Over a year ago, DC made headlines when they announced they were pairing two of their biggest stars as a romantic couple, Superman, the Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman, the Amazing Amazon. While the news made waves in the mainstream media, very little has been done to advance this development in the actual comic books. (Brian Azzarello, the writer of Wonder Woman’s solo book refuses to acknowledge the relationship there.) The partnership has been slightly clumsily handled in ‘Superman’ and I’ve made no secret of the fact that Geoff Johns hasn’t handled Wonder Woman well at all in ‘Justice League’, much less their pairing.
Refreshingly, writer Charles Soule doesn’t let all that bog him down. He doesn’t really dwell on the goings-on in the heroes’ other books, other than featuring Clark Kent lunching with Cat Grant, with whom he launched a news blog after quitting The Daily Planet. Diana doesn’t interact with Zola or Hera or any of the other cast members from her regular title. Instead we meet another ally, Hessia, an Amazon expat who left Paradise Island and is now aging, prompting Diana to question her own mortality. She also wonders about the differences between reserved Clark, who hides his true nature from the world and her Amazon ideals, which celebrate their uniqueness.
Soule does a great job of differentiating these two characters. Many feared that this book would be ‘Superman (featuring Wonder Woman)’ but Diana is very well handled here. The two characters get equal face time and he actually brings some really fresh ideas to the table. Unfortunately, the “super hero” action, involving saving a crashing plane, falls flat. So this book does have some room to grow, but honestly, this was a solid jumping off point.
Coincidentally, Tony S. Daniel’s art also seems to really shine in the quieter moments. His action sequences are great, don’t get me wrong, but the more personal moments are really beautiful. But as far as the action scenes, I think the last page of this book is going to be my new wallpaper. Just kickass!
So no, it wasn’t flawless, but it was damn good. I had a lot of reservations about this book and I haven’t been completely on board with slapping Superman and Wonder Woman together as a couple, but Soule takes the bull by the horns and confronts the differences between the two. And he seems to have a great grasp on both of them. And the art is very pretty. I’m good with this!
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #1
Written by Charles Soule
Art by Tony S. Daniel
Cover by Daniel with Batt and Tomeu Morey
