The Brave and the Bold: Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder

Times Past, 1942

Swings and Arrows

by Libbylawrence

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 1

Daisy Darling was an heiress. She was wealthy, lovely, popular, and so much of a flirt that she drove poor Johnny Thunder to distraction. (A short trip to be sure.) He felt his heart skip a beat whenever she was near.

He insured that she was near because he worked for her fierce, bossy dad — Mr. Darling at Darling’s Department Store. Johnny doubted Mr. Darling had any first name other than “Mister”, so he was startled to hear an accented female voice coo, “Now, Stanley, that dinner reservation will give us time to go to the theatre, won’t it?”

Johnny, an elevator man, watched as the big boss man himself exited his luxurious office with a tall, beautiful woman who draped herself over his ample arm. “Don’t worry, Amelia my sweet, just leave all to your Stanley!” said Mr. Darling in a silly baby talk manner.

He watched them as he operated the elevator. They seemed to be a real romantic couple. Daisy must be getting a new step-mother, he thought. As they made their departure, the remarkable Mr. Thunder pondered the implications. Maybe this new mom-to-be for Daisy will soften Mr. Darling up so he’ll let me see Daisy!

Johnny was an average young man with a bold heart and a strong desire to do the right thing. He would need these traits (as well as one uniquely his) in the days to come.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 2

Johnny Thunder worked the rest of that day and heard the usual tired jokes about “ups and downs” without letting his irritation show to his customers. The next day he saw Daisy Darling, her father, and the fancy Amelia lady enter the store.

“Hi, Daisy! How are you?” asked Johnny. Then nodded at the others and acknowledged, “Mr. Darling, Miss.”

“Wonderful, Johnny! Daddy is engaged!” squealed the brunette heiress. “He and Lady Amelia are getting married. We’re having a dance to celebrate; it’s at the Riverdale Country Club, and Daddy hired a real professional big band that does swing music and everything!”

“Come along, Daisy. Let Mr. Thunder do his job!” grumbled Stanley Darling as Johnny hurried back to his post.

***

Later, Johnny approached Daisy and nervously asked the big question that had occupied his mind all morning. “Daisy, would you… could we… go to the dance together?” Johnny would rather have fought the Lightning Master, Luthor, and the Black Dragon Society on his own than popped this all-important question.

“Sorry, John. I have an escort. You may have heard of him… Reginald Weatherton, the society playboy? He’s divine! Ta-ta!” Off went Daisy and down went Johnny’s spirits.

Johnny waited idly until a girl passed by. “Going up?” he asked. She stared at him with a glassy look in her dazed eyes and passed onward without any sign that she was aware that he had spoken. “She was in a trance or somethin’,” he said to himself. I’ve seen that kind of stupor before with folks that have been drugged or hynotized. She’s going to Mr. Darling’s office. I’m gonna follow her.

He walked swiftly to the door where the girl paused to whisper hurriedly with Lady Amelia. (Mr. D. had stepped out to yell at some poor salesgirl while Daisy shopped giddily below). “Say, you know, I need to hear what’s going on.”

Johnny said his magic word “say you” which is the English version of “Cei-u”. These words of power allow him to summon and control a powerful magical being called the Thunderbolt. Instantly, the pinkish-hued T-bolt appeared and gestured at the door. A large listening cone popped up on the wall and broadcast their hushed words to the hiding Johnny.

“The Baroness wishes a meeting at the usual place to arrange all details. Heil Hitler!” said the drugged girl.

Lady Amelia Vandenberg answered, “All shall be as the Baroness demands. Now go.”

Johnny faded around a corner and waited as they passed his place of concealment.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 3

Johnny knew something was seriously wrong. He had assumed (correctly) that Amelia’s accent was Austrian, as was her title. A quick check in Burke’s European Peerage in the department store’s book section during lunch confirmed that hunch; however, from what he had heard it sounded as if Lady Amelia was loyal only to Hitler.

“If that Baroness is the one I’ve heard Wonder Woman talk about before, then that explains the drugged ‘slave girl’ who delivered the message. Baroness Patty or Paula Von what’s-her-name uses mentally enslaved women as her gang!”

Johnny raced outside the store (and abandoned his job at great risk) and searched for the two women. They split up and went in opposite directions.

“How can I track them both? I guess Amelia’s the one to watch. Wish there were two of me.” Since Johnny’s hour of influence was still good, there suddenly were two Johnnys! The T-bolt magic had replicated his master.

“Johnny-Two, follow the slave girl. Johnny-One — er, I mean me — will track Amelia,” said a slightly and justifiably confused Mr. Thunder. They did what they said.

He saw Amelia disappear into a crowd. “Say, you know if she’d glow so only I could see it, I could keep up!” he said as he passed men using luminous paint on a sign. Instantly, Amelia glowed brightly to Johnny’s eyes only.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 4

Johnny-Two easily tracked the girl to a luxurious mansion, where girls swarmed around the grounds all with a similarly glazed expression. No sign of any real “mistress” was around. Johnny decided to check out the place. “T-bolt, get me inside.”

“As good as done, O carbon copied captain!” said the T-Bolt.

He found himself in the middle of the manor, where a beautiful woman lounged seductively on a sofa. Her blonde hair was swept up and she had a sexy Bette Davis look about her regal features. “Baroness Paula!” yelled an excited Johnny.

The lady in question kept her cool. She eyed the young JSAer coldly and did not stir. “To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?” she asked.

“I know all about you! You are a Nazi and you’re after wealth to finance Hitler,” yelled John.

“And you propose to stop me… how?” Paula said as she reclined with even more of an air of seduction.

“I’ll just arrest you. You’ve got a record so long the Feds shall greet you with leg chains.”

Paula waited until he stepped closer, then pulled a bell cord. The floor opened up beneath Johnny, who plunged downward as it slid closed above him once more. “I need…” he started to say when the impact knocked him cold.

***

Meanwhile, the other Johnny followed Amelia, who never shone so brightly, although the Nazi did not know it. He saw her enter a seedy warehouse. A babe like that can only be in this part of town for something decidedly secret and most likely treasonous, thought Johnny.

“You follow at your own risk!” said a costumed figure who leaped out to block his path.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 5

Johnny saw a red, green and yellow-caped thug in his path.

“They call me Signal Man, and I’m a sure sign of trouble for you, punk!” growled Phil Cobbs, who would later menace Batman very briefly.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me with your deadly stop light ray… or yield me to death?” joked Johnny who had faced far worse in his time.

Signal Man scowled and aimed a prism at Johnny. A ray of intense heat shot out and melted a parked car nearby.

“You broke it, you bought it!” quipped Johnny as he dodged desperately.

“You punk! This ray will atomize you, or better yet, this one will make you my puppet!” said Cobbs as he grabbed another device from his bulky belt.

“Say you, T-bolt! Make the air around this jerk a big old mirror!” said Johnny.

Instantly Signal Man found himself struck from all sides by his own rapidly fired rays, since his every side was now blocked by highly reflective mirrors. He collapsed in a daze and Johnny walked on.

He headed into the warehouse, but it was now empty. Amelia had left during the fight. Suddenly with a shudder Johnny merged togther once more in front of the warehouse. “Gosh, T-bolt, you freed me from that pit and I didn’t say the order! I didn’t even know what my second self did ’til just now. That was close!”

“Your initial hour ended, Master J, so I had to merge you. I just used my discretion about whether to put you together in the pit or here.”

“Good work!” Johnny smiled.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 6

Johnny had had no luck with a return to Baroness Paula’s manor, either. The wily Nazi had slipped away, and her girls were also gone.

“I know Daisy’s new stepmom to be is working with Paula. I know she is after Mr. Darling’s money. But… what is the real scheme? I guess I can find out more at the dance Friday night… although I don’t have an invite! I can remedy that the old fashioned way!” said Johnny.

“Say, you know, Daisy, I’d sure like to go to your dad’s ball. I love big band music. Can you wrangle me an invitation?” asked Johnny as the pretty Daisy swished by.

“Why, Johnny! I’ll get you one. Daddy frowns on employees at his balls, but it is a special celebration and you are a friend,” said the girl.

Johnny beamed happily. “Now, T-bolt, I need a new suit for the ball. Can you…?” He suddenly was decked out in a costly tux. “Wow! It’s not green, but I love it. How about that?” Johnny said to the Thunderbolt, “You’re better than Cinderella’s fairy godmother!”

T-bolt grinned. “I dated her!”

Johnny paused. “Now who do I ask out? Maybe… an All-Star Squadron girl!”

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 7

Johnny Thunder made quite an impression at the swanky Riverdale Country Club when he entered the ballroom accompanied by his date: Wonder Woman! Even though the beautiful Amazon Princess was wearing the red formal gown the T-bolt had whipped up for her, she still caught lots of attention from staring guests.

“Thanks for being my date, Diana! You look swell,” said Johnny.

“And you are more than welcome. It is rare I get to dress up when I’m Wonder Woman. You look very dapper as well,” said the smiling Princess. I know Paula will strike tonight if I am any judge of that brilliant but deadly blonde, thought Diana as she scanned the ornately decorated ballroom.

The Glen Miller Orchestra played to a packed crowd while Stanley Darling looked blissful in the arms of his dancing bride to be, the Lady Amelia.

The couple danced, unaware that Johnny and his special date had arrived. The Darling family was rather self-absorbed at the best of times.

“John, this is Reginald Weatherton,” trilled a happy Daisy as she appeared with a dashing date.

“Charmed,” said Weatherton as he kissed Diana’s hand and brushed by Johnny.

Not a very nice guy, thought Thunder. He’d be a good understudy for an undertaker!

As the couples danced, the evening passed quietly enough until around midnight, when Mr. Darling gathered Amelia and stood expectantly at the podium.

“Friends, I thank you for your attendance and kind thoughts for me and my pretty little fiance. We offer you our toast: To wedded bliss!”

“To wedded bliss!” answered the crowd.

At that moment seven colorful figures appeared around the ballroom. Each one matched a color of the spectrum; all carried lethal looking bows. Their leader was well known by name at least to Johnny from talking to Superman.

“It’s the Archer and his Rainbow Bowmen!” called Johnny as Diana assumed a defensive position.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 8

Wonder Woman slipped off her gown to reveal her famous costume. She whipped out her golden lasso and swung it in a carefully-timed arch. It miraculously looped through the air and deflected the bolts fired by the seven archers.

“Say, you, take me to that creep! He’s gonna shoot Daisy!” said Johnny.

The T-bolt effortlessly deposited his master on the upper balcony where the Superman foe stood in eager anticipation of killing Darling’s daughter.

If Amelia marries Mr. D and kills him, she’ll get his millions. They’re trying to kill Daisy tonight to get her out of the way! thought Johnny.

He dove across the deck to crash into the Archer. They toppled backward and his arrow sliced into the wall inches under Daisy’s hoop earring. “You’re as good as Green Arrow!” said Johnny as he tried to wrestle the bow away from his hooded foe.

“I am better than that simpleton. I am better than the Spider. I am the master marksman who beat Red Dart…” said the criminal.

“I didn’t ask for a campaign speech,” said Johnny as he gasped and let go of the bow in pain.

“Electrical shock to anyone other than myself who handles this baby. Only I know how to switch on and off the current,” boasted the Archer.

Wonder Woman used all her speed to bounce arrows off her flashing bracelets as all seven henchmen aimed at her fabulous form. “Hera guide me! I can’t let any of the arrows hit guests even as rebounds. I hope Johnny is OK up there.”

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 9

The Archer aimed at Johnny as he rubbed his shocked fingers. “T-bolt, disarm that nut!” he commanded.

“Call him Venus de Milo,” replied the pink bolt.

A frustrated Archer found his weapons burned to ashes by the rapid Thunderbolt. He knocked over a table and candles caught the carpet on fire. He leaped out on a curtain and swung as it tore. Landing on the ballroom floor he grabbed a bow from a blue bowman and fired several shots in the room. Explosions rang out as his incendiary arrows set the ballroom shaking. He swung Daisy over his shoulder and raced out in the night.

Johnny did not know what to do first. “T-bolt, put out the fire. I’ll help Wonder Woman,” he decided.

Down below, the Amazing Amazon had slammed two archers (yellow and orange) into each other until their heads rang. Her unguarded back become the target of more than amorous stares as the red bowman fired at her from behind.

“The old whiz of an arrow brings back memories of my nursery school days back home,” teased Wonder Woman as she lived up to her press by catching the bolt with a fast twist. She snapped it into splinters and aimed a punch at Red that sent him through a doorway and into the garden.

Blue was bowless, so he ran for the exit, as did Violet and Green. Where was Indigo? Diana hurled her tiara with a skilled aim and saw the Indigo Bowman fall out from behind a heavy drape. “Your stylish indigo boots clash with those white curtains. You’ll never make life with that color problem!” she joked.

She crossed the floor with one dynamic bound and caught the fleeing Green. He dropped down after one punch from her hands of steel.

Johnny ran down the stairs. “The roof is caving in! T-bolt, get everybody out quick!”

The amazing Thunderbolt, elongated and snake-like, carried out the dozens of guests while Wonder Woman darted deeper into the ballroom.

SWINGS AND ARROWS: Part 10

Wonder Woman positioned herself directly beneath the buckling ballroom roof. She reached up and steadied a support beam, and with a mighty heave she lifted the roof and held it overhead until the T-bolt had finished his sweep of the room.

“Wow! You give Superman a run for his money!” said an admiring Johnny.

“Thank you, kind sir,” replied Diana after the pair exited the club.

The Rainbow Bowmen had been turned in to the police. A distraught Stanley Darling clung to Amelia, who looked upset as well. “Where’s Daisy? That madman took her,” he moaned.

Wonder Woman calmly walked up and comforted him. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her. In fact, Amelia, who is one of the very people behind the murder attempt will tell us where to look,” said Diana as she subtly looped a strand of her magical lasso over Amelia’s shoulder.

“What? I know nothing… I… She is at the penthouse of Reginald Weatherton. He is the Archer. If he failed to kill her here, he was to kill her there. We wanted to clear the way for the eventual murder of Stanley by me after our wedding. The money would go to my leader Baroness Paula Von Gunther and her cause: the Axis,” spilled out the compelled Amelia.

“I can’t believe it. I just don’t know how to thank you, Wonder Woman,” said a shocked Mr. D.

Johnny waited anxiously. “Let’s find Daisy, Wonder Woman. Say, you know T-bolt could get us right there now!”

Wonder Woman found herself propelled through the city to the wealthy section inhabited by the elite. Johnny rode behind her on his streaking Thunderbolt.

“I’m smoother than any invisible plane, your Highness!” said the smiling T-bolt.

“A nice ride, T-bolt,” replied a bemused Wonder Woman.

They stopped at Weatherton’s penthouse, where Daisy was sitting tied to a chair. Weatherton had shed his hood to reveal the handsome features that pleased Daisy so much earlier.

“I knew he was a creep!” said Johnny.

Wonder Woman kicked in the glass doors from the deck. Johnny yelled his words of power (needlessly, but he was excited) and in he ran. “I’ll teach you to kidnap my girl!” he said.

The Archer aimed his trusty bow. An arrow sped to Johnny’s noble heart.

Wonder Woman shoved it aside and grabbed the Archer by his cloak. “Now, let’s try that again without your pet bow.”

He struggled for something in his costume and dropped a pellet. Gas erupted into the room. Johnny coughed and tried to get to Daisy. He could just see her.

Wonder Woman spun her lasso until all the gas blew out the broken doors. “He’s gone! Can you make the T-bolt bring him back?” asked Diana.

“Say you, bring that snake back!” ordered Johnny.

“No good, fair and understanding master, he’s shielded by magic. Probably by Paula. It’s the real strong kind, too, not that cheap stuff so common these days,” he said ruefully.

“Oh, Johnny, you saved me!” cooed Daisy as she leaped into his arms.

“Gosh! Wonder Woman and my T-bolt did it too! I’m just glad we saved Mr. Darling from that black widow.”

“Isn’t love grand?” asked the T-bolt to Diana.

“I’ve always thought so!” she smiled.

The End