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Now that the first story arc of Batman/Superman is in the books, as it were, what better time to scrutinize the hell out of it then right now?  Since I can’t think of any reason not too, let’s take out our microscopes and scrutinize!

FYI…spoilers ahead!

Batman Superman Cover 2

Collectively, the first story arc of Batman/Superman (the New52 version of Superman/Batman and World’s Finest before that), written by Greg Pak and penciled mostly by Jae Lee (with some fill-in work by Yildiray Cinar and Ben Oliver) turned out to be fairly decent.  Taken individually?  That’s when things for your friendly neighborhood jman break down a bit.  At times, the individual issues were difficult to follow.  The jumps between locations, universes and time periods was difficult to follow.  Were they on Earth 2? Earth 1?  Somewhere else?  It wasn’t all that clear.

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There were other things that were hard to follow.  It was difficult at times to differentiate between the young Batman of Earth 1 and the older Batman of Earth 2.  And speaking of which, what was the deal with the Earth 2 heroes?!?!?  Granted, I don’t read Earth 2 book.  So I could be missing out on something here, but Earth 2’s answer to Batman and Superman seemed pretty…arrogant?!?!?

I think the problem with Batman/Superman, is unfortunately Jae Lee’s artwork.  I’ve got mixed feelings about his style.  Overall, Jae Lee’s got an interesting, distinctive look.  But, it tended to bog the story down.  To be perfectly honest, I rather preferred Ben Oliver’s work on the last few pages of issue one and issue four as a whole.  I just don’t think Lee’s style suits this type of book.  Perhaps an Elseworld’s tale about Batman, like The Long Halloween.  Lee’s style has a creepy, other-worldly feeling to it.  It’s not a style that lends itself to a book who’s one main protagonist is Superman.

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Then there was the meeting of Clark and Bruce as kids in issue 3.  Talk about mixed feelings.  I mean, in a vacuum, it was a decent bit of storytelling, nothing offensive, really.  And I get what Pak was going for with it.  But, unfortunately, it doesn’t take place in a vacuum. And it just seems like more mucking of history that doesn’t really need to be mucked with.

All that being said, on my second reading of the first four books for this discussion, I definitely enjoyed them more.  Issue 4 being the strongest of the four.  The story tied together rather nicely at the end, referencing the opening scene between Bruce and Clark in issue one.

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I still standby what I’ve said many, many times elsewhere about the new52 Superman.  And Earth 2 Superman seems to concur with me, the arrogant tough that he is.  New52 Superman is just not very Superman-ish.  And this story arc only furthers my point.  Killing both of Clark’s parents wasn’t a good idea.  Young Superman isn’t very likeable.  And, I’m sorry, but two years into this I STILL don’t get the t shirt, rolled jeans, work boots and cape look.  It’s dumb.

Admittedly, I am a bit biased.  My heart belongs to the pre52 Superman/Batman series.  Especially Loeb and McGuinness’ initial run on it.  That was good stuff.  Alas, though, those days are long gone.  All’s we can do, I guess, is hope for the best with this new title.

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6 thoughts on “Discussion: Batman/Superman #1 – 4 (DC Comics)”
  1. Admittedly, I have not read the series, but I can tell you I won’t read the series, because the artwork is wrong. You hit the nail on the head. And just from what you’ve shown here…I don’t think anyone is very likable. Well, there was that one frame where Martha was all “You boys should know better.”

    I mean, who the hell talks to, ostensibly, the two most powerful men in the multiverse like she’s about to take them behind the woodshed? Martha Fucking Kent, that’s who! :D

    1. amen, brother! amen! Martha really is the only likable character in the book. even Pa Kent isn’t very likable. even if he watched young Supes hit Bats, you’d think he’d be a little bit more “what the hell is going on here?!?” then he was…

      appreciate the comment!

  2. I’ve never been a fan of Jae Lee. His lack of backgrounds and dark style was something I was a bit nervous about with this book. Initially I was impressed! The first issue had great backgrounds, wasn’t overly dark and the characters looked good.

    Then we got to Earth 2 and it was like Jae didn’t know what to do with it so he left it up to the colorist to fill in the white space on his pages. Disappointing.

    The story was fun and honestly I think it would be cool if Bruce and Clark were friends as kids. That’s a fun new twist but that was just for Earth 2 right? I’m confused as well as far as what Earth they’re on…much less us lol. If DC wants us to have a young, brash, inexperienced and raw Clark Kent because both his parents died and he has no guidance…I’m okay with it. It’s a fresh new take on the character who so often is referred to as a ‘boring boyscout’. A Superman who is finding his way? Yeah I’m down with that. I just wish DC took more time to explore it rather than fast forward 5 years only to re-wind every so often with a new writer.

    I’m excited to see that Brett Booth will be splitting art duties with Jae Lee as he’ll be taking on the upcoming arc starting with issue 5. I think he’s a much better artist for the series.

    Great write-up, thoroughly enjoyed it.

    1. i agree with you about the fast forwarding of Supes. and maybe that’s part of the problem. a) they don’t have the luxury of 75 years of character evolution anymore. and b) they’re trying to re-imagine too much at once.

      the jumping back and forth between time frames really drives me nuts. not just in this book, but in all the Sman books. i get what they’re trying to do, but either tell his stories as he is now…with the occasional flashback (and by occasional i mean a page or two and let’s make sure the reader knows it’s a flashback) or tell the stories right from the beginning.

      thanks for commenting! appreciate it!

  3. One of the biggest problems I have this all the continuity errors. Geoff Johns made it seem like Superman and Batman meet for the first time until the Justice League book. But now this contradicts that meeting. So which is it?

    1. exactly. this is why i really believe both publishers need to embrace an Elseworlds/What If series. i don’t have a problem with bruce/clark meeting as kids, per se. but, it doesn’t fit the overall story DC is trying to put forth.

      and I’m not a continuity hound, either. but, some of the big things they’ve got to stick with, if this is the path they’ve chosen…

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