Superman/Wonder Woman The New 52! # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

One of the bold new twists that The New 52 DC Comics reboot went with was the idea of Superman and Wonder Woman having an interest in each other and becoming a couple. In a certain way, it kind of makes sense for two super powerful beings that are pretty much outsiders to the regular human world to find solace in each other. The only issue with that would be that Superman has been known to be in love with Lois Lane, similar to how Wonder Woman is in love with Steve Trevor. However, what if these two superheroes fell for each other before they got too close to their human partners?

I picked up a few issues of this series back in the day and in true Mark Rodriguez fashion, they've been bagged, boarded and locked away in my comic book long boxes for years. It's about time I check them out.

Power Couple starts with Superman and Wonder Woman flying together and dealing with a storm. Wondie asks if Supes will be fine by himself, as she is happy to help. Supes assures her he is good with storms and they'll be having dinner soon. He comments that it's strange to see such a big storm that time of year and spots a plane in trouble. Wonder Woman flies off to cover it as Supes dives into the eye of the storm. 

Superman goes underwater and tries to find what is causing the water to whirlpool. He sees something red that is causing the commotion and is shocked as he recognizes what it is.

Earlier on, at Metropolis, Clark is having a drink with his co-worker Cat. Cat tells him that they can't keep covering the same news everybody else it and need a big story of their own soon or their news blog will be shelved. Clark agrees but he says big stories don't exactly fall out of the sky. 

Elsewhere, we seen an image of Superman kissing Wonder Woman on a laptop being saved on a flash drive.

Meanwhile in London, Diana is sparring with her friend Hessia. Hessia says she can't believe so many of their sisters left them recently. Diana is angry that they are now prisoners. Hessia yields for now saying she wasn't sure she could spar with Diana back when she was younger so she's not going to try now that she's older. Diana says she's not sure if she will ever age. Even though she left the island, her father is still a god. Hassia says she hopes she never finds out and would go back if she could. She asks Diana if she has good things in her life as well.

We see someone pull the flash drive out of the laptop USB port.

Cat introduces Clark to her boyfriend Aaron Lord. Aaron says he's heard a lot about Clark and that Cat is lucky to be working with him. Cat corrects him and says he's lucky to be working with her. Clark excuses himself for the evening and Cat asks if he has a hot date.

Diana tells Hessia she doesn't like that her relationship is being kept secret as if he was ashamed. Hessia says he was raised to not make waves and hide his true self. It's how he kept his loved ones safe. Diana says the Amazons celebrate their uniqueness regardless what the rest of the world thinks. Hessia says maybe she can how him how it's done. Diana stands up and says maybe she will do so tonight. Hessia tells her to have fun.

Someone puts the flash drive in an envelope.

Back to the present, a plane is going down as it was hit by the storm. Wonder Woman catches it and helps keep it steady so they have a safe landing. She then sees something fly out of the ocean and wonders if it's Clark. It is Superman, but rather than him flying upwards, he was sent flying upwards by something. He flies right through one of the plane's wings.

Wonder Woman catches the plane as it falls and gets the pilot and co-pilot out. She asks Superman what happened. He says he's fine but there was something in the ocean that he couldn't see that hit him and made him lose control. Diana gives the pilots over to Superman so he can fly them down safely. He says he'll be back as soon as he can but he begs her not to go in the ocean and to wait for him. Just then a huge explosion hits Wonder Woman, knocking her into the ocean.

Earlier in London, Diana waits as Clark arrives with a rare flower. It's one of the flowers from his Fortress of Solitude. He says she can't water it, and to use cooking oil instead. Clark says it's beautiful and a bit strange, so it made him think of her. Diana says if she wanted smooth lines she's be dating Hal Jordan instead. 

Diana says he has a lot of wonderful things in his fortress and asks if he ever thought of letting people see them. She says if more people knew about them, they would see there is nothing to be afraid of. Clark says he keeps more than flowers in the fortress, and he doesn't like keeping secrets but some things he has to. Diana asks if that includes their relationship. Clark says it's a secret they have to keep and one he wants to keep. He says they give the people everything, he wants this to be theirs for now. 

Diana says she also has a gift for Clark. She says is something from her culture, and says he's one of the most powerful beings on the planet. She shows him a sword made by her brother Hephaestus, sharp enough to split and atom in two. Clark says he doesn't need a weapon. Diana says the sword is like him, and she starts swinging it at him, which he manages to dodge. She says it doesn't matter how powerful the sword is if you can't hit anything with it.

Diana says he is strong but he has never been trained to fight. Power isn't everything. She has been trained under the god of war since she was a child. She says he has things to learn and she is the woman to teach him.

At Metropolis in the offices for ClarkCatropolis.com, Brian drops more mail off for Cat. Cat tells him to just put it on the pile. He asks if she's ever going to open any of them. Cat says if any of it was important they would have emailed it. The pile of mail seems to include a very particular envelope.

Present day, at KNM Maddodor a battleship confirms a direct hit on Wonder Woman and are ready in case they need to fire a second shot. One of the men asks why they would have destroyed that plane. The man in charge says it's hard to tell with these beings, and they probably destroyed it because it was in their way. One of the men says there's a problem with the forward gun mount. Wonder Woman rips the guns right off the ship yelling why they are firing upon them when they're trying to help them.

Suddenly something arrives and Wonder Woman thinks it's Superman. She turns to see Doomsday who has torn the remaining men on the ship apart.

Moments before, Clark and Diana are getting intimate when they get an alert from the watchtower on a huge storm off the Norwegian Coast. The Justice League is picking up some weird readings and wants him to handle it. Diana asks why him, and he says he's good with storms. Diana says if either of them is good with storms, it would be the daughter of Zeus. Clark says she can come with him, it'll be fun and at least they'll be together. 

Wonder Woman leaps into battle against Doomsday and gets knocked back. We hear the flashback of Diana saying they'll return soon as they have nothing but time, as currently Doomsday is beating her bloody.

My Opinions- 

So there is a lot to take in here, especially since I wasn't up-to-date on what was going on with Superman and Wonder Woman during the New 52 era. As you know, I was following Batman and his four books. Clark is working on an online news blog with someone else with no Lois Lane in sight. The world is still getting used to superheroes, and even characters that everyone would recognize as symbols of hope like Superman and Wonder Woman are still mistrusted by the military. 

Clark and Diana already have their differences as Clark lives in secrecy and Wonder Woman operates more in the open. There is already a little friction with whether or not they should keep their relationship a secret. I do like the idea of Wonder Woman training Superman to actually have a fighting style and not just rely on his powers. 

Doomsday makes his appearance here and it's too soon to see if the events of the classic tale 'Death of Superman' is still canon. One hint is that Superman seemed to recognize either Doomsday himself or whatever has been containing him.

I'm curious where this is going to go. We also have this mysterious person that captured an image of Superman and Wonder Woman kissing and sending that off to the ClarkCatropolis offices. Luckily so far Cat is too lazy to open snail mail, but how long will that last?

The comic also came with a triple-page cover, the front opens into two pages and the back page rounds it out. The comic also added a short comic about 'Channel 52' that tells about a space villain named Relic that is out to kill the Lanterns. This ties into the Green Lantern Annual # 2. 

The set up to the story is good, I like the art and the action we get to see. The characters all look cool.  I'm curious to see what will happen next.