DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #57

Nanopolis, Part One

May 2009

Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Mike Johnson

Pencils by Whilce Portacio

Inks by Richard Friend

Covers by Whilce Portacio and Richard Friend

Synopsis

In Metropolis, Superman hunts down the Prankster, who lures the Man of Steel in a trap that works perfectly.  In Gotham, Batman and Robin are tracking down a street gang when they receive a priority signal from Superman.  The Dynamic Duo immediately take off for Metropolis.  They find the Prankster and subdue him, but they can’t find Superman.  They call for Henry Irons (aka Steel) to help investigate.   Steel determines that the Prankster shrunk Superman.  They are able to locate Superman.  However, Batman realizes that due to his small size, time is moving swiftly for Superman and he may die by the end of the day.  And if they are going to get Superman out, Batman is going to have to go in to get him.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Whilce Portacio was the very first artist for the new series Batman Confidential.  I mention this at the top of the review because I was not impressed with his art in that story and there is nothing in this issue that changes my mind.  It is scratchy and loose (almost rushed-looking), lacking any kind of definition or structure with wacky proportions to the characters.  At times the details are rough and don’t seem to match the rest of the drawing.  I point you to the bottom panel of page 4.  Take at look at Superman’s face and the lips.  Does that look right to you?  The rest of the issue is very similar and because of the art I had a tough time reading this issue, which is a shame because is actually quite decent.  I wouldn’t say it was great or ground-breaking; I am fairly certain this story has been done before.  But I liked the way the story unfolded, especially the details on nano-verse and the way Superman thought it was beautiful.  I also like the fact that time was speeding up, although I hope the story avoids repeating the story that is similar to the one where Superman and Wonder Woman spent hundreds of years together before returning at the exact same time as when they left.  Regardless, the set-up was decent and I am curious to see what happens in the nano-verse; I just wish the art was so rough. 

I do have to question how quickly Batman was able to get from Gotham to Metropolis.  Even with a speedy batplane and the relative closeness of the two cities, it would take some time reach that warehouse.  Why would the Prankster stay around for as long as he did?  Unless he was trying to find Superman so he could squish him like a bug, he should’ve gotten out of there pretty quickly.  Although I guess if you thought you killed Superman, I suppose you might want to gloat.

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