Written by Mark Henely
I’m not going out on a limb by saying this, but I am going to say this anyway. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are the most iconic characters in all of DC Comics. This series is going to star all three and, therefore, should be a must read book. There should be beautiful splash pages and an intelligent story to make the grouping worthwhile. It should make the characters feel huge and it should help contextualize the current state of each character in this Reborn DC Universe.
Writer and Artist, Francis Manapul, really makes an effort to make this story feel epic. Each character is introduced in a two pager where the panels are arranged to mimic each character’s individual symbol. It looks beautiful. It reflects an attention to detail that I, as a reader, really respond to. It honors the iconic history of each character and is an omen for good things to come.
But, the interesting this about this comic feeling so epic is that it takes place on a very small scale. The basic plot line is this: Lois Lane invites Batman and Wonder Woman over for dinner. That is it. They are not attacked by aliens and they do not save anyone. But, they do set the table (pun intended) for the story that is to come.
We are currently in a DC Universe that involves a pre-New 52 Superman interacting with a post New 52 Batman and Wonder Woman. They don’t know him. They know a man who was like him, but they do not know him. There is an essential mistrust there and the fact that it took an entire issue to really unpack it and that shows that there is a lot of story to tell with these characters and this is just the beginning.
If Writer/Artist Francis Manapul can get this much drama out of one dinner with friends, imagine what he can do when they finally fight a villain.
