Professor Helena Sandsmark is a DC Comics character created by writer/artist John Byrne for the Wonder Woman comic book series, first appearing in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #105. The mother of the second incarnation of Wonder Girl, Cassandra Sandsmark and a distinguished academic in the field of archaeology, Helena is also close friends with her daughter's mentor Wonder Woman. Fictional character biography Post-Zero Hour introduction Helena (and her daughter, Cassie/Wonder Girl) are introduced in the revised DC Universe created after the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time storyline. Helena studied archeology at Harvard University under Julia Kapatelis, and was one of her brightest students. After graduation, she participated in several digs around the world, including one in Greece, where she made an important discovery that made her famous in her profession. On the merits of her work in Greece and a recommendation from Julia, Helena was awarded a job as curator at the Gateway City Museum of Antiquities, the museum with the largest collection of Greek artifacts outside of Greece. She was the youngest archeologist ever to hold such a position. Helena met a man whom she later found out was the Olympian god Zeus. She eventually became pregnant with his demigod child, but he had disappeared from her life by the time she gave birth to Cassie. Helena had raised Cassie alone without revealing the identity of her father or her divine parentage. Julia sent her friend Wonder Woman to Gateway City, so she could study at the museum. While there, Diana befriended Helena and her daughter. Helena had also entered into a short-lived relationship with Jason Blood, a visiting occultist, though she was unaware of his other side at the time. As Diana attracted more and more attention from enemies, Helena became concerned for her daughter. However, she was surprised when Zeus granted her daughter powers. Her former mate also granted Helena the power to remove Cassie's powers by speaking one word, effectively grounding her when she needed to. When Cassie found out Zeus was her father, the revelation nearly destroyed the relationship between mother and daughter. Around the time Diana left Gateway City, Helena had finally made amends with Cassie and granted her blessing to continue as Wonder Girl with the understanding that she'd be well trained in combat by Artemis. Helena also supervised her daughter's membership in the superhero team Young Justice but openly objected to the