Today in Comics History, May 9: Happy birthday, William Moulton Marston!

Born today in 1893: William Moulton Marston aka Charles Moulton, psychologist, polyamorist, developer of the modern lie detector. Oh yeah, he co-created a hero you may have heard of called Wonder Woman.


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)



Here's the whole "All-American" team (literally; that's the Golden Age division of DC who produced Wonder Woman), with Marston/Moulton on the extreme left. Golly, this photo makes comics look like a lotta fun!


from Wonder Woman (1942 series) #2 (DC/Wonder Woman Publishing, Fall 1942), photograph (and text?) by Alice Marble
Wondy had premiered the previous year in All Star Comics #8, jusssssst about the time All-American started listing Martson as a member of their editorial board.



"Will Power is The Flame of the Green Lantern!..." from Green Lantern #1 (DC/Jolaine, Fall 1941), text by William Moulton Marston, illustrations by Mart Nodell
Late 1941 comics heralded the addition of Marston to DC's editorial staff. Gee: wonder how they managed to snag him?!?


"Another Message to Our Readers" from Detective Comics #57 (DC, November 1941), text by Whitney Ellsworth
A rare appearance of Earth-2 Marston within the comics (in the doorway; artist H.G. Peters to his right, just above Etta).



from "[The Toothache]" in Wonder Woman (1942 series) #5 (DC/Wonder Woman Publishing, June 1943), script by William Marston, pencils and inks by H.G. Peter
All these DC Comics-approved portrayals of W.M.M. of course don't touch on his...shall we say, unorthodox lifestyle. (You: "Unorthodox lifestyle!" Me: "Very good!") So thank you to Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey to set the record straight!




from "The House of Fear" in Comic Book Comics #2 (Evil twin, October 2008), script by Fred Van Lente, pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
To celebrate his special day, why not read Marston's essay Why 100,000,000 Americans Read Comics? (These days: yeah, you wish, Willie!)

Happy birthday, Mr. Marston! An' that's no lie!


from The Amazing Wiorld of DC Comics [Special] #1 (DC, February 1976)