Speaking as a twin, people sure loved to shout “WONDER TWIN POWERS ACTIVATE” in my general direction when I was growing up. In spite of that, Kathryn and I always liked the Wonder Twins: Super Friends was a pretty silly show (we knew that even in the 80s) but Jayna and Zan were cool, and funny, and we liked that their powers had limitations, so they had to be creative with what they were going to turn into. And, of course, they were much cooler twins than the stupid Doublemint girls, bleh.
So I knew I had to read the new Wonder Twins comic, and I wondered if it was going to be a serious take on the Twins, or silly.
Spoilers: it is very, very silly.
The Twins are newly assigned to the Justice League and are trying to fit in at the local high school, and I was happy to see it wasn’t one of those “no one can know we’re aliens” storylines. Those are tedious. No, everybody knows they’re aliens, and Zan even talks about life on his home planet at show ‘n tell. He segues into a story about how everybody has sexy times during thunderstorms, and it’s just as awkward as you’d imagine.
The high school kids don’t know what to make of them, and even the Justice League isn’t very impressed (Wonder Woman speaks for the reader at one point when she finds out Zan turns into water-based things, and I loved all of it.)
The story is a little bit like a sitcom episode, and a little bit like an after-school special, as Zan embarrasses himself in front of the coach and the team, and the Justice League members soften up enough to try and make him feel better.
The message is that high school sucks for everyone so try not to take it too personally. Superman tells them about being a clumsy goofball while he was growing up, and even Batman talks about the girl he had a crush on. (That Batman. What a softie.)
Afterwards there’s a funny bit with one of my least-favorite villains, but I wouldn’t want to spoil it.
I enjoyed Stephen Byrne’s art, it’s got a light-hearted feel that matches the tone of the story, and a lot of clean lines and panels that look almost like an animation cel. Zan looks to me like he’s a little heavy in the chin department on the cover, but you don’t see that inside. The colors are nicely done too, with a lot of gradients in the skin tones that look almost painted.
This issue has the feel of an all-ages book (except for the bit about alien sex) so while I don’t always follow comics for younger audiences, I liked that the Twins were definitely written by someone who loves them and wants to give them their time in the spotlight. If you’re looking for a good-hearted, doesn’t-take-itself-too-seriously story about (in my opinion) the best characters to come out of Super Friends, you should check it out.