Is the World’s Greatest Detective Actually Batman? It Doesn’t Seem Like Wonder Woman Agrees.

Warning: Contains potential spoilers for Wonder Woman #16!Although Batman is usually portrayed as the top detective in DC Comics, when Wonder Woman needs help with an investigation, she calls on another underrated hero for the job. While the new mother is reeling from the murder of Steve Trevor, Diana employs one of her super friends to get to the bottom of it, reuniting with one of her former Justice League Dark teammates instead of the Caped Crusader.

Wonder Woman #16 – written by Tom King with art by Bruno Redondo – follows the tragedy of her iconic love interest’s death, as Diana puts DC’s real World’s Greatest Detective on the case. Desperate to expose the truth about her lover’s killer, Wonder Woman seems to believe that Detective Chimp can gather the right evidence better than the Dark Knight.

Detective Chimp “pulls a Columbo” by using his unassuming charm and ape humor while questioning Henry Charles, the villainous Sovereign. As his investigation into the Trevor murder kicks off, Bobo has already sniffed out the killer.

To Gather Intel On Steve Trevor’s Murderer, Diana Enlists Detective Chimp Instead of Batman

Wonder Woman #16 – Written By Tom King; Art By Bruno Redondo; Ink By Caio Filipe; Color By Adriano Lucas; Lettering By Clayton Cowles

Still recovering from the loss of the character’s greatest love, Wonder Woman needs the DC hero with the best detective skills to help uncover more secrets and expose the Sovereign’s crimes, once and for all. Batman’s biggest competitor for the title of World’s Greatest Detective has consistently been Detective Chimp, aka Bobo T. Chimpanzee, and it seems Wonder Woman agrees that the ape has the upper hand. For one of the most important missions in the character’s history, Diana relies on the well-dressed chimp’s underestimated genius intellect and crime-solving skills over Batman’s to help her bring the Sovereign to justice.

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Wonder Woman isn’t the first DC hero to seemingly pick a side in the great detective debate, as even Bat-Family member Nightwing named Detective Chimp as his top pick in a previous comic. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in the 1950s, Detective Chimp has slowly but surely risen from his status as an obscure oddity in DC history to authentically become one of the most intelligent and respected characters in the publisher’s lineup of heroes. As Bobo uncovers the Sovereign’s schemes with Wonder Woman, and helps her avenge Steve Trevor, he becomes even more integral to DC lore.

Wonder Woman Assembles an Exciting Justice League Dark Reunion In Her Bold New Era

Wonder Woman #16 – Bruno Redondo Card Stock Variant Cover

Wonder Woman #16 isn’t the first team-up between Diana and the detective, since she recruited him back in 2018’s Justice League Dark #1 – written by James Tynion IV, with art by Álvaro Martínez Bueno and Raúl Fernández. That iteration of the supernatural team was led by Wonder Woman, with Detective Chimp as one of its primary members, and it’s nice to see that their friendship is still going strong years later. With Bobo now on the Justice League Unlimited roster, the detective should be featured more moving forward, and could perhaps even team-up with and give some pointers to Batman.

As the Sovereign bristles at Detective Chimp’s investigation, but ultimately thinks nothing of it, it seems that the hyper-intelligent ape has successfully followed through with his part of Diana’s grand plan. While it’s still unknown how this will further unravel in the pages of Wonder Woman #16, it did reveal something about how Diana sees her fellow heroes. The latest development in Steve Trevor’s murder investigation definitively proves that when Wonder Woman needs to call on a detective for something deeply important to her, she’ll reach out to Detective Chimp, instead of her fellow member of DC’s Trinity, Batman.

Wonder Woman #16 will be available December 18, 2024 from DC Comics.

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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.