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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman/Wonder Woman Comics

Superman/Wonder Woman #14 Superman/Wonder Woman #14

Superman/Wonder Woman #14

Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 24, 2014

Cover date: February 2015

"All That Burns"

Writer: Peter Tomasi
Penciller: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza, Norm Rapmund, Christian Alamy and Don Ho

Michael Bailey Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge



Superman/Wonder Woman #14 After dealing with the clean-up and the authorities from the fight at the power plant Superman and Wonder Woman escort Wonderstar away from the scene. Wonderstar tells them that they were right to get him away from there as he is not fully in control of his powers yet. He leads them to the crater where he woke up with his abilities, his uniform and a desire to help people based on the example of Superman and Wonder Woman. Suddenly he hears people in trouble and flies off. Superman and Wonder Woman follow and decide to give the newcomer a little latitude. Wonderstar leads the assault on the villains holding up the New York Federal Reserve. They take down the villains and later have pizza outside the Palisades near New York City. Wonderstar steps over some personal boundaries before starting to speak cryptically. Suddenly his powers erupt uncontrollably. Superman and Wonder Woman try to restrain him but Superman is stabbed in the back by a trident that flies in through a portal that opened behind him. Wonderstar grabs the trident, which changes his uniform. He stands over Superman and Wonder Woman and reveals that he is Magog and that he is here to save the world from the two of them.

4Story - 4: I have to admit that the ending to this story was unexpected. Given how contemporary comics work "the secret of Wonderstar" is something that would normally be dragged out at least six month. By revealing who he is in the second chapter was refreshing and gives the overall story a much faster pace than I have become used to.

Overall this was a fun issue. While there was plenty of action Tomasi is still packing in the character with fun little asides and some great dialogue. Some of it, particularly that of Debutante and the shadowy character from the first page, could be seen as a little sexist on both sides of the aisle but I don't think that was the writer's intent. Debutante screaming that no one should get between a woman and her shopping money was a comedy beat, not an indictment on women in general. The diatribe in the beginning about how weak men are in comparison to women was a character moment not a treatise on relations between the sexes. At least that's how I saw them. I never asked Tomasi and I can't read minds from a distance so I am going to give the man the benefit of the doubt that he's trying to write an entertaining story and doesn't have a particular agenda.

The action scenes were fun and peppered with some great one liners. Superman isn't normally one to quip during battle and Tomasi is one of the few writers I've seen that has done this and make it work. The heart of this issue, though, was how Wonder Woman and Superman treated Wonderstar. I genuinely felt for the guy because he seemed like he legitimately wanted to help. It was a little bit suspect that he was willing to concede to as many tests as Superman and Wonder Woman wanted to give him but that made him all the more sympathetic. Tomasi faked me out a few times with that by making me think that he was going to argue but turning around and having Wonderstar agree. This is what made the final scene of the issue work so well. The "heel turn" was not a mustache twirling villain suddenly revealing himself. It was a struggle that lead to a fantastic cliffhanger. To be fair I am not overly thrilled that Magog is part of the New 52 as I feel like he worked best in KINGDOM COME and wasn't all that hot on the version Geoff Johns introduced after INFINITE CRISIS but Tomasi has amassed enough goodwill over the past two issues to make me give it a more open minded chance.

4Art - 4: You would think that with four inkers that the art would have a disjointed feel but that wasn't the case this time out. I continue to be impressed with Doug Mahnke's page layouts. His actions scenes are dynamic and come flying off the page. His smaller, character moments work just as well with the expressions and body language he uses. The retro design of Wonderstar's outfit made me smile several times in the issue and he draws such a great Superman and Wonder Woman. The two page splash at the end was well timed and that final page was magnificent.

4Cover Art - 4: The only thing holding this cover back for me is the yellow background. Yellow is not a color that my eyes get along with all that well. Other than that it's a great piece. I like the composition and both Wonder Woman and Superman look dynamic.

5Variant Cover Art - 5: I am such a mark for Darwyn Cooke's art. This is a glorious cover and like just about every other variant from this month would make for a great poster. Superman and Wonder Woman look so happy together. It's very romantic and makes me want their relationship to work.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2015

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