William Moulton Marston(1893-1947)
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Dr. William Moulton Marston was a man who managed to combine interests of
several dissimilar fields into an idea that has lasted for decades.
Marston was born and raised in Massachusetts. He earned a law degree in
1918 and got a Ph.D in Psychology from Harvard University in 1921. Long
interested in finding a scientific way to prove a person's innocence,
Marston invented the systolic blood-pressure test, which is the basis
for the polygraph machine. While campaigning for the wider use of the
lie-detector in criminal cases, Marston became convinced from his
studies that women were more honest and trustworthy than men. Marston
became an early feminist because of this belief, and championed the
idea that women represented a peaceful force in society. In 1940,
Marston was invited by then DC Comics publisher Maxwell Charles Gaines
to serve on an educational advisory board for DC. Marston was unhappy
with the cliched male superhero, and suggested to Gaines that there was
a need for a female superhero. Gaines was enthusiastic, and encouraged
Marston to develop this character. That character, Wonder Woman,
appeared in 1941, credited to Charles Moulton (the name came from Gaines
and Marston's middle names). Wonder Woman was extremely popular, and
soon starred in her own eponymous comic. Marston continued to work on
his creation until his early death from cancer in 1947. Wonder Woman
lives on.
