|
|
You are in:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments: |
This two-part Elseworlds story will seem extremely familiar to the (reportedly few) people who have seen the movie "The Star Chamber", or to the (much more numerous) people who have read Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". In "The Star Chamber", Michael Douglas plays Superior Court Judge Stephen R. Hardin, who has had enough of having to release murderers because of legal technicalities, and joins this Star Chamber, named after an actual court of the British legal system of the 15th to 17th centuries. This chamber is like a private appeals court, where judges review trials where an apparently guilty defendant was released on a technicality, and decide which ones were "definitely guilty". Those are then executed summarily by a hit man, much to the surprise of the convicted parties, who of course were not aware of the unofficial re-trial. The movie's Chamber is hopelessly flawed in its very concept (like the real-life British one) but at least the situation is rectified in 109 minutes, not several centuries. (The British court required the accused to explain his "answer" to the accusation in writing, undersigned by a council, who was then held responsible for the veracity of the arguments; thus making it hard for defendants with a difficult case to find a council willing to sign for them. If the defendant could not find the required council, he was then considered as having confessed.)
|
Synopsis: |
The Secret Society of Super-Heroes has eight of the main DC characters (Superman,
Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Metamorpho, and
the Atom) as aging super-heroes who have created their own version of the Star
Chamber. Their conscience troubles them somewhat, but some less than others.
They have all disappeared from the public eye, both figuratively and literally,
since Wonder Woman's invisible plane has been dismantled for parts, its invisibility-inducing
Amazonium having been recycled in little portable devices that make the eight
heroes invisible at will. To various degrees, many of them have started earning
extra money in more or less honourable ways.
As they struggle with the legitimacy of their "court", they regularly vote on whether they should go public with their activities, and the votes systematically end in a 4-4 deadlock. So one solution is to find a new member, who will cast the deciding vote. The Flash has actually spotted a really fast kid, one Bart Allen, and recruits him to finally give the Society an odd number of voters. But how will he vote?
Did I mention that the accused found guilty by this Society are sent (forever) to the Phantom Zone? It looks like an idyllic place all right, except for the fact that you cannot go anywhere from there. At least they have the wisdom and serenity of Martian Manhunter, stranded there too, to keep them company.
Like most of her "partners in justice" (so to speak), this Elseworlds' Wonder
Woman is made to look distinctly less trustworthy than her mainstream counterpart.
The most striking feature is the decidedly unflattering hair, which mostly hides
her tiara. Her costume's most drastic change from the traditional one is the
lower part, made up of sort of long blue tights, but that also cover her boots
. The bracelets are gold-coloured, and somewhat larger and longer than the usual
ones. Finally, the lasso is worn around the waist (cannot be too convenient
for picking up quickly), instead of to the side. The invisibility device is
worn at the waist, slightly to the left side. How it holds in place is not explained.
As Bart joins the club (and drools over the possibilities brought about by the invisibility device), the Flash introduces the Amazonian member with "Wonder Woman is as old as dirt, but check out that body". Class is apparently not a prerequisite for membership.
FBI agent Bruce Wayne and trashy newspaper editor Lois Lane team up to find out what happened to all these criminals who have disappeared from the face of the Earth. No one would expect those two to come out empty-handed and, from there, the story has the reader following them in their pursuit of the ill-advised super-heroes.
    |
