William Moulton Marston

In 1940, he was an educational consultant for Detective Comics, Inc., now better known as DC Comics. Marston saw that the DC line was filled with images of male superheroes such as Green Lantern, Batman, and their flagship character: Superman. Seeing all these male heroes, Marston was left wondering why there was not a female hero.

Max Gaines, then head of DC Comics, was intrigued by the concept and told Marston that he could create a female comic book hero - a "Wonder Woman." Marston did that, using a pen name that combined his own middle name with the middle name of Gaines: Charles Moulton.

Marston was the creator of the systolic blood pressure test, which lead to the creation of the polygraph (lie detector). Because of his discovery, Marston was convinced that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work faster and more accurately. Marston always championed feminism.

In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote,

"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."

In December 1941, Marston's "good and beautiful woman" made her debut in All Star Comics[?] #8. Following this exposure in what was the second largest selling comic in DC's line, Wonder Woman appeared in her own right in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942), and six months later in her own self-titled book (Summer 1942).

Marston held three degrees from Harvard, and in 1928 wrote "Emotions of Normal People" which led to the development of the Personality Profile used today to classify people into four broad "personality types". An early foray into popular fiction saw the publication of "Venus With Us" in 1932, which was republished in 1953 (six years after his death) as "The Private Life of Julius Caesar" to capitalize on the release of the film with John Gielgud, James Mason and Marlon Brando. The book is an adventure/romance that suggests that Caesar's conquests in the bedroom were more numerous than those in the battlefield.