Wonders of the World

WONDERS OF THE WORLD

Membership: Batman, Catwoman, Mr. 8, Robin, Supergirl, Superman, Wonder Woman

Base of Operations: Earth 2

First Appearance: Earth 2 #1 (July, 2012)

History: (Earth 2 #0) - The Wonders of the World were the greatest heroes of Earth-2. Captained by the core Ternion of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, they were joined by Robin, Catwoman, Supergirl, Mr. 8 and two others. Darkseid invaded Earth 2, plunging the world into war, and the Wonders fought him, his general Steppenwolf and his armies of Parademons across the globe, but the raging conflict dragged on without either side gaining a clear advantage until Darkseid used his Rapture Generator to subvert the wills of the entire populations of Italy, Brazil, South Africa and Pakistan using the anti-life equation. Now servants of Darkseid, he planned to use them as cannon fodder for Steppenwolf. Mr. 8 built a machine to pierce other dimensions in hopes of finding Apokolips and bringing the fight to Darkseid’s world. He didn’t succeed in that task, but uncovered numerous parallel Earths, and saw many of them that were similar to Earth 2. In some the Wonders won, in others they lost, and after observing numerous possible future outcomes Mr. 8 resolved to find a way to avoid the future Earth 2 was headed for. Mr. 8 and the Ternion attacked Darkseid’s base housing the Rapture Generator, and after a fierce fight Mr. 8 told his teammates he was about to attach a module that would override it, but instead unleashed synthesized opal kryptonite of his own invention on Superman, driving him mad, and causing him to attack Wonder Woman. Mr. 8 explained to Batman that what he was going to do would seem insane and monstrously evil, but had to be done to assure victory. 8’s module, once attached to the generator, blew up the countries subjugated by the anti-life equation, killing millions. Mr. 8 said that if the Wonders had done the “right thing” and fought to save them they would have lost the war against Darkseid. The opal kryptonite’s effect’s wore off, giving the Ternion time to flee as Mr. 8 set his device to destroy Darkseid’s base, saving himself by fleeing into the ninth dimension. Mr. 8 knew his former teammates would pursue him, but hoped one day the world would remember him as a hero and not a villain.

(Earth 2 #1) - Batman met with Wonder Woman and Superman, telling them he’d come up with a way to repel Darkseid’s invasion. Batman had figured out that the beacon towers set up by Darkseid powered the Parademons and gave them marching orders, but each time the Wonders of the World managed to destroy a tower its transmissions simply rolled over to other towers, and any destroyed towers were quickly replaced by new ones sent in via boom tube. Batman developed a chip with a virus program that would shut down a tower, and when it’s transmission rolled over the virus would spread to all the other beacon towers. The Wonders went to work, with Batman making his way to a tower while Superman and Wonder Woman held off the armies of Parademons guarding it. Robin provided air support, and Supergirl accompanied a squadron of U.S. soldiers standing by with nuclear weapons ready to deploy against the towers in case Batman failed. In the midst of the battle the god Mercury visited Wonder Woman, telling her her prayers had been answers, and that the Olympian Gods waged war against Darkseid’s armies, although many of the gods had already fallen in battle. He promised they would not retreat, and Minerva had directed him to give Wonder Woman a message. He said man had long believed in gods, but because of Wonder Woman the gods now believed in man, and refused to further explain his cryptic message before leaving. Steppenwolf got the drop on Wonder Woman, stabbing her in the back, killing her. Parademons swarmed Superman, attaching an explosive device to the back of his head, killing him. Batman managed load the virus into the beacon tower, then warned Robi n to fly away from the area, because he knew the tower’s self-defense system would cause it to explode. She wanted to save him, but he told her he had no choice but to sacrifice himself. A boom tube opened up, and Batgirl and Supergirl flew through it, ending up on Prime Earth. The war was over, and Darkseid was forced to withdraw.

Comments: Created by James Robinson & Nicola Scott.