Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1 – Jeph Loeb, Writer; Jim Cheung, Artist; Jay David Ramos, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Amid an indefinite wait for the next chapter of H2sh, Jeph Loeb is dropping a surprised oversized one-shot on us. This takes place at an undetermined early time in continuity, seemingly in the 1990s with Tim Drake as Robin and Harley Quinn still as Joker’s loyal girlfriend. But the core of this story is the uneasy bond between Batman and Wonder Woman. These two members of the Trinity have always sort of been so far apart they could never quite connect, even as they briefly dated. But here, Wonder Woman is placing her trust in Batman in an unusual way – turning over the lasso of truth for a new exhibition hosted by Bruce Wayne. It’s part of an attempt to increase awareness of Themysciran culture, and the banter between Diana and Bruce is a lot of fun – until the lights go out, and the lasso goes missing. The thief, no surprise, is Gotham’s most iconic cat burglar – and Bruce’s ex-girlfriend.
At first, it seems like it’s just a case of Gotham being Gotham, but it turns out the truth is more complicated than that on a few levels. This is all some surprisingly poor judgement by Bruce, but it’s not the first time. And before Selina can be convinced to turn over the lasso, a spanner in the works emerges in the form of Harley, who is at her most chaotic and wants to give the lasso to the Joker as a gift. When the Clown Prince shows up, the story becomes much more intense and dabbles in horror for a bit. Overall, the book is a lot of fun, but this reminds me a lot of Hush and was probably intended to. The action is over-the-top, with a lot of gorgeous splash pages for a top artist (Jim Cheung, filling in for Jim Lee). But there’s also plenty of narration, which can feel a little ponderous at times, and the book seems more an excuse for some of the action scenes that Cheung delivers on.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
