Lois Lane versus “The God of War” Wonder Woman in SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #10 is a fun distraction from the the ever evolving Superman: Doomed storyline. That’s not saying watching the internal battle for Superman’s body between Superdoom and Clark Kent isn’t fun to watch, cause it is. #10 does a good job to cover a lot of ground while introducing even more problems for our title characters. Charles Soule does a good job of helping new readers play catch up, he delivers a brief recap page that can help new readers understand where the story is as well as offer a new information for people who haven’t traversed over multiple titles to read every chapter.
The artists Paulo Siqueira and Pascal Alixe continue their good work as they offer new perspectives from different characters. Superdoom is still fascinating to watch as he continues to evolve and get more gruesome, the panel where he is looking over his shoulder back to the reader is really awesome. The characters are popping out of the pages and it’s great to see.
Back to Wonder Woman vs Lois Lane though, we’ve all been anticipating a throw down between the two and I’m happy it’s finally starting. Despite Wonder Woman’s cries to help Lois, we know WW won’t turn down a fight and her willingness to mix it up with anyone sure makes things really fun. The issue also prospers from cameos from Metallo,Cyborg Superman, Steel and Lana Lang as the story reaches new levels.
POSITIVES
The continuing growth of Superdoom’s personality is really intriguing to watch unfold, with each chapter released we see Superdoom becoming more and more in control. He seems to be more in control of Superman’s body at this point, Clark Kent is losing the war that’s for sure. With the final page dialogue between the pair, Superdoom pretty much says ” You need me to save your world” Â and that doesn’t exactly give a positive outlook for Clark Kent’s situation. We don’t have any idea how Clark plans to eradicate the Doomsday virus from his body, which is a good thing, it gives us all the more reason to keep reading.
Another part I did like, Wonder Woman’s levelheadedness, instead of striking the moment she saw Brainiac Lois take control WW could have fought her right then and there. Instead she tried to avoid fighting and pleaded with Lois to fight against the Brainiac virus, very wise thinking from The God of War. Regardless though, she handled fake Metallo/John Corben pretty well and got some nice information out of Lois. Not a bad issue for Superman’s woman indeed.
NEGATIVES
Lois Lane definitely took a step forward this issue, from her mind control over everyone in Metropolis to her experiencing her Brainiac form, but there were a couple things about her that rubbed me the wrong way.
For starters I think it would be much better if Brainiac took over Lois’ body completely, this puts more pressure on her to fight the internal battle against Brainiac and would make the fight between her and WW all the more compelling. WW wouldn’t have to hold back against a fully controlled Brainiac operative and it would remove some of her guilty in fighting Lois.
Another thing about Lois, her speech with Wonder Woman about ” losing both their men” was a big turnoff for me. These are two of the most independent and strong women in the DCU, they don’t need no stinking man! That part rubbed me the wrong way.
VERDICT
#10 does a good job of raising the stakes for the title characters as they both have to fight their separate battles to bring them together once again. The emphasis on their relationship takes more of a backseat though in this issue as most of the focus is put on Clark and his battle with Superdoom over the right to Superman’s body. The stakes are raised and it certainly sets the stage for the rest of the arc. #10 is certainly worth the price!
RATING
