Wonder Woman's being given the Lasso of Truth.
Image from Wonder Woman, #159 (January, 1966).
The Lasso of Truth[1] is Wonder Woman's primary tool and weapon. It is a magical golden lariat that forces anyone it captures to obey and tell the truth.
Background Information
Pre-Crisis: Earth-Two / Golden Age
In the original continuity (before her first Golden Age retcon) Wonder Woman received her magic lasso[2] sometime after being gifted with her costume, bracelets[3] and her Invisible Plane.[4]
Queen Hippolyta had her craftswomen take Aphrodite's Magic Girdle (which made it indestructible and its magical properties were granted by the Goddess herself) and remove some of the chain links within it and turn them into a powerful, unbreakable lasso. After giving it to her daughter, Wonder Woman then prayed to Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses then visit her and reveal that they have given her lasso a special property -– anyone bound by it must obey Wonder Woman![5]
Eventually, Diana coated it in special Amazon chemicals that allowed it to transform her civilian clothes into Wonder Woman's garb. Diana demonstrated a remarkable level of skill with the lasso, performing such feats as twirling it to create air currents (upon which she could float) and spinning it to emit certain frequencies that disrupted Felix Faust's spells.
Pre-Crisis: Earth-One / Silver Age
During the Silver Age of comics, after Marston death in 1947, the writer who took over from Marston, Robert Kanigher, was not nearly as interested in bondage as Marston was. Further, the Comics Code Authority went into effect in 1954 and clearly, some of the bondage aspects of the series would likely run afoul of the new Comics Code standards. The result was toned down effect concerning the way the lasso was used. It was rarely used in the way it previously had been. Now, the use of the magic lasso focused on compelling bound people to tell her the truth and not “make people obey her” power. During the Silver Age, the magic lasso retained its ability to transform her civilian clothes into her Wonder Woman outfit.
Pre-Crisis: Earth-1A
The lasso possessed the ability to follow the telepathic commands of Wonder Woman, physically moving on its own to accomplish tasks.[6] Wonder Woman typically used the lasso as a tool for accomplishing feats of strength, leaving it unclear to what extent Wonder Woman herself possessed great strength or the lasso itself performed the feats. In addition, its truth compelling power was used to free Wonder Woman when she was under the mind control of space pirates. Superman found himself snared by the lasso, but managed to tie the controlled Wonder Woman as well. In that situation, Superman forces her to confess if he is her enemy or friend and the truth of her friendship with him forced from Wonder Woman broke the pirates' power over her.
Notes
- The Golden Lasso was created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter.
- It made its debut in Sensation Comics, #6 (June, 1942).
- Wonder Woman's proteges, Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark, also used lassos.
- Diana's evil counterpart, Superwoman, used a lasso, the 'Lasso of Submission'.
Gallery
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References
- ↑ This designation, the 'Lasso of Truth', was first used in commonplace after the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- ↑ It was not until the sixth issue of Sensation Comics (June 1942) that Wonder Woman finally received her lasso after she returns to Paradise Island. Wonder Woman, #1 (July 1942) retcons this origin in a few different ways, most notably by giving her the Lasso of Truth before she leaves Paradise Island for the first time.
- ↑ As revealed in All Star Comics, #8 (October 1941)
- ↑ She received her plane in Sensation Comics, #1 (January 1942).
- ↑ As revealed in Sensation Comics, #6 (June, 1942) and in the Season 1 episode: The Power Pirate (September 8, 1973).
- ↑ As depicted in the Season 1 episode: Gulliver's Gigantic Goof (December 8, 1973).
- ↑ As seen in the Season 1 episode: Gulliver's Gigantic Goof (December 8, 1973).
- ↑ Image from Wonder Woman, #1 (July 1942).
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