DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #66

Night Of The Cure, Part 1

January 2010

Written by Scott Kolins

Pencils by Scott Kolins

Inks by Scott Kolins

Cover by Scott Kolins

Synopsis

Solomon Grundy of Earth rises from the dead to become a Black Lantern.  In Gotham City, the lights have gone out.  In the dark, SHADE hunts Kirk Langstrom (aka Man-Bat).  Elsewhere, Bizarro appears on the streets of the city.  Meanwhile, SHADE has captured Man-Bat.  Kirk’s wife, Francine Langstrom, injects him with the medicine that will turn him human again.  Nearby, Bizarro sees the transformation and thinks they are hurting Man-Bat.  He swoops in and takes him away.  SHADE tries to intervene.  When Bizarro attacks, he drops Man-Bat, who flies away.  Just then, Black Lantern Grundy appears.  He grabs Man-Bat and Bizarro.  He will kill all monsters.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This is essentially a continuation of the Solomon Grundy mini-series that Kolins did last year, with the added bonus of being a tie-in to Blackest Night.  I wonder if they will collect this as part of the Grundy story or part of Blackest Night (or possibly both)?  Anyway, I think it helps if you have read the original mini-series, but I don’t think it is necessary; Kolins ably provides enough exposition to make this issue easy to follow.  I think reading the mini-series gives the events a little deeper meaning, but you would not be completely lost.  Much like the mini-series, the strength of this story is the art, while the writing remains a little weak, but a lot stronger and more focused than it was earlier.  It works a primarily because Bizarro is portrayed as a loveable old lug who simply wants someone to love him for who he is.  You can’t help but feel a little compassion and pity for him when Grundy rejects him.  I am not entirely certain Man-Bat was needed (and perhaps only included to give DC a reason to put the story in this book), but it was also wasn’t out of place that I was annoyed by it.  Overall, this is a fairly good issue, following the basic template of the Blackest Night tie-in (exposition of dead character’s life, the return of the dead, the dead meets the living, fight). 

On Page 21, it is interesting to note that the Black Lantern ring sees Bizarro in purple (Violet, Star Sapphire), which would be love, but the ring says, “rage”.  This kinda matches Bizarro’s words “Me love you.” Since he says the opposite of what he means, Bizarro’s emotions are the opposite of love, hence rage, which matches the visage on display. 

At this point, I think I have had enough of Man-Bat.  Between appearances in Outsiders and in Streets Of Gotham and now here, I think this is the most he has been seen in many, many years. 

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