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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman/Batman

Superman/Batman #59

Superman/Batman #59

Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 29, 2009

Cover date: Late June 2009

"Nanopolis" - Conclusion

Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (plot), Mike Johnson (dialogue)
Penciller: Whilce Portacio
Inker: Richard Friend

Michael Bailey Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge



The over powered Superman attacks an armored Batman with the battle raging all the way to where Batman's ship was found. With the help of his allies Batman siphons off the excess power and Superman is returned to normal. A plan is formed to finally take down the descendants of the nanobots when those descendents bring the battle to them. With Superman acting as a distraction on the outside Batman pierces the city's heart and the threat is destroyed. Superman and Batman send the signal to Robin and John Henry and wait the weeks it takes for the signal to finally get to them. Many years later statues are built in Superman and Batman's honor and their legend is still told to the progeny of the natural and mechanical, which had found peace at last.

3Story - 3: Overall this was a weak ending to a rather good story.

I was back to enjoying this title for the past few issues. Abnett and Lanning managed to make a shrunken Superman and Batman work as a plot and Mike Johnson did a bang up job with the dialogue. It was nice to pick up the latest issue of this title and think, "Man, I really want to read this," which is why I was a bit bummed that the story ended on such a fizzle.

The big fight between Superman and Batman which served as last issue's cliffhanger was resolved, as most of these fights have been in the past three years or so, quickly so that the writers can get back to the task at hand. Then the ultimate battle is dropped into Superman and Batman's laps instead of them having to work for it. Two issues of build up and then it is over in a matter of seconds or so it seemed to me.

Then there was the fact that it was never fully explained how the Prankster was able to build the nanobots in the first place. It was just brushed under the rug at the end with a comment about STAR Labs taking care of his mess. That's a pretty big plot head to leave dangling. It would have been nice to get the skinny on that.

Despite those quibbles I was satisfied with the story as a whole. It had some nice beats to it and the use of relative time was neat. You can really tell that this was an Abnett and Lanning plot. I hope to see more of this sort of dialogue from Mike Johnson in the future as well.

I'm not quite sure if the next story will be as good but for once I am not frustrated while writing a review for this book.

2Art - 2: The art really declined this issue. This was a pretty big disappointment because I had been rather happy with Portacio and Friend's efforts but this time there was just something missing. It seemed rushed. I also have to agree with Superman that Batman's armor looked pretty ridiculous. The page layouts were dynamic and there was a lot of energy but the detail from the past two issues was not there.

Still, it was neat to see Whilce take a hand at Superman.

2Cover Art - 2: This cover was another big disappointment. I had been satisfied with the previous two covers and this one comes along and is just...ugly. That armor...well, I won't go into that again.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2009

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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