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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman/Batman

Superman/Batman #62

Superman/Batman #62

Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 15, 2009

Cover date: September 2009

"Sidekicked"

Writer: Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Penciller: Rafael Albuquerque
Inker: Rafael Albuquerque

Michael Bailey Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge



Kara travels to Gotham City to visit with Tim Drake and meets him at a diner. As they eat lunch the two remember their first case together. Superman had brought Supergirl to meet Robin and the older heroes were called away on a case. A priority alert comes in and the two travel to Arkham Asylum to deal with a hostage situation. The first inmate they come across is the Joker and Supergirl nearly kills him until Robin talks her down. They make their way through the Asylum and take care of all of the escaped inmates before finally coming to Mr. Zsasz who Robin nearly beats to death before Supergirl stops him. Tim and Kara finish talking about the incident before Tim gets an alert that the Floronic Man is loose again and the two young heroes rush into action.

3Story - 3: I didn't really care for this issue.

It wasn't a terrible story. In fact the idea of Michael and Mike exploring the relationship and friendship between Kara and Tim seemed like a good idea. They meet for lunch, discuss their first real case together and then go off to fight the good fight. Technically I have very few problems with this story, especially the first scene where Tim and Kara compare notes on their mentors.

The real problem is that there is no dramatic tension in this story. I felt nothing for the characters beyond their first meeting in the diner. It is a Kryptonian going to Arkham Asylum and frankly there shouldn't be anything in that place that would ordinarily give her a problem. I kept thinking that at any moment that there was going to be some big, psychologically driven moment where Kara is going to be outfoxed by one of the villains and learn that as powerful as she is there are certain things that are beyond even her great strength to handle and that feeling quickly went away when the first inmate they come across is the Joker and she nearly beats him to death with only Robin stopping her. I was kind of shocked because to me the Joker is the king of all of Batman's many psycho villains and he was taken out so quickly.

The rest of the story breaks down as heroes meet villains, heroes beat villains, quips and such ensue. Then we get to the scene where they confront Zsasz, who seems to be the worst Arkham has to offer. Why else would Green and Johnson leave him for last? So Robin loses it and nearly beats him to death with only Kara there to stop him.

And then it's over. Just like that. The issue just flew by and it seemed to be nothing more than a series of encounters than a story. Some people like that sort of thing and more power to them if they do. I like a little more meat to my stories most of the time. Sure a light hearted, character driven story is great but that's not what we got here. In this issue we had an invulnerable hero and the sidekick to Batman beating up on a series of maniacs and each having a moment where they might cross that line, which makes very little sense to me because Robin has experienced worse than this and has come through just fine. I don't think that Zsasz, no matter how much of a sick example of humanity he is, would be the one to push him over the edge. I can see Kara being pushed to that point and walking away because she is still relatively inexperienced, but not Tim.

So this wasn't a terrible issue but I still wasn't very happy with it. It's a once in done that fits in the tradition of having the extended Super and Bat family appear in the title. There are places where I thought the writers should have zigged when they zagged but I can't in good conscience judge a story based on how I think it should have gone.

I did like the first few pages though. I sincerely did.

3Art - 3: I really have nothing against Albuquerque as an artist. He can draw. He really can. I like his takes on Superman and Batman as well as Supergirl and Robin but he doesn't grab me like other artists do. He's a good storyteller though and I like his facial expressions but overall I wasn't thrilled with the art in this issue. I am hoping this is a case where an artist grows on me over time, because that has happened from time to time.

3Cover Art - 3: I am not particularly fond of this cover. It's not bad mind you. Like the interior art it serves its purpose but really doesn't do a whole lot for me.


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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