Happy Valentine's Day

Time for love and romance with a super hero twist. 

What happens when Wonder Woman and Superman fall under the spell of Eros, the God of Love? 

I love how romantic this cover looks, the Washington Monument in the background, Superman's cape wrapping around Wonder Woman. Lois and Steve watching, their reactions are priceless.

The story starts innocently enough with Wonder Woman on monitor duty aboard the JLA satellite, some 22,300 miles above Earth. Monitor duty stories seem to have a way of starting out boring and mundane before going balls to wall crazy.

  

Diana thinks to herself  "I didn't join the League to watch monitor screens, I joined to battle forces of evil." Careful what you wish for - evil can come in many forms, including love and passion.

Eros, the God of Love, may appear to be an adult but he ends up acting like the baby Cupid when Wonder Woman doesn't return his kiss or love.    

  How dare she?! He's the God of Love!

 

If he cannot force Wonder Woman to love him, he will force her to love another. Unfortunately that's when Superman arrives on the satellite. Being susceptible to magic Superman quickly falls under the angry god's spell.

At first the two heroes succumb and share a passionate kiss. They then try as hard as they can to fight Eros' spell. From the looks on their faces and the quivering of their hands it shows how powerful the magic of love can be. 

They know what they are feeling is wrong, their hearts belong to others. Superman loves Lois Lane and Wonder Woman feels the same for Steve Trevor.

Wonder Woman returns to Washington DC, passionately kissing and embracing Steve. That passion though is quickly replaced with jealousy and anger as she sees Superman in Lois' arms.

This is my favorite part -
Wonder Woman arrives in Metropolis and in a fit of rage throws Lois into on-coming traffic. (Haven't we all wanted to do that at one time or another?) Superman may have saved Lois but it's Wonder Woman who gets the kiss.

Lois is left to find comfort in the arms of another one-time rival for Superman's heart, Lana Lang. 

Knowing that something must be done to end this madness, Superman and Wonder Woman travel to Mount Olympus. They confront Eros and demand he end his magical spell.

Eros, not accustomed to being confronted calls out to his mother for help. Aphrodite is upset by her son's behavior and releases the two love struck heroes from the spell. I never did like this interpretation of Aphrodite, with the heart tiara and heart belt buckle.

The story ends with Superman and Wonder Woman explaining everything to Lois and Steve and all is forgiven.

The minute I read this comic I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. 

Numerous story cliches are on display. You have Cupid, sort of, meddling in peoples lives. There is love, rage and jealousy flying all over the place. Misunderstandings are resolved neatly in the end. The tunnel of love even makes an appearance.

DC Comics Presents #32

Writer: Gerry Conway 

Art team: Kurt Schaffenberger/Vince Colletta