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What do you get the Batman who has everything? That's the question facing both Diana and Superman in Wonder Woman #7 - a surprisingly light-hearted installment in what has been, since Tom King took over the writing duties on the series, a fairly serious and politically-minded comic. Here, teamed up with artist Guillem March and colorist Arif Prianto for one issue only, King kicks back a bit and proves that he can have fun with the character too.
Spoilers for Wonder Woman #7
In Wonder Woman #7, titled 'Gifted', the two heroes travel to intergalactic shopping center The Andromeda Mall in search of a unique birthday present for the Caped Crusader. Things go wrong, of course - there's a monster attack and an amusing cameo from Mr Mxyzptlk - but for the most part this is a bright and breezy interlude.
The setup is all very Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, right down to a reference to the Encyclopedia Galactica. Hitchhiker's author Douglas Adams had a very specific voice, one which countless writers have tried to mimic over the years with variable results. Thankfully the comedy here largely works, even if a couple of lines come a little too close to breaking character - funny as it was, would Superman really suggest getting Bruce a "time-travel thing" so he can go back in time and see his dead parents for a day? He's not usually that thoughtless. Still, the Man of Steel also being a fan of terrible Dad puns totally tracks.
Despite all the laughs, the issue isn't a complete break with the ongoing Sovereign arc. Currently the United States military is gunning for the Amazons and that fact hangs over Diana in the issue. Despite Superman's constant attempts to buoy her mood, Wonder Woman remains mostly somber throughout. She doesn't want to talk about the situation back on Earth, saying only to Clark, "It is an Amazon problem. It requires an Amazon solution." It doesn't help that the first person she encounters at the mall is a sexist alien. "Wherever you go, there they are," she sighs.
While Superman doesn't solve any of her problems, he does remind her that, no matter how lonely things feel at the moment, she still has her friends. This prompts Diana to come to her own realisation about the similarities between DC's trinity. "We are all strangers--people who have left one world for another," she muses in the issue's closing pages. "And there--here--we have found each other. What a miracle."
So what birthday gift do they get Batman in the end? Well, as Superman points out at one point Bruce Wayne is no longer wealthy. The pair settle on a strip of photo booth pictures of his two friends goofing around, but also include a coal-crushed diamond. That would surely come in handy given Batman's financially perilous situation, but Bruce immediately donates it to The Wayne Home for Wayward Orphans. He keeps the photos though - and is even seen to crack a smile.
Wonder Woman #7 is out now from DC.
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