Seated: William Moulton Marston, publisher Max C. Gaines
Brendan Totten writes…
I enjoyed reading your recent pieces on Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It set me thinking about another major comic character.
I have often been curious as to why Wonder Woman has always been credited solely to William Moulton Marston with no mention of Harry G. Peter as co-creator. He did the original concept sketch which has since become the "iconic" image of Wonder Woman as well as a great body of excellent and charming artwork for the original series. I can't help feeling he is another forgotten hero from the Golden Age who has not achieved the credit he deserves.
Maybe you have some information or theories that would be new to me?
Well, credits like that in comics have always been the result of negotiation. William Moulton Marston made a deal that gave him credit. Harry G. Peter did not. I would guess — this is speculation — that Marston secured a contract that gave him sole credit and then Peter had the option of creating what he created without a creator credit…or not getting the job. Back then, I don't think most folks in comics dreamed of how important that creator credit might someday be. Peter probably didn't even dream of how important Wonder Woman would be.
In television, the Writers Guild of America has set up rules as to what you have to do to have it say "Created by" you on a TV show and the producers have agreed to abide by those rules. There are not and have never been any such rules in comics, which is why the guy who owned the company could sometimes slap his name in that position or deny it to those who actually did the work. There have been writers who have felt that by writing the first script, they'd created the comic and that the artist who drew that script and devised what everyone looked like were not entitled to be referred to as co-creators. Others disagree.
It's possible that this is one of those injustices that no one ever notices or campaigns about. I dunno. I don't think a lot of folks think Peter did excellent and charming artwork for those comics. I sure don't…but that's not relevant to whether he deserves the credit.
I also don't think many people today know much about Harry G. Peter, whereas you had friends of Bill Finger's like Jerry Robinson and Arnold Drake going around decrying his lack of recognition. Some of the things Bob Kane said seemed to cry out for correction, whereas Dr. Marston was not making the rounds claiming he did the whole comic by himself.
But you know, I have to admit: I've seen Marston get sole credit on Wonder Woman for years…on the Lynda Carter TV show, for instance. I don't recall anyone ever asking, "What about Harry G. Peter?" Maybe someone should.