Their secret is out. Clark Kent’s own news blog released to the world the information that the most powerful man and woman in the world are now it’s mightiest power couple. They attempt to talk through this development, but they are of different minds.
Later, Superman visits Zod who is “imprisoned” in the Fortress of Solitude. What Superman doesn’t know, is that what he uses as cages for dangerous extraterrestrial beasts are not cages at all… but Zod knows their real purpose and exploits it.
There is a backup story that shows Clark, earlier, meeting with his business partner Cat Grant in order to find out how she got the information about the Superman/Wonder Woman romance. There is a two page montage showing a wide range of reactions, from the general public as well as their teammates, the gods and Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor.
Clark discovers that Cat’s scientist boyfriend is working on a device to make ordinary humans extraordinary, because they need to ensure that the super humans don’t eventually take over. He shares Lex Luthor’s perspective.
I know there are going to be those Wonder Woman fans– a group that is often offended or let down by DC and its creators’ handling of her– who will feel that this issue lives up to their initial pessimism when this title was first announced. Wonder Woman gets very few scenes and the issue focuses mainly on Superman. And so far, all they’ve done is fight Superman villains. It’s all a bit one sided.
Not only that, but this title continually pulls this Wonder Woman away from Brian Azzarello’s. Charles Soule squeezes in as many references to the events in her title book as he can, but unfortunately the Wonder Woman in this series and in ‘Justice League’ are simply not the same character as the one appearing in her own book. It’s not enough to make me angry, but I can’t deny a bit of frustration.
Moving on, the writing on this book is very good. The dialogue fits each character. Zod’s duplicity is well depicted. The backup story is fun.
The art on both stories is also quite good. Tony S. Daniel, who drew the first part, has an edgier style which fits the more action-oriented story, while Paulo Siquera has a softer style, which is fitting as most of the second story takes place at a laid back party. And though not as rough, I can see Howard Chakin’s influence on Siquera’s style.
So in all, this was a good issue. The dialogue is quite strong and the art is really appealing. It has its faults but in the larger scheme of things, those may be corrected.
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #4
Written by Charles Soule
Pencils by Tony S. Daniel and Paulo Siqueira
Cover by Daniel
