Wonder Twins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wonder Twins | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
The Wonder Twins are a pair of teenage alien superheroes (somewhat reminiscent of Vulcans from Star Trek) who were sidekicks to the Super Friends in the Hanna-Barbera animated television series of the same name. In the 1990s, these characters were heavily revamped by DC Comics for modern audiences.
Contents |
[edit] Character History
The pair made their debut in The All-New Super Friends Hour. Zan and Jayna, are siblings from the planet Exxor (also spelled Exor) who were being informally trained by the superheroes. Unlike their predecessors, Wendy Harris and Marvin White, this pair was able to participate in combat with abilities of their own. Their powers were activated when the twins made physical contact together with the spoken command, "Wonder Twin powers, Activate!". (In the comics, it was revealed that this phrase was unnecessary, just a habit of theirs.) They bear a strong resemblance to Donny and Marie Osmond, who had a hit tv show at the time of their first appearances.
Their powers were:
- Zan: Could transform into any form of water, including liquid, mist, steam, or, perhaps most usefully, any kind of functioning ice structure. Also, at one time, changed into a gelatinous form. By combining with already-existing water, Zan could also increase his mass or volume in the water form chosen. In addition, he could transform himself into weather patterns involving water, such as a blizzard, a monsoon, or a typhoon. (Zan: "Form of a glacier!")
- Jayna: Could transform into any animal, whether real, mythological, indigineous to the earth or to some other planet, like Beast Boy. (Jayna: "Shape of a beaver!") She did need to know the name of the animal in order to assume its form, as she would turn into whatever animal she named.
In addition, they had a pet Space Monkey called Gleek who had a useful prehensile tail and whose body could act as a conduit for the twins to activate their powers should they be out of reach. Gleek also served as a courier when the twins needed to travel: Jayna would typically transform into a large eagle, and Zan would transform into (plain) water, "jumping" into a bucket which Gleek conveniently would be holding. (This led to the joke by some fans that Gleek's superpower was to make a bucket appear and disappear at will. See hammerspace.)
These characters were derided by serious comic book fans as condescending intrusions in the show. Others noted that at least the characters were occasionally an asset to the main characters in combat compared to their predecessors. Regardless, the Wonder Twins were usually liked by the younger viewers, who found the twin characters less intimidating and easier to relate to, as the twins were novices who made mistakes, etc., yet the twins had powers which invited the viewers' imaginations.
The characters were introduced in the Super Friends comic (where they were far more competent, often being the key to solving major situations) and were ignored once the series was cancelled. Jayna's Super Friends comic powers were shown to be more extensive, allowing her to transform into even mythical creatures.
[edit] Superfriends version
According to the Super Friends comic, Zan and Jayna are mutants, evolutionary throwbacks to an ancient race of Exxorian shapeshifters. Their parents died when they were still babies (during a plague) and, because of their origin, no Exxorians wanted to adopt them. They ended up adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted to use them as sideshow freaks. Fortunately, the circus's clown was a kind man and raised them. He also gave them Gleek as a pet. Eventually, as teens, the pair escaped the circus, and hid on a planet where a space villain called Grax (an enemy of Superman) had set his headquarters. Spying on him, they learned that Grax was planning to destroy the Earth using hidden superbombs. The twins decided to travel to Earth and warn the Justice League; that was how they came to replace Wendy and Marvin (who were planning on retiring as heroes) as their sidekicks. The heroes also arranged for the kids to live with an old scientist called Professor Carter Nichols, and they even took secret identities as John and Joanna Fleming. "Johan and Johanna" supposed transfer students from Esko, Sweden, disguised with blonde hair (Zan wore a wig, while Jayna used her powers to transform into a human to change her hair color and ear shape), to allow them to attend Gotham City High School.
[edit] Extreme Justice version
In the 1990s they were introduced into the main DC Universe in the series, Extreme Justice. The Extreme Justice series retconned their origin so that they are slaves of an alien villain, later rescued by the Justice League. Unable to speak English, they accidentally attacked some civilians and the Justice League. They had far greater powers than their cartoon counterparts. During their fight with the JLA, Zan became an ice golem, a water monster, and a demonic-looking whirlpool; while Jayna became a griffin, a werewolf, and a sea serpent. Although rarely seen today, this version of the Wonder Twins is still part of the current DC Universe. Later they appeared in Young Justice, wearing uniforms which resembled t-shirts and jeans, to help avenge the murder of Empress's parents. Apparently, the Wonder Twins enjoy the taste of CDs, as they ate several of Wonder Girl's favorite discs.
[edit] Other media
E! Online reported in 2002 that Warner Bros. was considering a live action Wonder Twins movie.[1]
The Wonder Twins have been parodied on animated comedy shows such as Family Guy, Dexter's Laboratory, Scrubs, That '70s Show, The Fairly Oddparents, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In 2002, a series of Wonder Twins shorts appeared on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, who also produced the Harvey Birdman series. The shorts portrayed the Wonder Twins and Gleek as naïve and ineffectual, usually resulting in a dark-humored outcome. For example, in one short, the Wonder Twins attempt to save a camper from a bear. Jayna transforms into a gopher and digs a trench, while Zan transforms into water, forming a moat. Their plan fails when the bear simply steps over the moat and mauls the camper. At the camper's funeral, the grieving mother chastises the trio that even she knows "a one-inch deep gopher moat won't contain a bear." In another, Zan becomes an ice bridge to save teenagers from falling into a pit, but as it's made of ice and has no rails they fall off him. These shorts are parodies of segments during the Super Friends animated series in which the teens acted completely on their own in dealing with minor problems, usually involving some danger encountered in the life of an average teen, such as speeding. Cartoon Network has also made several commercials parodying the Super Friends. One such commercial made fun of the ineffectiveness of Zan's powers wherein he says "I could get beaten by a sponge... it wouldn't even have to be an evil sponge!"
On the Justice League animated series, statues of them are seen briefly (then smashed) in the background of the episode "Injustice For All".
On the TV series Justice League Unlimited, two characters called Downpour and Shifter have appeared. They are members of the Ultimen, a group of superheroes created by the government. The group is a pastiche of the heroes that were created for Superfriends, with Downpour and Shifter specifically a pastiche of the Wonder Twins.
An episode of Family Guy involved Jayna and Peter, which was one of Peter's old jobs. In order to get to a fire, Janya forms into a hawk. However, Peter forms into Jayna's tampon and "plays the waiting game" in her purse. In an earlier episode, Peter and Brian attempt to activate Wonder Twins powers from toy rings they found in a box of Frankenberry
In the animated show Fairly Odd Parents, the superheroes, Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad have Wonder Twin-like powers. The joke is that while the mom became a strong animal, the Dad turned into a bucket of water, and merely fell on the ground.
In an episode of Saturday Night Live, a Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon showed Osama BinLaden and Saddam Hussein as having powers similar to the Wonder Twins
The Wonder Twins are parodied in Heavy.com's on-going animated series "Superficial Friends". The clips feature celebrities Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen playing shape-shifting twins. In an unrelated segment of an episode of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken, entitled "A Day in the Life of the Olsen Twins", the Olsens are also portrayed as having Wonder Twin-like superpowers. In yet another unrelated story, Celebrity Deathmatch featured the Olsen Twins using Wonder Twin-like powers when fighting Jack and Kelly Osbourne.
In Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law one segment showed Zan as bath water while Wonder Woman was taking a bath.
One strip from the popular gaming webcomic Penny Arcade indicated a theory that the Wonder Twins' powers were a metaphor for incest. [1].
An entry on the online humor site McSweeney's Internet Tendency purported to show excerpts from Zan's journal, lamenting his lack of respect from the Super Friends. In one entry, Zan exacts revenge by appearing as a large wet spot on the Flash's tights while he's giving a speech.
[edit] References
- ^ Ryan, Joal (Jun 8, 2002) "Wonder Twins Movie Activates!", Eonline.com, retrieved July 16, 2006
