|
Justice
League
Maid of Honor
Original Airdate - 10/18/03
While
at a gala event in Paris, Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne witness
the attempted kidnapping of Princess Audrey of Kasnia. Wonder
Woman slips into something more comfortable while Bruce Wayne
enjoys the buffet. Soon the kidnappers are thwarted and Wonder
Woman and the Princess are best friends.
Seems
the small country of Kasnia has been donating a lot of money
to the new international space station. Some of the peasants
of Kasnia are a little upset about it and are looking to take
it out on the Royal Family. Princess Audrey wants to continue
her night on the town and Wonder Woman agrees to tag along
for added security.
Princess
Audrey, "Look, I'm getting married soon, this is my last night
in Paris as a free woman."
Wonder Woman, "I'm not really following."
Princess Audrey, "I'm a world class party girl, I intend to
go out with a bang…several if it can be arranged."
Holy x-rated dialogue, Batman!
After
a night of dance clubs, paparazzi and bungee-less bungee jumping,
Wonder Woman and Princess Audrey call it a night. Back at
her hotel Batman tells WW that something fishy is going on
and WW needs to be careful who she trusts (like the guy in
her hotel room wearing the leather cowl and "utility belt").
Sure
enough it isn't long before Wonder Woman meets Princess Audrey's
arranged fiancé, Vandal Savage the Third (wink). He talks
about what an evil man his grandfather was and how he has
dedicated his life to making amends. A few stolen plans and
political assignations later, Vandal Savage the Third reveals
himself to be the immortal Vandal Savage (gasp!) and he is
now in control of a giant orbiting rail gun in space. No,
really. I'm not making this up.
"Maid
of Honor" is an offhanded homage to the 007 spy genre with
a Justice League twist. It starts off in an exotic European
city and ends up with an insane madman in control of a doomsday
device. It has a freakish henchman, cool gadgets and a hot
load full of sexual innuendo.
Vandal
Savage makes his first appearance since the episode "The
Savage Time." He also gets a quick back-story. We see
that 25,000 years ago a strange meteor crashes near a cave
man and he huddles around it for warmth. He is basked in radiation
and this makes him immortal. (This is identical to his origin
in comics, but there were later revealed to be two cave men.
One becomes the evil Vandal Savage and the other becomes the
hero "Immortal Man.")
Savage's
henchman is named Captain Vox. He is some sort of cross between
Jaws (the Bond villain, not the shark) and Black Canary (thankfully
minus the fishnet stockings). His fight with Wonder Woman
leads to a very memorable moment as he plows the Earth with
Wonder Woman's face. That's good TV, right there, at least
according to California's new Governor.
The first
thirty minutes only feature Batman and Wonder Woman as they
flirt their way through international espionage. Wonder Woman
is given her first real chance to shine as most of the previous
Justice League episodes featuring Wonder Woman as the
main hero pretty much sucked. The chemistry between her and
Batman/Bruce Wayne is funny, sexy and believable.
Neither
one of them has this much personality in the comics.
The second
half hour adds the rest of the Justice League minus Superman
and a Hawkgirl. Together the team thwart Savage's plan and
everyone has a good laugh at Flash while he does a two minute
space walk without breathing. Good times.
Derek's
Continuity Corner
The casual fan thinks that Superman and Wonder Woman are
the natural hook-up, despite the existence of Lois Lane. (Nobody
cares about Steve Trevor.) But I argue that Batman and Wonder
Woman do actually make more sense. So does current JLA
writer Joe Kelly. And if you go back into old issues of The
Brave and the Bold (pre-Crisis), you'll find occasional
hints dropped that others do, too. It was the seventies, so
nothing was overt.
Do you
feel that Bruce Timm and company are giving Immortal Man short
shrift? Oh, no, "I-Man" really does suck and is
best left to molder in obscurity. Despite being tied to Vandal
Savage's origin, he gets left out a lot. Possessing the power
of super-reincarnation (yep, that's it...), even his superteam,
The Forgotten Heroes, hoped that the hero Resurrection Man
was really Immortal Man, only somehow become cooler.
However,
Vandal Savage continues being a huge JLA/JSA foe, currently
playing second fiddle to the evil Martian Fernus in JLA.
My personal favorite grotesque addition to the Vandal Savage
mythos: he harvests the body parts of his descendants to keep
himself strong in case of catastrophic injury. After 25,000
years, that's a lot of descendants. You could be one.
Next
Week
"Hearts and Minds" John Stewart tries to rescue an old girlfriend
from a mad prophet. Coincidentally, this is also a listing
for next week's Daily Show.
|
