| Wonder Twins | |
 The Wonder Twins with Gleek. Art by Alex Ross. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Historical: Super Friends #7 (October 1977) Modern: Extreme Justice #9 (October 1995) |
| Created by | E. Nelson Bridwell |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Zan and Jayna |
| Team affiliations | Super Friends Justice League Young Justice |
| Abilities | Zan can transform into any form of water Jayna can transform into any animal. |
The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, are teenage alien superheroes who were helpers 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. Some people believe that the Wonder Twins are responsible for originating the ultra-hip "fist bump" maneuver with their "wonder Twin powers, activate!" transformation maneuver.[1]
Contents |
Character history
The duo made their debut in The All-New Super Friends Hour. Zan (voiced by Michael Bell) and Jayna (voiced by Liberty Williams) 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 touched each other and spoke the words, "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" (In the comics, it was revealed that this phrase was unnecessary, just a habit of theirs.) As they were about to transform, they would each announce their intended form. For example, Zan would announce, "Form of a glacier!" Jayna would then announce her intended animal form.
Zan can transform into water at any state (solid, liquid, gas). In the case of becoming solid ice, he can also become any form he chooses, from a cage for a criminal and, implausibly, complex machinery (such as a rocket engine). He also changed into a gelatinous form at one point. On another occasion, he transformed into liquid nitrogen. 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. Jayna can transform into any animal, whether real, mythological, indigenous to Earth or to some other planet, like Beast Boy, so long as she knows the name. 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.)
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 canceled. Jayna's powers in the Super Friends comic book were shown to be more extensive, allowing her to transform into even mythical creatures. Similarly, Zan was able to transform into anything tangentially related to water or ice, including a frost giant.
In addition, the two shared a telepathic link, enabling one to alert the other over a distance when in dire circumstances. Their mutual telepathy would also explain how they were able to assume forms that allowed cooperation without any previous discussion of strategy.
Super Friends version
According to the Super Friends comic book, Zan and Jayna are Exorian metas, genetic throwbacks to an ancient race of Exorian shapeshifters. Their parents died when they were still babies (during a plague), and, because of their origin, no Exorians 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 (or "laugh-maker") 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 anyway) 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" were supposedly 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.
Extreme Justice version
In the 1990s they were introduced into the main DC Universe in the series Extreme Justice. The series retconned their origin so that they are slaves of an alien villain, later rescued by the Justice League. In Extreme Justice #9 (Oct. 1995), unable to speak English, they accidentally attack some civilians and the Justice League. They join Captain Atom's team in issue #16.[2] 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 #49–51, 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.
Justice League Unlimited
Two characters called Downpour and Shifter appear in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Ultimatum". 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 Super Friends, with Downpour and Shifter specifically a pastiche of the Wonder Twins. Downpour and his twin sister, Shifter, have albino white skin and pointy ears.
Downpour
Downpour has the ability to turn into water in its liquid state, either in whole or limited to specific body parts. He never displays the ability to transform into solid or gaseous forms (Downpour is in fact defeated at one point by being evaporated, indicating an inability to change state). Along with the other Ultimen (except Long Shadow), Downpour is fine with the fact that he is a marketing gimmick, and he and Shifter in particular are reported as being popular in the younger age bracket. Due to his powers, he is teased by his teammates about an alleged bed wetting. Downpour cares deeply for Shifter and gets angry if she is badly harmed.
After discovering their true origins and short life expectancies, the Ultimen do battle with the Justice League in a desperate plan by Wind Dragon to be remembered. The twins fought Aquaman together. Aquaman knocked Shifter unconscious first, enraging Downpour. He fires an intense water blast at Aquaman in retaliation; Aquaman is unfazed by the attack, his only response to just raise his eyebrow and say, "King of the Seas, remember?" Downpour then resorts to physically attacking the much stronger Aquaman, and is knocked out with a single backhand strike. Like the rest of his teammates, he was taken into Cadmus' custody after the fight to await their eventual death. An army of mindless, non personality-imprinted Ultimen clones were later created by Project Cadmus in an attempt to finish off the Justice League once and for all, but were defeated.
Shifter
Shifter has the ability to transform into any Earth-based animal, even those that are extinct. After discovering their true origins and short life expectancies, Shifter took the news the worst and her attitude drastically changed. When Wind Dragon decides to destroy the Justice League in an effort to be remembered, Shifter and Downpour attack Aquaman in tandem. Shifter turns into a Tyrannosaurus while Downpour floods the large storage room they are in. Aquaman overcomes Shifter after a short battle and knocks her unconscious, followed shortly by her brother. Shifter was locked up like most of the other Ultimen, with their bodies still deteriorating. The character is voiced by Grey DeLisle. Multiple clones of Shifter appear in "Panic in the Sky". in particular, one clone of Shifter, in the form of a Tyrannosaurus, attempts to attack the human staff of the Watchtower. Rather than accept their fate, the combined staff rushes the monster, though the outcome of this endeavor is not shown.
Other versions
In Kingdom Come #2, Zan and Jayna have cameos as a waiter and waitress at a bar that caters to a superhuman clientele. On the animated TV series Justice League, in episode 9 of season one, "Injustice For All Part II", a statue of the Wonder Twins is destroyed during the final battle by Hawkgirl and the Shade. The Wonder Twins themselves never appeared in that episode.
References
- ^ "A Brief History of the Fist Bump". Time (magazine). June 5, 2008. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812102,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
- ^ Beatty, Scott (2008), "Extreme Justice", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 117, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017
External links
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