The final set of comics for the week focuses on the Trinity and their continuing adventures. Action Comics tells the tale of two Lois Lanes; a new adventure kicks off in Detective Comics; and Wonder Woman continues to deal with Diana’s inability to find Paradise Island.
Action Comics 966
Written by Dan Jurgens
Pencils by Stephen Segovia
Inks by Art Thibert
The Superman comics begin to interconnect as the new Superwoman – the New 52 Lana Lang – confronts the pre-Flashpoint Lois Lane, who calls in her husband, Superman, to finally straighten out what is happening in the Super-books. Lana brings Lois and Clark up to speed on what’s happened to HER Lois and how she worried that the same could happen to her.
The confrontation with Lana – which thankfully didn’t turn into a throwdown and instead quickly became a conversation – leads Lois and Clark to agree, Lois will take her doppelgänger’s place at the Daily Planet, writing a book about the dead Superman and, apparently, doing a sit-down interview with Lex Luthor. And while Lois is back at the Planet, Clark will be up on the farm, splitting his time between saving the world as Superman and raising their son, Jon.
The scenes with Clark and Jon are absolutely great, as the Dad of Steel becomes more and more comfortable in the role. He is quickly becoming the kind of father that Jonathan and Martha Kent would be proud of, and it really is one of the best changes to the Superman mythos to come out of the Rebirth switch.
While the issue didn’t include much – if any – of the eponymous “Action,” but the story does set up the status quo for the future of the book. Lois at the Planet opens up a look into the changes between the pre-Flashpoint and New 52 eras and keeps the Rebirth Clark Kent mystery on the front lines. And we should have a good chunk of Action coming down the pike with Superwoman on the periphery. Plus, the looming threat at the end of the issue should promise more punches in the next issue.
Action Comics continues on its trajectory as a great new take on the Superman character and the Man of Steel is heartily reinvigorated from the mostly disappointing five years of the New 52 era.
Detective Comics 943
Written by James Tynion IV
Pencils by Alvaro Martinez
Inks by Raul Fernandez
Now that the “Night of the Monster Men” arc has ended, Detective Comics kicks off its new story arc, with a new threat introduced. “The Victim Syndicate” isn’t just the name of the new arc, it’s the name of the group that attacks Wayne Towers and – later – a charity ball for the Gotham City Police Department to issue their mission statement: Batman is the gravest villain Gotham has ever known, and they will take Batman out.
This, of course, probably won’t sit well with Batman or his team, although the team is still recovering from the apparent death of Red Robin Tim Drake at the end of the first arc, so they may not be up to the challenge of a superpowered group of villains.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, Batwoman keeps trying to get through to Batman to get him to deal with his grief issues… but considering he’s been repressing them since he was 8 years old and manifesting them as beatdowns on bad guys, maybe it’s to be expected that he has some unhealthy coping mechanisms… We also get a potential new member to Batwoman’s team – Luke Fox, the son of WayneTech CEO Lucius Fox, who is also Batwing. At the charity ball, Luke may out-playboy Bruce Wayne, and Batwoman offers her skepticism over whether he would fit in with the team. But nothing gets settled, because the Victim Syndicate attacks.
James Tynion IV provides another great opening act for him next story, with great art, and it’s encouraging that DC Comics is putting such great care into its two core characters.
Wonder Woman 9
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Liam Sharp
After defeating an evil god – turning him into a potted plant, apparently – and freeing Barbara Minerva from the curse of The Cheetah, Diana turns her focus back to the missing Themyscira and why she can’t find her way home. But first, Wonder Woman addresses the elephant in the room – her relationship with Steve Trevor.
Diana spent much of the five years of the New 52 in a relationship with Superman, and Trevor’s inclusion in the Justice League as a liaison for Argus was probably a constant thorn in Trevor’s side. And the crux of this issue sees Diana and Steve talk through the strain that developed in their relationship. With the New 52 Superman gone – and the pre-Flashpoint Superman married to Lois – Diana turns back to Steve. It was never really revealed what ended the relationship in the first place, but as has been typically with Rucka’s new run, nothing that came before really matters.
It’s OK, though, as this is probably the best issue of Wonder Woman Rucka has done since reclaiming the character, as it was a heartfelt examination of how Diana deals with relationships, both with Steve and with Barbara. The opening scene of the issue, with Diana taking her friend to a mall to get some new clothes was a sweet moment. It’s a scene referenced in the 75th Anniversary Special, which gives a little more insight to Diana’s way of thinking, but all you really need to know is what you see here – stepping out from her dealings with her friend to address the crowd of people who just wanted to see her in the mall.
I think, with this issue, Rucka got me back on board with where he’s going, and next month, it seems like we’ll see what happens when Diana is reconnected with the rest of the Amazons.