It's not a good sign for a series when you're getting filler by the second issue but unfortunately that's exactly what we're getting with Superman Wonder Woman #2. The story picks up from the first issue reveal of Doomsday, who's somehow made it back into the New 52 universe, and he and Wonder Woman fight or rather, Wonder Woman gets beaten. She starts meditating (or something), Superman lifts the ship they're on, and, as suddenly as he appeared, Doomsday is gone! Wha...? Back in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman explains to Wonder Woman who Doomsday is (handy for newer readers who missed 1994's The Death of Superman) and posits that the walls of the Phantom Zone are failing, allowing Krypton's criminals like Doomsday to appear in our world. Fair enough but rather than go any further, Charles Soule takes Superman and Wonder Woman to Mount Olympus, ostensibly to give Superman special god armour from Hephaestus, the Greek God of blacksmiths, to fight Doomsday, though what this amounts to is Superman fighting his girlfriend's family in their first meeting! Then there's another bad guy reveal and the issue is over. Does Superman even need god armour? He's already wearing his New 52 outfit which looks a lot like armour and he didn't look like he was hurt very badly in his fight with Doomsday. And this whole issue is Superman fighting gods, for no real purpose except one of them talked smack to his lady why did anyone think this was necessary? Apollo talks down to Superman because he's neither human nor a god and yet he's dating Diana, though if Superman isn't a god I don't know what is! What's really annoying is that while Superman and Apollo fight, Wonder Woman just stands around doing nothing this comic is basically all Superman with Wonder Woman hanging on somewhere in the background. Give her something to do! Or at least subvert the traditional gender roles as portrayed so predictably in this issue and have Wonder Woman stick up for herself! Even though most of this comic is super-powered beings having big, pointless fights, artist Tony S. Daniel is perfectly suited to this kind of epic cinematic style storytelling and his pencil-work is especially good in this issue. That said, it's his art style that pads out this issue multiple splash pages showing a single action, and fight scenes with two or three panels a page. It looks good but the whole comic takes a few minutes to read and for the $3.99 price-tag you'd reasonably expect a bit more bang for your buck. This is a very weak issue that underlines that Superman is a tough guy and that he and Wonder Woman are dating in other words, it adds next to nothing to the story. If you've been dying to see Superman fight the Greek God of the sun, you'll love this comic, though I can't imagine many of us have been holding our breath for that particular conflict. Superman Wonder Woman #2 loses the momentum of the first issue almost immediately and relies again on a final splash page reveal to keep the reader interested in the next issue. Disappointing work from a good writer like Charles Soule.
Published by DC, Superman Wonder Woman #2 by Charles Soule and Tony S. Daniel is out now