when the control of self by others is more pleasant than the unbound assertion of self in human relationships can we hope for a stable, peaceful human society."

Pretty lofty goals, there, Marston. I can’t say that I’m entirely comfortable with his ideas about “loving submission”, especially since Marston occasionally linked it to submissive women in particular. Then again, it’s a line of thought that’s clearly appealed to others before and after Wonder Woman. At any rate, you’re unlikely to see the same kind of motives in modern Wonder Woman comics.