WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #745, by Steve Orlando, Gleb Melnikov, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Pat Brosseau, on sale now.
Even though Wonder Woman usually has the ability to fly, she still knows how to get around in style. And that's why she has one of the most infamous vehicles in comics, the Invisible Jet.
In Wonder Woman #754, the Amazon's famous Invisible Jet makes a reappearance with an astronomical upgrade. Tasked with transporting Maxima into space, Wonder Woman gives her jet a major upgrade just by telling it to update itself. Now, we're taking a closer look at the iconic plane and breaking down what makes this new version the best incarnation of it yet.
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The Original Invisible Jet
The Invisible Plane, or the Robot Plane as it was more commonly called then, was first introduced in 1942's Sensation Comics #1, by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter. Originally, it's parts were scattered throughout the world and had to be gathered by Wonder Woman herself. However, it eventually became a standard part of Wonder Woman's arsenal on Themyscira and was even a form of the winged horse Pegasus. It could also freely enter and leave Paradise Island, which normal vehicles could not.
The Invisible Jet would continue to be a constant part of Wonder Woman's books into the Bronze Age, save for the brief time in the '60s where Wonder Woman got a mod makeover and lost her powers. During the Bronze Age, the Jet even gained the ability to talk after it was worked upon by gremlins. During this era, Wonder Woman had the ability to ride on wind currents if they were strong enough, but she still couldn't really fly, so the Invisible Jet was still a hi-tech essential for her many adventures.
The Modern Invisible Jet
While helming the Wonder Woman comic's reboot after Crisis on Infinite Earths, George Perez did away with the need for an Invisible Jet by letting Wonder Woman truly fly under her own power. In his later run on the character, however, John Byrne reintroduced many classic elements of the Amazon hero, including the plane. Here, the Invisible Jet was actually a Morphing Crystal that was gifted to Wonder Woman by a species called the Lansinarians. This device could morph into anything that Wonder Woman wished, with its most common forms being the Invisible Jet and the Wonderdome, Wonder Woman's base of operations. It was also sentient, and it gained the ability to communicate with Diana like its Bronze Age counterpart. At the beginning of Greg Rucka's run, however, it sacrificed its life to save Themyscira from an oncoming crashing wave. This left it still able to operate as an invisible jet, but its sentience and transforming ability were now gone.
The New 52 initially played fast and loose with whether or not Wonder Woman could fly, but once it was established, there was once again little need for the vehicle. It would eventually be introduced as a form of transportation created by A.R.G.U.S. and piloted by Steve Trevor. DC Rebirth retconned things again, though the Invisible Jet still belonged to Steve. Now, the plane was a reconstructed version of the jet that Steve crash-landed on Themyscira in, with the Amazons repairing it for his departure. They also put an enchantment on the vehicle, which allows it to become invisible. Since then, however, Wonder Woman added her own upgrades.
THE NEW INVISIBLE JET
In Wonder Woman #754, Diana upgrades the craft for space travel by simply asking it to do so. This could be part of the original enchantment that the Amazons placed on it, which allows Diana to easily interface with it for whatever she needs. This means that in a battle, the jet is as malleable as the willpower-based weaponry of a Green Lantern ring.
The jet could likely easily produce firearms if need be, which makes its battlefield potential endless. This transforming capability also hearkens back to the Lansinarian Morphing Crystal version of the jet, and it could even be connected to that in some manner. Regardless of its nature, this Invisible Jet also cements Wonder Woman as one of the most resourceful heroes on the DC Universe, and it gives her a gadget that even Batman would be jealous of.