Show Notes:
Meeting George Pérez at C2E2 — 2:30
A long-overdue update — 6:24
Comic Cavalcade vol. 1 issue 2 — 11:09
Wonder Woman vol. 2 issue 33: Secrets in the Sand — 23:33
Wonder Woman vol. 4 issue 31: This Monster’s Gone Eleven — 38:29
Wonder Woman season 2 episode 20: The Man Who Wouldn’t Tell — 47:16
Brief coverage of The Lego Movie 2 and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women — 1:01:37
News — 1:03:37
Wonder Woman 1984 first trailer live reaction — 1:03:56
WfP Special Correspondent Wonder Bira on the Wonder Woman 1984 panel at CCXP — 1:10:27
Meeting George Pérez at C2E2!
Next Generation’s First Generation audio commentary for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Wonder Woman 1984 first trailer
Patty Jenkins already has plans for Wonder Woman 3 and an Amazons spin-off
Patty Jenkins explaining why Wonder Woman won’t use a sword in WW84
Wonder Woman “finalist” Olga Kurylenko on almost getting the role
Next Generation’s First Generation Podcast
Intro music: Wonder Woman Theme (The Best Themysciran Symphony Dialogue Dance Mix) by TazDamianDevil: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yivtn1qRo20
Outro music: Wonder by The Doubleclicks: www.thedoubleclicks.com
Review Summaries
Comic Cavalcade vol. 1 issue 2
Spring (March), 1943
Rating: ★★★☆☆
We start with Daily Tab reporter Rora Blank interviewing Diana at Army Intelligence. The secretary’s cagey as she looks over the journalist’s ID, denying both that she’s important and that she’s a friend of Wonder Woman.
Blank is especially interested in the mental radio and Wonder Woman’s location, but Diana says she knows nothing about that. Afterwards, the secretary wonders why a society journalist is so interested in the Amazon, but puts it out of her mind… for about ten minutes, at which point she stops by Steve’s office to find him cheerfully telling the reporter all about the mental radios and how they’re used to contact Wonder Woman. Silent gesticulations from Diana finally get him to shut up, and after the journalist leaves, the secretary reminds him he shouldn’t give out any information on their super-powered ally for fear of spies. She calls the paper to check up on the reporter and sure enough, it turns out that the real Rora Blank has been at the office the whole time, and oh look, her ID has been stolen.
Army Intelligence suspects a Swiss woman named Fausta Grables of being the impostor as they think she might be a Nazi spy, though her description doesn’t quite match. That night, Diana returns home to find her quarters ransacked and her mental radio sabotaged, though having built the device herself she’s able to repair it. Once it’s fixed, she receives a message from Etta saying the same has been done to her room—the perpetrator clearly being insane since no candy was stolen—but the Amazon’s attempts to contact Steve prove fruitless.
We cut to the Major, who was ambushed and knocked unconscious upon his return home. He awakes to find himself bound and, overhearing his captors recite the address they’ve taken him to, sends a mental signal to Wonder Woman. Barely pausing to wonder why the kidnappers would let their location be know, the superhero sprints across town to the hideout. Two shadowy figures watch from the ground as she climbs a tree to a third-story window, but the one in charge forbids the underling from wasting bullets. Thinking to herself that this is too easy, Wonder Woman enters the window to find Steve tied up with piano wire. As she takes her time carefully loosing his bonds without cutting him, neither notice the metal shutters behind her close until Steve’s free and the room starts filling with automobile exhaust. But for the amazing Amazon, all it takes is a simple football tackle to break through, and the two make their way down as the villains fire at them, Wonder Woman skillfully blocking their shots. But by the time they reach the ground, their foes have swiftly driven away.
The following day, Fausta is confronted by a group of spies called the Council of Axis Chiefs. She asks for a second chance, saying she’s bugged Steve’s home phone so it’s only a matter of time before he calls the superhero. Sure enough, that evening she overhears Diana tell a worried Steve that she doesn’t need security that night, because Wonder Woman is staying with her. The spy uses a skeleton key to silently enter the nurses’s apartment, overhearing her chuckle about Wonder Woman being there and seeing her secrete the costume in a full laundry bag for fear of nightly intruders. In the morning, Diana decides not to hide the costume beneath her army uniform as she usually would, to prevent her identity from being revealed if the Major’s fears come to pass and she’s abducted. But after an uneventful work day, Diana and Steve go to an army benefit show featuring a strongwoman act called the Masked Marvel.
The performance impresses Steve, who comments that the lady could actually be the amazing Amazon, but Diana scoffs, pointing out how all her feats of strength could easily be trickery. But as the Masked Marvel wrestles a bear, her outfit conveniently tears, Janet Jackson-style, revealing Wonder Woman’s red, gold, and star-spangled costume beneath. The crowd cheers for the still-masked superhero, and she proposes a contest—anyone who can last longer than three minutes in the ring with her will win a thousand bucks in war bonds.
Diana makes an excuse, then rushes home to change into her costume, determined to confront the impostor. But when she gets there, the outfit is missing, and she realizes the Masked Marvel isn’t wearing a replica. The Amazon dons a mask and a wrestling outfit she brought from Paradise Island, then returns to the venue, telling the stage manager she’s part of the act. The phony superhero is grappling with a man who claims to be a former wrestling champion, but it turns out the fight’s staged, as we see her whisper to him to “tumble,” throwing the match. The crowd cheers the impostor, but then another masked woman appears on stage, challenging the performer to a wrestling match. Laughing, the Masked Marvel demands her challenger lift a thousand pound weight, but the Amazon pulls it up quickly, smashing it to reveal it’s hollow wood with metal on the bottom to allow it to stick to magnets—presumably electric ones that could be turned off—hidden in the floor.
Realizing her opponent’s true identity, the Masked Marvel accepts the challenge, and the two take to the ring, the Amazon quickly pinning her foe, saying it’s her time to tumble. But as Wonder Woman asks if she thought the costume would grant her powers, Fausta, who—look, it’s obvious that’s who the Masked Marvel’s is and I’m tired of dancing around the fact—replies that it has, quietly looping the Lasso over Wonder Woman’s ankle. Now under Fausta’s command, the Amazon covertly tightens the loop so it won’t come off, and the two continue the match, only with Wonder Woman compelled to pull her punches and finally tumble. After shaking hands, the two women go backstage, where they swap clothes so the Amazon can go back out and remove her mask, “revealing” the Masked Marvel’s true identity to be Wonder Woman.
In the performer’s dressing room, they swap clothes again and re-don their masks, with Fausta throwing a cloak over the superhero to hide the Lasso now pinning her arms behind her. Steve tries to talk with “Wonder Woman” as the two head to the car, but she brushes him off. They’re driven to the Axis hideout, and though Wonder Woman is swiftly stopped when she tries to break free, she’s able to recognize the building and so mentally radios her mother that she’s being kept at an abandoned Japanese embassy, asking her to forward the message to Steve and Etta since their radios were sabotaged. Inside, she’s locked up in a trunk to be covertly taken to the spies’ airstrip, but then Steve and his men and Etta and her Holiday Girls burst in.
During the fight Wonder woman’s trunk is dropped at the top of a staircase, so she bursts out and, still tied with the Lasso, rolls down the stairs like a bowling ball, knocking down Axis agents like pins. Once she’s untied, the Allies make quick work of their opponents, and after reclaiming her costume from Fausta, the superhero comment that, despite her strength, she can still be outwitted, so she won’t doubt her foes’ abilities again.
Wonder Woman vol. 2 issue 33: Secrets in the Sand
August, 1989
Rating: ★★★★☆
The issue starts with mounted warriors galloping through the sandstorm that protects their home, and arriving at the city of Bana-Mighdall. Diana dismounts and removes the outer robe that protected her from the sand, revealing the many wounds inflicted during the battle. She laments the loss of life, saying the Bana Amazons acted more like butchers than warriors. Recalling that she passing out when her call on Hermes’ power failed to heal her wounds, Nehebka, the late queen’s second-in-command, says they decided not to slay her then because keeping her alive was Anahid’s dying orders, since despite what she thinks of them they still have honor. If she refuses to cooperate, however, that will be a different matter, and Diana agrees they will work together. Nehebka tells the princess her friends in man’s world have already been notified as to her safety, and when Diana expresses doubt the Banazon says she’s free to confirm via the lasso, oooor they could actually start trusting each other.
Back at the shop at the end of last issue, the police are examining the body of the man the Banazons killed in order to use his phone, while his wife cries about the murders, calling them she-demons. The cops discover the torn photo of Wonder Woman and Julia—the professor’s phone number scrawled in one corner—and the bereft widow identifies the superhero as the one who battled the Cheetah.
Cut to Barbara Minerva, still in her feline form but wearing a straight-jacket and trapped in a padded cell with a glass ceiling. She screams to be released and for Chuma’s help feeding the plant-god, while Diana watches from above, astonished that the were-cat hasn’t calmed like she usually does after a blood moon. She prays to the Olympians for forgiveness, acknowledging that during the fight she abandoned her principals and wanted only vengeance, but then in bursts the redheaded, eyepatch-wearing Banazon who called Julia at the end of last issue, yelling that she’ll kill Barbara if the Princess doesn’t silence her. Surprised that the woman speaks English, Diana is introduced to Faruka, who just happens to be the right-hand woman of the priestess who kept the superhero trapped for weeks. Sure the Themysciran killed her commander, she ignores Diana trying to explain that the priestess choked on her own poison dart, instead saying that she and the cheetah are both Ariadnas, refusing to explain what that means when Wonder Woman recognizes the term. When Barbara continues to scream wildly, Faruka reaches for her gun, but when the Themysciran stops her, she spits back that Diana isn’t the princess of these Amazons, and in her opinion the Queen only ordered her to be kept alive so she could kill the Cheetah in punishment for violating their sacred temple—which the superhero failed to do. Diana argues that it’s the Bana and their violent culture who’ve violated the sacredness of Gaea’s Girdle, and she promised Chuma she’d keep his boss alive. Hearing that name sets Barbara off again, bashing her head against the wall to the point Diana has to jump down and hold her to keep her safe, as the scornful Faruka looks on.
At a town nearby where the battle took place, an associate of Julia’s, Dr. Osman Suakin, meets with the police to witness what they’ve recovered from the site—scores of bodies, and closer to the desert than the others, the beheaded corpses of women, stripped of all that could identify them. Back at his hotel, the doctor calls Julia to let her know, saying they’ve been unable to find any of the women’s heads, but their complexions rule out any of them being Diana. He also describes a body that Julia’s able to identify as Chuma, and she says she’ll be on her way as soon as possible. Vanessa, who listened in on the conversation, goes to hug her mother, the two scared women deeply worried for their friend.
Back at the hidden desert city, Faruka brings Diana to the late priestess’ workshop to meet with Nehebka. Catching sight of the long-lost girdle of Gaea, the Themysciran is drawn to it, each step causing it to glow brighter, along with its reforged sister hanging at the princess’ hip. She brings the lasso up, seemingly unaware of the blinding light that the Bana fear will unleash a blast of energy, and doesn’t even notice Faruka trying to jump her until the woman is thrown back by force field created by the relics. Nehebka has guards swiftly take their girdle back to the temple, then shows Diana her discovery—magazines and papers from man’s world that prove the priestess lied to the queen and knew who the superhero really was. Conveniently, having reading material from the outside world is a crime punishable by death, so while they still think she killed the old lady, it now counts as execution instead of murder. Still furious but now unable to justify her vengeance, Faruka glares daggers at Diana—or I guess just dagger, ‘cus ya’ know, eyepatch—while Nehebka declares the Princess’ reward for her carrying out Bana-Mighdallian justice will be to learn the answers she seeks. We start with a history lesson, and this is gonna be kinda complex so I’ll try to keep it clear: one night in ancient Athens, in the palace nursery, King Theseus, of the labyrinth and minotaur fame, got in a sword fight with Phthia, one-time princess of Lemnos and Antiope’s adopted daughter whose origin was recounted in the Wonder Woman Annual. Finally the guards were able to drag the young woman off the king as she screamed vengeance for the murder he committed. When the Melanippus—head of the army and the king’s son by his first wife—asked what she meant, Theseus pointed towards his bed, where the body of Queen Antiope lay with a knife still in her chest. But Theseus wasn’t sure the young Amazon was the murderer—he saw a woman’s silhouette, then was in shock until he heard screams coming from the nursery and ran to find Phthia with a sword. But she said she was actually trying to protect the infant prince, claiming the dagger that killed her adopted mother belonged to the king, who had found yet another new woman and was trying to rid himself of his current family. She spat in Theseus’ face when he tried to protest, and was quickly dragged to the dungeon where Melanippus, who’d always opposed the Amazons, oversaw her torture very personally. There she refused to stop defiantly yelling at the top of her lungs, and despite the king not wanting to further risk their already-tenuous alliance with the Amazons, his son convinced him something had to be done. He decided to blame his second wife, Ariadne, but kept Phthia locked up so she wouldn’t contradict his story.
At this point in the story, Diana interjects that Ariadne, with the help of Circe’s magic, actually had killed her aunt, explaining that she’s the daughter of Hippolyte. No longer able to hold her tongue, Faruka exclaims that it’s impossible for someone so young to be the daughter of the coward queen who lead her people off to disappear into the Aegean millennia ago. She storms off, vowing that the person who wins the Tournament of the Crown and becomes their new queen won’t be an ally to the lying Themysciran.
Resuming her story, Nehebka explains that the people of Athens were told that Ariadne had killed both Antiope and Phthia, and had been executed for her crimes, but details like how the exiled ex-queen had gotten into the palace left people suspicions. And for whatever reason, the announcement of Phthia’s death was premature—she was still locked in the dungeon, awaiting execution, so when the Amazons stormed in to find the truth they were able to rescue her. They blamed Ariadne as much as Theseus for what had happened, since her telling her side of the story could have proved their sister innocent, and so her name became a word meaning evil, untrustworthy intruder—ariadna. Retrieving the girdle from Antiope’s grave, Phthia swore to the Olympians that after man’s world had betrayed them twice, they would forever fight against it for their very survive. A generation later, the Amazon Queen Penthesilea slew her half-brother Eteocles, son of Melanippus, during the Trojan War.
Diana is disgusted at Nehebka’s triumphant tone, saying that even a justified killing is wrong, and pointing out that, from the history she’s learned from man’s world, Penthesilea was killed soon thereafter by Achilles, who was then killed by Paris, who was killed by Philoctetes, all in the pointless, never-changing cycle of war. Nehebka replies that while it may be terrible, war is also a great way to make money. The Amazons had lost their immortality when Antiope wed Theseus, so after Phthia died of old age they reorganized into a tribe of mercenaries, eventually founding the temple of women—Bana-Mighdall. In the late 18th century, as weapons technology improved, they realized the only way to keep up was to master weapons development and manufacturing, which included the cobra-dart the late priestess invented in memory of Phthia spitting at Theseus all those centuries ago. Despite them being well-established, the Banazons have kept up this violent tradition because it’s been the core of their culture for generations—all raised from the men they capture in battle. Just then, the girdle of Phthia, as the Bana call it, starts glowing from its place in the temple, and the city starts to shake. Looking outside, Nehebka and Diana see the protective sandstorm start blowing toward the city instead of away from it, and a light moves closer through the blasting winds. Suddenly Hermes, wreathed in fire and furious like we’ve never seen him before, breaks through, screaming that they will all die for betraying the Olympians.
Wonder Woman vol. 4 issue 31: This Monster’s Gone Eleven
July, 2014
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Back in London, Hermes and Dionysus are sharing a meal at a restaurant, the messenger god frustrated at the situation and how the two male Olympians have been discriminated against, while the god of wine enjoys the fine food and drink. Suddenly, they spot a couple of faceless apparitions through the window and head outside to see the city crawling with ghosts from the underworld, knowing this could only mean Hades has either gone insane or is no more.
On Themyscira, the new queen tells Dessa, one of her mother’s advisers, that the new acceptance of a male baby is necessary for their people. Dessa thinks another time would be more appropriate, but Diana, saying she’ll rely on the advisers’ council more in the future, insists the change must be made before they head into battle, where many Amazons are likely to lose their lives, in order to ensure they’ll be able to grow afterward. She gets Dessa to promise help her in this task in front of the other Amazon leaders, though as the group exits Aleka glares back at the queen.
We next see Diana and Artemis sparring, as the Amazon tells the doubting Olympian she’s doing the best she can. The moon goddess still thinks she should act more like the deity she now is, and once more challenges her to remove her cuffs and let her power run wild, but Diana refuses.
Cut to Zola, lying in bed and speaking aloud to Zeke. She contemplates the two of them living on Paradise Island full-time, since the only time Zeke was in Virginia was when he was born, and she never had a real reason to stay. Sensing something, she turns to find that the baby is nowhere to be seen.
In the now dimly-lit Hades, Dionysus and Hermes wander the empty streets, the messenger god saying the souls are adrift without their uncle. They hear a chewing noise and turn a corner to see the bound Cronus being fed pink mush by Cassandra, who repeatedly picks the mass up after it falls out of the Titan’s open stomach and puts it back in his mouth as he yells at her to keep feeding him. We catch a glimpse of Hades’ body, its candles out, as Cassandra tells Cronus she can hear the god of the underworld screaming in undying, eternal torment. The two Olympians watch the horrific scene, unaware of the minotaur behind them, until he attacks.
Back on Paradise Island, Diana tries to comfort Zola, saying they’ll get the child back. The guards say no one entered the building, and Artemis’ keen hunting senses tell her it wasn’t an Olympian. Coming to a realization, Wonder Woman flies out the window, calling down to Aleka to gather some warriors follow her to the cliffs above the ocean. There we see a figure holding Zeke, telling him how the Amazons have survived for millennia due to their incredible willpower, and while she hasn’t forgotten that, his loss should help the others remember. Diana lands, demanding Dessa hand over the boy. When the adviser refuses, saying the Amazons can’t give up their cultural heritage, the new queen replies that she doesn’t want them to, but they have to be able to admit their society isn’t perfect in order to grow. The others arrive, and, admitting she doesn’t want to sacrifice the child, Dessa hands him to Diana, asking her sisters to raise him to be a good man, before jumping off the cliff herself. Almost tossing Zeke to an astonished Aleka, Diana flies over the edge, swiftly catching her adviser, telling her her love for the Amazons will help the queen going forward, and no matter what the future holds, they’ll meet it united. At the base of the cliff they find Eros, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus come to answer Diana’s call for aid, with a fleet of the metallurgy god’s assistants rowing towards shore—the Amazons’ sons come home. Zola and their sisters watch from above when Dionysus, beaten and bloody, stumbles out of the jungle. Collapsing in Artemis’ arms, he gives Zola one last message from the messenger god—Hermes is sorry he’ll no longer be able to protect her. And the issue ends with a close-up of the First Born’s skinless mouth laughing cruelly.
Wonder Woman season 2 episode 20: The Man Who Wouldn’t Tell
March 31, 1978
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
It’s nighttime in Los Angeles as two goons in a van secretly spy on scientists at a chemical lab, covertly filming their actions. They’ve been doing this for months and are getting frustrated that the formula being worked on still hasn’t been discovered. After the scientists head home, the goons are packing up as they spot Alan Akroy, a botany student working as the night janitor, enter the lab. It doesn’t take a decade and a half of reading comic books to guess what happens next: as Alan cleans up around the beakers, a reaction—possibly caused by droplets from his spray bottle of cleaning solution—starts to take place in the vials, though apparently the panicked janitor doesn’t want to develop superpowers and so rushes to escape before the lab explodes in a giant fireball.
The next day, Steve calls Diana about the fire as she reads about it on the front page, explaining that the lab was working on a revolutionary new explosive. Cut to the boardroom of Hopewell International, the company working on the explo formula—yes, that’s seriously what they call it. Realizing someone must have discovered the formula after-hours, the chairman vows to find whoever it was before the person is tracked down by their business rivals, Rudolph Furst Enterprises and the IADC. In Rudolph Furst’s office, the goon with the camera confirms it was Alan who was in the lab before it exploded, and since no bodies were found he must have escaped unscathed and without the powers that are legally required to be granted to anyone in a superhero setting who survives a strange chemical explosion. Furst insists they must find Alan before Hopewell or the IADC, who unsurprisingly have already put Diana on the case. We next visit Alan’s mobile home, where the botanist is swiftly watering his plants before making his escape, leaving himself only enough time to grab a handful of cash and the clothes on his back before the police arrive and he ducks out through a back window.
Back at the IADC, Eve visits IRAC to try and figure out where Alan’s headed, and the computer cross-references LA databases to discover that the student hasn’t picked up his dry-cleaning, which he’ll need since he didn’t pack a change of clothes when he fled. Diana lands at LAX and makes her way to the dry-cleaners, where she asks the man behind the counter if her friend Alan Akroy has picked up his laundry. Unfortunately, she’s talking to the camera goon, and when he recognizes the name he offers her a tour of the facilities. His feigned, inaccurate laundry expertise quickly cues Diana in on the fact that he’s not legit, so when he tries to have his men gang up on her she swiftly escapes and runs out of sight where she can spin into her costume. Yelling for Diana to get out of there, Wonder Woman easily takes out the goons, then uses her lasso to force the cameraman to admit he’s working for Furst.
After a commercial break, Diana calls Steve to update him on the situation, saying she’s heading to Furst’s office and only knows that Alan is on the run. Turns out this is literal, as the next scene has him trying to keep up with a jogger named Meg, asking for her help. She replies that he should ask all the women he’s dumped her for, and, stopping her, he explains that he was responsible for the lab fire and doesn’t want to be found by the insurance companies, which explains his absurd fake mustache. After some convincing, she agrees to give him some money, hoping it’ll finally get him out of her life, and he arranges a dead drop at the airport the next day. We next see Steve consult IRAC, and although their interaction is funny—especially forty years later when we have watches with more computing power than IRA could ever dream of, no matter how many electric sheep it counts—ultimately the profile on Alan is incomplete and it needs more time.
In Rudolph Furst’s office, he denies Diana’s accusations that he hired the men who attacked her, playing dumb when she brings up Alan. But as soon as she leaves the room, he calls his goons, confirming they planted a tracking device on the agent’s car. Alan, now with a fake goatee, manages to hitch a ride, hoping to get out of town, but it turns out the friendly woman who gave him a lift is actually a private detective hired by Hopewell to track him down. He grabs the wheel and spins the car around, and when she’s forced to slow down he jumps out and starts running. IRAC’s report done, Steve calls Diana to tell her the computer calculated that Alan will most likely try to take a plane and hide out at his cousin’s house, and that he enjoyed doing plays in school, which—kind of needlessly—explains the disguises. At the airport, the agent watches as Alan, now with an eyepatch, approaches the trash can Meg agreed to leave money in. He calls via a nearby pay phone to confirm it’s there, but then as he asks that she make sure to water his plants, a janitor shows up and collects the trash. Alan races after, but Diana catches him and asks him to trust her. He replies that’ll be easier if she lets go of his arm, but once she does he takes off again. He rounds a corner, giving her time to duck aside and spin into her costume. She catches up to him in a parking garage, but turns to find the detective hired to catch him pointing a gun at them. He runs off again, so the superhero leaps forward and bends the pistol’s barrel, but as she’s distracted Alan runs right into the arms of Furst’s goons. He’s taken to the businessman’s office, where we learn, thanks to a speaker on his desk, that the elevator is bugged. At first Alan thinks they want a confession, but Furst says he’s really there to tell them exactly how he caused the explosion, even if it takes the entire three-day holiday weekend that’s about to start.
Diana tracks down Meg, but after being dumped by him five times she does NOT want to answer questions about Alan. The agent then finds the private detective tampering with Meg’s car, and suddenly, without cutting to a spin transition, the woman finds herself confronted once again by Wonder Woman. This PI, intent on tracking down Alan, had hoped to pose as a friendly face willing to give Meg a ride, but the superhero marches her back to her car and shoves her in the driver’s seat, pulling off the inside door handles, breaking the wiring, locking the doors, and then lifting off the steering wheel, leaving the woman trapped in her own car for the police to find.
Back in Furst’s office, the businessman explains that he’s built a replica of the original lab, so all Alan will need to do is repeat his actions from the other day. When the botanist refuses, a specialist is brought in to administer truth serum, but all it does is make him loopy and pass out. That night at Alan’s mobile home, we see Meg really does care, having come over to water his plants. Diana arrives, telling Meg her closeness to Alan means she’s also a target. As the girl admits her feelings for him and Diana points out that despite all the time he ran off he always returned to her, we see goons hooking up the trailer’s hitch to a truck and drive off with the astonished women literally in tow.
The next day they’ve arrived at Furst’s skyscraper, saying Meg will be taken upstairs to try and convince Alan to cooperate. The women hug, Diana whispering that Alan needs to stall for time, before they’re separated. As they take the elevator, Meg tells her armed goon that Alan won’t care if they threaten her, which he overhears thanks to the speaker on Furst’s desk. When she arrives, he tells her he does care, and that since they’re threatening the woman he loves he’ll do what they want, but once in the replica lab Meg’s able to get Diana’s message across. Cut to the agent telling her captor that the IADC switched the real Alan with a decoy, and will soon have the explo formula. He doesn’t believe her, but decides to bring her along to ask the boss. As the botanist takes as long as he can, Diana shoves the goon guarding her into the elevator just before the doors close, and when they open again Wonder Woman is on the other side. She rips apart the control panel, trapping him in the elevator, then bursts into the lab. Quickly taking out Furst and his gunman, she determines that Alan didn’t give them the secret to the formula, and offers to use the lasso to wipe the information from his memory, which he happily agrees to.
A few days later, Meg is chatting with Diana while she prepares a meal in Alan’s trailer. She jokes that she should have had Wonder Woman erase the other women from her boyfriend’s memory, but otherwise things are looking up–the only people angry are Furst Industries and Hopewell that Wonder Woman got rid of the formula. She tells how Alan says she’s the only woman he really cares about, but just then he enters the trailer accompanied by a blonde. Meg is initially furious, but he quickly explains that the woman has agreed to water his plants while they’re away on their honeymoon. This comes as a surprise since he hadn’t actually proposed yet, but the couple embrace as the blonde and a smiling Diana leave to give them some privacy.
