It’s not often that comics give us a reason to write headlines like the one above, and so it’s important to take advantage when you can.
A couple weeks ago, Wonder Woman defied God himself — like, the god of Abraham, God — in defense of her enemy, Paula Von Gunther, saying she deserved a chance to redeem herself in life before meeting divine judgement in death. This past week, the Amazon Princess succeeded, and did so in such a way that reminded us all that obscure immortal superhero the Phantom Stranger is, canonically, Judas Iscariot.
What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. If you missed the last one, read this.
Wonder Woman #758
Using her lasso of truth, Wonder Woman forced the Phantom Stranger to confess that he cultivated Paula von Gunther’s propensity for sin in order to create a mortal so corrupted that delivering her to God would wipe away the red — that is, the whole betrayal of Christ business — on his own ledger.
This is how writer Steve Orlando delivers his swan song for Wonder Woman. Writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Mikel Janín take over with the next issue.
Fantastic Four: Empyre #1
Marvel’s second (second!) introductory one-shot for the company’s Empyre crossover reads more like a standalone story with a coincidental cliffhanger, but the Skrull and Kree children raised to eternally mock battle each other are cute, in a would-probably-slit-your-throat way.
Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds #7
Gerard Way’s second Doom Patrol series is over, and that means I lose my regular fix of Nick Derington art and I have to once again say goodbye to Casey Brinke, my favorite comic book character whose origin is that a sentient location made up a space hero-starring comic book series and then turned the space hero into a real ambulance driver.
X-Force #10
This has been your regular update on the Summers family polycule: Sexy hot tub times.
Batman #94
Just before the Joker War starts in earnest, Batman appears to be redefining himself in honor of the death of his surrogate father, Alfred Pennyworth. Comics loves a status quo, so it’ll be interesting to see just how much better a “better Bat” can be.
Superman #23
Superman’s been through a lot lately, and this week’s Superman is all about Doctor Fate popping him out of time for a bit to reflect on his emotional state, and, well, I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. Oh? What’s happening to the Justice League Dark in that middle panel? Eh, I’m sure it’s fine.
Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red #3
DC Comics has lined up a lot of great talent behind the Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red digital-first anthology series, but my favorite so far is definitely Javier Rodriguez’s art in this week’s #3. Also, every issue in the weekly series is $.99! That’s a really fabulous value.
Batman: The Adventures Continue #7
I love an unruffled Alfred in the hands of supervillains. And also a Batman: The Animated Series take on Azrael!