- Source: Helena Sandsmark
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 into the DC Universe following the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! storyline.
Helena is an archaeologist, a student of Julia Kapatelis, and the curator of the Gateway City Museum. She conceives Cassie following an affair with Zeus, and also has a brief relationship with Jason Blood.
Zeus later grants Cassie powers, but gives Helena the ability to deactivate them. When Diana leaves Gateway City, Helena makes amends with Cassie and gives her blessing to continue as Wonder Girl.
In Amazons Attack!, Wonder Girl and Supergirl attempt to negotiate an end to the war between the Amazons and the United States, but inadvertently make things worse when the president of the United States is killed. Helena is deemed a collaborator by the US government and sent to an internment camp, leading Cassie to mount an attempted rescue. At her mother's insistence that the situation be settled peacefully, Wonder Girl finally departed.
In the war's wake, Wonder Girl and her mother are viewed with a wary eye. Leaving the Gateway Museum, Helena takes a sabbatical in Greece and uses the Gauntlet of Atlas and Sandals of Hermes to keep her safe. They prove invaluable when the Female Furies and Hercules abduct her. When the latter attacks Wonder Girl, Helena rescues her. Helena also reunites with her old friend Aristides Demetrios.
Helena later joins fellow archeologists Vijay and Rani Singh for a dig in Mohenjo-daro. When Vijay and Rani disappear, Helena calls the Teen Titans for help. They are attacked by the Hindu god Rankor before Solstice drives them off.
= The New 52
=In The New 52 continuity reboot, Cassie Sandsmark is Zeus' granddaughter rather than his daughter. Her father Lennox Sandsmark, Wonder Woman's half-brother and Zeus' son, leaves the family when Cassie is four, leaving Helena to raise her alone.
In other media
Helena Sandsmark appears in Young Justice, voiced by Mae Whitman.
Helena Sandsmark appears as a non-playable character (NPC) in Young Justice: Legacy, voiced again by Mae Whitman.
Helena Sandsmark appears in the DC Animated Universe tie-in comics Adventures in the DC Universe and DC Comics Presents: Wonder Woman Adventures.
Helena Sandsmark appears in Teen Titans Go! #54.