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https://nerdist.com/article/wonder-womans-invisible-plane-history/
It’s one of the most recognizable elements of Wonder Woman’s mythology, dating all the way back to 1942. Ask most people with only a casual knowledge of the Amazing Amazon, and one of the top five things they’ll tell you about her is that she flies in an invisible plane. And yet, it didn’t make it into her first solo movie. But thanks to Wonder Woman 1984, the invisible plane finally makes its big screen debut at last.
In the new film, Diana uses some of the same energy her father Zeus famously used to cloak her homeland of Themyscira with an invisible shield. In the new film, Diana uses some of that same energy on an airplane with Steve Trevor. It’s a unique explanation, and one that fits into the mythos established by the film. But this explanation for the plane’s existence doesn’t come from any comic book or previous media. But that’s okay! The Invisible Plane has a long and strange history, with many different origin points.
Warner Bros.
In William Marston’s original conception in the ’40s, the Amazons of Paradise Island had very advanced technology, miles ahead of anything in “Man’s World.” When Diana left her home to fight in World War II as Wonder Woman, her mother gifted her with a special plane that was invisible to the naked eye and all forms of radar. Wonder Woman could even use her tiara to control her Robot Plane (as she called it) to appear. She could also telepathically command the plane, and maneuver the vehicle with a thought.
DC Comics
In the ‘40s, the plane appeared as a propeller plane, as was standard in that era. But in the ‘50s, when high powered jets became the norm, it took on that appearance to keep with the times. Starting in the early ’60s, there was a brief period where the plane was explained as once having been a mythical Pegasus, transformed into an airplane by the Greek Goddess Athena. But that was quickly dropped. During the four-year period when Wonder Woman lost her powers, she didn’t use her iconic ride at all.
DC Comics
In the ‘70s, Diana Prince finally leapt off the printed page and onto television. First, with the Super Friends animated series, and then with the Lynda Carter live-action Wonder Woman show. Both versions featured the invisible plane, forever cementing it as part of Diana’s iconography to the masses. The live-action show only used it a handful of times, probably because it looked really goofy. But on Saturday mornings, Wonder Woman was never too far from her iconic aircraft.
Warner Bros.
Despite this newfound fame, by the mid ’80s, the plane would vanish. (Pun fully intended.) TV versions felt silly than in the comics, giving way to comments like, “Where does she find the plane once it’s parked?” By and large, the plane became a pop culture joke. So in DC Comics’ post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot of Wonder Woman, Diana would get a huge power upgrade. Rather than “gliding on air currents” as she once did, Diana now wielded the power of flight. This meant that she just didn’t need the plane anymore. And thus, the invisible plane went the way of the dinosaur for a whole decade.
DC Comics
In the late ’90s, writer/artist John Byrne reinvented the Invisible plane for the modern age, this time as a product of alien technology. It was an alien “morphing crystal”, which could change shape, and was actually sentient. The crystal was often a plane, but could transform into other transparent vehicles. This alien being was initially sheltered from the outside world by an underground race of creatures called the Lansinarians, who in turn gave it to Diana.
DC Comics
This new version of the invisible jet could communicate telepathically with Diana, and would eventually morph into her version of the Fortress of Solitude called the Wonder Dome. Saving Themyscria, the alien eventually died, leaving Wonder Woman once again without a cool vehicle of her own. Batman provided her with a stealth jet created by Wayne Enterprises, but it was decidedly not as cool. Wondy didn’t use it much; no one really loved the idea of Diana’s jet being a hand-me-down from Bruce Wayne.
DC Comics
2011’s big New 52 reboot of the DC Universe didn’t find much use for the invisible plane. But it did pop up, in a way, in a reinvented form. During this era of Diana’s history, the emphasis was less on her relationship with her Amazon sisters, and more on her relationship with her Olympian siblings. So the god Hephasteus built his sister an “invisible chariot,” similar to one he built for himself “to move freely around the world without Olympus watching him.” Presumably it could fly, so it was kind of an invisible jet? In any case, it didn’t make many appearances.
DC Comics
When Greg Rucka returned to writing Princess Diana in 2016 for the Wonder Woman: Year One reboot, he brought back the invisible jet proper in a new way. His explanation for the plane was that it was pilot Steve Trevor’s plane that crashed on Themyscira. It was destroyed in the crash, but the Amazons rebuilt it and added some of their own magical expertise. And presto—the plane was now invisible. Technically, it was Trevor’s plane, but Diana was the one flying it. The reasons for the invisibility was so it couldn’t be tracked leaving the secret island, thereby giving away its location.
Animation has continued to give the invisible plane even more wild explanations. In the Justice League animated film Crisis on Two Earths, the plane was a stealth jet with cloaking tech belonging to Owl Man, the evil alternate universe version of Batman. Wonder Woman bested him in battle and stole his plane as “the spoils of war,” and took it back to her own Earth. It’s kind of badass, but it’s always better when the plane doesn’t come from another character’s mythos.
Silly or not, the invisible plane has been a staple of Wonder Woman’s iconography since almost day one. Creators will continue to find a way to make it cool and relevant, despite public perception. Sure, the image of a woman just kind of sitting in the sky is weird, but all that aside, a supersonic stealth aircraft shouldn’t ever be not awesome. And as long as Wonder Woman is flying it, the Invisible Plane always will be.
The post The Long, Weird History of Wonder Woman’s Invisible Plane appeared first on Nerdist.
It’s one of the most recognizable elements of Wonder Woman’s mythology, dating all the way back to 1942. Ask most people with only a casual knowledge of the Amazing Amazon, and one of the top five things they’ll tell you about her is that she flies in an invisible plane. And yet, it didn’t make it into her first solo movie. But thanks to Wonder Woman 1984, the invisible plane finally makes its big screen debut at last.
In the new film, Diana uses some of the same energy her father Zeus famously used to cloak her homeland of Themyscira with an invisible shield. In the new film, Diana uses some of that same energy on an airplane with Steve Trevor. It’s a unique explanation, and one that fits into the mythos established by the film. But this explanation for the plane’s existence doesn’t come from any comic book or previous media. But that’s okay! The Invisible Plane has a long and strange history, with many different origin points.
Warner Bros.
In William Marston’s original conception in the ’40s, the Amazons of Paradise Island had very advanced technology, miles ahead of anything in “Man’s World.” When Diana left her home to fight in World War II as Wonder Woman, her mother gifted her with a special plane that was invisible to the naked eye and all forms of radar. Wonder Woman could even use her tiara to control her Robot Plane (as she called it) to appear. She could also telepathically command the plane, and maneuver the vehicle with a thought.
DC Comics
In the ‘40s, the plane appeared as a propeller plane, as was standard in that era. But in the ‘50s, when high powered jets became the norm, it took on that appearance to keep with the times. Starting in the early ’60s, there was a brief period where the plane was explained as once having been a mythical Pegasus, transformed into an airplane by the Greek Goddess Athena. But that was quickly dropped. During the four-year period when Wonder Woman lost her powers, she didn’t use her iconic ride at all.
DC Comics
In the ‘70s, Diana Prince finally leapt off the printed page and onto television. First, with the Super Friends animated series, and then with the Lynda Carter live-action Wonder Woman show. Both versions featured the invisible plane, forever cementing it as part of Diana’s iconography to the masses. The live-action show only used it a handful of times, probably because it looked really goofy. But on Saturday mornings, Wonder Woman was never too far from her iconic aircraft.
Warner Bros.
Despite this newfound fame, by the mid ’80s, the plane would vanish. (Pun fully intended.) TV versions felt silly than in the comics, giving way to comments like, “Where does she find the plane once it’s parked?” By and large, the plane became a pop culture joke. So in DC Comics’ post-Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot of Wonder Woman, Diana would get a huge power upgrade. Rather than “gliding on air currents” as she once did, Diana now wielded the power of flight. This meant that she just didn’t need the plane anymore. And thus, the invisible plane went the way of the dinosaur for a whole decade.
DC Comics
In the late ’90s, writer/artist John Byrne reinvented the Invisible plane for the modern age, this time as a product of alien technology. It was an alien “morphing crystal”, which could change shape, and was actually sentient. The crystal was often a plane, but could transform into other transparent vehicles. This alien being was initially sheltered from the outside world by an underground race of creatures called the Lansinarians, who in turn gave it to Diana.
DC Comics
This new version of the invisible jet could communicate telepathically with Diana, and would eventually morph into her version of the Fortress of Solitude called the Wonder Dome. Saving Themyscria, the alien eventually died, leaving Wonder Woman once again without a cool vehicle of her own. Batman provided her with a stealth jet created by Wayne Enterprises, but it was decidedly not as cool. Wondy didn’t use it much; no one really loved the idea of Diana’s jet being a hand-me-down from Bruce Wayne.
DC Comics
2011’s big New 52 reboot of the DC Universe didn’t find much use for the invisible plane. But it did pop up, in a way, in a reinvented form. During this era of Diana’s history, the emphasis was less on her relationship with her Amazon sisters, and more on her relationship with her Olympian siblings. So the god Hephasteus built his sister an “invisible chariot,” similar to one he built for himself “to move freely around the world without Olympus watching him.” Presumably it could fly, so it was kind of an invisible jet? In any case, it didn’t make many appearances.
DC Comics
When Greg Rucka returned to writing Princess Diana in 2016 for the Wonder Woman: Year One reboot, he brought back the invisible jet proper in a new way. His explanation for the plane was that it was pilot Steve Trevor’s plane that crashed on Themyscira. It was destroyed in the crash, but the Amazons rebuilt it and added some of their own magical expertise. And presto—the plane was now invisible. Technically, it was Trevor’s plane, but Diana was the one flying it. The reasons for the invisibility was so it couldn’t be tracked leaving the secret island, thereby giving away its location.
Animation has continued to give the invisible plane even more wild explanations. In the Justice League animated film Crisis on Two Earths, the plane was a stealth jet with cloaking tech belonging to Owl Man, the evil alternate universe version of Batman. Wonder Woman bested him in battle and stole his plane as “the spoils of war,” and took it back to her own Earth. It’s kind of badass, but it’s always better when the plane doesn’t come from another character’s mythos.
Silly or not, the invisible plane has been a staple of Wonder Woman’s iconography since almost day one. Creators will continue to find a way to make it cool and relevant, despite public perception. Sure, the image of a woman just kind of sitting in the sky is weird, but all that aside, a supersonic stealth aircraft shouldn’t ever be not awesome. And as long as Wonder Woman is flying it, the Invisible Plane always will be.
The post The Long, Weird History of Wonder Woman’s Invisible Plane appeared first on Nerdist.
Source: Eva-Katalin / Getty
Elections, voter suppression, a pandemic, continued acts of racism and injustice, extreme weather, fires across the country, and a growing recession are just some of the challenges we collectively faced this year. The actual struggle list is quite long and these challenges have hit low-income and people of color in disproportionate ways.
Finding ways to heal can be difficult while simultaneously managing social distancing and our individual, daily struggles. But many are finding new ways to cope and digging up forgotten tools to manage stress and support mentally themselves during this difficult season. My good friend shared with me years ago that when she’s feeling down, one strategy she uses to lift her spirit is to “throw on some heels and a bold lip.” It seems trivial, but doing so helps boost her mood and brings a sense of optimism to her day. It’s just one part of her larger healing regimen which includes journaling, creative expression, and other self-care practices.
Heels and a bold lip can’t bring our loved ones, our jobs, or other portions of our pre-COVID lives back. However, tapping into our creative sides can make a world of difference when it comes to coping with such losses. I recently spoke with a few folks on how they leveraged their passion for creativity to cope with their current reality. Here’s what I learned.
Finding Creative Expression In the Midst of Challenges
Actor Dyllón Burnside is well known for his work on FX’s Pose and he’s joined “Bravolebrity” Porsha Williiams, activist DeRay McKesson, and others to support Raheem.org, an organization dedicated to ending police violence in the Black community. Dyllón is no stranger to thinking about how to focus on healing during difficult challenges. His new song “Silence” speaks to the feelings of isolation many of us have felt during the pandemic and this creative expression continues to be a part of his efforts to remain hopeful in the face of challenges.
“So often we try to run from discomfort to avoid turbulence and pain, but it’s so critical for us to lean in during times of hardship to really allow ourselves to experience all ranges of emotions because challenges are often our greatest teachers,” he shared.
Similarly, dancer Dnay B is no stranger to using her art to thrive in the midst of challenges. Sis danced for Beyoncé while pregnant and then began working on reimagining systems for policing by getting involved with Raheem.org as well.
“I love my work with Raheem.org because it’s a way for me to use my art to create impact in my community,” she explained. “Movement and dance help me to get through some of the persistent challenges I encounter, but also for me to think about the future in new ways. We don’t have to accept what we’ve always known as part of life. A new beginning is always around the corner.”
Wisdom Through Faith and Spirituality
Yunersy Morel is a 20-year-old college student working with Pathways to Creative Industries* to learn more about her interests in fashion. Yunersy is a student leader playing an active role in her church and on her college campus. During the past two years, she’s participated in fashion shows, networking events, and training to prepare her for her career, but it’s not education that she relies on in times such as this.
“I worry about getting a job when I graduate, but I don’t have anxiety about it,” she said, explaining she leans on her faith in God and spirituality in such uncertain times. She’s also energized by finding new ways to enhance her gifts in modeling and design. “When you lean on God, you don’t get let down.”
Her heels and a bold lip is her community of faith. While fellowshipping in person may not be an option, many resources exist online for daily meditation, virtual prayer circles, and gratitude journaling. “My faith helps me to stay focused on a higher purpose during difficult times. I’m focused on what I have to do now.”
She encourages her community to think about ways to stay in the present moment and focus on their spiritual practices during times of difficulty. Her advice is “Focus on your faith and the things we do have. Be grateful for what we may take for granted.”
Use Your Voice
Not long ago, Tanya Taylor, a designer who has outfitted Beyoncé and Michelle Obama, to name a few dynamic women, shared her story with a group of young people in New York City as part of a workshop series led by AvancebyPCI.com. Most recently, her company led an effort to encourage Americans to vote in the November 2020 election and create colorful pieces of art under the hashtag #ArttoHeart as a way for people to share their love for color and creativity during this tough time.
While Taylor’s “heels and a bold lip” is an actual pair of heels and a bold lip, she he also shared, “I love to add color and flowers to my home or a colorful outfit.”
In addition to counseling, continued learning and practicing new habits, these folks have used the pandemic to think about who they are and who they want to be in the world. As we continue to grapple with publicized and covert acts of racism, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing voter suppression and disenfranchisement, and a host of other challenges, we must seek out opportunities to take care of ourselves and one another. In the words of singer, songwriter evrYwhr, “we need love,” healing and ways to cultivate joy in our daily lives. The amazing thing is that can come in many forms.
Dr. Joiselle Cunningham is CEO of Pathways to Creative Industries and Vice President at CareerWise NY, under the NYC CEO Jobs Council. Cunningham previously served in the Obama Administration and received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You can find her on Twitter @JoiCunn.
You know that feeling you get when you really want to like something, but when you try it, it doesn’t fire on all cylinders like you thought it would? Well, let’s talk about Soul, Pixar’s latest animated feature.
Pixar finally created its first Black male lead character, and unfortunately, the story falls flat. There is a lack of the emotional gravitas that we are used to seeing from them. It’s fun, but I expected more. There was so much potential. They did so many things right but failed to hold our hearts all the way through.
Soul followers Joe Gardner as the musician who loves everything there is to love about jazz. With a steady gig as a middle school music teacher, Joe dreams of playing with the legends in the New York jazz clubs. On the day that Joe gets his big break, playing with jazz singer Dorothea Williams, he has an accident that takes him to the waiting room for the great beyond. Refusing to leave Earth behind, Joe escapes to the great before where he meets Soul 22.
22 is no fan of Earth and does not want to be born. Joe and 22 team up to get Joe back to his body and show 22 why living is so worth it.
The film stars the voice talents of so many great actors. The lead character of Joe is brought to life by Jamie Foxx (Ray). Soul 22, the unborn who finds Earth unspecial, is voiced by Tina Fey (30 Rock). Soul also features the talent of Angela Bassett (Black Panther), Phylicia Rashad (Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey), Questlove (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), Daveed Diggs (Hamilton), and Alice Braga (Queen of the South). The film is bursting with talented people from cast to animators. Soul is co-written and co-directed by Pete Docter (Monsters Inc.) and Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami) and features animators from some of our favorite Pixar films like Inside Out, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 4.
Kemp and a group of consultants did what they could to bring a realistic view of Black culture to the project. Iconic moments happened on-screen that feature a community barbershop, a minority heavy public middle school, and a hot jazz club. The film also boasts important themes that center around finding your spark and reveling in the excitement of doing what you dream of doing. The film begs you to remember that moment you fell in love with what inspires you to keep going. It also encourages everyone to experience the beauty of what the world has to offer.
The film is bright and colorful. It is fun. It is whimsical. But, for a movie highlighted as the first Black lead for a Pixar film, we don’t get to see enough of the body and soul as one. It’s not as bad as the Princess and the Frog situation that we all talk about, but it is not great. From the outside, Soul looks like it is all about Joe Gardner, but feels like it is about 22. As lovable, sarcastic, and cheeky as that character is, it is not the Black man we planned on rooting for in the entire film. Is it too much to ask for an animated movie from a major studio claiming credit for the first Black male lead to have him stay on screen and be himself for the entire time?
The animation is inventive and introduces the industry to new techniques. Pixar is known for its innovative animation process. On top of visuals, the film boasts a great soundtrack. The jazz elements speak to the film. The compositions and arrangements are done by the talented Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert). The original score is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who have performed and composed for some of our favorite movies and TV shows, like Watchmen, Bird Box, Gone Girl, and Grey’s Anatomy. There is a universal sound that also speaks to the ethereal and spiritual components of the film. The music fills you up and proves just how moving and important it is, not only to Joe Gardner but to the real world as well. It reminds us that we all have a little Joe Gardner inside of us that craves the sound of our favorite songs and melodies.
Soul is full of music, full of heart, and highlights the Black culture missing from our animated adventures. There is no doubt connections will be made by the audience with the themes and the characters, but it still leaves something to be desired. Soul doesn’t supply that emotional spark that most Pixar films do. The film does come at a time in life when a lot of people are at a turning point, identifying what is important, and pursuing new passions in quarantine.
Identifying that spark is what the film is all about. Find out where Joe’s spark takes him in Soul, streaming December 25, 2020, on Disney+.