Batman & Wonder Woman’s villain switcheroo

With Wednesday’s article involving thoughtful, provoking, meaningful questions, today should just be a big ol’ fist fight.  That’s why we really read comics, right?  Right?  No?  In Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity, both written and drawn by Matt Wagner, we get a (I presume) non-canonical look at the three DC powerhouses’ first meeting, complete with nuclear threats and giant pigeons attacking helicopters.  Near the end of the book, it’s time to take out the two main antagonists — Ra’s al Ghul and Bizarro.

Let’s pause here.  Bizarro, the disfigured clone of Superman, has all of the Man of Steel’s power but with the mentality of a toddler.  Actually, a terrific combo for a supervillain.  Also, as you know from Batman comics before, the Dark Knight prefers to handle his own rogue gallery and tends not to pawn them off.  Finally, Wonder Woman can certainly match Bizarro’s speed and strength, so why send the fragile Batman instead of the hearty (is that offensive?) Amazon.

Before you immediately dismiss an insane Batman, you should buy the book, because Wonder Woman already had her savage fight with Bizarro:

And it didn’t really go well.  It’s okay, Batman has a plan.  He always has a plan.  But first up:

Wonder Woman vs. Ra’s al Ghul

I like this characterization of Ra’s.  He retains the horrible haircut and megalomania, but now he has an added layer of pervert that makes him way easier to hate.

From a superpower perspective alone, Wonder Woman shouldn’t have a terribly hard time dealing with Ra’s.  The man has 600 years of combat experience, but he’s still non-powered.  And unfortunately, Wonder Woman doesn’t have that convenient kryptonite weakness.  So for the sake of story, we’ll assume Ra’s centuries of training make him an even match for the daughter of Zeus, which is fairly feasible for comics.  Bring on the continuity anger — I’m totally going with her New 52 origin.

The best part of fighting a misogynist?  The inevitable verbal/physical smackdown using all those womanly strengths.

Victory Wonder Woman.  Poor Batman won’t have so easy a time.

Batman vs. Bizarro

With no blue kryptonite handy to incapacitate the reject clone, Batman’s going to have to hit hard and hit fast — his favorite kind of hitting.

I would like to say that Bruce Wayne musters up the last remaining strength and succeeds despite all odds against him, but to be fair, he is going up against a monster who can push moons.

Valiant effort by Batman.  It’s really the thought that counts when it comes to battles.  When your opponent has you pinned on top of nuclear bombs, maybe it’s time to tag in your partner.  Y’know, like a man who has a bit more experience dealing with crazy clones of himself.

Mission complete, and no better panel to end the weekend on.  Superman rocks.