Duke of Deception

Duke of Deception
The Duke of Deception.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Wonder Woman #2 (Fall 1942)
Created by	William Moulton Marston (script) Harry G. Peter (art)
In-story information
Abilities	Ability to create realistic illusions

The Duke of Deception is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. A major adversary of Wonder Woman, the Duke is a demigod of deceit, originally presented as an operative of Wonder Woman's nemesis Mars/Ares. He first appeared in the summer of 1942 in Wonder Woman #1, volume 1, written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston, and went on to become one of Wonder Woman's principal Golden Age foes. The Duke popped up in Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade and Sensation Comics stories throughout the 1940s and 1950s. But by the 1960s, when the Silver Age of Comics was in full-swing, he had all but vanished from Wonder Woman's adventures, save for a single appearance in 1964 in Wonder Woman #148, volume 1. Things would pick up for the Duke a bit in the 1970s; he received a Bronze Age facelift in 1975 in Wonder Woman #217, volume 1, written by Elliot S. Maggin, followed by yet another reformulation in 1977 in Wonder Woman #239-240, written by Gerry Conway. The Duke made his final Bronze Age appearance in 1979 in Wonder Woman #254, volume 1. After DC Comics rebooted its continuity in 1985 (in a publication event known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths), Wonder Woman, her supporting characters and many of her foes, were re-imagined and reintroduced. The Duke of Deception, though initially absent in this revised mythos, would ultimately make a handful of cameo appearances, both within DC's continuity (such as Wonder Woman Annual #1, volume 3), and out of it (such as Scooby-Doo Team-Up #5, in which Wonder Woman works with Scooby-Doo and his friends).

In 2016, the Duke of Deception was re-introduced in DC Comics' successful The Legend of Wonder Woman, an ongoing series retelling Wonder Woman's origin. A champion of both Ares and Hades, the Duke is presented as the first major adversary Wonder Woman faces after leaving her home on the island of Themyscira.