Doctor Cyber

Doctor Cyber
Doctor Cyber in Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #19 (2017). Art by Liam Sharp.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceWonder Woman (vol. 1) #179 (November–December 1968)
Created byDennis O'Neil
Mike Sekowsky
Dick Giordano
In-story information
Alter egoCylvia Anita Cyber
Dr. Adrianna Anderson
Team affiliationsSecret Society of Super Villains
Godwatch
AbilitiesPreviously (via body armor):
Superhuman strength and durability
Energy blasts
Energy absorption
Invisibility
Currently: Artificial intelligence physiology, able to hijack and control technology

Doctor Cyber is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman.[1] She first appeared late in the Silver Age of Comics in 1968's Wonder Woman (volume 1) #179, written by Dennis O'Neil and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano.[2]

In her Silver Age appearances, Dr. Cyber was the brilliant head of a vast global criminal network. Beautiful, vain and possibly British[3] or of Asian descent (or both), she initially blended aspects of the femme fatale and dragon lady character tropes. Subsequent Bronze Age appearances incorporated science fiction elements: after her face was disfigured in an accident, Dr. Cyber donned an eerie muzzle-mask and a technologically advanced exoskeleton.[4] These cybernetic enhancements increased her physical strength, and gave her the ability to absorb energy, as well as to redirect it by firing blasts from her hands. Despite the resulting upgrades to her power, Dr. Cyber's disfigurement also wrought a mounting emotional instability: she became obsessed with recapturing her beauty by transferring her mind into Wonder Woman's body, a project she attempted several times with the help of her operative Doctor Moon.

After DC Comics rebooted its continuity in 1985 (a publication event known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths), Wonder Woman, her supporting cast and foes were re-imagined. Though originally absent from this revised mythos, Doctor Cyber would be reintroduced to the DC Comics canon in 2002, not in a Wonder Woman comic, but in issue #1 of Kurt Busiek and Tom Gummett's The Power Company, as the first arch-nemesis of the eponymous super-team. In DC's post-Rebirth era, the character would be reimagined as a powerful artificial intelligence with the memory and blithe personality of Dr. Adrianna Anderson, the deceased research and business partner of Wonder Woman's adversary Veronica Cale.

  1. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 87. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 217. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  3. ^ Strickland, Carol A. (2021). Star-Spangled Panties: A Guide to the World's Greatest Superhero. Carol A. Strickland. p. 149.
  4. ^ Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 113. ISBN 978-0345501073.