Warning: Spoilers for Wonder Woman (2023) #15 ahead!
It’s arguably the oldest superhero trope in the world – andWonder Womanhas just trampled it into the dust. Superheroes have been breaking up bank robberies for almost as long as the genre has existed, but now Wonder Woman and her friends have good reason to flip the script and commit some bank robberies of their own.
Wonder Woman (2023)#15 – written by Tom King, with art by Daniel Sampere – picks up right afterthe death of Steve Trevorat the Sovereign’s hands. While Wonder Woman takes care of her and Steve’s newborn daughter, Trinity, she oversees the various Wonder Girls and Cheetah as they dismantle the Sovereign’s financial networks with brutal efficiency.
Yara Flor’s target is particularly brazen, as the Sovereign notes that “the Flor woman robbed seventeen banks in nine states” - and indeed,Yara seems particularly gleeful at the chance to rob banks in the name of justice.
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Wonder Woman#15 – Written By Tom King; Art By Daniel Sampere; Color By Tomeau Morey; Lettering By Clayton Cowles
For decades, the bank heist has been the perfect plot device to introduce superheroes and villains to readers: it quickly establishes stakes, is a flagrant and obvious criminal act, confronts the hero with what would normally be a considerable obstacle – armed bank robbers – to anyone without powers, while allowing them to show off said powers. The same works for establishing a villain, too: the heist that comprisesThe Dark Knight (2008)‘sbrilliant opening act showcases the Joker’s ruthless planning, quickly establishing him as a worthy foe across from Christian Bale’s gravelly-voiced Batman.
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There are a couple of factors that make the heist inWonder Woman #15particularly delightful. The first is Yara Flor’s deliberately cavalier attitude toward her heists: she practically swans her way to the desk and vault, all smiles even when knocking out guards. The second is that, as the Sovereign points out, by attempting to strike at Wonder Woman bycriminalizing Amazon presence in America, he’s essentially given the Amazons carte blanche to break any laws they please:since their mere presence already breaks the law, they are empowered to strike against the Sovereign more brazenly, and extrajudicially.
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All in all, this is a delightful twist that allowsWonder Woman#15 to be its own miniature heist story – other targets include a battleship fortress and even Solomon Grundy – but the highlight of the issue is unquestionably Yara Flor’s cheerful string of bank robberies. Not only are theythe perfect inversion of the “superhero foils bank heist” trope, but they’re also played completely straight:this isn’t a case of heroes going rogue, this is a deliberate string of statewide bank jobs for a just cause, robbing the Sovereign’s ill-gotten gains out from under him.
Time will tell how much of an impact the Sovereign’s legacy will have on the DC universe as a whole, but at the very least, readers can remember him as the villain who enabled Wonder Woman to save America – by robbing banks.
It’s refreshing to see new life breathed into such an old trope – even more so when it helps to bring down such a detestable villain. Wonder Woman and her allies seem to be closing in on the Sovereign; without his wealth, it remains to be seen how much of his influence he can retain. Time will tell how much of an impact theSovereign’s legacy will have on the DC Universeas a whole, but at the very least, readers can remember him as the villain who enabledWonder Womanto save America by robbing banks.
Wonder Woman (2023)#15is available now from DC Comics.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is the superhero identity of Diana, Princess of the Amazons. Created on the island of Themyscira, Wonder Woman is a super-powered demi-goddess with extreme physical strength who utilizes magical gifts (like her famous Lasso of Truth) to defeat her foes. As mighty as her fellow heroes Superman and the Justice League, Wonder Woman is unmatched in her compassion and virtue.
