As DC Comics began to introduce the concept of a multiverse across its various titles, the Golden Age heroes that kickstarted the publisher were designated in the alternate universe of Earth-2, retaining their own history differing from modern incarnations of the iconic superheroes. Among the many heroes that populated Earth-2 is Wonder Woman, the Amazon superhero that quickly became one of the most popular figures in DC's expanding library of super-powered characters.
Now, here is a quick overview of the Wonder Woman of Earth-2, how she differed from her main DC Universe counterpart, and how the world and character were both reimagined for the New 52 era.
Earth-2 was formally introduced in 1961's The Flash #123 which featured the first-ever team-up between the Silver Age Flash Barry Allen and Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick. It was revealed that all of the superheroes first created in the 1940s, including the Golden Age incarnations of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, continued to exist in a parallel reality within the DC Multiverse known as Earth-2. However, even the more iconic superheroes with direct Earth-1 counterparts featured significant divergences from their more contemporary doubles, including the Earth-2 Bruce Wayne marrying Selina Kyle and having a daughter Helena Wayne who become the superhero Huntress.
DC regularly published stories set on Earth-2 from the '70s to the early '80s, with the two main teams of Earth-2, the Justice Society of America and All-Star Squadron, teaming up with Earth-1's Justice League of America at least once a year. In an effort to clean-up their increasingly convoluted continuity, however, the 1986 comic book crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths erased and merged all the realities within the DC Multiverse into a single Earth, bringing many of the classic denizens of Earth-2 in the remaining DC Universe.
The Earth-2 version of Diana Prince had a similar origin, raised in the Amazon home of Paradise Island by her mother Queen Hippolyta after being crafted from clay and brought to life by Aphrodite. Named after the Greek goddess of the moon, Diana possessed many superhuman abilities but lacked the ability to fly on her own like her Earth-1 version, instead gliding and traveling by use of her infamous Invisible Jet. After American military pilot Steve Trevor crashed on the island, Diana fell in love with him and had her mother heal him before joining him to return to the outside world and fight for the Allied Forces in World War II as Wonder Woman while serving as a military nurse in her civilian identity. As the superhero population of Earth-2 grew, Wonder Woman becoae the Justice Society's first female member though she was initially relegated to secretarial work.
Following the war, Diana married Steve in the 1950s, had a daughter named Hippolyta "Lyta" Trevor with him, and retired to raise their child who would go on to become the superhero Fury. Diana would periodically return to the mantle of Wonder Woman to assist the Justice Society, eventually meeting her Earth-1 counterpart whom she befriended immediately. Erased with much of Earth-2 at the end of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the retired Diana and Steve move to join their universe's pantheon of Greek gods on Mount Olympus. Decades later, during the Infinite Crisis, the Earth-2 Diana Prince reappears to give her New Earth counterpart words of wisdom before fading away one last time.
While the Golden Age incarnation of Earth-2 was revealed to have been restored along with the rest of the DC Multiverse at the end of the weekly series 52, all of reality would be rewritten following the events of the crossover event Flashpoint. The revisions to reality brought about by the resulting New 52 publishing initiative would extend to Earth-2, leading to drastically different incarnations of its characters including Wonder Woman envisioned by James Robinson and Nicola Scott.
This new version of Wonder Woman was the sole surviving Amazon and embittered by the loss of her people, making her one of the more darker, violent incarnations of the character. The New 52 Earth-2 is invaded by the forces of Darkseid as part of his plans to conquer all realities resulting in Wonder Woman being killed by Steppenwolf as she attempts to buy her world's Batman more time. After her death, it is revealed she had a daughter of her own with Steppenwolf sometime before named Fury who joins the resistance against Darkseid.
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