The selling point of the The New 52 was that it took all of DC’s comic books and gave them all fresh starting points. This meant modernizing their most iconic characters, streamlining confusing backstory, and making improvements where needed. No character has embraced those notions more than Wonder Woman , thanks to the talents of writer Brian Azzarello, artist Cliff Chiang, and a slew of other comic creators.

New Godly Origin

Swiss Army Bracelets

With Azzarello and Chiang concluding their epic, three-year Wonder Woman story last week with issue #35, we’ve decided to look back and point out the best changes that have been made to the character.Right off the bat, we found out that Wonder Woman’s original origin was all a lie. She was not made from clay and given life by the gods, but born of an affair between Amazon Queen Hippolyta and Zeus. This added a tragic element to Wonder Woman that opened the door to a ton of new storytelling possibilities. When the truth was revealed, Zeus’s scorned wife Hera made the Amazons her enemy, Wonder Woman had an identity crisis, and it was cemented that Wonder Woman is a true demigod due to her father being an all-powerful Olympian god. While we’ve long enjoyed that Wonder Woman’s original origin was a product of women with nothing do with men -- a strong theme of the character -- we have to admit that the new twist sure has spiced things up a bit.Yet despite all of these changes, it allowed her to rise above it all and proclaim that she isn’t Diana (the name her mother gave her) or “Clay” (the name her sisters teased her with), but the person she made herself into: You know those unbreakable bracelets Wonder Woman uses to deflect bullets? Turns out they have even more uses. On top of being her shield against projectiles, they can now be used to call forth Wonder Woman’s swords at a moment’s notice. A quick surge of blue energy and she’s ready to slice-and-dice the nearest bad guy.

Even better, when she needed an edge in her fight against Artemis, she removed the bracelets Piccolo-style, allowing her to unleash her full power. Turns out that the bracelets were there to keep her true godly powers in check, and by removing them she could unleash hell on her enemies without holding back -- complete with glowing eyes!

Origin of Flight

When we first meet Wonder Woman, she can’t fly. Instead of going the Invisible Jet route, we learned about the defining moment that had her earn that power.When her pregnant friend Zola was thrown off the top of Mount Olympus, Wonder Woman dove after her out of instinct, and seeing she needed a little help, Hermes threw one of his magic feathers at her, gifting her the power of flight and allowing her to pull up with Zola safely in her arms. Flight is often taken for granted because so many superheroes can do it, but that act of selflessness made it an unforgettable, fist-pump-worthy moment.