Superman & Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Super Power Couple. But Is This Good Or Bad?

So in the world of comic books, the big news today is that in the upcoming Justice League issue #12, DC Comics has confirmed that Superman and Wonder Woman are going to make fanboy fantasies (and various X rated parodies) come true and become a romantic couple. And according to DC CCO and Justice League writer Geoff Johns, this not going to be a one issue deal. Superman and Wonder Woman are now the very definition of  the term “Power Couple” in the world of super hero comics. In a press release given to Entertainment Weekly,  Geoff Johns says “This is the new status quo.” adding that the relationship will have a seismic impact on all the heroes and villains in the DC universe. Obviously, from a publicity standpoint this all makes perfect sense. Not to mention if they really want to set apart the old DCU from the new one, this is the perfect way to symbolically say “this ain’t your daddy’s DC Universe”. Somewhere, Lois Lane is crying into her pillow right now.

So as Geekscape’s #1 Wonder Woman fan, I know I’m expected to have opinions on this matter (although I may have to fight Heidi Hilliker for that title. Actually, she would  totally win that fight, so I give up and I’ll just say I’m Geekscape’s #2 Wonder Woman fan. Because I don’t look good in Wonder Woman cosplay, and Heidi does) And while I do have opinions, the truth is if this was a year ago, I might have had stronger feelings on this matter. However, the current DC New 52 Wonder Woman only bears a superficial resemblance to the Diana I know and love really, and this change certainly seems a lot less awful than other recent indignities they’ve put Diana through in this new reboot.

Brian Azzarello’s and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman title has been well received by the fans and critics alike, and is very well written and drawn to be sure. But their changes to Diana’s mythology, making her the daughter of Zeus, and then making her people a race of murderers, make her feel more like an Elseworlds version of the character. Azzarello does get Diana’s steely determination right, as well as her unwavering loyalty to those she is sworn to protect. But there is something really cold and removed about this new Diana, a character that was created to embody love and compassion above all things. I hated the change from gold to silver in her costume, but in a way it fits; gold equates with warm and loving, and silver is cool and distant. And this New 52 Diana isn’t about hugs and puppies so much as she is about sticking her sword in things all the damn time.

As much as this pairing makes sense for many fans, I suppose my biggest issue with this coupling (as primarily a Wonder Woman fan) is that it makes Diana “Superman’s Girlfriend, Wonder Woman” instead of just being simply “Wonder Woman”, period. It is one thing to have Superman occasionally guest star in issues of Wonder Woman, or vice versa, but now these books have to be intertwined in a serious way. Do Superman fans want that? Do they want Diana and her mythical world to be a constant part of Superman’s science fictioney universe? I know as a Wonder Woman fan I wouldn’t want Clark there every issue. And if they’re not there in one another’s titles, and their romance takes place only in the pages of Justice League, it will feel phony. They have to be a big part of each other’s own books now, there is just now way around it. I can’t help but wonder how the writers of each character’s own books feels about this being forced on them now. I suppose we will know soon enough.

I guess the only real reason I’m not really too upset by this development is that DC is wise in not getting them married right off the bat. Maybe they’ll date for a few years, have really awesome sex for awhile, and then go back to their “lesser mortal” loves. Certainly the two of them dating for awhile leads to tons of story potential, and of course, media coverage. DC has toyed with the Superman/Wonder Woman pairing for decades, because they know on some level the fans want to see it happen. In issue #300 of the original Wonder Woman series back in the 80’s, DC presented an imaginary story of “Superman and Wonder Wife!” and I admit I read that particular issue over and over again with glee. Kingdom Come was another beloved story where these two got together, and a less beloved story is Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again, where he also had Clark and Diana as a couple. While I think Miller writes the worst Wonder Woman in the history of always, he did make their sex scenes look pretty epic, I will give him that. No doubt, there is something alluring about having these two heavy hitters together in a romantic sense, it is undeniable.

But all of those  previously mentioned stories were either alternate futures or dream sequences. No one has ever attempted it in the mainstream DCU until now. Having Superman and Wonder Woman married would potentially tie the two of them together forever, but just dating is another thing entirely. They can always break up after it gets played out. But in any break up, be it fictional or real, someone always comes out the bad guy. Will DC allow Superman to be potentially portrayed as an asshole, or Wonder Woman as a bitch, when the time comes?  Can the reputations of these two icons of virtue survive if one of them is a portrayed as a heartbreaker in the end? These are the kind of questions DC editorial needs to be asking themselves right about now.

I am a fan of Geoff Johns, and for the most part I’ve enjoyed his portrayal of Diana in Justice League a wee bit more than Azzarello’s in her own title, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. If anything, we are sure to get some sexy art from the likes of Jim Lee and Ivan Reis out of this, so that’ll be worth something at least. Let’s face it, a year in and there are a lot of things in this rebooted New 52 DC Universe that editorial simply haven’t really thought through; let’s hope one of the biggest super hero pairings of all time isn’t one of them.