The issue after the kiss that was heard around the world. Everyone wondered, what happens next? Do they date etc? Well, we start off at the kiss itself. They are in mid air this time, having floated from the rooftop. They draw apart and both stare at each other. Diana seems almost stunned and Clark tries to speak...perhaps to discuss what just happened between them. Diana seems unable to deal with it and she takes off before he could say or do anything else. Left alone, he stares after her, and one could feel the intensity of the moment.
Five days later we see Diana fighting the Cheetah. Diana is trying to get through to her, offering to help free her and make her human again. But the Cheetah does not want that. She is contemptuous of humanity and Diana's naivety. Because Diana is not using full force, the Cheetah gets to knock her out. It's odd she does not harm Diana any further and it does show that the Cheetah is holding out on some odd chance that Diana would join her as an ally. She believes Diana is drawn to violence because of the way she was reared.
Later in the Watchtower Diana, Superman, Cyborg, and the Flash discuss what took place while Batman and Aquaman go to check on Steve Trevor, who looks as if he aged overnight. We learn a bit more about the origins of the Cheetah. Her name is Barbara Minerva and she was the first friend Diana made. Diana also is trying very hard to avoid dealing with Superman but he keeps showing her how perceptive he can be.
We find out Barbara worked with Diana and Steve. She identified and cataloged artifacts in The Black Room at A.R.G.U.S. She was cut by a ritual dagger from a lost tribe in the Amazon and became possessed by the Goddess of the Hunt. We see enormous empathy for Diana on Superman's face as she explains what happened to Barbara. He must understand the guilt she feels when harm comes to her friends.
The League wants to help Diana but she refuses. Not out of ingratitude or stubborness but because she does not want to involve anymore friends into anything that she sees as her problem. Superman requests Barry and Vic to leave the room to speak to her alone.
Diana tries to be all pragmatic but Superman very tactfully and gently tells her that he wants to help and why he wants to help. His expression speaks volumes as well. Diana tries to make the kiss into something that just happened but once again Clark takes her by surprise. He gets her to admit she liked the kiss too but she insists they have other responsibilities to focus on. While they talk Flash and Cyborg stand outside. Barry thinks Clark is mad at Diana because she kicked him in the face in public and he's very curious to know what they're talking about. Cyborg can hear them, even though he tries not to but he does not give anything away. There's a nice moment of bonding between him and Barry and finally some nice characterization to Victor. It helps the reader to relate to the difficulty of being mostly a machine for this young man.
Superman, with the help of Cyborg and Flash, gets Diana to relent and see that accepting help is something friends do for each other. Batman and Aquaman leave Steve who clearly seems to be harbouring some guilt over the way he ended things with Diana. To me it seems clear that Steve and Diana were doomed to end and one can see the clear differences between Steve and Clark in the way they deal with Diana. Steve railed at and blamed her solely while Clark shows patience and empathy.
The team go to the Congo to look for the Cheetah and once there she ambushes them. She is definitely amped up in power and speed this continuity to take them all by surprise. And she shrewdly goes for the most powerful in the group. I'm not sure if she targets him because she senses he means something to Diana as well. I assume because the place is magical and Superman is vulnerable to magic, she could sneak up on him, breach his armor and skin.
This issue was paced very well. And loved the way Johns took readers by surprise and dealt with the kiss and the budding relationship. It is at a stage whereby we don't know what will happen. We know Superman seems to be willing to face what he's feeling but then he is more experienced than Diana. She is very hesitant and she is an Amazon as well. She probably does not want to get close to anyone after Steve and Barbara and Amazons are not exactly known to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Tony Daniel, who took over from Jim Lee, was able to portray the intense attraction and sexual tension between Clark and Diana, as well as do some great looking art. The League are also beginning to act like a team. Finally.
There is a back up with Steve Trevor meeting up with Green Arrow and they are going to start their own team.
I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars simply because the main stories always feel too short and those backups always seem to take away precious panel time.
Best Panel: I couldn't put up just one panel. It had to be this entire page. Clark and Diana are smoldering together. I swear she was going to go towards him. It looks like from her one step she thought about it.
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