Superman/Batman, Volume 4

Superman/Batman (7 Volumes Edition)

by Alan Burnett, Mike Johnson, Dan Abnett

HIS DEADLIEST WEAKNESS. HIS MIGHTIEST ENEMY. HIS DARKEST HOUR…

He’s faster than a bolt of lightning. He can stop a missile with two fingers. He can mold titanium between his molars like gum. But there is one substance that can tear Superman apart from the inside out. And there is one being whose power makes him look like a mere mortal in the clutches of an angry god.

The weapon is Kryptonite. The enemy is Darkseid. And unless he can find a way to fight them both, the Man of Steel is doomed!

In this incredible collection starring the most iconic superheroes in comics, the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight face two of their greatest challenges. “The Search for Kryptonite” sees Superman and Batman scouring the planet to rid the world of Kryptonite, the one weapon that can kill the Last Son of Krypton. And in “Torment,” the two heroes face the fight of their lives against the God of Apokolips and his sadistic disciple Desaad.

A trio of TV’s best superhero writers—Michael Green Mike Johnson (HEROES) and Alan Burnett (the BATMAN BEYOND animated series)—joins artists Shane Davis (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 1 & 2) and DUSTIN NGUYEN (BATMAN: L’IL GOTHAM) in this collection of SUPERMAN/BATMAN #37-49 and SUPERMAN/BATMAN ANNUAL #2. It’s the World’s Finest Heroes at their best!

Genres: Comics, Superman, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Superheroes

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Alan Burnett is an American television writer-producer particularly associated with Warner Bros. Animation, Hanna-Barbera Productions, DC Comics and Walt Disney television animation. He has had a hand in virtually every DC animated project since the waning years of the Super Friends. Burnett's contributions for Disney were largely a part of the 1990s Disney Afternoon, where he was attached to the Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears and various projects set in the Scrooge McDuck universe. Because of his primary focus on televised animation, he has occasionally been involved in film projects related to a parent television program. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and has an MFA in film production from the University of Southern California.

Reviews

[Chad]

The Fathers - Art by Ed Benes, Matthew Clark, Allan Goldman, Ian Churchill, & Andrew Robinson - 3 Stars
Features a meeting between Thomas Wayne and Jor-El. It was a bit far-fetched.

Li'l Leagers - Art by Rafael Albuquerque - 5 Stars
Mr. Mxyzptlk sends a cartoon version of the Justice League to our Earth. This was a lot of fun and had heart. The best of the the bunch. Albuquerque provides some fantastic art.

Super / Bat - Art by Rags Morales - 3 Stars
Magic happens and Batman gains Superman's powers. It was just alright. Batman becomes even more of a dick than normal. Morales art is hit and miss. Some of his faces just look weird.

Compound Fracture - Written by Len Wein, Art by Chris Batista - 3 Stars
There's a compound Frankenstein version of Superman and Batman running around. Hearkens back to those goofy team-up from the golden age. Batista's art while a little cartoony is very solid.

Nanopolis - Written by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Mike Johnson, Art by Whilce Portacio - 2 Stars
This was the worst story in the book. Superman gets shrunk down into microscopic size and Batman shrinks down to save him. Why not call the Atom? Wouldn't that make things a lot easier. I think Portacio may be one of the few artists whose art has gotten worse over time. It was fantastic back in his X-Men days, now everyone just looks dehydrated and screaming. I was shocked Whilce was able to complete 3 issues in a row without assistance.

Mash-Up - Art by Francis Manapul - 5 Stars
A lot of the DC universe gets amalgamated with other DC characters. I really loved this. Francis Manapul's art is exquisite. I'm going to need a page of one of his books on my wall one day.

Sidekicked - Art by Rafael Albuquerque - 5 Stars
Supergirl and Robin's first team-up. They get called into a riot at Arkham while Batman and Superman are responding to a JLA emergency. Absolutely loved it.

Night & Day - Art by Rafael Albuquerque - 3 Stars
Grodd has taken over the earth and poisoned the atmosphere with Kryptonite forcing Superman off planet. Batman is the lone resistance left.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library)]

This is back to the standard set by the first two volumes.

[Shannon]

All of the tales were relatively good but the best one was when our heroes met their childlike versions in a parallel world. Good contrast and exploration IMO.

MY GRADE: B minus to B.

[Ben Truong]

Superman/Batman Vol. 4 picks up where the previous trade paperback left off and collects the next thirteen issues (Superman/Batman #37–49) of the 2003 on-going series with Superman/Batman Annual #2 and covers four stories: "Torment", "Darklight", "K" and "The Unexamied LIfe...".

"Torment" is a six-issue storyline (Superman/Batman #37–42) has Clark Kent as Superman being psychologically tortured by the Scarecrow and brought to the war planet Tartaros by DeSaad. DeSaad plants a mind-controlling spike in Superman's head, and sends him to retrieve Highfather's staff from the Source Wall, which Darkseid plans to use to restore his powers, which have been steadily waning since his escape from the wall. Batman comes after Superman, but is sidetracked by Orion's wife Bekka.

"K" is also a six-issue storyline (Superman/Batman #44–49) has Superman and Batman began a mission to collect and rid the Earth of every piece of Kryptonite, a substance lethal to Superman, which has been in great abundance since Kara's arrival earlier in this series. Along the way, Batman and Superman receive a lot of support from other heroes, including Firestorm, looking for membership in the JLA. As they continue to search, they encounter the Last Line, a team run by Amanda Waller and a new Kryptonite-powered version of Doomsday created by Waller.

"Darklight" is a one-issue storyline (Superman/Batman #43) has Arthur Light as Doctor Light infiltrates a dark matter fuel experiment on a Waynetech satellite, by creating solidgram versions of the original Teen Titans to distract the guards. He then uses the experiment's Kryptonian processor to enter the Fortress of Solitude. While Superman battles the Titan solidgrams, Batman manages to head off and defeat Light by trapping him in a Dark Matter crystal. Light is later freed by Lex Luthor, who wants him to join his new Injustice League.

"The Unexamined Life..." is also a one-issue storyline (Superman/Batman Annual #2) that has Clark Kent as Superman losing his powers and takes on the identity of Supernova. This story takes place early in the career of the original Robin and depicts his first meeting with Superman.

Alan Burnett (Superman/Batman #37–42), Michael Green (Superman/Batman #44–49), Mike Johnson (Superman/Batman #46–48), Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (Superman/Batman #43), and Joe Kelly (Superman/Batman Annual #2) penned the trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well. The two main stories are written rather well with somewhat memorable storylines, particularly the one written by Green/Johnson team.

Dustin Nguyen (Superman/Batman #37–42), Shane Davis (Superman/Batman #44–49), Mike McKone (Superman/Batman #43), Ed McGuiness, Ryan Ottley, Sean Murphy, and Carlo Barberi (Superman/Batman Annual #2) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling style meshes rather well with each other, but rather distinctive, which gives an uneven artistic flow throughout the trade paperback – noticeably in the Annual.

All in all, Superman/Batman, Vol. 4 is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Kyle Berk]

Before you read any further you should know I love Superman and Batman together. So I'm probably more in love here than any kind of critical mind should be. Okay? OK

So in this collection you've got two major storylines, one that continues a thread from previous Superman/Batman volumes where Darkseid is coming back and a much better storyline called "K". That is about Superman and Batman gathering up all the worlds kryptonite. And on top of that you have two single issues. On about Doctor Lite and another which has become one of my favorite single issues. Because it's my favorite version of Superman and Batman meeting for the first time.

"K" and the Joe Kelly single issue I mentioned really take on the heavy weight. The first storyline is weak and has Superman in zombie mode for a large part of the storyline AND Batman going all goo goo for a woman because she's a god who "creates attraction and lust from those around her" and she's totally into it too. Only thing is that I was not into it, at all. So it really didn't work. The idea of Darkseid having to regain his powers after Superman put him into then later removed him from the source wall is interesting enough but written in a very generic way. Then add to that the lust problem and you have a very mediocre, leaning into bad storyline. Oh and Scarcrow is working with Desaad for some reason?

Then the doctor lite issue is fine, does it's job.

Then the collection gets a whole lot better. The Joe Kelly single issue titled "The Unexamined Life" where it's about the first meeting of Superman and Batman where they face a villian that makes Superman lose his powers and he has to learn to live without them, is super good. It shows the contrast between Batman and Superman and how they can learn from one another in way that isn't just superficial.

Then the "K" storyline which is really good too. They clean up Kryptonite and go through a whole bunch of trials. Other heroes, the U.S. Government, and an old friend. It's good, maybe a bit contrived at times but good.

I really liked this collection and though the first half is weak the second half makes up for it.

I love this title and this is one of the stronger volumes, surprisingly.

4 stars.

[Jedi Master Nate Lightray]

The first time I read these issues, they were individually sold, and were being release in the middle of the Crisis and Civil War. They were not notably outstanding, as they told a story over the course of six months in a normal way, and both major crossovers were far from normal. I always thought that both of those were the highlight of my comic reading time, a span of twenty years. I mean, top notch crossover material, as far as I was concerned.

So these actually were better in a collected format. I mean, far better. It makes me want to go back and get the other volumes and read them collected as well. The Darkseid storyline used Batman and Superman in new, interesting ways while staying familiar with their worlds. Scarecrow teaming up with Desaad makes sense; Desaad betraying Scarecrow makes more sense. Batman being powerless on this mini-Apokolips works. Superman's fear of Earth becoming like Krypton leads into the next story perfectly.

And speaking of K: what a storyline. While I am not a fan of them removing "all Kryptonite" from Earth, I see the value in a story like this. After all, Kryptonite is a regular thorn in the side of Superman. Tad William's Aquaman makes an appearance to show that not every hero agrees with their initiative. The government does not agree. And shocking, [spoiler] is part of the foraging and creation of Kryptonite weapons. I won't go into detail, but honestly, if you watched Smallville at the time, this isn't entirely out of left field.

Finally, the best story in the book, and that's the one with the philosopher. It's only one issue, an annual, but for me, it packs the most punch. Superman fears losing his power. Batman fears that his quest to make his parents' death mean something will turn out to mean nothing.

I really couldn't have told you much about this year in this series before I read them collected. I cannot suggest reading them together enough.

[Chad]

The lead story featuring the New Gods was not very good. Superman is a zombie for most of the book to the point that it's really just a Batman story. Then there's all this goofiness with Batman and the New God Becca where they find each other irresistible. The other main story features Batman and Superman gathering up the world's kryptonite in order to keep Superman safe. I really liked this story. Each issue leads into the next one perfectly. Shane Davis's art is fantastic.

[Dan]

3.5 stars and rounding up - Superman and Batman team up in more stories together, including going up against Desaad and Darkseid when Superman is being mind-controlled and Batman falls in love/lust with Bekka, Orioin's wife; as well as a multi-part story that has Supes & Bats trying to rid the world of all Kryptonite only to find that it's been put into weapons to use against him by people he thought he could trust.

[Edward Davies]

A far more consistent volume, though the middle section felt a bit random due to a stand alone story and an annual lumped in for good measure.

[Jessica]

For a section of this book batman is a big ass, the later half was better with them being friends. Batman is still paranoid but not overly cruel about stuff.

[Lukas Holmes]

Pretty weak until the 'Search for K' storyarc.

[Shawn Zegular]

loved it

[Sean Goh]

Collection of lots of mash-up stories (one with a literally mashed together character). Hit and miss, as most of these collections are wont to do.