DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #61

Mash-Up, Part 2

August 2009

Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson

Pencils by Francis Manapul

Inks by Francis Manapul

Covers by Francis Manapul

Synopsis

Batman and Superman have somehow been transported to an alternate world.  There, Lex Joker assembles the Brotherhood of Injustice and announces plans to take down the Justice Titans, thanks to Terranado, who will betray the heroes.  Meanwhile, Batma determines the alternate world is actually dream world.  Later, Batman confronts Terranado.  He knows she is a traitor and he won’t let her hurt the Justice Titans.  Suddenly, the Brotherhood attack.  The Titans fight back.  In the fight, Batman reveals Lex Joker is really Dr. Destiny and the dream world was created by Dr. Destiny.  The World’s Finest determine the source of Dr. Destiny’s power and destroy it, changing the world.  Both Batman and Superman wakes up into another alternate world.  Both are able to break the spell and the world changes again.  Later, Batman learns Dr. Destiny slipped into a coma afterwards.  He tells Superman that he will make sure Dr. Destiny will stay that way.  That night, as Dr. Destiny receives his medication, he calls out, “Bruce Kent…”

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue was much better than the first part of the story and I think a large part of that is due to the fact that Green and Johnson actually wrote a story this time around.  My biggest problem with last issue is that it seemed like an excuse to create amalgamations of known DC heroes, the kind of exercise one does late at night after other conversation options have been exhausted.  You know, what if you combined Green Lantern and Nightwing?  There was too much in the previous issue.  However, in this issue, they get the amalgamations out of the way quickly, by the first page, really, and then get down to the business of the telling the story.  And it is a decent story, with some nice action and mystery.  What I liked about the story is that the predictable parts (Terranado as the traitor) made sense if this were truly a dream world, as one’s dreams would use elements of your real life, and the unpredictable parts (Dr. Destiny) also made sense given recent events in the bat books, specifically the mass escape in the Battle For the Cowl.  Moreover, the reveal of Dr. Destiny was a big surprise.  The fact that it made sense in the context of the story is an added bonus.  Finally, I also like the feints at the end, with Batman and Superman waking up in another dream.  Granted, the Batman works better since DC has been hinting at a Zatanna and Batman relationship and once that way out of the way, it was obvious what was happening to Superman, but I still liked it.  Ultimately, I think if Green and Johnson can simply try to tell a story featuring the World’s Finest rather than attempting to find some hook or angle, I think this book has the chance to be good. 

It is interesting to point out the difference in the quantity of the villains for Batman and Superman.  In order to make more mash-ups, they had to use two of Superman’s friends (Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang) to mash up with Batman villains.  And they barely scratched the surface of the batman villains.  Granted, I think there may be a few Superman villains missing, but I guess Superman’s friends are more memorable than the villains.  Now that is an interesting thought and perhaps a good topic for an article:  Superman’s friends versus Batman’s friends.  If I had the time….

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.