The US hunt for truth serum during WWII shaped our superheroes

polygon.com:

In 1941, Wonder Woman burst onto the comic book scene — and into America’s burgeoning war efforts. As the superpowered Amazon joined WWII in the pages of DC Comics, the United States was testing the waters with its new international spy agency, the Office of Strategic Services. While the OSS would be disbanded mere months after World War II ended, the organization’s impact on Wonder Woman and the comics she called home is still felt today. And the connection runs deep: A mere year after she debuted, the OSS began an earnest search for “truth serum,” a questionable scientific pursuit that became a classic and recurring comic book device.

Established in 1942, the OSS was created to coordinate the U.S. government’s global espionage activities. While Wonder Woman debuted months before the OSS was created, once she left Paradise Island in January 1942, she quickly joined the ranks of the spy agency. Though she wasn’t American herself, the Amazon royal acted as an American agent thanks to her passion for Steve Trevor, the human who was shot down over the waters of her isolated home.

How did a foreign princess with no paperwork or alias become a part of a secretive U.S. government agency? Adam Karenina Sherif, an academic historian and writer who has written on World War II and American comics, including the earliest Wonder Woman appearances, cheekily calls it “identity theft” when unpacking the career move. In 1942’s Sensation Comics #1, Wonder Woman has a chance meeting with an army nurse that leads to her gaining the iconic Diana Prince alter ego, though it’s a less than honest superheroic setup.

“She meets the real Diana Prince on the street in D.C.,” Sherif tells Polygon. “And she says, ‘Oh, if you take off your glasses