Last issue, The Cheetah– widely considered Wonder Woman’s arch-enemy– bit Superman and infected him with her… um, cheetah-ness?  Now a savage, animalistic Superman lashes out at his fellow heroes.  Mysterious tribeswoman Hara seems to have a means of subduing him, which Cyborg is capable of mimicking.  Batman orders Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman to track down The Cheetah, Barbara Minerva in the South American jungle.

Hara reveals more about the Cheetah’s origin, including that she isn’t the only cat person avatar running around.  The tale actually connects to Aquaman’s current book.

Ultimately, Diana finds herself feeling gullible when she discovers that Barbara Minerva isn’t who she presented herself to be.  We get back to the whole Superman romance, when Diana rightly expresses, “I don’t know that much about you, Superman.”  So they go on a date.  Superman takes her back to the Kent farm in Smallville.  They kiss for a second  time, only they’re being watched this time.

The Shazam backup focuses mostly on Sivana showing Black Adam around the modern world.  It’s not a smooth transition!  But Adam tracks down a potential ally.  The backup feature is really too short to judge.  It’s okay and of course Gary Frank’s art is excellent as usual.

As for the Justice League’s story, Tony S. Daniel’s art looks amazing!  It’s very detailed and there’s a lot of energy to it.  But the best part, for me, was the scene in Kansas.  There’s a rustic feel to it that works wonderfully.

There’s a real disconnect between Diana in this series and in her solo title.  They’re two different characters.  This Diana is kind of a fish-out-of-water innocent.  Her “best friend” (first we’re hearing of this, by the way) was a master criminal and Diana never suspected?  Superman, likewise, is boiled down into a very basic, simple figure.  He is a hero because of Smallville and the salt of the earth way he was raised.

The Cheetah storyline felt like a stretch, but I get what Geoff Johns was doing, by trying to beef up Wonder Woman’s top foe.  Many readers have questioned the strength of Diana’s Rogue’s gallery, so here Johns was attempting to justify Cheetah’s position as Diana’s arch enemy.  It works okay, but not 100%.  And there are clues laid out that would indicate that we seem to be building to an Injustice League/Legion of Doom story down the line.  Overall… it’s okay.

What about the Super/Wonder romance?  It still isn’t working.  There’s just no justification for it.  Is Superman just into her because she’s hot?  And she doesn’t seem into him at all!  There’s absolutely no chemistry or sexual tension between these two, but they keep kissing, regardless.  This is a BIG move for DC, but it’s shaping up to be nothing but a super hook up.  There’s no actual romance between  the pair.

The book looks good, but it’s about the flimsiest thing I’ve ever read that Geoff Johns has written.

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE #14
Written by Geoff Johns
Pencils by Tony S. Daniel
Cover by Daniel, Richard Friend and Tomeu Morey