"We are each other's shelter from the storm."
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #6

One day I walked into a library and my eyes fell on a book called Kingdom Come. I picked it up and to my surprise it was a comic book...or rather as I later learned, a graphic novel. But I saw beautifully painted panels and heroes that I recognized from my childhood who seemed ...well, grown up. I borrowed that book and I was moved and fascinated by, not only the story of men and women who are great heroes, but by they way they showed their humanity. They suddenly were not two dimensional people who just fought bad guys. They were deeply complex. I love books and reading on the whole and I guess getting into the comic genre as an adult woman was a case of serendipity. It led me to finding DC comics and the heroes I grew up with on TV and saw in movies and newsprint. It led me to finding Clark Kent or as he is known by his other name, Kal-El, and Princess Diana. I fell in love with them and am obsessed with all things Amazonian and Kryptonian now. I love their relationship. I love what they stand for. I love the contrasts of the princess/farmer's son; reporter/ambassador; pragmatic warrior/idealistic protector and empathetic teacher/enforcer of justice. A girl born of the earth and a boy who fell from the sky. The first daughter of Themyscira and last son of Krypton. And it surprised me to find that there were many fans like me, who adore them too.

DC rebooted their universe in 2011 and my favorite pairing is now canon!!! Yay.



Disclaimer : Superman and Wonder Woman are the property of DC comics.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

SM/WW by Ribbons of Ebony

New Page Added: Perfect Partners

A new page has been added to show case any figures/stature/art/craft that show case the couple as a pair.

The Princess and the Reporter

Meejay7 is one of my favorite artists. She is a fellow Superman/Wonder shipper and she has enormous talent. Her art is so realistic and full of emotion and she has done some beautiful pieces of our couple. I have an especial fondness for Clark and Diana in their civilian identities, not only visually but concept of the reporter/ambassador and farmboy/princess playing off each other. I find it infinitely more interesting than Lois and Clark. There is so much potential here that DC have not even begun to mine. I have always explored them from this angle as well as them being heroes and it is amazing how they seem to gel. Meejay has done several pieces based off fan fiction and I am going to showcase some of my favorite ones. The Princess and The Reporter was among my first stories and I adore this image so much. Even out of costume they are iconic and they look so well together.



Diana Prince and Clark Kent by

Meejay7



The Princess and the Reporter can be read in its entirety here.
http://www.supermanwonderwomanfanarchive.com/princessandreporter1.html

Kingdom Come

DC rushed to get Lois and Clark married to tie into the TV series in 1996 and irony of all ironies, Kingdom Come made its mark upon the world that year too. Everyone knows by now it was a commercial and critical success. All single issues sold extremely well and the graphic novel continues to be a perennial best seller. DC has mined this story for many plots and characters in current canon. It also has its own earth, Earth-22, in the current Multiverse. Kingdom Come was originally an Elseworld title, with a middle aged Superman and Lois Lane was dead. Two huge changes that actually did more for Superman as a relatable character to people who never got him than many other stories put together. Alex Ross' art played a major part in making this series because of the emotion and realism he was able to convey. The original concept was also his idea. But DC needed a writer to compliment Ross. This is where Mark Waid came in. The collaboration was not always an easy one, as they both had firm ideas about what they wanted but they both loved the subject matter and what they did produce was pure gold.

Kingdom Come is a look at a possible future of the DCU. It is really what happens when the world changes and two generations come into conflict with each other. Can our heroes bridge the gap? And can they evolve and change to fit the times without compromising their principles? Sometimes we all need to grow up. To me, this is what Kingdom Come is about. It's great art and great prose. It is the Return, the third step in the Hero's Journey. It is political commentary. Its themes can be applied to the world today. Not every opponent or rival in the world is all evil and everyone has a point of view. We do what we must for the greater good but who decides that? Do we appoint ourselves as the world's judge, jury and executioner or work with each other? You want to read a simple book with good guys fighting bad ones and everyone looking like pretty clones of each other? Then this book is not for you.


Superman is older and world weary and he has lost some of his human touch stones. He retires because he thinks the world does not want or need him. But, in fact, we find that they do. Desperately. He also learns this as well and that he has more to offer still, and his work and life would have only just begun. The same applies to the other heroes, like Wonder Woman and Batman. They all sort of come full circle and find themselves again even as they had temporarily lost sight of what they believed in. Even heroes can become tired and disillusioned because heroes are reflections of us looking in at ourselves as we try to do our best and sometimes we falter.




The book makes these titans seem flesh and blood. Larger than life but still humanly flawed like everyone of us. It shows that even the best of intentions sometimes can still lead to mistakes. And what makes up for it is the maturity to stand up and face your mistakes and make reparation. To never give up. It also has some of the best written sequences done for Captain Marvel. A character that largely gets left behind in today's climate of Superman and Batman as being the top dogs in comics.




Superman and Wonder Woman's romance is at the heart of this book. It lends a kind of relief in a world that at times seems so dark and devoid of hope. It shows the love of best friends finally finding each other and really, as emotional beings, we all have the propensity to love and live and be happy despite loss. If anything the gift of Clark's humanity is that life goes on and gets better. Also Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship is based off current canon. Whereby they have a romantic past and unresolved sexual tension. They are comrades in arms and close friends and do their share of supporting and disagreeing of and with each other. And so it should be with intellectual and physical equals. In Kingdom Come, the inevitable finally happens and the obstacles ( Lois, his own lack of self worth, their youth and inexperience, etc) finally have been overcome, and they start their love affair. Two mature adults who know each other very well, with none of the hangups and mind games we have and play in our youth. There has always been a tenderness and honesty in the relationship that super/wonder fans adore.

The Epilogue of the book is a gem by itself because it showcases Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman at their best. People who have a lot of love and trust for each other. Clark and Diana are a couple and they want to share a surprise with Bruce. But he already knows. They stun him back though by giving him the biggest compliment they could as a man and their friend. To be the godfather to their child. The book ends on a high note.Hope. Hope in the future. Hope in the new life and child that is going to possibly define the new generation. The child of Superman and Wonder Woman mentored by Batman. Can't get a better ending than that. Well, maybe The Justice Society of America # 22 by Ross and Johns which shows even more Kingdom Come scenes left us sighing in satisfaction even more. But that's for another time.

Superman,Wonder Woman and Krypto

Nothing more normal than walking the dog