Customer Reviews

Superman/Batman

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Don't you just love it when two great athletes team up?

Batman and Superman have been around for decades. Two of the main reasons people still read comics today, these two icons have appeared in -- literally -- thousands of stories ... facing threats to themselves ... challenging threats to world peace ... and making the world safe for the rest of us at the risk to their own personal safety.

However, PUBLIC ENEMIES -- under the guidance of Jeph Loeb -- takes the old and makes it new, bringing a remarkable freshness to characters who have seen some great days and, undoubtedly, have greater ones to come.

A huge meteor is hurtling across space, taunting the destruction of the planet Earth. No big deal, you say? Just send Superman into space to knock the rock off its trajectory? While it sounds like a good idea, you have to remember that the author of this work is Jeph Loeb, arguably one of the best minds working in comics today (and, for those of you in the know, he's also a consultant for the WB's hit SMALLVILLE): this meteor is a hunk from the planet Krypton ... making it Kryptonite ... and meaning that Superman is absolutely powerless against it! Its radiation threatens the survival of the entire planet, and only these two superminds and supertalents combined can find a way to save the day and put right all that has been thrown into chaos since Lex Luther was elected President of the United States.

What? Lex Luthor? President?

Clearly, PUBLIC ENEMIES is not necessarily a great 'jumping on' point for new readers. There may be some resulting confusion due to storylines hinted at that occured before this tome (Lex Luthor's election as President of the United States, Luthor's attempt to wrest control of Gotham City from billionaire Bruce Wayne, Commissioner James Gordon's retirement from the police force, etc.), but these hints serve moreso as nods to other great Batman and Superman stories for the newcomer to go and explore. Also, ENEMIES is replete -- one may argue too much so -- with guest appearances (Captain Atom, Major Force, Solomon Grundy, **drool** the lovely Power Girl, etc.) from the whole pantheon of DC villains and superheroes ... so many that that the final showdown between Luthor and Superman does feel a bit rushed to get this entire story told in what was originally six issues of the new Batman/Superman comic book, but that's a minor critique easily dismissed thanks to the strength of Loeb's work. The real magic of PUBLIC ENEMIES is that it should be considered on its own and of its own merits ... of which there are (thankfully) plenty.

Also, Ed McGuinness deserves a nod for delivering some stunning artwork to back up Loeb's epic storyline. The drawings are crisp and fluid, the coloring is dynamite and eye-popping, and the layout is exceptional.

ENEMIES is a friend worth finding.

Batman and Superman have always been amazing characters, yet couldn't be any more different in their approach for fighting against crime. Batman, the ever dark personality that uses his anger to overcome great odds. Superman, the boy scout who looks for the good in all and fight for truth, justice and the american way.

"Public Enemies" displays just how different these two are and does so beautifully by displaying each ones personal thoughts throughout the book.

Fighting for a common goal, they each show tremendous respect for the other, though not agreeing entirely on each others tactics. They almost, in a way, dislike the fact that they have to rely on one another at times. It is almost hard to say that them two are real friends and it is very easy to see how they could become mortal enemies if the circumstance permits. A very intriguing alliance.

In "Public Enemies", President Lex Luthor, has put a billion dollar bounty on their heads and every known bad guy has come to claim it. "Public Enemies" has a great collection of team battles with classic villians and epic confrontations with former team members.

A great read, with a lot of action, that comes highly recommended.

I can not imagine a more perfectly written story combining these two essential icons. The story is so intriguing and spell-binding. And then the art... Batman is so intimidating. Superman's power and Boy Scout image is juxtaposed nicely. I am just starting to read comics from the DC universe, but this has been a very good introduction. If you are even considering buying this, than I can promise it is worth your money.

The first thing I noticed, and the reason I ended up buying the book, was that the whole way through you got to see inside of batman/superman's head via captions. It was really cool seeing how they each saw the situation so differently, yet came to the same conclusions. The problems start right after President Luthor puts a million dollar bounty on supermans head. After that the majority of the plot is based on them being attacked with an unbelievable number of super villians, who we discover have apparently all had their minds taken over by a psychic ape. From their it just goes downhill. The artwork was good, though a bit too... solid for my tastes. The art all looks like it belongs in a cartoon (where you can't leave too much of the screen uncovered) than in a graphic novel (where such things can be used for effect).

First things first.

I am not a gigantic comics fan. I've never been to a comic book shop. I know the big names. Basically, if they had a live action TV show, I know them.

So, my opinion is not as well-informed as that of some.

Superman has always been of limited interest to me. He can't be hurt (technically, I know he can but who has Kryptonite sitting around?), he has the tools to deal with any situation. He has a healthy psyche. Good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting. Batman, on the other hand, he oozes character exploration opportunities.

Surprisingly, Loeb and company have made Superman very interesting, by looking at him through the prism of Batman, and also by seeing Batman through Superman's eyes. Their chosen format of having dueling interior thought lines from Batman and Superman offer the reader an interesting opportunity to see these tried and true characters anew.

This was a fun plotline - an interesting and entertaining read. The choice to use the TV show Batmobile was great, since it was by far the coolest of the bunch. There are lots of inside jokes, such as having lines lifted from the various TV shows and movies that have featured Batman and Superman.

Highly recommended.

This is a great series. The art is clean. Jeph Loeb keeps true to the essense of the characters and takes them seriously. Definitely worth reading multipe times.

I bought Superman/ Batman Public Enemies for two reasons. One was that I'd seen some really positive reviews about it on Amazon and a few other websites and I always like stories where Superman and Batman crosspaths. But my main reason for getting this was Jeph Loeb. I hold him high on my list of comic book writers, for me he's up there with Frank Miller and Alan Moore.
I loved The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Superman For All Seasons is my favourite Superman book. I also even really enjoyed Spider-Man: Blue, and I'm not a big Spider-Man fan. But I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this book.

The storyline itself was good, an asteroid made out of kryptonite is headed for Earth. Being kryptonite, he can't stop it, so I figured that's where Batman would come in to help. But a lot of the story seemed cluttered and it just felt like it was being written without any real plan or idea on where it would go.

It had a large number of lesser known DC characters. I think that's both good and bad. It's good to put these characters in a comic with big name characters like Superman and Batman, it's the best way for people to learn about them and get into them. But at the same time, they took attention away from the main focus of the story.

There were also a number of smaller plotlines running throughout the story that sometimes made me forget there was a giant kryptonite asteroid about to destroy Earth.

The writing and dialogue itself is still really good. And personally, I loved how each page and panel showed both Bruce and Clark's individual thoughts. How they both want the same thing, but have much different trains of thought and ideas on how to get it.
I also really enjoyed the prologue that shows how Clark first saw Bruce when they were children, with great art on those pages by Tim Sale.

The artwork in general in this story is still good though, it's very clean and cartoony, but not too cartoony that it makes you feel like a child for reading it.

Overall, it's an okay crossover story. It has a lot of things that weigh it down, but there a moments of greatness in it that I think make it worth reading. If you want to get into Jeph Loeb, I'd recommend reading The Long Halloween or Hush first, before reading Public Enemies, as this isn't the best representation of how much of a great writer he can be.

I give it three stars.

Superman and Batman is there a better pairing in comics? I don't think so and this is exactly why I think it. Superman and Batman are just perfect foils for each other. Batman the paranoid pessimist, Superman the over trusting optimist. I could go on but, I'm not going to the two just fit together. The story is solid with several different characters from across the board heroes and villains both making appearances throughout. Art isn't the best you will ever see but, it's not too bad. I recommand to anyone who likes either of the characters.

In this volume Superman and Batman team up to fight Superman's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. In the chronology of this particular storyline, Luthor was elected President of the United States. Unbeknownst to the public, he has also continued his various secret schemes and projects to rid the world of Superman and control the world. When a huge kryptonian asteroid threatens to hit Earth, Luthor blames it on Superman and orders a federal warrant for his arrest and sends a team of superheroes to bring Superman in. Meanwhile Batman and Superman try to capture Luthor while at the same time trying to stop the meteor before it hits the planet.

The art work in PUBLIC ENEMIES is beautiful. Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, and company do an excellent job of melding the vibrant, radiant colors that are often seen in connection with Superman to the more darker, bleak palette used with Batman. I also enjoyed the parallelism throughout the graphic novel between the thoughts of Superman and the thoughts of Batman. These two characters are tent pole characters of the D.C. universe and anytime they are teamed up makes for at least a decent story. Even though it made the story a bit more heavy-handed than it should have been, I also like how various D.C. characters are brought in throughout the story including Green Lantern, Hawkman, Captain Marvel, and the buxom beauty Atom Girl.

However, there is a lot about PUBLIC ENEMIES that I don't like. The series was written by Jeph Loeb. Loeb is a writer who doesn't really care much about the history of the characters he writes about. He doesn't seem to care much about continuity either. Under the direction and leadership of Loeb and writers like him, Lex Luthor tried to take over Gotham City, Lex Luthor was killed and went to Hell but was later resurrected, Commissioner Gordon became too old and had to retire from police duties, Lex Luthor ran for office and was elected President, etc. None of this fits with continuity of the D.C. universe or seems natural for the characters. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise because Loeb also works as a consultant for the television show SMALLVILLE, a show that totally threw out everything that had been written about the origins of any D.C. character and decided to rewrite them how they so fit. It was popular with the teeny boppers and made money for the company because of television rights, but teeny boppers don't buy and read comic books and therefore hurt the industry more.

PUBLIC ENEMIES isn't a very good story to introduce people to a Superman/Batman combo story. It's also not a storyline to sits well with longtime fans of the characters. The graphic basically appeals to those who know very little about either Superman & Batman and have learned what little they know from watching SMALLVILLE and/or reading earlier editions of Superman and/or Batman comics that were written by Loeb. If you want to read a really good Superman and Batman team-up, read some of the comics from either the Golden or Silver Age of comics.

Superman - Batman Public Enemies, Loeb - McGuinnes - Vines.

First Impressions:

Yes fans, the book is better than the movie!

McGuinness' art is superb throughout. Loeb's writing, though a bit uneven, keeps us moving through the story. This is the first of the four issue series.

We have secret knowledge of what both Batman and Superman think of each other's methods and madnesses through the courtesy of little yellow and little blue balloons which makes the story more interesting -- a first person narrative within a narrative so to speak.

Luthor gets himself elected president. In the story, Superman second-guesses himself that he should have been more involved and told the American people that it would not be a good idea.

Luthor blames Superman for the Kryptonite meteor that is flying to the Earth and will wipe out all Man. And that is the reason he puts out a bounty on Superman's head. That part of the story is a bit far-fetched!

Story!

Another aspect is Luthor's hatred of superheroes yet uses them as his fall guys to rein in Superman and Batman. These heroes think they're defending and following the president of the USA.

Finding and catching these two is not easy for anyone and it's great fun watching the fight scenes and the clever ways they go about defeating these heroes, some of whom are held in thrall by Gorilla Grodd (man, where'd he come from).

Batman's passion to find his parents' killer combined with the equal passion of Metallo who has a kryptonite heart but doesn't consider himself evil is compelling. In fact the themes of considering ones' self evil, ones' acts evil, is peppered throughout the story. These themes were missing from the film, which itself was quite action-packed, but could not afford to lend the reader pause to consider: Luthor thinks he is the good one, stamping out the alien menace from Krypton. Superman from the future (another element missing from the film) thinks he's doing good by attempting to kill people in the past to prevent the events of his present.

Between all these lofty thoughts we get some knock down drag out with Captain Marvel vs. Superman (always fun) and Hawkman versus Batman, which the Hawk and the Bat reluctantly clash.

Subplots of Luthor's baiting other heroes for their defeat are also throughout the story, making a tale that is as complex as it is long. Still, great to dig into Luthor's madness while those around him support his station but not necessarily his policies.

The whole Superman Batman composite robot, well, that was a bit Silver-Age silly. Still, I do like the book!

Bottom Line:

Recommended for Loeb fans though not at the standard of Batman: Hush, a fun World's Finest tale.