Author's Notes: Hey everyone! This is my attempt at doing a Wonder Woman series that would be truer to the character than the David Kelley attempt. I'm by and large adapting pre-Crisis (although you can see post-Crisis elements in here, for sure) to show that that period of Wonder Woman, however maligned, has its worth. I hope you enjoy this!

PROLOG

Our story begins thousands of years ago, back to the age when gods walked the earth with mortals, and when the actions of those who resided in Mount Olympus, in the skies above, still shook the ground below. It was then decided by the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite that the justice denied to so many souls for so long, would be meted out.

With the permission of Hades, the souls of women who had done naught but been faithful to their gods and had yet been struck down before their time were given new form and flesh, to populate a paradise island - Themyscira. Their task was to guard the gates to Tartarus, the abyss of the damned, and prevent any manner of man or demon from escaping.

But they were tricked, and brought to heel under Heracles and his army of thugs. Some of their number was abducted by Ares, to unknown nefarious ends. While the Amazons managed to defeat Heracles and expose Ares's subterfuge, the bands on their forearms remained forever as a mark of their shame.

However, not all was despair and loss. For in the wake of blood and fire there was new life - life brought to clay, moulded by Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, and the gods alike. Her child, imbued with strength and speed beyond her peers, was called Diana, named such as she represented a new breed of Amazon - one that marked the future as well as her heritage.

Nonetheless, there was a price - she would become the first Amazon to venture forth to Man's world, and reconcile women and men, gods and mortals. So said destiny. Hippolyta grieved; she had lost one daughter in her past life, was she to lose another now? Ares fumed, for the very notion of peace between the worlds was too much for him to bear.

But he was weak, imprisoned in Tartarus's domain - ironically, the same one guarded by the Amazons he had wished to destroy as penance for his defiance. He would wait millennia for his revenge, if need be. As it turned out, mere centuries would pass before his chance...