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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman/Batman

Superman/Batman #78

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 17, 2010

Cover date: January 2011

"Who Would Win?"

Writer: Joe and Jack Kelley
Penciller: Ed Benes
Inker: Ed Benes

"A World of Their Own"

Writer: Amanda McMurray
Penciller: Brett Booth
Inker: Brett Booth

Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge

"Who Would Win?"

Two young boys debate about who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman and why while Superman and Batman watch from a distance.

"A World of Their Own"

Power Girl flies to Gotham to help out after a small earthquake. She runs into the Huntress and is once again reminded of the fact that her reality is gone and that this Huntress is not her friend. Huntress tells Power Girl that her help is not needed. Suddenly they are both hit with a psionic blast from an alien that crashed to Earth. That crash was what caused the earthquake. The ship is beyond repair but Power Girl and a reluctant Huntress promise to help him find a way home no matter what it takes.

Story - 4: "Who Would Win?"

This is the single best story to come out of this title since Jeph Loeb left.

I was literally laughing out loud.

In fact I have only one problem with this story but I'll get to that in a minute.

The thing I liked the most about this story is that it took something that fans have been debating for decades and gave it life in a way that arguing on a message board or in a comic shop never could. I have been part of this sort of debate more times than I can count and for the record I side with the guy with super speed and heat vision any day of the week and twice on Sunday. In any case I enjoyed this story immensely and thought it was some of the most honest writing to ever come out of Joe Kelly. The fact that he wrote this with his son makes it all the better because I can honestly see a father and son having this sort of debate.

There are so many parts of this story that I love. The dead Robin bit was the first time I laughed out loud with the second being when Batman gave the whole speech about how he works alone except for all of the times he doesn't because I have had that same thought EVERY SINGLE TIME I read a comic where Batman utters those words. The Superman bit on that page concerning how powerful he is and why he hangs with the JLA is another thought that has run through my head in the past. What the "fight" showed by ending in the manner that it did was while it is fun to debate such things in the end it really doesn't work because these two shouldn't be fighting. I am not suggesting that they should be the best of friends but at the same time they should be on the same side.

Just sayin'.

The only "problem" I had with this issue was the thing at the end where Batman was messing with Clark about how he would win.

Again...heat vision and super speed. No contest.

"A World of Their Own"

One of the constants of the DCU before INFINITE CRISIS was that Power Girl's origin was seriously freaking messed up. When Geoff Johns rectified that and said to heck with it, she's from Earth-2 and all that stuff happened I was very excited but it created one problem. Power Girl's world was gone. All of her friends were gone. She wasn't from this new Earth-2 and there's even a Power Girl on that world as well, so she can't go there. Finally, there is a Huntress on this world but she is far afield from the Huntress that was her best friend back in the day.

That's really sad. I mean it literally makes me sad when I think about it.

This story explored that and did a competent job of it. I was very taken by the emotional foundation of the piece and felt really bad for Power Girl. It was a great look at how these two relate to each other. The only problem is that there was no real resolution. It put it out there and at the end of the piece it was still pretty much out there. The lost alien was a great device to bring them together for a bit but I didn't get the sense that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Regardless I liked the story. It was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Art - 4: "Who Would Win?"

And the award for the fastest shot of a red eyed Superman looking sixteen different kinds of mad goes to...Ed Benes.

Ok, maybe that's a little unfair. The point of this story was to show two kids talking about who would win in the Superman vs. Batman fight, but I just couldn't resist. The art fit the writing like a glove and I was very impressed with Benes sense of comic timing. I liked the art. A lot.

"A World of Their Own"

I really dug the art in this story. Not only did the characters look good (in a non-cheesecake sort of way even) Brett Booth gave them what I would consider real emotions. You could see what they were feeling in their facial expressions and body language. The story telling was clear as well. I would like to see Booth work with these characters more in all honesty.

Cover Art - 5: This is a pretty epic cover and one of the better ones I have seen out of Benes. All of the major bad guys are represented and it looks like things are about to get real. I have absolutely no complaints here.