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 (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 currently 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 super team, 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.
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