Superman/Wonder Woman #6 Review

Wow, what an issue. You'll realize that since #1 Soule has been weaving a tapestry and all these threads he's been playing with has finally come together in a quite epic way. Nothing he has written before has been random. It just all suddenly fits. And ends with a bang and silence. Literally. And in the most bitter-sweet way.

Zod and Faora  has retrieved a phantom lens from a government  because they want to open the gateway to the Phantom Zone. While they do this Clark and Diana are dealing with the aftermath of their battle with the Kryptonian pair. Clark is a little concerned that his worry for Diana might affect the way he does his heroics. Even though he knows she can take care for herself, he is finding himself wanting to protect her. More than fighting the foe. Well, Clark, that's just another lesson to be learnt here. That's how it is when you are in a relationship. Diana surprisingly assures him that she does not believe being with him compromises her ability to do what she has to do as a hero. It seems she's answering her own question again from the last issues. "We are each other's shelter from the storm."

The pair then go visit Hephaestus to get help. Hephaestus gives them a little warning but Clark is not too worried. The smith is going to give them something to counter the super senses of Zod/ Faora.

Our pair are then able to sneak up undetected on Zod and Faora who are planning to let out an invading army to conquer the earth. Guess what they used? The invisible jet! And it has been updated. It seems it is what Hephaestus used as a "chariot" to travel the godly realms undetected. So another classic Wonder Woman component has been utilized by Soule in a cool way. Clark and Diana also are wearing this very organic looking armor when they face Zod and Faora. They launch into battle. And it's pretty brutal. Eventually Clark and Diana decide to use another tactic and it .has a lot to do with the armor they are wearing.

The armor apparently absorbs all the blows Clark and Diana took and then expels all the energy at once at Zod and Faora. This would seem to decide the battle but another player suddenly shows up. Egged on by another. Apollo and Strife. Apollo knows how to hold a grudge and Strife knows how to fan the flames. Apollo powers up the Kryptonians and seems he was the reason that Zod and Faora had mastered their powers so quickly. He was secretly powering them up.

This sudden surge in power means the battle swings. Zod and Faora brutally beats Superman and Wonder Woman until they can't move. Time however is of the essence and the window to the Phantom Zone will be missed. They dump the two heroes in an abandoned nuclear reactor. Thus battle takes place on an isolated island in the South Pacific by the way, so there are no humans around. The reactor is lead lined and the solar shielded. Clark cannot be healed quickly and there is radiation, so Diana will be slowly poisoned.

Clark and Diana are barely able to speak or move but they know they can't let Zod and Faora lead the alien armies onto earth. These next few pages basically is towards the end of the issue.

Diana's sword can split an atom. Clark can see atoms. This is the only way left to them to stop Zod and Faora. Then we have a significant moment in comics. Superman confesses his love for Wonder Woman. Diana knows.

Yeah that's a mushroom cloud. That's the bang I meant.

And this is the silence.

Never in my time reading comics have I ever choked up. Ever.  Here I did. With what could be his last act, Clark/Kal-El wraps his indestructible cape around the woman he loves.

5 out of 5 stars.

Bravo Soule and Daniel.

Superman/Wonder Woman #5 Review

This issue opens up with Diana on Themyscira and I have to say Tony S Daniel draws the most beautiful Diana in the new 52. Sorry Cliff Chiang. This Diana is regal, powerful and sexy. She has curves etc and to me that is embracing her femaleness. I get people complain about cheesecake but then you have the other extreme where all the sexuality of a woman is taken away to try to satisfy the uber feminists.  You don't have to draw someone with their chest flattened or their hips square and shoulder broad to show they are strong women.

Themysicra finally looks like a beautiful tropical island. The sky is blue and the sea sparkles and the vegetation is  lush and green. I finally can see the beauty that surrounded Diana as a child since the new 52. The island in other books look lackluster. Diana is struggling a little with her feelings. Not that she is not sure of them. But she is wrestling with the vulnerability it brings. She calls it weakness because of the Amazon upbringing. It is a man, and one who does not always think the way she does. It's a beautifully rendered scene with her and Hippolyta. I love how as she walks away, Hippolyta's hand is reaching as if to stop her.

Meanwhile, Clark and Zod are in battle while he rescues Faora from the Phantom Zone. Faora is understandably disorientated and  needs some time to recover. She manages to do it quickly. Diana also deals with a big monster escaped from Tatarus and uses her lasso to lock it behind Dooms Doorway. Yes! Charles Soule has brought back Dooms Doorway. He has given the new 52 Amazons a noble task of protecting the world from hell. It is very important because it shows that they are not just xenophobic savages. Diana we see also talked to her sisters as snakes. I always loved her animal empathy. I am hoping this is a sign of it.

Then we have both Faora and Zod double team Superman. They make it a point that he is strong but not trained. And they are kicking his ass. Diana is contacted by Cyborg eventually and told that the two Kryptoians are engaging Superman.  Instantly she responds. Charles Soule is clever showing us the answer to Diana's question here re; why should she worry for any man. Even Superman. Because when you are in love with someone, you just do. It's that simple.

And boy, when she arrives does she make it clear why. HE IS MINE.

She is such a badass in this issue. Clark even defers to her in terms of their strategy to deal with the Kryptonians because he recognizes her warrior training. But Zod is a soldier too and he deals with the situation strategically, while dislocating Clark's shoulder.He makes a deal with Diana.

Super issue. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Superman/Wonder Woman #4 Review

This issue is divided into two. The first explores Clark and Diana's reaction to the world knowing they are in a relationship and Clark dealing with Zod.

Again Soule shows the contrast between Clark and Diana. Clark is still not ready to deal with the invasion to their privacy while Diana is more pragmatic.

There is a great explanation why Clark needs to be Clark Kent and why he likes being a writer. Contrasting with that is Diana pov of just embracing who she is. She sees no reason to hide from the truth or hide from others. I think this is a great scene because when Diana asks herself in the narration, who was right, him or her? It shows that both are not wrong. It's just who they are right now and that their is room for growth and compromise. After all Clark can't hide behind glasses forever and Diana can't understand/empathize with  human weakness/insecurities unless she really tries to walk in our shoes a little. There is also some suggestion in this scene that they might have been intimate. I'd have preferred something more concrete. Simply allowing Clark to be shirtless would have done the trick. As it is, it felt one sided with Diana alone putting on, while Clark is dressed. Maybe they just hung out in Diana's apartment. If they are sleeping together, for goodness sakes they are young, healthy adults. No need to be coy about it.

Zod has gotten out of the containment cell Clark put him in and attempts unsuccessfully to fiddle with the security systems at the Fortress. How he's out we are not too sure, but he does not allow Clark to know he can come and go from the cell. Clark goes to check on Zod and they talk . Zod is really quite sly, trying to milk info from Clark.  In the end he fools Clark intro bringing the Phantom Zone lens and then he stuns Clark by coming out of his cell. Turns out it is not a cell but a shipment container and only needed a Kryptonian password to activate it. A result of Clark knowing little about his own heritage. Zod attacks by letting out all the exotic creatures out of their cells to attack Clark. He uses the lens to break Faora out of the Phantom Zone.

The second half shows world reaction to their relationship and it's pretty hilarious. From Hal Jordan's to Batman's to Lex Luthor. Clark also goes check out Cat to find more about how she got this story etc. We meet Cat's boyfriend. Aaron Lord. Any relationship to Max Lord? Cat's pretty happy obviously and tries to get Clark to not look at a gifted horse in the mouth. Diana, meanwhile, works off some stress with Hessia and decides she need s break. She decides to pay a visit to Themyscira.

This issue moves the story along but it does feel like too short a read because of the divide in the stories. But it has humor and action and beautiful art. One thing this comic is doing is fleshing out Diana as a young woman in a holistic way. In her own title she lacks sparkle and here we are seeing that. The moment where she talks to the children is a very superhero like moment we don't really get to see in her own book.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars.