I’m going to start doing weekly WCW of your favorite women characters in comics, games and manga. Going to focus on POC first (because I can) and go from there. This week’s WCW is Nubia, the black Wonder Woman.
There are two iterations of the Black Wonder Woman. The first was in 1973 in Wonder Woman #204. Below is her Origin story from Earth-One (as I can remember and piece together)
Nubia was Wonder Woman’s “black sister”, created from black clay, just as Diana was created from white clay. Both were brought to life by Aprhodite, but Nubia was stolen by Ares/Mars (the Greek and Roman names were interchangeable, and more often than not, the Roman names were used. Mars was one of the gods whose Roman name was used.), so Nubia did not get the powers that was given to Diana. Nubia’s powers were still similar to Diana in almost every aspect except she didn’t have a lasso of truth, she instead had a sword that was supposed to counteract Diana’s lasso.
In WW #206, Hippolyta flashes back to the truth, a revised version of Wonder Woman’s origin story: Hippolyta had formed two babies from clay, one dark and one light. They are brought to life by the gods, but Mars the god of war abducts baby Nubia, whom Hippolyta never sees again. Nubia is raised by Mars as his weapon of destruction against the Amazons. Mars and Nubia launch an attack on Paradise Island from their so-called “Slaughter Island.” Coming to assist, Diana recognizes Mars’ ring and removes it from Nubia’s hand, breaking the god’s mind control over Nubia. She and Diana oppose Mars, who flees, and Nubia leaves to lead her warriors “into ways of peace.” Hippolyta reveals Nubia’s origin to Diana. (This is from wikipedia so it may not be SUPER accurate)
The other appearance of Nubia is in Post Crisis. Her name is Nu’bia (New Earth) instead of Nubia and she isn’t Wonder Woman’s sister. She’s actually older than Diana and had won the (first) title of Wonder Woman in the same way (Tournament of Grace) that Diana had to make her Wonder Woman. She was then sent on a mission to guard Doom’s Doorway which is an entrance to the underworld along the River Styx. Because of this, most Amazons believed her to have perished (I mean, it is basically Death’s doorway), so Diana had no knowledge of Nu’bia. She eventually became the lover to Zoroastrian god of light, Ahura Mazda. Diana was on a mission to the Underworld where she learned of Nu’bia and her history. They eventually became allies and friends. Diana even helped Nu’bia fight for her lover’s soul and returned it to his body.
There is a third instance of Nubia in comics and it’s included in the multiverse. On Earth-23, Nubia is the Wonder Woman of that Earth’s Justice League. Her origin story for this Earth is similar to Diana’s of Earth One. She is a diplomat, guardian and representative of her people.
And there you have it! The first of many WCWs: Nerd Edition. Nerd out.