conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym 'Olive Richard') and published in Family Circle, titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books (a follow up article was published two years later in 1942). This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form the future DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. In the early 1940s the DC line was dominated by superpowered male characters such as the Green Lantern, Batman, and its flagship character, Superman. According to the Fall 2001 issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was his wife Elizabeth Hollowy's idea to create a female superhero. Marston introduced the idea to Max Gaines, cofounder (along with Jack Liebowitz) of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed Wonder Woman with Elizabeth (whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman). In creating Wonder Woman, Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship. In a 1943 issue of The American Scholar, Marston wrote: Wonder Woman is an Amazon Princess; the Amazons were created by Aphrodite, according to the stories, and were made to be stronger and wiser than men. Some of Marston's early stories included Wonder Woman as president of the United States and as a modern-day Incan Sun God, both non-traditional roles for women. Despite such portrayals of women in leadership roles, however, editor Sheldon Mayer was disturbed by the recurring bondage imagery. If Wonder Woman's bracelets were chained together, she became as weak as any other woman. According to Marston this imagery of bondage was a reflection of the suffrage movement's use of bondage as well. He insisted it was important that she could be seen freeing herself, both literally and symbolically, from man-made bondage, but he also upheld some ideals of submission to "peace, restraint and good judgement". One issue dealt with Wonder Woman losing control because her bracelets had broken; she was driven mad because the bracelets represented restraint, and stated "power without self-control tears a girl to pieces". Under the control of other writers Wonder Woman often fell into more conventional female positions. After a survey was conducted among