Summary

Chapter 25, titled “The Milk Swindle,” details Wonder Woman’s underwhelming presence in the Justice Society of America as well as the progressive goals present in her own title. The Justice Society of America comics were written by Gardner Fox, not William Marston. Fox made Wonder Woman the secretary of the group and rarely included her in any of the actual missions. Marston was incensed by this and demanded Mayer allow him to write a story of the Justice Society of America.

The Wonder Woman written by Marston was far different than Gardner’s “secretary in a swimsuit” (211). Marston’s Wonder Woman “was a Progressive Era feminist, charged with fighting evil, intolerance, destruction, injustice, suffering, and even sorrow, on behalf of democracy, freedom, justice, and equal rights for women” (211). Lepore details some of Wonder Woman’s early progressive exploits, which frequently mirrored real-life events...