With earth under a kryptonite cloud, how can the Man of Steel fight the Doom within? Chapter 2 of Enemy of the State continues:
spoilers:end of spoilers
With the company of Hessia, Wonder Woman tracks Superdoom down to a jungle and begs her to use her abilities as an Amazon healer to save him. Reluctantly, she obliges. She straps some magic armor and heads off to face Superman, instructing Diana to stay back while she performs her work. Diana does so. But instead of helping Superman, Hessia tries to kill him outright. A minor scuffle ensues. Diana sees this with alarm and Hessia explains to her that her priorities lie with the people of the world that she can actually save, and not him. Diana refuses to accept that Superman is beyond saving. That the monster holding back is proof that Clark is still alive inside. Hessia disagrees, and in a blatant attempt to bait doom, she whispers in his ear that she was the one that revealed his relationship with Wonder Woman to begin with. She declares that she thought they were good for each other but that she was wrong. The Clark within rattled, Doomsday suddenly takes over and strikes. He is about to deal a deadly blow, when god-mode Wonder Woman (with no arm braces) intervenes. She ensnares him with her lasso, and pulls him towards outer space.
Out of the atmosphere and the effects of the kryptonite, Clark regains his composure. He tells Diana that he needs to leave earth and mentions that something is wrong with Lois and that she is dangerous. Diana vows that earth will remain protected. Clark doesn’t mention Hessia’s deceit.
On his way off planet, Superman faces the Red Lanterns Guy Gardner, Supergirl, and Zox. They attack him but Doomsday quickly swats them down to earth. There, Wonder Woman confronts Guy with the lasso of truth and knowing their true intentions, tells them to go after him and help him, and to let him go if that is not possible.
Charles Soule continues to surpass our expectations with every passing issue of SM/WW. There is a certain rhythm to his storytelling that makes action and plot flow together really well. And at times that can make his writing rather predictable. But, just as in SM/WW #6, here this is pleasantly not so. He uses a ruse to catch us off guard and the moment hits harder as a result. While most comic books give us a twist as a bookend, their presence is always expected because of the nature of comics themselves. But here, it comes in the middle of the story and from a character that had so much goodwill built across 8 issues, that no twist was ever anticipated. Hessia is the ruse. And her deception and betrayal of Diana’s trust comes at a moment when we, as readers, and Superman and Wonder Woman, as participants, least expect it. Soule cleverly injects a plot thread from past issues into the Doomed narrative making it all feel like part of a cohesive world. The ramifications of which, are many. Will Clark ever tell Diana what Hessia whispered, knowing that it would hurt her? Will Diana forgive Hessia for trying to kill Clark? Will Diana’s trust issues intensify as a result (after all, this is not the first time a close friend betrays WW)? What does this hold for WW’s relationship with SM, in the eyes of Hessia and in turn, the Amazons as a whole?
Another high point: captions. Soule is one of the few writers that actually manages to use word captions as a viable dialogue tool rather than one used solely for mental exposition (ie. Lobdell). Picture them without the icons and colors, and each is still identifiable with a distinct voice. I, for one, find it to be one of the title’s hidden strengths. And it is here that the undercurrent of #9 shines through. The story begins with an interesting “monologue” between Clark and his inner dark self. His will to resist and prevail clashing with the uncontrollable urge for destruction and death. This silent dialogue continues back and forth during the whole issue offering a nice metaphorical fight between Superman and Doomsday. When Clark falls, Doomsday takes over and vice-versa.
But the true delight of the book relies, once again, on the main characters: Superman and Wonder Woman. They both keep stubbornly fighting for each other and the world, even as those around them fail them. Both dealing with adversity: Superman from within and Wonder Woman from without. Their loving exchange while in space is bittersweet. Their forced separation punctuated by a tinge of regret. It shows two superhuman characters with very human emotions. As the audience, you can relate.
While the final third (the meeting with the Red Lanterns) lacks the same punch as the rest of the issue, it does serve its purpose as a proper link to the next chapter in the series.
There is one downside though: those not following the SM/WW series will feel kindda lost and might find Superdoom’s altercations not enough of a reason to pick the chapter up. But for me, this is a 9.
DC, this book needs to have more pages!!
Onward to Action Comics #33.
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As always, please try and revolve your comments/discussions around the SM/WW issue at hand.