Johnny Thunder

Times Past, 1947

Johnny Thunder Takes a Bride

by Libbylawrence

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 1

Johnny Thunder had faced many challenges in his young life, and he was more than ready to take on the latest one: a third slice of his mother’s pumpkin pie with whipped cream! He glanced around the cozy kitchen he had spent so much time in while growing up. The same blue and white patterned plates, bright tablecloth, and cheerful banter from his proud mother still filled his senses.

“Eat, Johnny, eat!” said Mrs. Thunder as she placed a piece of the hot pie before the finicky little girl her son had adopted. “Show Peachy Pet here how it is good for you!”

“I’ll eat!” replied the little blonde girl. “I just like to take my time with it!”

“You do that!” said the plump Mrs. Thunder. “I guess I’m just so used to seeing my Johnny gulp down his food and rush off to some new adventure!”

“Ma, you know you are the best cook in all of Appleville!” smiled Johnny. “Maybe even in all the good ole USA!”

“I can’t claim that title, though hearing you say I deserve it makes the time I spent over that oven worth it!” said Mrs. Thunder.

“Say, you just name a better cook!” said Johnny with mock indignation.

“He’s not coming, you know; there’s no need to say it all the time,” piped up Peachy between bites of pie.

“Gosh, I know it,” said a suddenly grim Johnny. “I just said it by accident. That happens a lot.”

“John, the best cook, cleaner, caterer, and homemaker in all Appleville is Martha Brewer, the radio home tips girl and catering queen!” explained Mrs. Thunder.

“I didn’t know she lived here! I guess that means I won’t get a billboard saying, ‘Welcome to Appleville — Home of Johnny Thunder’! She rates higher than a former JSAer would around here!”

“She moved into the old Darling estate after Daisy… well, you know,” said Ma Thunder.

“It’s OK to say she moved away, Ma. I’m over her by now,” said Johnny.

“I think you are more of a big-shot than any ol’ housewife-turned-caterpillar!” said Peachy.

“Thanks!” smiled Johnny. “I think you mean caterer, though of course she could be a social butterfly!”

“The ‘Diva of Domesticity’ is what they call her in the papers,” said Ma Thunder.

“Sounds like a super crook! But let me tell you about my new job. A pal of mine named Bruce Wayne gave me a job as his troubleshooter for all his holdings. I get free travel and everything!” Johnny was beaming, while trying to hide his disappointment over the fact that he had lost both Daisy and his power over the magical Thunderbolt that had earned him his prized spot in the JSA.

“Mr. Wayne — he’s a more famous person than even Martha!” smiled Mrs. Thunder.

“I betcha he’s a mystery-man pal of Johnny’s, like Mr. Midnight!” said Peachy.

“That’s Doc Mid-Nite, and don’t say stuff like that!” warned Johnny. “You could cause a lot of trouble. He is a swell guy.”

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 2

Johnny stopped his bantering with his family to answer the ringing doorbell. He swung it open to see a lovely blonde woman dressed in an expensive dress that stopped below her knees, a pearl necklace with matching heels, earrings, and assorted bows.

“I’m Martha Brewer, Mr. Thunder, may I come in?” she said with a smile as she pushed passed him and walked into the small but pleasant Thunder living room. “I hate to impose upon you, but I need your services rather desperately!”

“Sure!” he said. “What can I do for you? We were just talking about you; I didn’t know you had moved here, and I hear your radio show all the time.”

“Oh, how deevy!” she said. “Are you a fan?”

” ‘Deevy’? Divine? Oh, uh, sure,” he said. “I mean, I guess I prefer something like I Love a Mystery, but hey, you are right up there too.”

“Let me get right to the point. Johnny… I may call you Johnny, right? Johnny, I am being persecuted by a costumed criminal,” she said, suddenly tearing up, and carefully blotted her eyes without smearing her blue mascara. “She is robbing many of the weddings I cater. She’s called the Runaway Bride. Have you heard of her? She always appears before the service starts and robs the guests. She wears a formal bridal gown, and her gang dress like guests too! She’s struck at four weddings that I have catered and two I did not, but I fear she is targeting me. Oh, Mr. Thunder, may I confide in you?”

“Sure! What is it? Do you think this Runaway Bride gal has a vendetta against you? Did you scorch her muffins or somethin’?” joked Johnny in a deliberate effort to cheer the crying blonde who had flung herself into his arms.

“Johnny, my sister and I had a falling out many years ago. She hates me and she once vowed to ruin me over a property settlement from our late pater’s estate. She was quite the athlete in college, and I fear that Marcia is also the Runaway Bride. She strikes where I am not involved just to throw off suspicion, but she hits my weddings most in order to ruin my business!”

“She was an athlete; I take it that this Runaway Bride doll is a good fighter?” questioned Thunder.

“Yes! She broke a policeman’s jaw at the last robbery. She also runs like a track star, even in heels!” explained Martha as she idly picked at lint on Johnny’s green jacket.

“It’s getting a bit worn,” he explained as she rubbed at a patch.

“Will you stop this Bride fiend? She may not be Marcia, but I’m so afraid it is. I knew a Justice Society member like you could stop her if anyone can! That’s why I asked the police not to interfere at my next wedding. I assured them that Johnny Thunder could handle it all!”

“You did? Well, I can. I’ll try. Just leave it all to me. But first, I need some data. Can’t rush into anything. Batman himself told me that.”

“Oh my! Batman! You are the man for the job!” said Martha as she planted a kiss on Johnny’s face.

“Mush!” cried a disgusted Peachy Pet from beneath the sofa.

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 3

Johnny spent the next few hours looking over a place he had hoped never to visit again: the former Darling estate, which now housed Martha Brewer’s catering empire. He moped a bit as he walked there, because the place held so many memories of his old flame, Daisy Darling. Daisy and her new beau had cruised to Europe while her bossy dad had remarried and moved as well.

“Too bad this Runaway Bride didn’t hit Mr. D’s wedding!” he smiled. “I bet she’d be sorry for sure!”

He noticed the skilled staffers who rushed around, making every detail perfect for their demanding boss. The Diva of Domesticity wasn’t called that for nothing! Martha made sure that every nuance was superior to that of ordinary catering services. She made a lot of money, and she was a natural target for any crook, especially one with a personal grudge.

“She’s phony, but I like her,” mused Johnny. He had seen through her teary performance. He was an experienced hero who had saved the world quite a few times, and he had spent years alongside of legendary mystery-men like Superman, Hawkman, and Dr. Mid-Nite. He knew his business very well, although his down-to-earth “ordinary guy” mannerisms sometimes belied that impression. It didn’t matter to Johnny if the “Queen of Catering” had been a bit fake in her plea to gain his services. He would help her even if she had tried to softsoap him. He was that kind of guy.

Boy, wait ’til Dinah hears about this one! he thought as he noticed the hurrying maids, cooks, butlers, and ushers. She worked as a maid once at a fancy hotel, so she’d really be impressed with an operation like this one.

Dinah Drake was the Black Canary. She was also one of the reasons Johnny had survived the loss of Daisy as well as he had. She was his friend, and he was well aware of the fact that he had begun to have a bit of a crush upon the fishnet-wearing beauty! She was his new partner since he had lost control of the Thunderbolt.

“Ah, who needs that glow-worm with his snooty attitude when I got a pal like the Canary?” he said again to reassure himself.

“May I help you?” sneered a smug-looking butler who looked down at Johnny as if he really wanted to help him over a cliff.

“No, I’m just looking around; I work for Martha!” said Johnny.

“Yeth, thir!” lisped the butler with contempt.

Guy’s got a speech problem — guess that’s why he’s so bitter, mused Thunder as he exited the estate.

He had tracked down the paper trail of Marcia Brewer as well. The older sister of Martha had indeed been a star athlete in college, and was now working as a gym teacher in nearby Riverdale. “Better head over there and check her out!” he decided.

Johnny drove over in the Wayne company car he had been given and pulled up at the school. He stopped a fat and balding principal with a weird little toupee and asked for directions to Marcia’s office.

“Do you have a hall pass?” he asked with lofty assurance of an academic.

“No, I’m not a student,” he said. “I’m Johnny Thunder — of the JSA!”

“Go to the right and you’ll find her,” said Principal Weatherby with a doubtful look in his eye.

Johnny entered though the door, which was ajar, and gasped as he looked right at a veiled woman in a white wedding gown.

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 4

Johnny yelled, “Hey lady! Didn’t you fall off a cake?” and made a lunge for the white gowned figure. She spun around and kicked him in the face with savagery and speed. He rolled back and kicked the door shut behind him.

“I’ll carry you over threshold after I teach you some manners!” joked Johnny as he watched the Runaway Bride carefully. She moved with an athlete’s grace and swung the desk chair between her and Thunder.

“I throw more than rice!” she said in a muffled tone as she lashed out at him. “I also throw a mean left hook!”

He had faced maniacs from other worlds and tyrants of the Axis regime, but he still had his qualms about hitting a woman! He had fought others before and he had won, but the gentlemen in him hated doing so. He didn’t get a chance to do anything that would trouble his conscience, though, since the agile Runaway Bride crashed through the office window and caught the flagpole from which she slid safely to the ground with ease.

“Whoa! The Canary could do that, but not many other folks could!” he said with grudging admiration.

He ran after her, but by the time he reached the pavement she had vanished. I guess this proves a connection between the Brewer sister and the Bride, like Martha thought! I could track her to her apartment address which I got from the library.

Johnny knew the wedding was the next day and it would be a valuable place to rob, since the couple in question was Archibald Andrews and the wealthy Veronica Lodge of Riverdale. He expected the Runaway Bride to strike as usual, but what she did not know was that Johnny planned his own surprise attack. He drove into the lot at Marcia Brewer’s home and slipped past the doorman with the ease of one who had braved many challenges over the years. He found her door and paused.

“A little observation may prove better in the long run. I’d say even Sandman would be proud of me now,” he mumbled to himself as he went back down and approached the janitor’s closet. He glanced around the empty alcove and picked the lock like the Canary had taught him. He slipped into a pair of coveralls. He then climbed out on the window ledge and eased across the decks toward Marcia’s window.

Good thing this place has wide decks and a resident window cleaner! he mused as he adjusted the scraper and peered through the glass. He frowned as he heard a conversation within. A masked man talked to a black haired woman in a mask of her own. Both wore elegant formal wear.

“Thith dame hath to go!” said the man. “We’ll just dothe her and let the cops think the killed herthelf in grief over being hunted down by that punk Thunder!”

“Oh, Bruno, you are such a planner!” giggled the woman. They stood over a still figure in a wedding gown.

“Not so fast!” yelled Johnny as he smashed through the window and crashed to the floor.

“It’s him! Too soon!” cried the woman as she pulled a gun.

Johnny shoved the man in black into the woman and belted him with a right hook. He ducked as a vase shattered near his head and he jumped the table to bring down the woman before she could retrieve the gun she had dropped.

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 5

Johnny moved quickly and pushed the woman across the room even as the man raised a needle and moved closer to him.

“I know you! That lisp gives you away, as does your occupation!” cried Johnny as he desperately brought up a chair and knocked the needle out of the menacing man’s hand. He connected with a solid right and the crook lay still as did the panting woman who had remained on her knees.

Johnny bent over the Runaway Bride and lifted back her veil. She was Marcia Brewer, as he recognized her from her photo in the staff section of the Riverdale yearbook. She was drugged. He caught a whiff of a powerful narcotic.

“Those rats double crossed you! I remember the butler from Martha’s place had the same lisp as our masked pal here. No doubt the leggy gal on the floor is Martha’s maid or cook. They used her inside info that she acquired innocently enough as a caterer to weddings and receptions at fancy homes to get the lay of the land before robbing a place. You thought you could ruin your sister out of jealousy, but you didn’t expect me to track you down so fast! These creeps figured that made you a liability, so they were going to kill you and make it look like suicide to cover their own tracks in case you talked to me!”

Johnny called the police and an ambulance. “Hang on! Just hang on!” he urged the stricken woman in white.

Later, as Johnny stood in the waiting room at the local hospital where Marcia had been taken, he addressed the head of staff. “So, Dr. Bellows, you understand my request? Nobody can know who she is or that she is here until tomorrow night.”

“Certainly, if a member of the Justice Society wishes it, then that’s good enough for me!” answered Bellows.

Johnny thanked him and said to himself, “Now I’ve got a wedding to get to… and a call to make.”

He was soon speaking to someone over the telephone: “We need to let Martha think that no one has found poor Marcia yet. That way the Runaway Bride, the real one, will feel safe to strike at the Andrews wedding!”

The next day found Martha busy as usual. “I can’t think what could have become of Reeves and Nanette. They never came back from their time off!”

Johnny said, “You can’t get good help these days! Don’t worry about a thing!”

Martha smiled. “Dear John, you always say the right thing!”

“I don’t hear that very often,” he said grinning.

The ceremony started, and the elegant guests awaited the entrance of the fashionable society bride, Veronica Lodge. She entered, and her veil and gown were stunning. She approached the altar where a nervous red-head named Archibald Andrews awaited his wife-to-be.

“This wedding ends now!” shrieked a wedding gown clad woman who had suddenly led a gang of well dressed thugs into the chapel. “Give us all your valuables or die!”

“Here comes the real Runaway Bride as I expected,” said Johnny as he sprang into action.

JOHNNY THUNDER TAKES A BRIDE: Part 6

Instantly, many of the guests drew guns and got the drop on the unsuspecting gang. The Runaway Bride suddenly found herself unveiled before all by an agile Johnny.

“Martha Brewer — the Diva herself! You dressed in this getup to be seen in Marcia’s office after your pals kidnapped and dressed her up in a matching gown. You wanted them to kill her, and figured by the time I could find her you’d have struck today. Then we’d all think Marcia had been the Runaway Bride to begin with. It failed. I did my checking. Seems Marcia and you were star athletes in college and you were also jilted at the altar years before by none other than Archie over there! You and your catering gang robbed those weddings, using your insider’s know-how, but it was not for cash as far as you were concerned. You just wanted to throw off suspicion when you showed up here and ‘accidentally’ killed Archie in the robbery gone wrong!”

Martha’s perfectly made-up face grew crimson-red with rage. “You can’t stop me, even if you did place plainclothes cops in the crowd to get my gang! I never thought your pride would let a mighty JSAer call in common cops! I can still kill Andrews!” She suddenly belted Johnny with her concealed gun. He fell and she charged for the couple at the altar.

She received a perfectly delivered high kick to the nose, as well as three rapid punches from the amazingly skilled bride to be! “Veronica” took off the gown to reveal a blue/black costume with fishnet stockings.

“Great work, Black Canary!” cheered Johnny as he nursed a bruised head. “You fooled them all into thinking you were Veronica!”

Canary smiled. “Thanks to your call we brought this Runaway Bride to justice. Good work, Johnny.”

Johnny grinned. “Well, when I learned about Martha’s background with Archie and her sports days, it all came together. Plus, G.L. told me he had fought the lisping butler and his gang of crooked domestics before!”

“Say, you know, Canary, as long as you have a wedding gown and we’re here…” he began.

“Not a chance! This little bird has to fly free!” she teased.

“So, do you want to dance, at least?” he asked as cops led out the gang and a shrieking Martha.

“I do!” teased the Black Canary as she tossed a bouquet toward the crowd.