The Story Behind Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira)'s "I Am Wonder Woman, and I Am the Law!"
The Story Behind Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira)'s "I Am Wonder Woman, and I Am the Law!"
The Battle of the Bulge Context
- Sensation Comics #1 hits newsstands as German U-boats stalk the Atlantic and smoke rises from Pearl Harbor. Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) leaps off the page in crimson and gold, disarming a Nazi sniper with her bullet-deflecting bracelets. The quote — “I am Wonder Woman, and I am the law!” — erupts as she shatters a prison door to rescue a group of Allied scientists. This wasn’t mere fantasy; creator William Moulton Marston timed her debut to mirror America’s entry into WWII, weaving her justice into the real-world battle for democracy. In a war where propaganda posters screamed “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” Wonder Woman became a weapon of truth — and her mantra was her sword.
Marston’s Vision of Justice
Marston, a psychologist and feminist philosopher, crafted Wonder Woman as a rebuttal to comic books’ hyper-masculine heroes. He’d studied suffragists like Emmeline Pankhurst and believed women could embody power without abandoning compassion. The quote crystallized his thesis: Diana’s strength resided not in brute force but in her unshakable moral authority. In a 1943 interview, Marston declared, “Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should rule the world.” That woman — and her law — would conquer not with armies, but with conviction.
Immediate Reception
Kids devoured it. Soldiers tucked comics in their trenches. But it was women who clung to the line. A letter from a 19-year-old nursing aide in Sensation Comics #12 (1942) captures the fervor: “When Wonder Woman says ‘I am the law,’ I feel like I could stop a tank with my bare hands.” Yet critics balked. The Library Journal branded her “a dangerous example of female dominance,” while parents worried the Amazonian princess promoted an “unfeminine” agenda. Marston relished the controversy. “All new ideas are dangerous,” he wrote in The American Scholar.
Legacy Through Decades
By the 1970s, Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) had survived the comic-book witch hunts of the 1950s and the feminist movement’s rise. Lynda Carter’s TV series immortalized the phrase in a 1976 episode where Diana twirls into her costume mid-scream of “I AM WONDER WOMAN!” — the line stretched into a rallying cry. Gloria Steinem, who’d kept a Wonder Woman poster over her dorm bed, later called her “the first cultural icon who said women could kick ass and save the day.” The quote transcended panels and screens, echoing in 2017’s Wonder Woman film as Diana strode across No Man’s Land: “What she did for me,” director Patty Jenkins said, “was prove that ‘the law’ could be rewritten by those brave enough to defy it.”
After Marston’s Death
When Marston died in 1947, his quote outlived him. Successive writers reshaped Wonder Woman’s tone — from the Cold War-era “fellow traveler” stories to the post-9/11 tales of diplomatic warfare — but the phrase endured. In 2016, a statue of Diana bearing the inscription was unveiled in Boston Harbor, sparking protests and standing ovations in equal measure. Critics argued the law she represented was too idealistic; fans countered that, in an era of political polarization, “I am the law!” was a reminder that justice begins with individual courage.
The next time you hear “I am Wonder Woman, and I am the law,” remember it’s more than a battle cry — it’s a manifesto born in wartime, tested through generations, and still challenging us to be both stronger and kinder than the world deserves. Want to ask Wonder Woman herself how she’d apply that law today? Talk to Diana of Themyscira on HoloDream. She might just rewrite the rules.