“Batman — The Brave and the Bold #4”
“The Bride and the Bold”
Wonder Woman assists Batman by taking on the supervillainess Giganta while he deals with her partner Mouse Man. Watching the whole combat from Mount Olympus are the children of Aphrodite (one of the Greek gods who are the patrons of the Amazon), Harmonia and Eros. Because Eros is disgusted with the way Wonder Woman always fights, he decides to provide a little love in her life, hitting both her and Batman with his Arrows of Love. Under their influence they decide to get married, but Batman changes his mind about the arrangements as they are about to enter the Gotham City courthouse and decides for a large public wedding ceremony.
Such an occurrence angers Talia, the daughter of Ras al Ghul, who is infatuated with marrying Batman herself. In her anger, she gathers together as many of their old foes as possible to make an attack on the ceremony. The fight features a plethora of old Wonder Woman and Batman foes, including stalwarts as the Joker, the Penguin and Two-Face on one hand, and the Angle Man and the Cheetah on the other, as well as a host of lesser-known foes. Fortunately, the guests of the wedding include a number of heroes as well as several Amazons, all of whom are both annoyed at the interruption and glad of the opportunity to take out some villains.
All of which annoys Eros even more, until his mother Aphrodite herself appears to chastise her son by explaining that everything Wonder Woman does, even fighting to protect the innocent, inspires love. With that, she and her son return to Olympus, leaving Batman and Wonder Woman free to finally stop pretending. Yes, neither of them were under Eros’ spell, at least then. Batman freed himself from the spell when they were at the Gotham City courthouse, where he saw the image of the woman he truly loved, Justice, and he used Wonder Woman’s magic Lasso of Truth to free her, too. They still kept up the charade in order to lure out the supervillains.
And, at the end, Superman wonders whether there ever will be another woman in Batman’s life. Sure enough, on the final page, as a worried Mouse Man escapes and wonders how all this got started by his little caper with Gigantia, Catwoman appears and says “Come here, Mousey. Let’s talk.”
Addenda: The issue also features cameo appearances by the following: comedy characters Sugar and Spike as flower children; Robby Reed (of “Dial H for Hero”, as evidenced by his signature saying “Sockamagee!”); Ultra, the Multi-Alien, as one of the heroes; and Vicki Vale, who has a long-time crush on Batman herself. Other minor villains include Byrna Brilliant, the Blue Snow Man; the Human Eraser; the Crimson Centipede; PaperMan; Egg Fu; and Cat Man.