Writer/Artist: Matt Wagner
Publisher: DC
Wagner, best known for his work on Mage and Grendel, is also familiar to DC Comics readers as the fellow who renders the Green Arrow covers. This project, which reveals the "first" meeting of all three icons of the DC universe-Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (hence the title)-is a perceptive move on DC's part. DC has seen how well the Loeb/Sale Batman and Dini/Ross DC Universe projects have gone and that there's a market segment ripe for this type of nostalgia.
SBC was fortunate enough to receive a black and white preview copy of the first issue in this three-issue prestige format miniseries. This first part, which goes on sale June 18, delivers on what one would hope for in a meeting of these three icons. In this current DC continuity, as the story is set, Batman and Superman have been working together for a period of time (to the point that they know each other's secret identities). Wonder Woman is the odd person out, in a certain sense, but Wagner finds some common ground between the characters (Superman and Wonder Woman in particular) to make it interesting and fortunately (for ground covered already too frequently) in a unique manner.
I assume each issue will focus more on one of the three as they interact with the other two. In the miniseries opener, the focus is on Kent/Superman. Wagner goes about the business of establishing the challenge of being Clark Kent (creating a persona where he continually runs late for trains, misses appointments and such). As narrator, Kent says: "Metropolis...Where the trains always run on time...I try to miss one at least three times a week....Good for the image." This opening scene typifies what I enjoy so much about Wagner's visual storytelling approach. Film clearly influences his approach, but he adapts the influence to an effective, yet not overwhelming degree on the page. Too often other, less experienced creators try to make the comics page play like a film, to the detriment of the story.
While Wagner is clearly trying to establish character traits in the opening scene, this does not prevent him from initiating the action/adventure element of the story. In fact, the train Kent "misses" catching is the same train, Superman ends up "catching" (literally) mere moments later.
Wayne/Batman and Diana/Wonder Woman are introduced to the story with relative ease, which is a major winning point with me. Too often with these kinds of "team up" tales, the heroes seemed shoehorned into the plot. Aquaman could easily be replaced by Animal Man or vice versa. Lesser creators treat characters like Lego. Fortunately, because of the characters' iconic status combined with Wagner's skills, a plot infrastructure is erected that flows onto the page rather seamlessly.
Rest assured, for those wondering if Wagner is creating a new villain for the sake of the story, for the most part he does not. There may be new henchfolks or pawns to a certain extent, but Wagner is smart enough to dip into the rich sampling of Superman and Batman's gallery of villains.
While I'm heartily impressed with Wagner's ability to write Batman and Superman, his grasp of Wonder Woman is not as strong (by his own admission in recent interviews). In particular, he writes her internal monologue and actual dialogue as if she were a modern American, rather than an "ambassador for the Amazon people". For example, as she invites Superman to board her invisible plane, she says: "C'mon in...Don't mind the mess." (This bit of dialogue is discussed in an interview I conducted with Wagner in SBC's news section. He has valid reasoning for this approach, but it still threw me a bit.) To the other extreme, he has her use rather clunky vocabulary later, as they find a criminal's underground hide out. "This was their lair?"-she asks Superman. Who actually uses the word "lair" in a post Silver Age comic?
But these bits are mere hiccups on an otherwise delightful read. Wagner effectively provides a quality balance of drama, comedy and heroics. Having only the benefit of seeing the black and white advance, I can only speculate (with some confidence) that it will only look and read even better in full color. I know I won't hesitate to fork over my $6.95 for this first issue upon its release.
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