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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman/Batman

Superman/Batman #66

Superman/Batman #66

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 18, 2009

Cover date: January 2010

"Night of the Cure" - Part 1

Writer: Scott Kolins
Penciller: Scott Kolins
Inker: Scott Kolins

Michael Bailey Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge



In the swamps a Black Lantern ring takes over the body of Solomon Grundy.

Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Man Bat is hunted by the police. Bizarro is also in town seeking friendship. Man Bat is finally captured but it turns out that one of the people behind his apprehension is his wife Francine. Bizarro comes upon Francine trying to cure Man Bat and he "saves" the former Kirk Langstrom. He eventually lets Man Bat go and has a little tussle with one of the people in Francine's group before Blackest Night Solomon Grundy attacks. As Grundy tries to kill Bizarro the Man Bat is offered a cure by Francine.

4Story - 4: I didn't think this would happen given my current misgivings about Blackest Night but I really enjoyed this issue. Scott Kolins turned in a really engaging story that rose above the crossover status this book was holding in my mind before I read it.

I have never been the biggest fan of Man Bat and he seems like a character that gets a revamp every time he or his family appears. I really didn't get that sense here. Scott presented him as a tragic figure with a lot of depth and personality, which made me connect to him probably for the first time. I like the scenes with his wife and how he seems to be considering whether or not to drink the cure at the end. It was also cool that he got to play hero by flying away to distract Bizarro.

He may not be my new favorite, but I can get behind this version of Man Bat.

Bizarro was another treat. Again Scott made him a sympathetic character and absolutely nailed the backwards talking thing. A lot of writers either can't or don't want to deal with it but Kolins dug in and owned it. I felt really bad for Bizarro in this issue. He is not usually a sympathetic character and is often treated as a bruiser, but here he has a lot of heart.

And then there is Solomon Grundy.

I like Grundy. I've liked Grundy for years. Between Roy Thomas and James Robinson I have come to think of him as such a great character with nearly limitless potential. What I liked and didn't like is that all of that was lost when the Black Ring took him over. I didn't like it because I have affection for the character. I liked it because I realized that if I was feeling that Kolins did his job. It was almost sad when he told Bizarro that they were never friends. I was very engaged as a reader, which was cool.

I will admit that the cliffhanger served its purpose. I really want to read the next issue of this title even though I have dropped Blackest Night proper.

5Art - 5: I really dug the art in this issue.

I have been a fan of Scott Kolins since his work on the Flash and I have to say while this doesn't look exactly like that book did I was very impressed with the artwork he turned in for this issue. It is hard to separate the art and the writing in this issue since it is the same guy but much like a film editor that also scores the film he or she is cutting together a book written and drawn by the same person usually flows a little smoother. This is definitely not an across the board type of thing and I am a bigger fan of a writer and artist coming together to produce sequential art but this issue was a great example of the writer/artist approach to comic book creation.

5Cover Art - 5: I really liked the cover.

Seriously. The composition...the way the logo was altered...how the characters looked. It was a solid cover and hopefully it will get people to pick it up beyond being a Blackest Night crossover.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2010

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

January 2010

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