Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #24

Batman/Superman World's Finest #24 came out last week and was just an absolutely wonderful issue. 

Throughout this arc I have worried that somehow the events of this issue would, in my mind, impact the Kingdom Come world. And indeed, it is hard to know how the JLA that is in this story and witnessed what Magog does here would somehow allow him to go on his bloody purge in that Elseworlds.

But here is the deal. 

I don't care.

Because this issue shows why Mark Waid is such a great writer. It shows why he understands what heroes in comics are supposed to do, supposed to say, supposed to act. I grew up reading heroes who had ethics and morality, who didn't cross lines, who inspired. In this book I get to read that Batman and that Superman again. And even though we see the murkiness of Magog's character, the story ends with hope. 

The story is only raised by the stupendous work of Dan Mora. I have sung Mora's praise this whole book. This issue includes a tremendous brawl, double page spreads, homages to the legendary work of Alex Ross. It all just sparkles with life and energy and emotion. 

I'll still read Kingdom Come as a stand alone story. But I'll appreciate this story too.

On to the issue.

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #23

Batman/Superman World's Finest #23 came out last week, the penultimate chapter of the Kingdom Come storyline Mark Waid has been crafting. And therein lies the conundrum, one I have trumpeted throughout the arc.

Mark Waid and Alex Ross created Kingdom Come back in 1996. It is a masterpiece, an Elseworld's possible future, a sacred comic text. I love Kingdom Come, one of those stories that I go to and reread frequently. 

Now in World's Finest, the Earth-0 World's Finest head to that world and have a rollicking adventure, exposing the world to the multiverse, fighting their doppelgangers, and battling Gog. 

How can this story have taken place and the events of Kingdom Come unfold the way it did? Can such a major incursion from the multiverse, a discussion about Magog's origins, and a cliffhanger with a major DC baddie not impact that story-telling?

Now, in and of itself, this story is fun. The plot twist that Waid brings to Gog is great and completely unexpected. Seeing our World's Finest pairs team up to fight the big bad is fun and cool. And that cliffhanger! Add to the the standard excellent Dan Mora art and you have a winner.

Mora brings in some Earth-22 sensibility to an action packed fight issue. What I like the best is his warping his lines and stylizing his art as the madness increases. Brilliant stuff.

Still ... how can Kingdom Come remain Kingdom Come? Is some time travel erasure in our future?

On to the book.

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #10

Batman/Superman World's Finest #10 came out this week, the penultimate chapter of the Boy Thunder storyline. 

I'll start out by saying this issue ends with a doozy of a twist and a cliffhanger. As I have said before, when you surprise a grizzled comic reader like me and you surprise me in a good way, that is a victory. I did not expect what I saw and I loved it.

That said, the last page is probably the best part of the issue. I expect a lot from this book. From the first issue, writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora have been hitting it out of the park. Every issue has been just about perfect. That's hard to maintain. This issue just didn't sizzle the way the others have.  Maybe it is my Joker fatigue?

Dan Mora continues to shine but this is also a bit rougher than I am used to seeing his stuff here. It's funny. I have seen Mora churning out cover after cover which just glitter on the rack. I love his work. Perhaps all that is impacting things?

I don't always buy the expensive variants but I loved this one by Brandon Peterson and so spent a little bit too much for it. Love the trading card look and that Supergirl is present.

On to the book.

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #17

Superman/Wonder Woman #17 came out this week and I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this issue. Because, in some ways, this was the strongest issue of the run ... until an utterly ridiculous ending complete undoes any good will that happened.

This title has always teetered on being dropped by me. Part of the problem has been my complete lack of comprehension about the romance between the characters. It just has never been presented in a way that makes me understand what these two would see in each other romantically. And, on top of that, Diana has never really been shown in a positive manner either. In particular, under current writer Peter Tomasi, she has been a weird mix of shrew and Stepford wife.  But people told me that Tomasi often takes some time to warm up to characters and I should be patient.

Finally, in this issue, we get a smart, strong Diana who is shown in a very positive light. This is Diana's story, not Superman's. And, as I was reading this, the riff of Etta James' 'At last' was going through my brain. At last ... at last ... a Wonder Woman I could read!

But then, just as I was about the belt out 'You are miiiinnnnneeee ... at last!', this terrible ending was tacked on, an ending that reminded me of one of my issues with this New DC, it's complete lack of Lois. And suddenly, the mood of the book was broken. And I was back to thinking "is this the issue that makes me finally drop this book".

The art on the issue is very good this issue. Ed Benes and Doug Mahnke split duties but the whole book looks sharp especially the action sequences.

Last issue, Superman and Wonder Woman were whisked away to Circe's stronghold. There Diana was set upon by Circe's ani-men. Superman was then bewitched by Circe, becoming her slave and changing the game.

But things aren't completely settled on Earth. Magog, who had been depowered last issue, is being taken to an ARGUS lab to be vivisected. This new DCU is so grim.

So in some ways, I was happy to see him repowered. At least he isn't carved up! But that does mean he is on the loose running amok again.

All of this is a set-up by Circe to force Diana to make a difficult choice.

If she truly cares for the people of Earth, Diana should fly through an open portal back to Earth to stop Magog from trashing a city and killing people.

If she truly loves Superman, Diana will stay here and fight Circe before her control over Superman becomes complete.

Remember, Circe holds a grudge against the Amazons for a slight by Hippolyta. Maybe Circe feels that making Diana make this difficult choice will force her to compromise her Amazon ideals and ethics, showing that Hippolyta and the Amazons aren't superior? But this seems a bit cerebral.

And yet, this decision leads to a great Diana moment!

Wonder Woman doesn't delay a second in deciding. There is nothing difficult. She knows that her duty lies in protecting the people of Earth. Without delay, she flies to Earth to battle Magog.

Given prior missteps with Diana, I worried that there would be some weird inner dialogue about how her love for Superman is so powerful that she can't bear to leave him. I wondered if Diana might even beg Circe to stop this plan. I worried ...

So to see this play out in this manner was fantastic. Perfect.

Now I know this is going to sound silly. But I love the image of super-heroes battering supervillains using a bus as a bludgeoning weapon. It is absolutely one of my favorite image motifs in comics.

So to see Diana force feed this tourist bus to Magog, it made me smile.

Is it weird that I like this visual so much?

It turns out that Diana didn't just abandon Superman. In prior continuity, holding on to Diana's lasso has helped Superman focus. We saw this in the Doomed storyline.

So before she left Circe's realm, she dropped her lasso onto the ground. Superman is doing his best to fight off Circe's spell. And luckily, during the time Circe is trying to completely entrance him, Superman's fingers touch the lasso. It's magic allows him to break the spell and get control of himself.

Now this is a comic book, so you have to take this with a grain of salt. Superman might not ever touch it. Circe might have noticed Diana dropping it. There are all sorts of ways this plan wouldn't work. But you can't think too hard about these things.

I focused on the simple fact that Diana used the wisdom of Athena to solve an insolvable problem, helping both the people of Earth and the man she loves.

Free of her control, Superman begins to fight Circe's forces and then flies through the portal to head back to Earth.

Circe ultimately has to admit defeat. This psychological attack against the combined Diana/Clark duo won't work. She has underestimated them.

I don't know if I understand why Circe would plot in this way to gain her revenge. But I do like that she has to admit that Diana is made of stronger stuff.

Now throughout the issue we see Diana beating the snot out of Magog. It really is a beautifully drawn and choreographed fight. I really would have loved for her to defeat him on her own.

Still, I suppose that part of this arc was to show that Superman and Wonder Woman are stronger together than they are individually. That their love is powerful. So this synchronized finishing blow is a nice panel.

Now I will say again that I don't understand the attraction between these two. And this action-heavy issue doesn't have the time to show us why.

But at least ... at least ... we got to see them working together. And we got a Diana who was written in a decent way. At this point of the issue, I was actually happy. I wondered if maybe this was some turning point for the book. That maybe finally Tomasi felt comfortable enough with Diana to write her properly.

Maybe I wouldn't drop the book ...

But then we get the end scene.

Diana has decided to become a writer ... a reporter ... to better connect to people.

After all, it makes sense for Superman to be in love with a dark-haired reporter. Right??

I have tried to tolerate the whole 'Lois in the background' aspect of Superman comics these days. I have tried. But this seems silly. It seems like a kick to the gut for Lois fans. It's like DC is trying to force people to accept this romance so they are shoving into a form people are more comfortable with. And Diana becoming a sort of Lois is too obvious. It even undermines this relationship. If they want this Kal/Diana relationship to be the new norm, they should try to make it feel fresh.

By the way, I don't know if her schedule as Amazon, hero, and God of War can accommodate even a freelance job.

And so this tacked on 2 page scene just undid everything that happened before it. The good will I was feeling about Diana and the title evaporated. I'll say it again, this seems silly.

Maybe Convergence is the perfect 'jump-off point'.

Overall grade:C- (but it could have been a B+/A)

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #16

Superman/Wonder Woman #16 came out last week. This book has always been teetering on being dropped off my pull list. And this issue took it one baby step closer to the axe. I have been trying to give the new team of writer Peter Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke time to get settled and a feel for the two stars. I have been trying to see if they can make sense of this relationship. But so far, this first arc with Clark and Diana fighting Circe and Magog has been a bit of a mess. The super-villain plot seems even more inane than most super-villain plots. And the relationship seems even odder than it did before. It makes even less sense here than it did under Soule.

While the relationship remains an enigma, Tomasi has a decent handle on the characters when they act solo. His Superman reads true, almost too immaculate. His Wonder Woman is in synch with the Azzarello continuity and acts like a God here.

The art is split between Doug Mahnke and Ed Benes. Mahnke's stuff is strong throughout with the usual flair of action and expressiveness. But the art win for this issue is the Francis Manapul Harley Quinn variant cover. Just beautiful.

My biggest issue with this arc has been the inclusion of Magog.

It just feels forced.

First off we have his origin as a young boy whose family got killed in the Apokolips invasion from Justice League #1. We saw much of this last issue. So to devote 3 more pages to it seems like a bit of wasted space. I don't think this added much more to his backstory than last issue's piece.

Second, how young is this David. He looks about 8 here. That would make him 13 now. But he seemed more like 18 when he was Wonderstar. And as Magog he looks full grown.

Am I being nit-picky about trying to wrap my head around his origin/age?

Remember, last issue ended with Superman stuck holding a bridge's cables to keep it intact while Wonder Woman faces off with Circe. 

But the inclusion of Magog here, first as Wonderstar, is hard to comprehend. Circe talks about how she uses a complicate spell to make David into Wonderstar so he could get close to Superman and Diana. Then she could drop the glamour to make him Magog.

Why the complicated spell and subterfuge? He was Wonderstar for a nanosecond! Circe isn't exactly stealthy in her appearance or attack. Why not just make David into Magog and show up to battle?

This overly complex origin and insertion into the story seems too weighty for the story. Maybe if Wonderstar was in the book for half a year before the reveal I might feel like Circe was biding her time. But this seems off to me.

Wonder Woman is encased in stone and teleported away by Circe so the sorceress can have her revenge. Meanwhile Magog just hammers away on Superman who has to take it because he is in the iron cross position holding up the bridge by the severed cables.

Here was the one panel that made me interested in Magog. He looks at Superman as the villain of his story. Magog is the hero in his own story. That reversal of perspective (mixed with the great scowl by Mahnke) is interesting.

We then get a hint of what has to be the next arc after this one.

Whoever loosed the Atomic Skull and Major Disaster wants them sprung. Behind his wall of screens, he sends Multiplex (I think) to free them.

It has to be the Calculator. But why is he gunning for Superman and Wonder Woman.

Hmmm ... will this keep me buying this title?

After spending the first half of the book being pounded on while holding up the bridge, Magog finally gets close enough to get kicked and heat visioned. This let's Superman fix the bridge and become more than scenery.

Nice display of power here by Mahnke. And the 'stay down' command works here.

We have no history with this Circe so it is up the Tomasi to fill us in with a bit of villain monologuing exposition.

Remember the controversial aspect of Azzarello's Wonder Woman? That part where Amazons get pregnant by seducing sailors, then kill the sailors? That part where if the baby is a male they would kill them until Hephaestus made a deal to use the baby boys as workers in his forge in exchange for weapons?

Yeah. Not a high point of that series.

Anyways, Circe offered a similar deal. She'd give weapons to the Amazons and then use the male babies as part of her ani-men army. Hippolyta actually agreed to that! But then squelched on the deal and went with the Hephaestus one instead.

Boy, that paints Hippolyta in an even worse light than before! I thought that would be impossible!

But this slight has angered Circe forever! Is it a strong enough reason to harbor an infinite axe to grind?

I will say that I collected the Azzarello Wonder Woman and liked it. I read it as an Elseworlds Diana and found it tight and consistent. I don't know if I want that Diana as the main DCU one. But here we are.

At least Tomasi acknowledges that history. Wonder Woman shatters her bonds and stands there unbowed before Circe. She is the God of War. She is above the Circe/Hippolyta feud. She is part of Olympus now.

That is a great panel.

So does it make sense for Circe to take on the God of War? Wouldn't she be worried about the wrath of the rest of the Gods?

In his fight with Magog, Superman snapped Magog's staff in half. That teleports Superman to Circe's stronghold. And since he is a man and vulnerable to magic, he quickly succumbs to her magic. Circe decides what better way to test Diana than to have her battle someone she loves.

I'll give Mahnke his proper respect. This is a great splash page.

I highlighted to panels and parts of the book I liked. But overall I continue to have some problems with this issue and arc. The pages devoted to Magog's origin, the almost unnecessary Wonderstar subplot, Circe's motivation, the idea that Circe would attack the pantheon, and even Superman literally hanging around for some of the issue ... it just puzzled me.

Oveall grade: C/C-

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #15

Superman/Wonder Woman #15 came out this week and it highlighted some of my issues with this title and this romance. I have talked several times here about how Superman/Wonder Woman has teetered on the brink of being dropped. It has been saved by the superior art. And the promise of something great by Tomasi and Mahnke had made me a bit optimistic about the title.

Now all along I have had issues trying to understand why Clark and Diana are together as a couple. There hasn't been much that has made me feel that they are in love with each other ... or even understand each other. This issue really drives that viewpoint home. And maybe that is Tomasi's intention ... to strain the relationship to see if it will survive. Unfortunately, the way this comes through is with pretty shabby treatment of Diana. Here she is in full warrior mode, not one scrap of the classic ambassador Diana seen at all. And it was the odd, haphazard characterization of Diana last issue that I had issues with.

I guess you could say I have had issues with Diana's characterization since the New 52.

I suppose that I will need to see how this turns around in this arc, if Tomasi is able to stabilize this relationship, or turn it on its head. But I truly wish I could read a Wonder Woman in the main universe that I can get behind.

The art here is split between Doug Mahnke and Ed Benes. That doesn't bode well for me staying here. Mahnke's art was a big draw for me. If he can't keep up, this will be on even shakier ground.

The issue starts with the 'origin' of this version of Wonderstar/Magog.

Five years ago his family was killed in the Apokolips invasion that resulted in the formation of the JLA. Rather than blame Darkseid or move past his grief, 'David' lets it fester until it becomes an unnatural hatred for Superman and Wonder Woman. He feels they should have moved the battle away from the city.

Tomasi has already flashed back to this time in this arc, that time from the perspective of the heroes. We saw Superman trying to save people while Diana was on the attack. So it is a nice device to flash back again from a different perspective. But given the first flashback, it does paint Diana a bit darker.

The 'take the fight elsewhere' defense might work in 'Man of Steel' where Superman was fighting Zod. But this was an invasion. It is doubtful that the parademons could be led away.

The 'unknown' villain from last issue, the one who vowed revenge on Hippolyta, is pulling the strings here and uses a rare 'fusion stone' to link elemental energy to a human body. And, as an added wrinkle, she decides to erase David's memories. And thus we have Wonderstar/Magog.

Look, I can't comprehend comic book magic but the memory erasure seems like a little bit of a forced plot element to make the mystery of Wonderstar happen. And since that mystery ended so quickly, I don't know why we even needed this wrinkle.

Powered by magic, Magog is more than capable of mixing it up with our heroes. Magog stabs Superman with his spear and tosses Supes into a nearby lake.

Wonder Woman responds accordingly, attacking him while saying she doesn't care who Magog is or why he is doing what he is doing.

Now taken in a vacuum, Diana's response makes sense. Superman has been gutted. She would probably want to subdue first and ask questions later. But we have had three years of Diana being the warrior first, never giving a damn, and always punching and stabbing. So this moment doesn't have the impact it should. I simply no longer expect her to care.

Of all the panels in the book, this is the one that struck me the most. Magog briefly overpowers both heroes and flies off into the city to make the heroes feel 'a true sense of loss'.

When they recover, Superman says that he and Diana need to head to the city to save the people Magog is jeopardizing. Diana disagrees. He should save the people. She needs to be the God of War and 'handle things quickly'.

She is right to note that the two dance around her title. Superman isn't a war monger. He hates war. So how can he love the god of war. And Diana is a slash-first hero these days.  In other words, how could these two be attracted to each other? How could this be a healthy relationship?

Does this romance make sense? Has it ever?

And then to drive the point home, Wonder Woman speeds by two cars filled with people that had been thrown off a bridge by Magog. She had faith that Superman was behind her and could catch them both.

It just feels a little callous to me.

But it gets even worse. Magog slices through the suspension holding the bridge up requiring Superman to hold on to the both ends, basically taking him out of the fight. If he left, the bridge would fall killing the people in the cars still on it. But rather than help him, Wonder Woman continues to brawl with Magog. She has faith that Superman will hold things up while she finishes off Magog. That, again, seems wrong.

And with things at a standstill, the 'mystery villain' Circe shows up with a horde of demons.

Sigh.

I have never understood this relationship. And these three issues by Tomasi have really shown me why I don't think it works. This especially true given the Diana character in the New 52 and especially in this arc. I can't imagine that Superman understands or agrees with anything she did here.

To be honest, I think Diana has been treated pretty shabbily by Tomasi. She has been all over the map emotionally and seems ultra-violent. This isn't a Wonder Woman I would want to read.

I really liked the Doug Mahnke art but the Ed Benes stuff seems a bit rough. Their styles aren't complementary making this a tough read.

I guess I'll give this title until the end of the arc. And then I'll make a decision about moving forward.

Overall grade: C-

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #14

Superman/Wonder Woman #14 came out this week and was something of an improvement to the inaugural issue by the new creative team of Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Last month was something of an uneven mess when looking at the relationship between Clark and Diana. This issue the mystery of WonderStar takes center stage which means the awkward interactions between the two are at a minimum. That's a good thing.

If there is one thing to applaud about the issue is the pace at which the story moves along. A major revelation occurs on the last page which moves things forward significantly. In the new comics world, I am surprised this happened here and not at the end of next issue.

And the interaction between our heroes feels more natural, although it is strictly in the context of battle.

Still, there were a couple of places that still felt a little clunky. I am interested in reading other people's reactions.

Art-wise, Mahnke always impresses me. I really like his stuff and this book is no exception.

Lastly, my apologies about the quality of pics here. My scanner is on the fritz. Thus, panels are camera pics. And thanks to The Nerdist for the cover pic.

The issue starts with an unknown foe talking about how she will get revenge on Wonder Woman for past transgressions by Hippolyta. We see the eye of the foe, burning like Sauron, talking about painfully remove Wonder Woman from the world.

Okay, we know from future solicits that this is Circe. Too bad because this would have been a good mystery.

But it is the dialogue here which read a little weird to me. It starts out with the line 'what is it with women?'. And then Circe talks about how men are ruled by a handful of emotions while women are fickle, as apt to love as they are to fight. It just read wrong.

And maybe it is supposed to. Maybe Circe has wonky thoughts about gender.

We then head back to Superman, Wonder Woman, and WonderStar wrapping up their battle with Atomic Skull and Major Disaster.

There is this 'aw shucks' earnestness about Wonderstar who says he hopes to be trained by 'his heroes' and wants to help people. Even he knows in this cynical age that it is unlikely that Superman and Wonder Woman will believe him.

So he takes them to the first place he remembers, a massive crater he crawled out of with his beliefs in his heroes and desire to help.

Magic? Time travel? Both?

This lack of true memory is intriguing.

Before the three can talk more, they fly off to stop another bunch of super-villains. Mammoth (who I recognize) has teamed up with someone named Debutante (looking like she is heading to the cotillion) and someone named Crash (looks like a crash test dummy). They talk about getting their powers from someone ... but who? Circe again?

Debutante talks like a stereotypical spoiled little rich girl gold-digger ... which sounds odd and again a bit off. She talks of always letting money and fun blind her. She says that no one should get between a woman and her shopping money. And then she yells that no one breaks a date with her.

I don't know ... I felt uncomfortable reading those lines, even from a super-villain. Am I overreacting?

During the fight, Diana actually needs to rescue WonderStar, using her magic lasso to grab him and move him out of danger. And she uses that opportunity to do a psychological screening of him. Hmmm ... is this a new power for the lasso? Is that a reach of what it should do?

I do like that Diana planned this, making it happen at a time where 'Star couldn't shield his thoughts.

He is a blank slate, a void, without any clear feelings of malice. And he actually thinks the plan to scan him is cool! Who is he??

I have spoken of Mahnke's art and how much I love it.

This was my favorite panel of the book with the three heroes punching out Mammoth once and for all.

Look! They all have a pretty good left hook!

We do touch upon the Clark/Di relationship once in the book. Wonderstar marvels at their love for each other, obvious in how they interact. (Funny, I have never felt that way.)

But Clark and Diana's responses are different.

Diana looks subtly thrilled to hear this. Meanwhile, Superman is irked that someone is talking about their private lives.

I wish this relationship felt natural and seemed obvious. I have never been able to wrap my head around what the two see in each other that led to romance.

But I said there was a revelation at the end.

Without warning, Wonderstar loses control of himself, talking in another voice, screaming threats, and thrashing Wonder Woman and Superman. And then he morphs into Magog.

Ugh ... Magog.

So who is he in the New 52? The Kingdom Come Magog? The JSA Magog? Someone new?

And was he actually Wonderstar transformed?

Okay, I am sick of Magog and wish he stayed in Kingdom Come and was never seen again. But I will admit this was a decent cliffhanger. We only met Wonderstar at the end of last issue. And now we already know who he really is. That is a quick pace for comics. So I am not complaining.

So some awkward moments. Some good battle scenes. A nifty strategy by Diana. Magog. And slick Mahnke art. We are getting better ... but aren't quite there.

Overall grade: C