There's a giant on the moon. A dead giant. Superman needs Batman's investigative skills to help solve the mystery, so goes to Gotham to find him. The Caped Crusader is in the middle of a fight with Clayface, so might be expected to be grateful for a super-hand.
Not so. And Batman doesn't cheer up when Superman takes actor-turned-monster Basil Karlo back to Arkham Asylum.
Still, Bruce loves a mystery so is a tiny bit less miserable by the time Clark and he are on the moon.
But not much...
This issue of Batman/Superman is in untold tale mode and it's lovely to see an almost fully loaded Man of Steel - he can't breathe in space just yet, but he's much mightier than the current version. I'm less thrilled to see quite such a bad-tempered Batman. Why Superman bothers with him I have no idea, he should go find some other mystery solver, Elongated Man, Angel and the Ape or Detective Chimp, say. Anyone but this negative nelly. I know this has been the early years Batman/Superman dynamic for decades now, but it still jars. World's Finest, the series on which this comic is based, was always 'your two favourite heroes together'. Why would this pair ever seek out one another? This Batman is a lone wolf to a lunatic degree, seemingly jealous of any other hero who so much as enters Gotham. DC seems to have forgotten that it is possible to contrast Superman and Batman without a big element of dislike being present.
Rant over. There were lots of things I liked in Tom Taylor's script. The aforementioned SUPERman. A recognisable Commissioner Gordon. Good ol' Clayface. The mystery. A surprise guest star.
Robson Rocha's pencils are another plus, telling the story in a clear, dynamic manner. The Clayface skirmish is a treat, Superman looks excellent with the kiss curl present and the guest star looks good. And he gives Batman's spacesuit a cape!
The reveal of the alien is eyecatching, though the combined Superman/Batman logo appearing in moondust is misleading, it's not actually there in-story. I suppose Rocha expected this to be the credits page, but that's his fine Superman splash a few pages earlier. It's a very nice page, lifted immensely by letterer Rob Leigh's Art Deco title treatment. Batman also gets a nice entrance splash, though poor Alfred looks to have shrunk in the wash.
The inking trio of Dexter Vines, Wade von Grawbadger and Norm Rapmund gel nicely, aided by the colours of Blond. Yanick Pacquette draws the cover, Nathan Fairbairn colours and it's rather lovely, with the contrast between bats and doves.
This story will continue for a few issues - presumably as long as it takes to fill a trade paperback - and boorish Batman aside, I'm expecting big, daft Bronze Age fun.
It would be more of a mystery if you could find a spot on DC Luna that didn't have some unknown object or structure on it.
ReplyDeleteI think Marvel's moon is more crowded, mind - the Blue Area of the Inhumans, the Watcher residence, dead Nick Fury... is he dead, I lost track?
DeleteLast Ichecked, he was the Watcher.
DeleteBlue Area has the former site of Attilan, Watcher's house, and Fury's new cellar. It'[s not spread out that much at all...
DeleteSorry, I know all this really, was just being silly...
DeleteSuperman shows up with a smile? He saves the astronaut? He repairs the ship and restores the life support systems (Genius intellect at work)? What am I reading?! Where's the destruction and emo brooding? What's gotten into Pak? Wait, Tom Taylor wrote this?! Injustice: Gods Among Us, Tom Taylor?! It just goes to show you, life is a funny thing, and you never know what is going to happen.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first Superman/Batman story I've enjoyed in quite some time, even if Batman is made a major jerk, but at least Superman was recognizable. . .now if they could only get rid of that awful outfit. Trunks!
I agree about the trunks, Superman just looks wrong without them; changing the costume is just a lunkheaded move on DC's part.
ReplyDeleteIt's called "Synergy", Martin. Basically, it's lining up all their media to share a cohesive look and branding.
DeleteWhy they would do this when they're always telling us "we don't get new comics readers because of the tv shows or movies" is never really explained.
It's a shame it always seems to be the screen tail wagging the comics dog - I suppose that's because Dan DiDio has a TV background, and Geoff John's a telly guy too.
DeleteI really enjoyed this issue. I stopped reading Batman/Superman long ago, but when I heard that Tom Taylor was writing few issues of this book I was instantly interested in what he could bring to these characters, and I wasn't disappointed to be honest. This issue felt like fresh air, at least for me, not really a fan of Greg Pak.
ReplyDeleteThis Superman was the most recognizable I have seen in years since the reboot, a Superman who worries about the state of a person he just rescued, a Superman who has manners, who acts like an astronaut geek and SMILES? Give it to me! I almost had tears on my eyes with the first pages! And even though Taylor wrote Injustice, eeeek.....he always seems to care about Superman and now he got his chance to write a non evil version.
Batman didn't irk me as much as he did to you Martin, honestly after all the stories about Superman being the jerk, cough Truth, for once I am glad someone is writing a more recognizable and charismatic Superman! Maybe is that I am used to Bruce being the jerk and dialogues on this issue just made me roll my eyes, I can stand that Batman but when same personality is forced to Clark, then I have a problem.
But I have to agree I wish we were at that point in the lives of this 2 amazing characters where they both were acting more like friends and World Finest instead of what we were receiving lately. I just don't get why in order to make one of them shine in the story, writers have to sacrifice the other, for awhile it has been Superman the goat going to the altar, so I guess I am OKAY with the Bat receiving same treatment. Hopefully this arc progresses in a way that both characters are left in a good place and we finally see them as the World Finest we miss so much!
I don't want either character to be a jerk; Batman and Superman can be different without one or both of them being antagonistic. It saddened me that the original World's Finest Comics ended with Batman and Superman deciding they were too different to work together... after more than 300 issues!
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