American psychologist,
inventor, and
comic book creator (1893-1947). He was born in
Cliftondale, Massachusetts, obtained a
law degree in 1918, and earned a Ph.D. in
Psychology in 1921 from
Harvard. He taught at
American University in
Washington, D.C. for a few years, then worked for a year as the Director of Public Services at
Universal Studios in
Hollywood.
Marston wrote a number of
essays on
pop psychology, focusing on
feminist theory. He also
invented the
systolic blood-pressure test, better known as the
polygraph or
lie detector. These two interests --
feminism and the detection of
falsehood -- came together while he was working as an
educational
consultant for
DC Comics. Publisher
Max Gaines, knowing of Marston's
beliefs that girls needed
strong role models just as much as boys did, encouraged him to create a
female superhero, and in December of 1941, Marston, writing under the
pen name of "
Charles Moulton", debuted his strong female role model with the truth-detecting
lasso,
Wonder Woman, illustrated by
Harry Peter, in
All Star Comics #8. Marston threw himself into his new
creation -- though he died of
cancer in 1947, the last six years of his life were
devoted to writing Wonder Woman's
adventures.
Addendum: JD reminds me that Marston was a
polygamist. According to an article in
Reason magazine, he and his wife,
Elizabeth Holloway, lived with another woman,
Olive Richard, one of Marston's former students who liked to wear
metal bracelets similar to Wonder Woman's. He had two children with each woman, and Marston and his wife officially
adopted both of his children with Richard. In fact, Elizabeth named one of her children Olive, and Olive named one of hers Elizabeth. By all accounts, the
arrangement was a happy one for all parties.
Sources: http://www.comic-art.com/bios-2/marsten.htm and http://reason.com/0105/cr.ng.william.shtml