Today in Comics History, March 22: Happy birthday, Wonder Woman!

It's the birthday of Princess Diana (no not that one): Wonder Woman! Altho' I bet they this date is Athena 22 on Themyscira.


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975)



Instead of "birthday", I prefer to say "Clay Day", but I guess the proper nomenclature is "Born Day." Not to be confused with The Bourne Day, Robert Ludlum's high-tech spy thriller about Matt Damon's birthday.

from Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed graphic novel (DC, August 2020), script by Laurie Halse Anderson, pencils and inks by Leila del Duca, colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick, letters by Saida Temofonte
(Click picture to HIPPOlyta-size)
Lots of these stories are about young Wonder Woman (or, as I like to call her, Li'l Diana) having adventures on her birthday. It always ends in tears, but then again, she's only 7. So immature at that age. Wait...hey!


from "Wonder Woman and the Coming of the Kangas!" in Wonder Woman (1942 series) #23 (DC/National, May 1947), script by William Marston, pencils and inks by Harry Peter

Here's a fun series of birthdays from Diana's childhood, when she, not Donna, was the original Wonder Girl. Dang you, Bob Haney! Get that straight.


from "Wonder Girl's Birthday Party!" in Wonder Woman (1942 series) #113 (DC, April 1960), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by Gaspar Saladino
For various bizarre and mythical reasons, Diana never gets to have her cake and eat it, too. I can appreciate this plot development as a gag, but please: do not deny the birthday bull girl her cake! That's just cruel.



I mean, she is really, really unlucky with birthday cakes:






But at last, she gets her cake. And gets to eat it, too! (That's the preferable way, sez this cake aficionado.)



from Dear Justice League graphic novel (DC, September 2019), script by Michael Northrup, pencils and inks by Gustavo Duarte, colors by Marcelo Maiolo, letters by Wes Abbott
The decidedly non-canon but utterly wonderful Bizarro World anthology gives us a tale of a young Diana who learns her lesson at her birthday. Or, does she? Probably not. Kids today, there's no telling them nouthin'.



from "The Wonder of It All" in Bizarro World graphic novel (DC, April 2005); script by Mo Willems; pencils, inks, colors and letters by Ellen Forney; color separations by Matt Madden
We see the adult WW has a birthday in her civilian identity as Diana Prince, but like Superman, she's got a different birthday than her secret ID. May 25 was the birthday of the "real" Diana Prince she took her ID from, so it's probable that's what day this took place on. More on May 25, then!


from "Rampage!" in Wonder Woman (1942 series) #294 (DC, August 1982), plot by Roy Thomas, script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda
More recently (just this past year!) DC published this new Young Diana birthday story. It is relentlessly cute.





from "Birthday Blues" in Wonder Woman #770 (DC, May 2021), script by Jordie Bellaire, pencils and inks by Paulina Ganucheau, colors by Kendall Goode, letters by Becca Carey
So put on your satin tights (I'm wearin' mine right now!) and wish a very wonderful birthday to Wonder Woman!


letter column header from Wonder Woman #307 (DC, September 1983)