SPOILERS: Review: Superman/WonderWoman #1 - Dexter #4 - Lyesmith

Superman/Wonder Woman #1
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Tony S. Daniel

I haven't ever been a big supporter of these two as a couple. I just didn't think they meshed well together; and I grew up with Lois Lane being the love of Clark Kent's life. It's like watching your Dad go on a date with a woman who's not your Mother, but is instead your favorite teacher or something. You love everyone involved, you're just not sure you love what the way they're doing things. As far as Diana goes, I actually loved her with Bruce in the Justice League cartoons. I thought it was a fun a dynamic, they were similar in their ways of thinking enough that I could see the draw, the attraction. Diana and Clark are too different. Diana is a warrior. Clark isn't.

But that's just my opinion and has nothing to do with this comic! Which, by the way, is actually amazing! And it makes me think that maybe, just maybe, this relationship might not be as bad as I think it is. Clark is a romantic in ways Bruce isn't. We find Superman and Wonder Woman working together during a terrible storm out at sea. Wonder Woman goes to save a small military plane caught in the storm, and Superman is going to work on stopping the whirlpool the storm's created. But as Superman goes underwater, he sees something red and glowing. Scene cuts to Wonder Woman trying to get the plane up-right and flying again, when Superman comes sailing out of the water and knocks right through the center of the plane. Wonder Woman manages to save the pilots as Superman gets his bearings, explains he got the shit knocked out of him, and takes the pilots to safety, begging Diana to wait for him before she investigates. Before she can complain about him coddling her, she too is hit by whatever-it-is.
Now we're getting back story throughout the day. Diana and Clark in their non-powered lives. Diana has issues with Clark keeping their relationship secret. As we watch Diana and Clark go throughout their day and eventually end up together for a date (Clark bringing her a flower from a plant he keeps at the Fortress, and Diana insisting on teaching Clark how to fight. Ya know. The usual.) we're taken back to the present. Still no sign of Superman, but the military is firing on Wonder Woman, assuming she hit the plane on purpose. As she moves to retaliate she comes face to face with...

DOOMSDAY. Dun dun dun dunnnnn!

I really enjoyed the writing on this. It stays true to who the characters are, even though they're in a situation and relationship I don't think fits them. Charles Soule is really winning me over here. And the art was good. I liked the bigger shots the artist chose. I'd say definitely pick this up.






Dexter #4
Writer: Jeff Lindsay
Artist: Dalibor Talajic


This book is bitter-sweet for me. My wife and I have watched Dexter religiously, and with the end of the series, we were both so torn over the way it ended. This comic is set within the first couple of seasons of Dexter - Rita is still alive, Harrison isn't born yet, Deb is a detective, and it's all very hard to read, knowing how it ends, and hating the ending so badly.
The series starts with Dexter and Rita attending his high school reunion. He runs into an old highschool bully, one of Dexter's first potential victims, who's now wealthy, successful, and famous. The problem is, back in the day, Dexter, having gotten tired of the bullying, puts Gonzalez, the bully, on his table, but is interrupted by a janitor. Gonzalez says nothing of the incident, and acts like Dexter is a long lost best-friend at the reunion, much to Dexter's surprise. The next day, Dexter works a murder that has ties to Gonzalez. Dexter knows he's guilty but has no proof - so Gonzalez is safe, for now, by the Code. Issue four finds us with another death tied to Gonzalez and no proof he committed a murder, but both Deb and Dexter chomping at the bit for a shred of evidence... when they find that the first murder victim had ties to the FBI, and the FBI shuts them out of the case. Dexter goes to find more information - even if Deb can't get Gonzalez, that doesn't make him safe from Dexter - but Dex's plans are cut short as Gonzalez gets the jump on him and tranqs Dexter.

The art works for the story, we're able to see things through Dexter's eyes, his Dark Passenger tints Dexter's world in ways that are visually fascinating. My biggest problem with the writing is Dexter himself. Everyone else seems to be spot-on, Debs attitude to Rita's obliviously bubbly personality. But Dexter himself comes across way too animated to me. His arms are flailing, his dialogue shoes /too much/ emotion. Dexter was never the emotionless killer he thought himself to be, but there was always a reservation to him. Like he wanted to have emotions, they might even be there, below the surface. But they just couldn't make it to his facial expressions, his voice; his emotions always seems to be bubbling right there where you could feel them so clearly, even if Dexter couldn't. I'm missing that in this book. Dexter seems too animated, excited, his facial expressions too apparent.

At this point, I'm just reading for nostalgia. I'm disappointed with them not capturing Dexter correctly, and I still have a bitter taste in my mouth over the TV series ending. Will I finish the series? Probably. Would I save it for years and suggest it to all my friends and family, Dexter lovers included? No. This is skip-able. So far, there's no reason to read this book. It doesn't further any story. It doesn't change anything. It should probably be an extra in a DVD collection.




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