DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #25

With A Vengeance, Chapter Six:  Supermen/Batmen

May 2006

Written by Jeph Loeb

Pencils by Ed McGuinness

Inks by Dexter Vines

Cover by Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines

Synopsis

At the source wall, various Supergirls from different dimensions free Superman.  Meanwhile, the Joker and Mxyzptlk continue their game.  Superman and the Supergirl’s join the fight, as does Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Superboy, and the evil Supergirl.  Eventually, various Supermen and Batmen from different dimensions also join the fight.  With the fight getting nowhere, Mxyzptlk creates the ultimate composite Superman/Batman while the Joker creates the ultimate Maximums.  As the fight continues, Bizarro finds the dead Batzarro.  From the utility belt he takes Blue Kryptonite which gives him an elevated intellect.  Knowing what to do, Bizarro releases the last of Mxyzptlk’s from the Joker, revealing Bat-Mite.  The fight is then ended and Batman and Superman are sent back to their own place and time.  Darkseid wonders what role he will play in the upcoming Crisis.  Mxyzptlk tells him he doesn’t, but the future holds something bigger. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue was a fitting end to the storyline.  It was non-stop action from beginning to end, with deft touches of humor (especially Darkseid’s unwillingness to play ball) and enormous variety of characters for McGuinness to toss around.  Loeb continually tossed ideas on top of ideas as if he attempting to outdo whatever wild idea he has just come up with and somehow it all worked within the framework of the story.  Plus, Loeb even managed to reference the Emperor Joker story from several years ago (and written partly by Loeb) and let that play into the ending of this story.  Of course, all of this hinges on a story that stopped being interesting about five issues ago and the emotional impact Loeb is going for at the end just fails completely. 

At the beginning and the end to this storyline, Loeb attempted to make an over-reaching comment about the importance of Superman and Batman to the universe of Super Heroes.  It is a great sentiment and I can see where Loeb is heading with this train of thought.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the story itself supports what Loeb is trying to say.  As I mentioned in the review of the previous issue, Loeb has tackled the plot with non-stop action, which leaves the story and characters cold and lifeless.

Sadly, the ending might have worked a little better if Infinite Crisis weren’t over (this issue arrived 2 weeks after the last issue of Infinite Crisis).  The ending isn’t totally dependent on the events of the crisis.  Instead, it works more as a tease of upcoming events, including the return of the Red Hood in Batman (beginning with issue #635 in February of 2005).  Basically, Mxyzptlk’s little game was designed to get the World’s Finest ready for the upcoming crisis.  With the lateness of the issues, the crisis is finished, thus robbing the reader of a sense of expectations of what is supposed to come.