DC Comics reviews 6/20/23 – Titans #2, Nightwing #105, Wonder Woman #800

Batman Superman World’s Finest #16

Mark Waid and Dan Mora write and draw in a manner that constantly makes me both appreciate their efforts tremendously and question why more titles beyond Nightwing, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Titans and Superman be of this quality? And fun. Above all else, comic books should be fun and somehow that’s in far too short supply these days.

Batman and Superman are prisoners of Newmazo, but it’s made the mistake of putting Batman in the same space as Oliver Queen and Ted Kord. In lieu of an actual Justice League ongoing title, Waid and Mora’s random cameos of JL members will have to suffice though there would be zero complaints if they also took on a Justice League title too.

One of the strongest aspects of the book is how Waid packs the issue with super heroic moments so Mora can have the heroes being heroes. At times they’ll be vulnerable, take some punches and not have the ultimate solution in hand. That’s fine and welcome as opposed to always having a hero have the get out of free card on hand every time. If Waid can create scenarios that make it hard for Superman and Batman there’s no excuse for other writers struggling to make compelling problems for their heroes.

Mora’s artwork, as usual, is superb. Mora’s a gifted storyteller, but there is something special about his action scenes as there’s a vitality and excitement to them that brings to the pages an intense cartoon featuring these heroes. The characters have personalities and when Mora can flex like a certain page this issue it really has me excited about the potential of Waid incorporating more heroes into the title more often.

Tamra Bonvillain’s colors are impressive as always elevating Mora’s already impressive art to another level. Bonvillain does some subtle aspects to her coloring like the plastic-y sheen to Plastic Man’s skin and the movement of Superman operating at super speed. Steve Wands also gets to have plenty of fun with the lettering as well.

Batman Superman is DC’s best comic going today. There’s some tough competition now, but no comic has the mix of action, classic portrayals of heroes and gorgeous artwork.

Rating: 10 out of 10