This is how Wonder Woman came to be. It is more about the man, William Marston, and the women in his life, Elizabeth Holloway and Olivia Byrne (niece of Margaret Sanger). While we learn the history of these people, we also learn of the suffragette and feminist movement of the early 20th Century. Marston, Holloway, and Byrne were modern and not inhibited by cultural norms. Though he married Halloway, Byrne lived with them as his mistress and possibly more. While Holloway worked outside the home, Byrne took care of the children. They kept their relationship secret even from their children. Upon their deaths, not much changed in knowledge within their family except the grandchildren pulled papers out of the trash which told a lot of the family and their work.

I enjoyed this book. I never knew much of this history. Marston had a big ego and craved attention as he wrote articles and the Wonder Woman comic. The women were quieter but their contributions to his work were noted. I liked how the suffragette movement of the early 1900's was shown. I did not realize how feminism changed through the decades, how it died down then WWII happened making it come back into focus as women move into the work force, then how it was forced back after the war until the 1970's. I suspect Margaret Sanger and her sister Ethel Byrne are rolling over in their graves with the political situation that is occurring today, how much of their work is being undone.

This is timely. It is an interesting history. Seeing how Wonder Woman changed through the decades is also interesting and knowing movies with her have been popular lately. I think Marston would have hated how his comic was changed after his death, but he would have been happy that she is still popular today. This is worth reading. ( )

A shockingly non-lurid mix of feminist history, polyamory, probable bisexuality, bondage, new age stuff... these folks were the original bi poly kinky pagan geeks (an old livejournal community).

Some will be offended by the bondage and polyamory. Others will be offended by Marston sleeping with his research assistant and his subsequent ultimatum to his wife. Still others will be offended by by their disingenuous self promotion and promotion of each other without disclosing affiliation. *shrug* They were people living their lives, not role models, and one of the things about secrets is that people keep them to avoid censure.

Part of me is sad that no one came out and said for certain whether Holloway and Olive were co-spouses or spouses, but 1. Holloway’s favorite book was Sappho and 2. It’s kind of not my business, and kind of doesn’t matter. They lived together for over sixty years. The lurid details are unimportant next to that. ( )

GREAT HERA!

It's no secret that the history of Wonder Woman and her creator is by far one of the most fascinating in comic books. A book like this was waiting to be written at some point. For me, it had everything I wanted and then some. I'd call myself a big fan of Wonder Woman, but over the years I've gotten less interested in her comics and more interested in her history.

William Moulton Marston is a writer who I put into the category of separating his lifestyle from the comic books....or so I thought. In a way this statement still stands true because unlike Wonder Woman, Marston's life an this biography isn't for kids to read. Wonder Woman is very much an icon for adults as well as children...as long as children don't read this book.

Lepore kind of hit the nail over the head with so many topics the have surrounded Wonder Woman for years and maybe added some more. Mostly she brings up the fact that yes indeed Wonder Woman is a huge feminist icon, whether you label yourself on or not, you can't deny the fact Wonder Woman had feminism in the comic books. This book does bring up the fact too there is a lot of sexual undertones in the comics, you can't hid the fact Wonder Woman is bonded or tied-up in nearly every issue. Yes Wonder Woman is feminist as a character, but the stories can bring that up for debate.

Lepore also brings up Marston's family. Even for today's standers it's controversial. He was living with two or three other woman and had kids with them all under the same roof. Two of the woman died together. I'm still a little confused on this because it reads like a soap opera. One thing I didn't know was Wonder Woman's connection with Margaret Sanger. Lepore even states how Wonder Woman is partially inspired on Sanger (among sever other women).

If you think you know the real story of Wonder Woman, chances are you don't until you read this book. It sounds like Lepore got some "secret" documents with the family's permission. I'm not sure some of this stuff was ever seen before. This doesn't read like a tell-all-book, so don't worry about that. This is biography and a history book with facts and a ton of research. This is for Wonder Woman fans, but more for the people who want the actual history.

This book might make you love Wonder Woman even more or might make you ask "Who exactly is Wonder Woman?" ( )

More the story of the creator, his family, and the various stages of feminism movement that the ladies around him were involved in. Sometimes very interesting, sometimes very strange. Definitely lots to think about here. ( )

A well-researched and fascinating account of the unconventional lives of those involved with the creation of the Wonder Woman comics. ( )