Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1 Review

 

Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1 Review

Writer: Jeph Loeb

Artist: Jim Cheung

Colorist: Jay David Ramos

Letterer: Richard Starkings & Tyler Smith

Editors: Brittany Holzherr & Dacy Lim

Cover Artists: Jim Cheung & Jay David Ramos; Jim Lee, Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair; Gabrielle Dell’Otto; Pablo Villalobos & Mostafa Moussa

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $5.99/$5.99 Card Stock

Release Date: April 29, 2026

 

She wants to help him, but he doesn't want to talk about it. Diana wants Bruce to understand himself. Bruce needs to keep Gotham safe. She is a stranger in America. Yet she remains open to everyone she meets. Bruce Wayne belongs in Gotham. Yet he keeps everyone at a distance. In this tale of opposites, which hero has more to learn from the other? And what can one night in Gotham teach Batman and Wonder Woman about themselves? Let’s leap into Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1 and see!

 

Story

As they prepare for the night’s event, Diana tries to distract him. But Batman remains mission-focused. Sin defiles his city. As hard as he tries to eradicate it and make Gotham a safe place to live, chaos reigns. So, when they reach the Wayne Foundation’s Charity Exhibition, and Bruce trades his costume for a tuxedo, he presents Gotham with a symbol greater than Batman. Wonder Woman shines like a beacon of virtue. She was born in Paradise, unsullied by the sins of men. If Batman cannot inspire people to embrace a better version of themselves, perhaps Wonder Woman can heal Gotham.

 

In Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1, Diana helps Bruce open Wonder Woman: The Exhibition. She is entrusting Bruce and Gotham with a gift she received before leaving Themyscira. Working at his anvil, Hephaestus forged it from the Girdle of Gaia. Anyone who touches it feels compelled to tell Diana the truth. Bruce hopes this symbol will remind people of what Gotham could be like if they said, "No, thank you," to crime.

 

Jeph Loeb's fast-paced story contrasts the people in Bruce's life and how Diana affects them. When Bruce's plan goes awry, forcing Batman and Wonder Woman to recover the Lasso of Truth, they keep clashing. Both want to work together. Yet they bang elbows as each strives to take the lead.

 

Their competition brings out the best in them. They may be worlds apart. Bruce admires Diana despite her mothering instincts. Batman may not speak softly like Hush. Yet Diana stays close by in case he relents and shares his thoughts with her. Bruce and Diana may never see eye to eye. Still, when their need to take command causes them to stumble, each strives to be there for the other in Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1.

 

Art

Jim Cheung begins by comparing the heroes’ symbols of power. Diana bears a star on her tiara. A bat adorns Batman’s chest. She deploys a lasso while he tosses a Batarang. Yet both talk easily while defying injury and death. Twin searchlights frame the two heroes as they approach their destination. Inside the museum, fluted columns support carved walls surrounding glass cases showcasing armor and the accoutrements of war. While he dons a tuxedo, Diana stands, resplendent in a dress version of her uniform, and wrapped in a gold-trimmed cloak. The Gotham elite surround them, adorned in their finery, as Diana offers her glowing lasso for their perusal.

 

Jay David Ramos brings light to the darkness in Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1. While the Gotham skyline glows with towers and domes, the golden steps outside the museum link with the gold columns and walls inside. Diana's red uniform and cloak in the present link with a double-page memory of her triumph in Paradise. Gray often frames panels in the glowing exhibit hall, while a glowing lasso illuminates a figure clasping it in the darkness. While the thief appears in black with purple highlights, the white ghost images left behind suggest the two sides of the thief’s character.

 

Amid Jim Cheung’s detailed art and Jay David Ramos’ lavish colors, Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith fill white balloons with black uppercase text. The letters grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and rarely shrink. Black cursive lowercase letters in yellow and gray boxes contrast Bruce and Diana's thoughts. White letters in black boxes showcase Bruce's Bat controls. Sound effects help readers hear roaring animals, gunfire, and a monument to the past breaking as giant black laughter fills the air. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

They are very different people. Diana left Themyscira to meet people and embrace different ways of living. Bruce remains in Gotham to protect people and convince them to embrace lives of peace and service. Yet as they work together to recover the Lasso of Truth, Bruce and Diana grapple with the issues that test our relationships in Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Batman/Wonder Woman: Truth #1.

Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1 Review

 

Writer: Joe Kelly

Artist: Adam Kubert

Colorist: Frank Martin

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Adam Kubert & Frank Martin; Gabriele Dell’Otto; Inhyuk Lee; Rob Liefeld & Jay David Ramos; Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 1, 2024

 

Wolverine has a job. It's not one he wants, but it's necessary. A cop wants to end a killing spree. So she calls on Wolverine. Can he catch the superpowered villain that makes mincemeat of his victims? Or will someone else get in his way? Let’s extend our claws, leap into Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1, and find out!

 

Story

Superheroes deal with morality. Hunters kill. Wolverine's cop friend doesn't want anyone else to die. So, she calls on the human weapon with adamantium claws to put down a predator. Unfortunately, someone else has found him first.

 

Like the cop, Vancouver’s endangered citizens wanted to end the killing spree. So the victim’s families put up a bounty. Wolverine knows what Deadpool does is necessary, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Nor does Logan like how Deadpool finds humor in the killing. People shouldn't enjoy killing. They should never joke about taking another person’s life.

 

But what is life? Wolverine muses on that in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1. Why even try to build anything significant? It’ll eventually end. Everything does. Dreams are just misfiring neurons, he concludes.

 

Joe Kelly portrays Wolverine and Deadpool as two brothers in arms. Their love/hate relationship binds them together and tears them apart. Yet in Kelly’s story, Wolverine does the tearing apart, while Deadpool tries to do a team-up. 

 

 

 

Only after they take down their adversary and Deadpool slips away does Wolverine realize what Wade said. But then it’s too late. Wade's gone, just like a dream or another crumbled monument.

 

So, another hunt begins. Logan tells himself he’s doing it to kill whoever created the mincemeat monster. But in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1, Logan’s also doing it because of what Wade said. And because he failed to respond before Deadpool slipped away.

 

Joe Kelly probes Wolverine’s conscience as Logan tracks “the world’s crappiest trail of breadcrumbs.” Wolverine may hate the jack@$$. Still, he’s got a responsibility to Deadpool, not to mention those Wade could endanger in his quest to become more like Wolverine.

 

 

Art

Wolverine leaps across the Vancouver skyline. He crouches beside a rooftop pool, gazing down at the street. After an explosion of concrete, water, and fire, he gazes up to see Deadpool trade his rocket launcher for a sword and a machine pistol. Wolverine ignores the torrent of bullets, leaping into the fray as Deadpool follows up with a flurry of throwing knives. Their opponent dissolves Deadpool's assault with a shield. Wolverine, he bats away.

 

Adam Kubert reveals Wolverine's competitive nature as he shoves Deadpool into harm's way while charging the City Of Glass slicer and dicer in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1. Kubert enhances the humor with Deadpool’s gestures, birthday greetings decorating the rocket launcher, and the way Deadpool leaps and lands on Wolverine’s shoulders. Yet as the living weapons watch paramedics load their opponent into an ambulance, Deadpool glances up at Wolverine, who refuses to return his gaze. Later, Logan sits at a bar and frowns at his drink. No girl clad in a hoodie sits beside him.

 

The sinking sun casts an orange glow over Vansterdam as Wolverine’s silhouette bounds across pink fields. Despite Deadpool’s sudden dislike for his footwear, his opponent’s boots shine brighter than the yellow in Wolverine’s suit. Yet nothing outshines the crazed killer's purple hooded shirt or the purple energy shields and tendrils he wields. 

 

 

Frank Martin adorns a bar mostly in yellow and brown, echoing Wolverine’s suit, even if Logan has changed into street clothes. Does the maple leaf on the wall and the bartender's long red beard remind Logan of Wade? Later, a red child's phone confirms Logan has found the right Skybnb, even if he didn’t arrive in time.

 

Joe Sabino casts Weapon X-worthy lowercase black letters into white and colored balloons and boxes. Whether it's lashes of sizzling electricity, barrages of gunfire, or the crash of shattered windows, Sabino enhances the energy propelling Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1 toward its heartrending conclusion. Yet the applause stretching like ribbons across the final pages reminds us why Logan has grown so disillusioned in Joe Kelly’s tragic tale.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Wolverine hunts monsters. But is Wolverine a hunter or a monster? It’s a question Logan can't avoid when Wade Wilson reminds him of the difference between them in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.