Wonder Twins Appreciation Thread 2019

[DragonsChi]

Check out this YouTube video.

This guys is ripping into the preview of Wonder Twins, saying is a propaganda piece promoting globalism, socialism, and he comments on "subliminal messages" as well as the 'night that throbs with pleasure' and whether or not all of this is appropriate for a comic that will be read by children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Nd...ature=youtu.be

I was one of the people actually interested in this book and still hoping it's good ....but he does have a point about the space beastality sex. That does seem like a very odd choice to put in a superhero comic geared towards kids. I mean WTF.... I think I might hold off on buying the first issue now that I have watched this video. I don't have an opinion one way or the other on most of the other stuff he mentioned but the beastality orgy makes me feel a bit sleazy.

[CellarDweller]

tomorrow is the big day!

[J. D. Guy]

Glad to see a preview on more teasers. Looking forward to reading it!

[J. D. Guy]

Thought I'd post the rest of the interview here. Read it, enjoyed it, and am hyped to see what the author will go with the Wonder Twins here.

https://www.newsarama.com/43830-wond...-problems.html

Newsarama: Mark, there are a lot of fans of these characters from the Super Friends show, including me.

Mark Russell: Yeah, me too. That was one of the reasons I took this. That was one of my first experiences with superheroes and loving any characters was the Wonder Twins.

It’s rare that I get to deal with a character that I’ve actually loved since I was a child.

Nrama: How are you approaching these characters, knowing that there are pre-conceived notions about them from their days with the Super Friends. How are you coming at this?
Credit: Stephen Byrne (DC/Wonder Comics)

Russell: I’m coming at it sort of as a, as I like to describe, an after-school special that they never would have made in a million years but should have.

I want them to deal with very real issues that Earth teens have to deal with, like in the first issue, we deal with humiliation. And also dating and the feeling that nobody takes you seriously.

I wanted to deal with these very common teen issues, but I want to do it in a way that also speaks to the broader world.

I think in a lot of ways, this is what we’ve done to the post-millennial generation. We’ve created this world that is on fire and is broken, and we’ve basically handed it to them, expecting them to fix it.

So the metaphor of the Wonder Twins being these aliens who come to Earth and are immediately put to work in the Hall of Justice and are expected to sort of help solve the Earth’s problems, even though they’ve only been on the planet a few months.

I mean, it works really well as an allegory for the post-millennial generation and what we’re expecting them to deal with, the very serious problems of climate change and wealth inequality and the things that are the problems that are destroying human civilization.

Nrama: This sounds kind of heavy for a Wonder Twins book. You’re known for your humor — any humor to lighten this up a little?
Credit: Stephen Byrne (DC/Wonder Comics)

Russell: Oh yeah. I find it almost impossible to write about the horrifying things of the world without being funny about it.

George Saunders once said that humor is the truth quicker than you expected it. And I’ve found that to be true. If you’re writing about something, and you’re telling the truth in as blunt and sort of as effective a way as possible, it sort of automatically becomes funny.

Yeah, I really want this to be, above and beyond everything, a really relatable superhero comic, but I also want it to be a lot of fun and funny too.

Nrama: What are Zan and Jayna like in the comic book?

Russell: Jayna is very witty and very smart but also tragically shy. Zan is kind of the opposite. He’s not very book smart, and he’s prone to put his foot in his mouth and embarrass himself. But he’s still really confident.

So in a lot of ways, together, they would make one good, well-balanced person.

But because they’re the Wonder Twins, they are split in half. They’re like one really well-adjusted person split in half, in two tragic parts.
Credit: Stephen Byrne (DC/Wonder Comics)

Nrama: In the first issue, Superman is pretty involved in why and how they came to Earth, and as you mentioned, they’re interns at the Hall of Justice. How much do Zan and Jayna interact with the other Justice League characters?

Russell: The other superheroes seem to kind of feel like Zan and Jayna are underfoot. They don’t really want them getting in the way of their important work.

Superman sees them more as, like, kids. He’s like their foster dad, because he’s the one that brought them to Earth from their home planet of Exxor.

So his dynamic with the Wonder Twins is a lot different. It’s a lot more fatherly. It’s a lot more compassionate than maybe the other superheroes who don’t understand what they’re doing there and just don’t want them interfering with their work as they save the world.

But, as it turns out, the Wonder Twins have an important role of their own to play in the Hall of Justice and saving the world from the existential threats posed by the supervillains.

Nrama: Are there plans for them to interact with other teenaged heroes, or some of the kids in the other Wonder Comics titles?

Russell: They do interact with Beast Boy. I don’t have other plans in the first six issue arc, mostly because it was written before the other stories had come out, but perhaps if there’s a second arc of six issues, there will be more interaction between them and the characters of the other Wonder Comics.
Credit: Dustin Nguyen (DC/Wonder Comics)

Nrama: What kind of villains are they going to come up against?

Russell: They deal with the sort of minor league villains, because Superman doesn’t want to start them off dealing with really dangerous Legion of Doom-type supervillains.

So he starts them off against the sort of, really, more of the D-league.

They’re called the League of Annoyance.

So they deal with a half-insect, half-man guy named Praying Mantis, and an evil Mary Poppins-type who’s really wired and always energetic named Amphetamine. So they deal with some really quirky, off-brand super villains.

What I really wanted was the kind of villains you’d find at an off-brand department store in the toy section that they don’t own the licensing; they can’t use Lex Luthor or they can’t use the Joker, so they come up with some weird villain that makes no sense whatsoever.

When you see these villains, you can understand why they’re in the League of Annoyance instead of the Legion of Doom.

I want them to really have to cut their teeth going after some humorously minor villains.
Credit: Stephen Byrne (DC/Wonder Comics)

Nrama: What about Stephen Byrne’s work on the comic book? What do his visuals bring to the title?

Russell: He does a fantastic job of making the artwork accessible, and it works both in a sort of cartoony level but also with some deep emotional resonance, which I think is why he’s such an excellent fit for this comic. A lot of it does deal with deeper, more emotional and more existential issues. But it does so in a sort of slapstick, cartoony way.

He brings a lot of gravity to his facial expressions and to his characters, but at the same time, it’s all very light and accessible.

Nrama: Then to finish up, is there anything else you want to tell readers about what they can expect from Wonder Twins?

Russell: Yeah, I’d just like to ask people to take a chance on it. It will take them to places they never thought a Wonder Twins comic will go. But I hope that they like what they read.

[CellarDweller]

I thought the first issue was really well done. The whole space bestiality sex thing was a non-event in my opinion.

Art was great, story was fun and funny, I laughed out loud a few times, and I can't wait to see the next issue.

I hope this brings a whole new audience to Zan & Jayna.

[CellarDweller]

The Hilarious Return of the Wonder Twins

Aaron Sagers - Feb 13, 2019


More than 40 years after their debut on The All-New Super Friends Hour animated series, the Wonder Twins are back. And when their powers activate this time around, things get awkward in the way that anyone who has been a misunderstood teenager (read: everyone) can relate to.

Once a pop-culture punchline – ridiculed more than even Aquaman – Zan and Jayna from the planet Exxor (and, eventually their pet monkey Gleek) return in the new DC title Wonder Twins #1.

In the six-issue comic, appropriately part of DC’s teen-focused Wonder Comics imprint, they still have their superpowers to transform into any animal, or water-based form, and this time they are interns at the Justice League’s Hall of Justice. But they must contend with personal humiliation, overconfidence, and shyness, in addition to super villains.

The title is written by Mark Russell, who previously added depth to the animated character Snagglepuss in Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, which imagined the pink mountain lion as a Tennessee Williams-inspired gay playwright in 1950s New York City. The writer's The Flintstones comic was an excellent exploration (and occasional skewering) of American Culture. So why move on to the teens who wear a lot of purple, and bump fists to activate their powers?

https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/d...e-wonder-twins

[CellarDweller]

Wonder Twins #4 in May.

It's hard to tell, but did they get Jayna's name wrong? In the text it looks like it's spelled "Jayne".

[J. D. Guy]

Wonder Twins #4 in May.

It's hard to tell, but did they get Jayna's name wrong? In the text it looks like it's spelled "Jayne".

Unfortunate typo is unfortunate, it seems.

[CellarDweller]

According to this, the first issue of Wonder Twins debuted in the top 10 for sales.


https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/02...k-the-top-ten/

[J. D. Guy]

According to this, the first issue of Wonder Twins debuted in the top 10 for sales.


https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/02...k-the-top-ten/

Cool! Glad to hear it did so well. (Even for an issue #1, I was worried the obscurity might hurt its numbers; happy tosee that was nothing to worry over. )

[CellarDweller]

Cool! Glad to hear it did so well. (Even for an issue #1, I was worried the obscurity might hurt its numbers; happy tosee that was nothing to worry over. )

I am too! I hope the others do just as well, and that leads to other issues, or guest spots in other books.

[J. D. Guy]

I am too! I hope the others do just as well, and that leads to other issues, or guest spots in other books.

I hope the same!

[CellarDweller]

So, has anyone read Wonder Twins #2?

There were some funny moments again......especially a parody, I don't want to go into it, so as not to spoil!

Beast Boy had a nice guest appearance, Super Computer was back, Gleek arrived, and other stuff went down too!

post up if you read, and let us know what you thought!

[KC]

Issue #2 felt a bit preachy (we get it, the American prison system kind of sucks) but I really liked Drunkula and the League of Annoyance and I think the comedy that came from the League of Annoyance and Drunkula made the issue worth it.

[failo.legendkiller]

Good issue, not like the first one but still funny and interesting.
Drunkula is the MVP of this issue for sure.
We had a great action scene showing how Zan powers could be used. Writer's fantasy is really important in this case and Russell worked it very well.
Garth's involvment was a little disappointing.
Maybe pace is a little slow given that it's a 6 issue limited serie, anyway I'll be there for next issue.