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The X-Men have the Blackbird, the Avengers have the Quinjet. Batman has a Batmobile, Batwing and Bat-blimp. Ghost Rider has the Hellcycle. There are a lot of vehicles used by superheroes, to varying degrees. Sometimes, they are essential to that character and teams, or at least a regular feature. Few though are controversial additions in the way that Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet is. For many, it is an integral part of her history. Other readers see it as an unnecessary feature for one of DC’s heavy hitters. 

This was originally created as a video in January 2024. If you would prefer to watch, there is a link at the bottom.

Silver Age Origins

Wonder Woman’s plane has been there from almost the very beginning, appearing on the very first page of Sensation Comics #1 in 1942, as she pilots it with an injured Steve Trevor as passenger. Flying at 2,000 mph and carrying an electronic-mist beam, this plane was the height of technology. The design seems more like a fighter plane and not surprisingly for a comic published in the Second World War, she could be seen using it against Nazi and Japanese forces. 

During these early issues the plane’s technological marvels were simply ascribed to the Amazonian skill at engineering. It was not until 1956, in Wonder Woman #80, 14 years after its first appearance, we got a proper origin story for the Invisible Jet. 

In Silver Age logic, Hippolyta gives Diana some instructions to find the most incredible robot plane which will obey whoever finds it first. No one has succeeded before but she gives these directions to her daughter, who races off to find it. Diving into the sea, Diana finds the cockpit but a giant seaflower ensnares her with its petals. Rubbing some rocks together so fiercely the friction causes the flow to erupt in flames, she escapes. 

Wonder Woman finds the second part hanging in some branches on an island, but when trying to grab it, a terrible shock goes through her body as it is electrified. Crushing a nearby tree into pulp, she uses it as a mould to safely grab the second plane part. 

The final piece is to be found on a volcanic island. En route Wonder Woman pulls an iceberg with her to put it out of the way of ships. Realising that the plane part is at the bottom of the volcano, Diana crafts a toboggan out of the iceberg, sliding down it to the centre of the volcano. She manages to haul it out just in time as her transport melts away. Wonder Woman assembled the final parts and flew off on her new robot plane. 

This story feels like it was forced to add teachable moments for children; rubbing things together causes friction, or paper doesn’t conduct electricity. It does not answer why a tree was  electrified in the first place and using an ice toboggan inside a volcano is wild. All in all though, it is some classic comic book fun. 

That origin story would now be considered the Earth 2 origin of the Invisible Jet but readers were treated to an updated story just six years later in 1962’s Wonder Woman #128. Wonder Woman received a call from her mother via ‘sound pictures’. Through the call, both Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot, Diana’s monikers when she was younger, ask Wonder Woman to regale the story of how she acquired the robot plane. Flying back to Paradise Island, Wonder Woman was able to communicate with her past selves through a time and space projector. She began to tell them the tale. 

Before starting on her quest to fight crime in the world of man, Diana highlighted to her mother that her work and humanity’s technology will mean she is at a disadvantage if she was unable to fly. They sought Athena’s counsel to find a solution. Athena appeared in the flames and gave Wonder Woman a quest. 

‘Through the green grotto, at the bottom of the sea, Wonder Woman must fight her way to the prize she seeks – the most unique aerial steed the skies have ever seen!’

Wonder Woman immediately set off on the quest, swimming through the ocean,  meeting Manno the Merman. On the way, Manno warned her about the dangers of the grotto before he was subsequently swallowed by a clam. Simultaneously, seaweed grasped Wonder Woman’s legs, locking her into position. With a deft throw of her tiara, she was able to rescue them both, as it hit the clam and boomerang to cut the seaweed imprisoning her. 

They continued on their way, only to be caught in a shaft that quickly closed in on them. Wonder Woman used her lasso to break out of there, before they were crushed to death, by boring through. They hit a water spout that shot them out of the water, high up into the air and from there Diana and Manno see a startled winged-horse – Pegasus. 

Pegasus kicked and whined as they mounted him, trying to tame him, but Pegasus dismounted both Wonder Woman and Manno. Wonder Woman tried again, lassoing Pegasus. This struggle was interrupted, as a giant pterodactyl appeared out of nowhere. Its beating wings stunned Pegasus. Wonder Woman tried the lasso again, this time aiming at the dinosaur, who immediately dived, trying to release itself of its unwanted passenger. Facing an untimely end, Diana made a last minute wish for Pegasus to rescue her and it does, coming to her aid and saving her from oblivion. 

Together, they defeated the pterodactyl, before a storm erupted around them. Flying through an unusual cloud, Wonder Woman sensed Pegasus changing, emerging the other side as a jet. She returned to Paradise Island victorious. 

This story, more than the others, really mirrors those feats from myths and legend – think the twelve tasks of Hercules. Of course, DC have reset the universe multiple times and the story with Pegasus is just the origin for Earth One, pre Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Post-Crisis Origin

Post Crisis on Infinite Earths, on New Earth, Wonder Woman was rebooted in 1986 by George Perez. Wonder Woman could fly right from the beginning, negating a need for a jet. It’s not until issue 115 (volume 2) by John Byrne do we get a new origin for the Invisible Jet.

Investigating some strange going on in the Egyptian section of a museum, Wonder Woman was attacked by figures with animal heads. These figures fled when they could not stand up to Diana’s might and escape via a jet parked on the roof. They were only able to evade Wonder Woman’s speed and power of flight by turning invisible in space. 

These figures returned to complete their mission at the museum the following day, only to be confronted by Diana again. However, they were able to elude the hero by fleeing to a strange-looking vehicle. This time, it smashed through the building, before it transformed into a rocket. 

Wonder Woman eventually tracked them all the way to Antarctica, to find them and a race of beings – the Lanisarians. They had fled their icy home during the Ice Age and resettled in Egypt, controlling the Egyptian people. It was here they discovered discs of great power whilst mining. These discs provided the technology for invisible and mutating vehicles.

Forced from their new home by invading gods, the animal-faced leaders were imprisoned in sarcophagi for thousands of years, awakening only to search for the missing discs. Returning to their people, they found the world has moved on and their subjects have adapted to the icy depths of Antarctica. 

As a reward for her support and helping them understand this new world, the Lanisarians gave Wonder Woman a disc – her jet. In future stories, readers would discover this morphing disc has sentience and would even become a base for Wonder Woman similar to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. 

This origin is wildly different to those previous two, eschewing the labour myth style. Byrne keeps the mythological themes there but it reads very differently. 

Rebirth Origin

The Invisible Jet is ignored completely in the New 52, so after John Byrne’s version, the next is in Rebirth. In Wonder Woman #2, Steve Trevor crashed a plane into Themiscyra. As he is nursed back to health, the Amazonians fix his jet, imbuing it with magic and giving it invisibility. Steve and Diana left together on this plane only for it to crash in the next issue we see it.

That is it! Rucka’s story is by far the simplest but sometimes that’s all that is needed. A very different approach to all the others but again giving in a unique spin. It does reflect perhaps a more common thought now though, that the Invisible Jet is not needed for Wonder Woman. Perhaps her skills and story lines do not lie within the realms of technology. So it was a bit of a surprise to see the jet return in the latest Wonder Woman series by Tom King. Will we see an origin story here or was it just a nod to her history?