The superheroes would not be the same if there were no super villains trying to defeat them, and no hero has a richer gallery of charismatic, psychotic and talented villains than Batman. With this in mind the artist Phil Cho created this incredible gallery of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains always in charge of keeping Batman forever busy and alert. More work of Phil Cho in his official website or DeviantArt page.
Marvel Divas – Women of the X-Men ft. Phoenix, Emma, Pyslocke, Kitty, Storm, and Rogue by Greg Horn.
By Matthew Fisher. Source: WhatCulture.Com.
In a franchise as long-running as the X-Men, it stands to reason that it would produce memorable characters. It has a tremendously rich history, stretching far back to their initial creation in 1963 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. The First Class roster sparked a comic book revolution that eventually lead to an enormous cast of rotating characters and iconic villains. In the world of comics, the X-Men is a giving tree of mythology. But when it comes to the female side of the fence, the X-Men are not too shabby. Whether it’s the deep, complex back stories of the heroes or the darker shades of the super villains, the women of the X-Men are not to be messed with. You would find it difficult to cruise the X-Men comics and not find a female character you enjoyed, as they all have such a unique identity.
From Storm’s strong, confident sense of duty to the sexy and smouldering allure of Emma Frost, the women of the X-Men are some of the most exciting bunch of female characters in all of comics. They’ve all had their share of triumphs and tragedies, some of them even shaping the entire fabric of the X-Men universe. Here are 10 of the greatest female characters you’ll ever hope to find in an X-Men comic.
Created by Rob Liefeld, and a relatively early member of the team X-Force, Domino has one of the more unique abilities in the X-Men universe. As her name implies, Domino has an amazing ability to make seemingly impossible odds a reality. By essentially altering the course of good luck vs bad luck, Domino’s reputation is well earned, giving her an almost prophetic presence.
Visually, Domino is a striking figure. She comes off as a one-woman army, packing numerous weapons that can put a hurt on whomever is unlucky enough to be considered a target. The contrast between the different elements of her face also create a very unique look, and with comics being just as much a visual medium as anything else, it helps make Domino stand out even more.
The combination of unique powers, a killer look and a haunting back story have allowed Domino to begin breaking out into the mainstream. She’s appeared in numerous cartoon and video game adaptations based on the X-Men, and is even rumoured to be involved in the proposed X-Force movie to take place after Days of Future Past. It’s unknown if Domino will ever get the big-screen treatment, but you never know when your luck might change.
Dazzler is an interesting character, in that she was created by a group of Marvel comics editors and writers tasked with producing a character with mainstream appeal. Then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter also commissioned a film project to be tied in with the comic, as well as an actual singer to represent Dazzler for Casablanca Records and even a cross-country tour. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite take off the way Marvel hoped.
But the thing about Dazzler is that you can’t keep a good mutant down. Her comic sold relatively well, and was a unique concept in that it focused on the real-life aspects of Dazzler – her love live, ongoing musical career and a loose set of occasional supervillains to tangle with. By using her mutant power to convert sound into light, it gave her shows an even bigger scale.
The way Dazzler is constantly re-invented is what is perhaps most exciting about her. She changes with the times, and with the evolution of music itself. Dazzler’s look evolves with each and every decade, as does her genre of music. For instance, in the Ultimate X-Men comic, Dazzler was a punk rock singer as opposed to her swinging disco days. There’s potentially a second chance for Dazzler to make a mainstream splash these days, but until then, we’ll always have the 25-issue Frank Springer comic to enjoy.
As stated before, comics have their roots in visual appeal and a small part of what draws you to a comic book character is their look. Maybe a certain colour scheme, or the way their symbol flows with the rest of the costume. If it all connects the right way, you’re going to be interested in this character. Pixie stood out with her colourful wings, leading many to ask where they could find out more about her.
Which leads to you discovering that there’s a lot more to her than the wings. As a younger character, she speaks to a certain portion of the audience that we all remember being. We can all probably remember as a child being fond of Robin, as he was a gateway to hanging out with Batman. Pixie is another one of those characters, opening up a portal to this fantasy world and giving young people someone they can relate with. Maybe they can’t be Storm or Jean Grey, but they could be Pixie.
Her powers are quite interesting, as well. Aside from her pixie dust that will cause enemies to hallucinate, she is also an accomplished magician. Even Doctor Strange has seen a lot of potential in her, promising to give her guidance and teach her how to fully embrace her powers in the future. She also has control of the Souldagger, a weapon that was forged from a piece of her very own soul. Pixie has a lot at her disposal, and is a fascinating character in her own right.
Before she was a member of the box-office hit franchise of X-Men films, Mystique was a well known character to fans of the comic. As the estranged adoptive mother of Rogue, as well as founding her own variations of the Brotherhood of Mutants, Mystique has earned an iconic spot in the world of X-Men. She’s managed to make a fairly standard superpower, shape-shifting, into something much more dangerous than perhaps ever before.
The distinct blue skin gives her an aura of mystery, as well as the shaded elements of her past that remain a matter for speculation. There’s still a lot we don’t even know about this enigma, which keeps her interesting over all these years. In addition to her shape-shifting, Mystique is also an incredibly cunning and tactical character. She’s well-versed in numerous disciplines and maintains a very dangerous feel about her.
Aside from her time as a movie star, Mystique has become one of the more mainstream X-Men characters. She was a breakout character in the film series, initially played to perfection by Rebecca Romijn, before being played by Hollywood’s it-girl Jennifer Lawrence. Mystique can fill a unique void as a utility character, and is useable in almost any scenario as a way to spark some kind of story or character moment, and though she may be largely considered a villain, it’s the grey area she straddles that makes her most interesting.
If you look back at Jubilee’s initial appearances with the X-Men, you could see her as a product of her own time. She had a rebellious and spunky spirit about her, which many people reading the comic at the time could latch onto. In an era that seemed to be about radical social change in comics, Jubilee was an obvious fit for the cultural shift comics were going through.
But not every character can stay in one configuration forever, and much like so many other characters, Jubilee has had to change with the times. From the witty kid who was saved in a shopping mall by some of her fellow mutants, Jubilee has continued to see her character go through many changes. She lost her powers during the House of M crossover and eventually became a vampire, yet still loved her extended mutant family enough to stick by them.
Jubilee speaks to that childlike quality in all of us. Even with an adopted child of her own now, Jubilee has gone past even that – she’s an adult, having matured past her own insecurities to get the greatest gift of them all.
From her plainly disturbing relationship with twin brother Quicksilver in the pages of Ultimate X-Men to the universe shattering event known as House of M, the Scarlet Witch is truly one of the most well-known characters in the entire world of Marvel, let alone the X-Men. Real name Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch is also the daughter of X-Men nemesis Magneto as well as the half-sister of Polaris, and this dysfunctional family tree has been prime material for X-Men writers for years.
Scarlet Witch has gone through many phases of ups and downs. From her dramatic relationship with The Vision to the horrors she faced in House of M, the Scarlet Witch’s path from creation to present day has been an interesting one. She controls a very raw sense of power, as well, which she’s using well in the current ongoing Uncanny Avengers book. She’s faced trauma, yet still persists.
The good thing is that Scarlet Witch is about to be a movie star, played by Elizabeth Olsen in the Joss Whedon directed Avengers: Age of Ultron. Olsen also played Scarlet Witch in a brief cameo at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, putting her and Quicksilver on the fast track to becoming Marvel’s next breakout film characters. The future looks bright for Wanda, even if her comic book past is rather tragic.
The most beloved southern belle in all comics, Rogue began on the opposite side of the fence against the X-Men as a member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Mutants. But after absorbing the powers of Ms. Marvel and nearly murdering her, Rogue reformed and joined the X-Men. This ongoing tale of redemption gave some more personality to her, and has allowed Rogue to expand beyond the villain she started as.
Rogue’s energy-absorbing powers also give her a nice sense of character growth, as she is unable to have physical contact with those that she loves. This extra layer of character is crucial, letting Rogue’s character grow organically as opposed to just something written for her. It comes off as real and not a gimmick, allowing Rogue to create a very distinct character.
But don’t let that trauma fool you, as she’s just as tough as any other woman on the team. She’s been a long-standing member of the X-Men film franchise, being played by Anna Paquin in all of her appearances. Rogue has also been involved in nearly every piece of adapted media for the X-Men, including cartoons, video games and films. People have always responded to her character, no matter what side she’s on.
First appearing in Uncanny X-Men #129 in 1980, Emma Frost has since become one of the more recognizable villains in the X-Men world. Her affiliation with the nefarious Hellfire Club sparked a number of classic stories during Chris Claremont’s epic 16-year run on the series, including the Dark Phoenix Saga. Her striking penchant for white, and the scantily-clad way she dresses has certainly granted her some second looks over the years.
But that’s only a very tiny fraction of what has made the character so memorable. Emma Frost is labeled as an omega-level mutant, making her one of the most powerful psychics in the entire pantheon of mutants. She also possesses a remarkable ability to transform her skin into a resilient diamond form, granting her an extra bit of power to throw around during battles.
She has appeared on-screen in X-Men: First Class, played by January Jones, and has also featured in video games and cartoons, showing some potential to break out from the confines of the comics and become a mainstream player. Her road from vicious leader of the Hellfire Club to member of the X-Men was one paved with death and tragedy, but she has ultimately come out on the better end, rounding herself out into a fully formed character worthy of any X-Fan’s admiration.
The woman who would one day be Phoenix began as Marvel Girl, the only woman in the First Class of X-Men that featured Cyclops and Angel, among others. She had an ongoing relationship with Cyclops, perhaps one of the great comic book romances of all time. Her time during the classic Dark Phoenix Saga cemented her place in the history of the Marvel universe, and the shocking conclusion that killed the character off left a void in the heart of X-Men fans that was difficult to fill.
Though she eventually returned, it never quite felt the same. Not only that, but Jean also discovered Emma Frost was having some sort of kinky psychic affair with Cyclops, ending their marriage. Her character never seemed to recover from the Phoenix, as the writers at Marvel don’t quite have a clear direction they want her to go in. It’s difficult to reconcile where she might go after Phoenix even from a reader’s point of view, and she was effectively written out during Phoenix: Endsong.
Jean has appeared in the X-Men film series, played by Famke Janssen, where the character was integral to the loosely adapted the Dark Phoenix saga, even if it removed numerous elements. She’s one of the most well known and beloved women in all of X-Men, and for good reason. Jean is immensely powerful, and someone who you can perhaps understand on a more primal level than someone like Rogue or Storm. It may only be a matter of time before Jean as we once knew her is back in the X-Men universe, but the impact she had on the X-Men is perhaps a better reward than another revival.
As the woman poised to lead the X-Men into battle should Cyclops be unavailable, Storm is truly a woman of power and grace. Her demeanour is something to admire and behold, selfless and heroic, and represents a hopeful vision for our own future, with not only human and mutants but men and women of all colors coming together to create something better.
Storm is massively significant in the history of the X-Men, and her status as a powerful female presence also shifts a lot of the balance of feminism. She has been able to lay the groundwork for a more diverse cast of superheroes, as well as being just plain cool. Her powers are a fantastic chance to play with some killer visuals, with the image of Storm’s cape flapping in front of a massive weather change she just started is incredible poetry in motion.
She’s one of the most popular and adapted members of the entire X-Men, having been brilliantly played by Academy Award-winner Halle Berry in all of her live-action film appearances. Storm is also playable in a number of X-Men video games, and was a recurring character on the 1990’s cartoon series. She is culturally and historically significant, and an overall amazing character, allowing her to stand tall as the greatest X-Woman of all time.
Wonder Woman is an iconic superhero, who ranks right up there with Superman and Batman in terms of name recognition. And after being sidelined by her male counterparts for years, it’s a particularly great time for Wonder Woman now that DC has decided to give one of the first female superheroes her own film in 2017, starring Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious 6). In the lead up to her big debut, she’s also set to make an appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice next year, which will mark the first time the trinity has appeared together on the big screen.
The next Wonder Woman Gal Gadot at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International. Source: Wikipedia.
Wonder Woman is a fictional superhero from the American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a warrior princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and is known in her homeland as Princess Diana of Themyscira. When outside her homeland, she is sometimes known by the secret identity Diana Prince. She is gifted with a wide range of superhuman powers and superior combat and battle skills. She possesses an arsenal of weapons, including the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane, Mental Radio, and Purple Ray that could heal otherwise lethal injuries.
Wonder Woman as she was played by Lynda Carter in the cover of the digital DC Comics Wonder Woman ’77 that continues the original TV series from the 70s.
Wonder Woman was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941 and first cover-dated on Sensation Comics #1, January 1942. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986. Her depiction as a heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and gender equality has led to Wonder Woman being widely considered a feminist icon.
Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting Axis military forcesas well as an assortment of colourful supervillains, the god Mars and his godly cohorts, though in recent years more emphasis have been placed on characters, deities, and monsters from Greek mythology playing an adversarial role for her story arcs. In the decades since her debut, Wonder Woman has gained a formidable cast of enemies bent on eliminating the Amazon, including classic villains such as Ares, Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Psycho, and Giganta, along with more recent adversaries such as the First Born. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Source: Wikipedia.
Unlike Superman and Batman, she hasn’t had countless movie adaptations that allowed the average movie viewer to familiarize themselves with her background and powers. Now that she’s finally swooping back to the forefront of pop-culture, here is a list of 10 Facts You Need to Know About Wonder Woman to help you prepare yourself when Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theaters on March 25, 2016.
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
As one of the longest running running comic book heroes, Wonder Woman’s continuity has gone through several changes over the years. For a long time, her origin story remained the same: her mother formed her out of clay and she was brought to life by the Greek gods, which meant she had no father. Wonder Woman’s superpowers were a result of her blessings from the Gods, including superhuman strength from Demeter (Goddess of the Earth) and super speed from Hermes (God of Messengers).
But the origin story was changed significantly when Brian Azzarello rebooted the character as part of DC’s recent New 52 relaunch. In the New 52 reboot, Wonder Woman is actually the daughter of Zeus – King of the Gods. Charles Roven, one of Batman V Superman producers has said that the DC movie universe will follow the new origin: “Wonder Woman’s in it. We know that. She has powers, she’s a goddess. She’s a demigod. Her father was Zeus.”
Wonder Woman 77, October 1955.
In a comic book landscape dominated by male heroes, a consultant for DC named William Moulton Marston had an idea for a modern female superhero. The character that would become Wonder Woman was partially inspired by Marston’s wife Elizabeth, along with Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship.
Marston created the character to rival the strength of Superman, but also have all of the positive characteristics that he associated with females, such as fairness and loving of peace. He originally called her Suprema, The Wonder Woman, but her name was shortened before she made her comic book debut in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941.
Wonder Woman was granted her own series in 1942, and while it was meant to appeal to both sexes, the comic books included articles and advertisements designed to appeal to a female audience. She was quickly accepted into the superhero world, even becoming the only female member of the Justice Society (a precursor to the JLA). But it wasn’t all female empowerment, as she was quickly excluded from the team’s battles and relegated to the team’s official secretary. Men!
Marston wasn’t just a comic book writer and creator of Wonder Woman; he was also a psychologist, lawyer, and inventor. He is said to have invented a systolic-blood-pressure measuring apparatus, which eventually lead to the invention of the polygraph. Marston believed there was some connection between blood pressure and a person’s emotions, and he believed that women were more likely to be honest.
Although there isn’t any evidence of a direct connection, many people believe Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, which forces anyone ensnared within it to tell the truth, can’t just be a coincidence. Some suspect it was designed to promote some of his psychological theories on emotions and truth telling.
Wonder Woman hails from Paradise Island, later dubbed Themyscira, which is home to the Amazons. Her mother is Queen Hippolyta, which makes her Princess of the Amazons. Inspired by Greek mythology, the Amazons are a race of warrior woman living free from men. The story of how the Amazons came to call the island home has changed over time, with one version saying that they parted from Greece to escape the evil deeds of mankind and another saying they are the reborn souls of abused women.
All of the Amazons are well-trained in combat from a young age, which makes Wonder Woman a formidable foe in a fight thanks to her combination of combat skills and god-like powers. At one point, Batman considered Diana to be one of the best melee fighters on the planet.
In the New 52, Diana spent a year of her childhood on the island under the guidance of Ares, God of War, further developing her skills in combat. When she refuses Ares’s orders to slay the Minotaur, choosing instead to show it mercy, she loses his favor and respect. But her tutelage and history with him becomes important later, when she is forced to kill her former mentor during a conflict with her evil half-brother. In the process, she herself becomes the new War.
While the extent of her powers as War hasn’t been fully explored, she can telepathically control and communicate with the world’s soldiers. Whether she also developed Ares’s former power to raise dead soldiers for battle is still unknown.
Wonder Woman is one of the strongest DC superheroes, with superhuman strength that puts her at least in the same category as Superman. She has even overpowered Supergirl, who is sometimes considered more powerful than Superman, though Wonder Woman is admittedly aided by her Amazonian warrior training. It was long thought that her silver bracelets, which were created from the remains of Zeus’s shield, added to her powers since they are unbreakable and can be used offensively.
But in the New 52, Wonder Woman removes her bracelets in order to fight a God, explaining that the bracelets are what actually protected her opponents from her intense power. It remains to be seen how powerful Wonder Woman is compared to other superheros without her limiting bracelets on.
Wonder Woman’s secret identity is Diana Prince. In the Golden Age comics, the character was originally just an army nurse who bore a striking resemblance to Wonder Woman, but Wonder Woman arranged for the real Diana Prince to meet up with her fiance in South America in exchange for her credentials, and thus an alias was born. Wonder Woman continued to work for the army as Diana Prince, quickly attaining a promotion to lieutenant in Army Intelligence.
For a period in 1960’s, Wonder Woman actually lost her powers and lived as Diana Prince, opening a trendy fashion boutique in New York’s Greenwich Village.
The initial lineup of the Justice League of America, which debuted in 1960, included only one female superhero: Wonder Woman. Also included on the team were Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman. Eventually, more females joined, including Zatanna and Hawkwoman. Wonder Woman is almost always depicted as a founding member, sometimes even acting as the groups leader along with Superman and Batman.
However, during one reboot, Wonder Woman was replaced with Black Canary as a founding member of the new Justice League. Wonder Woman was eventually given her founding member status back though. The latest version of the Justice League in the New 52, which drops “America” from its title, features Wonder Woman as the only female founding member once again, but Atom (Rhonda Pineda) and Elemental Women also join the team.
Thanks to the success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, almost everyone has heard of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. On the hammer’s side reads the inscription, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” In Avengers: Age of Ultron, much to do is made over the fact that Thor is the only character who can lift the hammer. But you might be surprised at the number of characters who’ve wielded it in the comics who aren’t the God of Thunder, including Wonder Woman.
During the 1996 Marvel vs. DC crossover that pitted Marvel heroes against DC heroes, Wonder Woman gets the opportunity to try her hand at lifting Thor’s hammer. In the comic, Thor loses control of Mjolnir during a battle with Shazam/Captain Marvel. When Wonder Woman stumbles upon it, she is deemed worthy of the power and easily able to lift it. But Wonder Woman, not wanting to give herself an unfair advantage, chooses to discard the hammer when it comes time to battle Marvel’s Storm, and she ultimately loses that battle when Storm zaps her with some lightning.
Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman in the never-aired television pilot produced by Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment for NBC.
There have been many attempts at creating a live action Wonder Woman, most of them unsuccessful. In 1967, there was a failed TV pilot entitled Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince?, which was meant to have the same campy feel as the successful Batman series of the time. In it, Linda Harrison played Wonder Woman, while her alter ego, Diana Prince, was played by Ellie Wood Walker. Then, a made-for-TV movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby hit the small screens in 1974.
Just a year later, Diana would return to the small screen played by Lynda Carter for a new television show on ABC. It was cancelled after its first season, but CBS resurrected the show and kept it on for two more years. In 2011, NBC attempted to bring Wonder Woman back to television with their own television reboot. Adrianne Palicki, who now plays Mockingbird on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., was cast as Wonder Woman, but the project was cancelled before the pilot could even air. Source text: ScreenRant.
Click read to read the Second Part of this post “The First Wonder Woman We Never Forget” and “The One and Only Wonder Woman”.
Click here to read the First Part of this post “Who’s that girl?” and “10 facts you need to know about Wonder Woman”.
The first attempt to translate Wonder Woman to the small screen occurred in 1967. The success of the Batman television series led Batman producer William Dozier to commission a pilot script by Stan Hart and Larry Siegel. Batman writer Stanley Ralph Ross was then asked to perform a re-write, after Hart and Siegel’s script was deemed unsuitable. A portion of the pilot, under five minutes in length, was filmed under the title Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince? The piece starred Ellie Wood Walker as Diana Prince, Linda Harrison as Diana’s “Wonder Woman” alter ego and Maudie Prickett as Diana’s mother. This pilot episode was never transmitted on television, and the project was not taken any farther. The pilot has been circulated on the Internet, however, and is of interest to Planet of the Apes fans for the early appearance of Linda Harrison, who would later go on to play Nova in the first two films of that series.
Wonder Woman’s first broadcast appearance in live-action television was a television movie made in 1974 for ABC. Written by John D. F. Black, the TV movie resembles the Wonder Woman of the “I Ching” period. Wonder Woman (Cathy Lee Crosby) did not wear the comic-book uniform, demonstrated no apparent super-human powers, had a “secret identity” of Diana Prince that was not all that secret, and she was also depicted as blonde (differing from the black hair established in the comic books). The pilot aired originally on March 12, 1974 and was repeated on August 21 of that year. Ratings were described as “respectable but not exactly wondrous”, and ABC did not pick up the pilot, although Crosby would later claim she was offered the series that was eventually given to Lynda Carter.
Though not successful at the first attempt, ABC still felt a Wonder Woman series had potential, and within a year another pilot was in production. Keen to make a distinction from the last pilot, producers gave the pilot the rather paradoxical title The New Original Wonder Woman. Scripting duties were given to Stanley Ralph Ross, who was instructed to be more faithful to the comic book and to create a subtle “high comedy.” Ross set the pilot in World War II, the era in which the original comic book began.
After an intensive talent search, Lynda Carter, who had done some minor acting jobs and had been the 1972 Miss World USA and a Bob Hope USO cast member, was chosen to play the lead role. For the role of Steve Trevor, the producers chose Lyle Waggoner, despite his brown hair not matching the comic’s blond Trevor, who at the time was better known as a comedic actor after several years co-starring in The Carol Burnett Show. He was also known to Ross as having been one of the leading candidates to play Batman a decade earlier, but it went to Adam West. Waggoner was also considered a pin-up hunk, having done a semi-nude pictorial in the first issue of Playgirl.
Although the pilot followed the original comic book closely, in particular the aspect of Wonder Woman joining the military under the name Diana Prince, a number of elements were dropped. It mainly omitted Diana’s origin including her birth on Paradise Island. The comic book Diana obtains the credentials of a look-alike nurse. Although the pilot shows Diana briefly as a nurse at one point, Diana takes on the identity of a Navy Yeoman Petty Officer First Class. As it was set during World War II, many of the episodes involved Nazis and war events.
One change, which was later to become synonymous with the show, was the transformation of Diana Prince into Wonder Woman by spinning. During the filming of the pilot, producers were trying to figure out a way to show how Diana Prince became Wonder Woman, when Carter suggested that she do a spin. The spinning transformation was later incorporated into the comics and into animated appearances such as Justice League Unlimited (prior to the Carter series, the transformation was depicted in the comics by way of Diana spinning her magic lasso around her body, with the lasso changing her clothes, or by simply changing at super speed).
During season one, Wonder Woman has the ability to impersonate anyone’s voice, which came in handy over the telephone. She did not use this ability during seasons two and three.
Unlike the earlier pilot, the comic book origins of the character were emphasized by the retention of the character’s traditional uniform (the design of which was interpreted by Donald Lee Feld, credited as “Donfeld”) with original setting and through the use of comic book elements. The series’ title sequence was animated in the form of a series of comic book panels featuring Wonder Woman performing a variety of heroic feats. Within the show, location and exposition were handled through comic book-style text panels. Transitions between scenes and commercial breaks were marked by animated starburst sequences.
Wonder Woman achieved solid ratings on ABC during its first season, but the network was reluctant to renew the series for another season. Wonder Woman was a period piece, and as such, it was more expensive to produce than a series set in the present day. Also, ABC thought that the 1940s setting limited possible storylines, with the major villains being Nazis. ABC did not renew the series, so Jerry Lieder, then-president of Warner Bros. Television, went to CBS with the notion of shifting the series to the present-day 1970s, which would cost less to produce and allow for more creative storylines. Unlike 20th Century Fox Television’s Batman, the series was produced without having a theatrical feature film in the middle of its production. In addition, none of the villains had recurring appearances. CBS agreed and picked up the show in 1977, and it continued for another two seasons. Source: Wikipedia.
Just like no actor who donned the uniform of the Man of Steel was able to achieve the success of Christopher Reeve, we are still waiting for an actress to match the fame of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman in the public imagination.
Lynda Carter was born Linda Jean Córdova Carter in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 24, 1951, the daughter of Juanita (née Córdova) and Colby Carter. Her father is of English and Scots-Irish ancestry, and her mother is of Mexican, Spanish and French descent. Lynda Carter made her public television debut on Lew King’s Talent Show at age 5. During high school, Carter performed in a band called Just Us, consisting of a marimba, a conga drum, an acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass played by another girl. When she was 16, she joined two of her cousins in another band called The Relatives. The group opened at the Sahara Hotel and Casino lounge in Las Vegas for three months; because Carter was under 21, she had to enter through the kitchen. She attended Arizona State University and after being voted “Most Talented”, dropped out to pursue a career in music. In 1970, Carter sang with The Garfin Gathering. Their first performance was in a San Francisco hotel so new that it had no sidewalk entrance. Consequently, they played mostly to the janitors and hotel guests who parked their cars in the underground garage. She returned to Arizona in 1972.
In 1972 Lynda Carter won a local Arizona beauty contest and gained national attention in the United States by winning Miss World USA, representing Arizona. In the international 1972 Miss World pageant, representing the United States, she reached the semi-finals. After taking acting classes at several New York acting schools, she made her first acting appearance, in an episode of the 1974 police drama Nakia entitled “Roots of Anger.” She then began making appearances on such TV shows as Starsky and Hutch and Cos and in several “B” movies.
Carter’s acting career took off when she landed the starring role on Wonder Woman as the title character and her secret identity, Diana Prince. The savings her parents had set aside for her to pursue acting in Los Angeles were almost depleted, and she was close to returning to Arizona when Carter’s manager informed her that Joanna Cassidy lost the part to her. Carter’s earnest performance endeared her to fans and critics, such that Carter continues to be closely identified with Wonder Woman.
In 1978, Carter was voted “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World” by The International Academy of Beauty and The British Press Organization. During the late 1970s, Carter recorded an album, Portrait. Carter is credited as a co-writer on several songs and she made numerous guest appearances on variety television programs at the time in a musical capacity. She also sang two of her songs in a 1979 Wonder Woman episode, “Amazon Hot Wax”. She was cast in the role of Bunny in Apocalypse Now (1979), but delays in the movie production forced her to back to the United States for Wonder Woman third season and her scenes were re-shot with Colleen Camp. At one point in the Redux version of Apocalypse Now, a glimpse of Carter’s pinup is visible, as the only nude work ascribed to the actress outside of Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw.
When the series was canceled, Lynda Carter, upset by the overexposure of his image in the media as a sex symbol, has decided to invest more in his career as a singer and model for Maybelline cosmetics. Later, she starred the crime drama television series, Partners in Crime with Loni Anderson. She also made several works on television in the 90s, because of the re-syndication of Wonder Woman on such cable networks as FX and SyFy, and founded her own production company, Potomac Productions.
Lynda Carter latest works as actress include The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Disney’s action comedy film Sky High (2005) and a return to the DC Comics’ television world in the Smallville episode “Progeny” (2007), playing Chloe Sullivan’s Kryptonite-empowered mother. In a recent interview to Today (watch here) to promote her tour “Long Legged Woman”, Lynda Carter said she still has her Wonder Woman costume and talked about the release of the new digital-first DC Comic book Wonder Woman ’77, the digital-first series that continues the adventures of the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman television series. Source: Wikipedia.
Amarildo Dias de Souza, 43, a married father of six children, was abducted by military police and taken to a Police Pacification Unit where he lived, in Favela da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, on the 14th of July and was never seen again. Sergio Cabral, Governor of Rio de Janeiro, this problem is yours:
Where is Amarildo?
Do you know about pop culture? How many icons you can identify in the gallery below? To see the Part 1, please click here. To see the Part 2, click here.
Enjoy.
All That I Love 