FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #1/ Script by DAN WATTERS/ Art by LELIA DEL DUCA/ Colors by NICK FILARDI/ Letters by TOM NAPOLITANO/ Cover by LEE WEEKS & BRAD ANDERSON/ Variant Covers by JEREMY ROBERTS & CLAY ENOS/ Published by DC COMICS

It’s another beautiful day in Metropolis and Jonathan Kent is ready to spend it saving people as Superman. It doesn’t take him long, however, to realize that something strange is afoot. Namely that there are two suns in the sky. This is due to the arrival of Solaris, The Tyrant Sun. This is also the start of Jonathan Kent’s problems for the day.

There are many deities who claim to be the sun or at least be responsible for the sun. One of them is Kuat, the sun god of several tribes that live in the Amazon jungle. Arrogant and proud (as most gods are) he takes exception to a second sun daring to do what he does and challenges Solaris to a race to prove who is worthy to warm the Earth. This is how the new Wonder Woman is dragged into what could be the biggest disaster in Earth’s history, as two suns wage war and the Earth is caught in the crossfire.

There are some ideas that seem uniquely suited to the world of superhero comics. A robot sun dueling a god is one of them. Dan Watters’ script runs wild with this collision of worlds, as the mythology of Wonder Woman mixes with the weird science of Superman to create the best odd concoction since peanut butter and chocolate were first combined.

While this idea alone would be enough to recommend Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman, the book is also a fantastic introduction to both its title characters. Indeed, it’s by far the best of the Future State titles devoted to the Superman family so far. The interactions between Jonathan and Yara are wonderful and the action shows us who they are rather than dropping a ton of exposition bricks on us.

The artwork is also top-notch. Leila Del Duca (The Wicked + The Divine) is a wonderful visual storyteller and the action flows well from panel to panel, with a sudden loss of background punctuating the conflicts in the dialogue. The color work by Nick Filardi is subtle yet powerful, with many fine details like the fact that Superman tans deeply and near instantly as he stares down Solaris. Tom Napolitano works a similar soft magic with the lettering, with some outstanding font choices to distinguish the dialogue of Solaris and the unseen narrator.

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #1 is everything a first issue should be, setting up the characters with an engaging story and a minimum of exposition. It’s one of the best books of the Future State line so far. I’m looking forward to the next chapter immensely.