Wonder Woman’s Origin Story

One word comes to mind when thinking about Wonder Woman: empowered.

This is not just because of her superpowers but because of her warrior instinct and her compassionate heart, making her one to readily jump into battles to save and protect anyone who needs her, treating everyone with love and kindness.

When we think of superheroes and powerful influencers, we might not always realize that they all have an origin story; that they all struggle with feeling not good enough sometimes.

In their incredible DC Zoom graphic novel, Diana: Princess of the Amazons, authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrator Victoria Ying, introduce us to Wonder Woman’s origin story.

In this graphic novel, we see Diana struggling to feel accepted by her Amazonian family. She is neither little enough to be attended to full-time, the way she was as a small child, nor is she old enough to be able to join the Amazons in their training sessions and daily events. Stuck in the in-between, Diana feels almost invisible and not good enough to be accepted, “No matter how perfect I try to be, I’ll never be one of them.”

Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, is a Senator and a very powerful woman, who is often too busy to pay attention to her daughter, making Diana reflect, “All mom notices is that I’m not perfect.”

One of the authors, Shannon Hale, reflects that she hopes that this book will illustrate that, “Even a goddess like Queen Hippolyta can make mistakes.” Many parents might not realize that they have forgotten to pay attention to their child, sometimes only focusing on whether or not the child has completed their homework or chores. “It’s not a mean thing, it’s not meant to be a hurtful thing but hopefully it will help parents to notice if this is happening or for kids to point it out.”

Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, both of whom are best-selling authors and also married partners, reflect that as parents, it was a lesson they had learned as well. The Hales hope that readers will be able to use the book as a point of discussion with their family members.

The book goes to show that even superheroes like Wonder Woman feel alone and “not good enough” sometimes, and as Dean Hale points out, “The moment you’re feeling right now… it’s not the status quo… it will pass.”

Diana: Princess of the Amazons is now available for purchase and is a truly heartwarming read.