For those of you who have been checking out the Mothership, you’ll see that J. Michael Straczynski has been announced as the new writer for — wait for it — Superman AND Wonder Woman. My reaction:

In all seriousness, this gets me excited about Supes and Wondy in a big way — JMS is one of my favorite writers, and the reason for that is because he knows how to get the characterization just right, while also really establishing a focus for his narrative that allows for some really dramatic moments. It worked (epically) with Thor — to see Superman and Wonder Woman get that sort of treatment, well, it might give Batman a little something to worry about, as he sits at the top of the DC Comics food chain.

“It’s never too late to fly.” I already can’t wait.

But that said… JMS isn’t doing this alone. A great writer deserves a great artist — and while DC hasn’t made any announcements yet, let’s speculate as to a “dream team” artist who they could bring aboard!

Superman — John Cassaday: He may be a time-intensive artist, but let’s face it — John Cassaday sells. His work on Astonishing X-Men made him tons of fans, and he’s become lucrative and successful enough to take on only projects he wants to take on. The world’s first superhero might just be it. He made Captain America into a visceral pleasure to read following 9/11 — I think he could certainly create the nobility and power that JMS is trying to convey with Superman.

Olivier Coipel: Wouldn’t that be a coup? The creative team that brought Thor to a new generation taking their talents to Earth’s Greatest Hero? Coipel has been bringing his blockbuster chops to the national marketplace with Siege — and while the artist signed an exclusive with Marvel in 2005, could his contract be up for negotiation soon? Somehow, after the latest Marvel event, I can’t see the House of Ideas parting with this guy, but DC could very well start headhunting like they did with David Finch…

Tony Harris: Harris has a photorealistic style that would certainly represent a different tone for the franchise, but it’s a shift that would issue a “back to basics” approach — something that I would argue could help the Superman series. But if you’ve ever read War Heroes, you know why I’m suggesting this — Harris can tear up his pages at a moment’s notice, and could really bring a sense of power to Superman.

Wonder Woman — Jim Lee: Considering Lee’s new promotion to DC co-publisher, it seems pretty unlikely that this would take place. But if it did, it would represent an enormous leap of faith in DC’s Amazing Amazon, and would likely break some serious barriers in terms of sales. Of course, one could argue that deadline issues for both creators would be a problem here… But for so long, people have decried the lack of a seminal Wonder Woman arc — and wouldn’t a JMS/Jim Lee Wonder Woman look sick?

Ryan Sook: It’d be a quirky choice, but one that I think would pay off in spades for DC. If you saw Sook’s pages in Wednesday Comics, you’d know that Sook sweats talent, and his clean linework could bring an almost Adam Hughes-like flavor to Diana Prince. Sook is someone who could really bring Diana’s weird world to life, especially the mythological elements of her story.

Nicola Scott: Definitely a fan favorite, and if she stuck around in the Wonder Woman world, I would not be terribly surprised. She’s gotten stellar reviews. To me, the only drawback — and I don’t even know if I can call this a drawback — is that we’ve seen her work before. DC has the opportunity to completely rebrand Wonder Woman as a sales force to be reckoned with — why not go for someone who hasn’t tackled the character before? But when you’re as good as Nicola Scott, well, it’ll still be stellar work.

What say you, Rama readers? Who would you like to see draw Superman and Wonder Woman?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 11:07 am and is filed under News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.