DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #45

K, Chapter 2:  Known Deposits

March 2008

Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson

Pencils by Shane Davis

Inks by Matt "Batt" Banning

Cover by Shane Davis and Matt "Batt" Banning

Synopsis

Around the world, Superman and Batman collect known deposits of Kryptonite.  They are helped by various heroes around the world.  One of the bigger deposits is on the bottom of the ocean.  When they go to retrieve it, Arthur Joseph Curry (aka Aquaman) arrives to tell them that he will defend his home.  A brief fight ensues but eventually Aquaman allows them to take the Kryptonite.  Before he leaves, Aquaman tells the World’s Finest that not everyone on Earth may want Superman to find all of the Kryptonite.  Neither Batman nor Superman thought of that.  But they still retrieve the Kryptonite.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

For the first, oh let’s say two-thirds, this wasn’t a bad issue at all, which is to say that I may not have considered it good, but I could not find anything wrong with it that annoyed the crap out of me.  Then the new Aquaman arrived.  First, I must admit that I like new Aquaman and was disappointed when the series was canceled.  Having read that series, I think I can safely say that the Aquaman who appears here is not the Aquaman written by Kurt Busiek or Tad Williams from the series.  Aquaman is not the jerk he is shown to be here.  No, I think Green wrote the scene and then editorial probably suggested which character that would best fit for what was already written.  Either that or it was written for the old Aquaman with the beard and the hook and had to be fixed since that character is dead.  Either way, it was a stupid scene. 

I don’t get it.  Aquaman asks Superman, “What made you think anyone would want (the world safer for you to do your job)?”  We don’t want a savior?  Does that make sense?  If someone said you could remove a substance from the Earth that would help policeman do a better job, wouldn’t you be all for it.  Wouldn’t you want your protector to reap the benefits of whatever it is you are removing?  Moreover, if said substance actually helped criminals defeat or get away from the police, wouldn’t that also be a help?  Maybe it is just me, but I would think so. 

Sadly, I think the argument that Green is trying to make is that with no Kryptonite, Superman becomes the most powerful force on Earth and what were to happen if he decides to become evil.  Were this falls down is that it seems neither Batman nor Superman thought of that, which is ludicrous.  In issue #668 of Superman, Batman is developing red sun technology to neutralize Kryptonians.  Or that Batman has Justice League protocols to stop Superman in case he goes rogue.  Or Superman gave Batman a K-ring just in case he was subverted, like what Max Lord did to him. 

Why would Firestorm need to get on Superman’s good side?  After all, according to Justice League of America, Firestorm is on the team and because of that, would have an “in” with Superman already. 

Whenever I think about continuity and what it means, I think about mistakes like the ones seen in this issue.  First, what the hell is Booster Gold doing here?  At the moment, he is helping Rip Hunter correct the timestream.  Booster is not part of the main DC universe and really should not be there.  But this is actually a minor problem.  The bigger one is the appearance of Aquaman.  On the final issue of his latest series, Arthur Joseph Curry told everyone that he is not the old Aquaman and therefore wants to be call Joseph, not Arthur.  So, what do the characters call him in this issue?  Arthur.  This is a major faux paus and a sign that editorial at DC is just not paying attention.

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.