This week’s Weekly Wonder Woman gives us both a great, near-perfect issue of Superman/Wonder Woman – which is odd because they spend most of the issue apart – as well as a somewhat minor guest appearance by Diana in DC Universe v Masters of the Universe, about which little should be said other than at least it was better than the last one. More after the jump – and a clip from the forthcoming Justice League: War – where we discuss a decomposing Superman, an Amazon’s personal hygiene and the long-awaited return, in the British Museum on its 255th anniversary no less, of one of Wonder Woman’s oldest enemies.
Superman/Wonder Woman #4
Plot
We first meet Clark and Diana discussing the fact the whole world now knows about them thanks to Cat’s publishing of the photos last issue. This is, incidentally, probably after they’ve just had sex, judging by the fact Diana’s dressing herself. Which makes me wonder if Amazons don’t bother with showers after sex, they’ve already had showers or there’s something about DC Universe goddesses that rule out the need.
Supes returns to his Fortress of Solitude, where Zod has been trying to get Faora out of the Phantom Zone.
After tricking Supes into using a Phantom Zone lens, Zod uses the old ‘default PIN’ trick to get out of his jail – and Faora out of hers:
Meanwhile, in a second strip at the back of the issue, we get to see the world’s – and the gods’ – reaction to the revelation of Superman and Wonder Woman’s relationship, including an unhappy Apollo but happy Eros (although the idea that Apollo’s never been in love goes against not just myth in a big way, but September’s issue as well), a Steve Trevor convinced Wondy’s going to dump Supes because that’s the kind of gal she is, old-school Wonder Woman villain Angleman, and a very annoyed Hal Jordan:
In particular, Lex Luthor and Batman aren’t especially pleased:
And while Clark is trying to work out who leaked the images and we get a hint that maybe Cat’s boyfriend isn’t up to much good…
…Wonder Woman tries to work the stress out of her system by inspiring some girls and fighting with none other than Blue Snow Man!
Is it any good?
Really, there’s almost nothing to complain about it here, not with the writing or the artwork. It’s all great.
Although the surprisingly short A-strip gives us little Supes-Wondy time (and even implied sexy time), what there is is lovely and Superman’s dealings with Zod are well handled, with Wonder Woman’s constant narrative over the top of the action acting as a commentary on both the power couple’s relationship and the attitude the rest of the world, both in-comic and in the real world, is taking towards it. The arrival of Faora, who was the surprise character hit of Man of Steel, is welcome, even if she is now officially Zod’s girlfriend rather than an independent villainess, although this allows writer to Charles Soule to hold up another mirror to our hero and heroine’s relationship. Zod’s PIN trick is fun and clever at the same time, showing Superman’s relative inexperience at this point of the nu52 narrative. And we also get some insight into Clark and why he’s a journalist.
The B-strip, by contrast, gives both Clark and Diana some time to shine by themselves in the context of work. As with the A-strip, we get a contrast with Diana’s attitude towards the revelation of her relationship and her openness with Clark’s more closed nature and his desire for most things to be secret. But we also get individual character insights, with Diana hanging out with her friend and getting to fight to let off steam. We also get to see Diana’s relative inexperience as well, giving us the first nu52 example of a ‘Wonder Woman inspiration moment’ that was relatively common in volumes one to three…
…but showing us here that Diana’s not really used to being a role model or giving speeches – yet. It’s a great and even funny character touch.
Plus it’s wonderful to see not only classic Wonder Woman villain Blue Snow Man, in the British Museum, even in passing, but also Hal Jordan finally getting served for ‘Dibs’ by Barry Allen no less…
…turns out ‘You’re strong’ works better than ‘Dibs’.
Great work everyone.
Rating: 5/5
DC Universe versus Masters of the Universe #4
In what is essentially an issue purely there to watch the counterparts from each universe to fight one another – Moss Man versus Swamp Thing, Hawkman versus Stratos, etc – we only have a couple of Wonder Woman moments: Steve Trevor calling up Wonder Woman and her lasso for support and verification that Man At Arms and co aren’t baddies:
…something that never actually happens in the strip. And a flashback to Superman’s ‘death’ scene, because Batman’s worked out Superman’s not actually dead. Free the Eternia 5!
Still, that’s better than last time, hey?
Rating: 2/5
