The Secret History of Wonder Woman

The character Wonder Woman has been a consistent presence in the comic book medium since her creation in 1941, yet Lepore ends her history in the 1970s. What reasons could have contributed to Lepore making this decision?

It seems strange there is nothing written by Lepore about Wonder Woman after the 1970s. Why would this be?

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The epilogue, titled “Great Hera! I’m Back,” covers Wonder Woman’s presence in the 1970s, particularly how it related to the feminist movement of that time, and the final years of Holloway and Olive. Like many other comics, Wonder Woman’s sales and popularity declined in the 1950s and 1960s. To reinvent her popularity, in 1968 Wonder Woman was stripped of her powers and costume and became simply “Diana Prince,” a private investigator. This shift was a critical and commercial flop. In 1972, Gloria Steinem was helping launch a feminist magazine called “Ms” and was writing a cover story about Wonder Woman for the first issue. A radical feminist group, known as the Redstockings, derided Steinem and Wonder Woman for being capitalist propaganda with a sole purpose to thwarting the goals of feminists.