DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #34

Metal Men, Part 1:  We Robots!

May 2007

Written by Mark Verheiden

Pencils by Pat Lee

Inks by Craig Yeung

Cover by Pat Lee and Craig Yeung

Synopsis

At WayneTech Research Center, Metallo and a couple of thugs break into the building, killing several employees in the process.  However, they fail to find what they want as Batman is able to stop to them.  At the funeral for the WayneTech employees, Bruce Wayne tells the crowd he will spare no expense to catch the criminals.  Afterwards, one of the widows slaps Bruce for failing to protect her husband.  At Gotham prison, Superman and Batman visit the thugs, where they confirm Metallo is slowly rotting away.  Batman also suspects someone else is pulling the strings.  Meanwhile, Dr. Magnus is suffering monetary woes and decides he needs to take the Metal Men public, an action that Helen Garen objects to, especially when she realizes it might no be illegal.  Later, the Metal Men invade WayneTech Research Center.  Superman and Batman rush over to stop them.  In the middle of the fight, Doctor Mangus stops them and suggests they negotiate. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This is a very dark comic and I am not talking about the tone of the story but the actual visuals of the art from the darkness of the colors to the characters occupying the entire panel so that there is feeling of claustrophobia, not to mention a lack of backgrounds.  It is not a comic I would turn back to just to admire the art.  I think the book might be helped by putting the panels on a white background, but that may just be me. 

The real core problem of this issue comes at the end when Superman and Batman encounter the Metal Men in a scene that looks as if the World’s Finest just met them (“I don’t know who sent you...”).  Moreover, Magnus talks about taking the Metal Men public and then tells Superman that he is “sort of new at this...”  This is strange, especially coming after 52.  (Yes I realize that the Metal Men didn’t exactly meet any of the heroes in that series, but the book did suggest that Magnus had created the Metal Men before he started taking his meds).  Ultimately, this book feels nothing more than an attempt to gauge reader interest in a Metal Man mini-series or even an ongoing based on their exposure in 52. 

Is Copper new to the Metal Men?  And why are they called the Metal Men when there are two females?  It was also interesting to note that Gold was just a head, but then the money woes Magnus was experiencing at the beginning certainly suggests he didn’t have the money to buy the gold to finish him.  I am also confused by the appearance of Helen Garen; her relationship with Magnus was not defined all that clearly.  Friends? Business Associates? What?

Kevin Fahey, David Thompson, and Bradley Weddle (the men who worked at WayneTech and died) work with Mark Verheiden on the tv series Battlestar Galactica.  Fahey also has written an arc for the one of the Battlestar comics, as well.

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