2005 Comic Book News Archives

Superman/Batman

October 26, 2005: Mark Verheiden Moves to “Superman/Batman”

Newsarama.com have published a report revealing that Mark Verheiden, who has been writer on the "Superman" title during 2005, will be moving to fill the position of "Superman/Batman" writer once Jeph Loeb's run comes to an end. Verheiden's first issue will be #27 in early 2006. Here's an excerpt from the interview...

    Q: Let's talk deeper about your approach - DC chose to name this Superman/Batman rather than "World's Finest" for a reason - is that indicative of how you see the series in terms of approach? That is, these days, Batman and Superman aren't super-buddies like they were when they would share a title prior to Superman/Batman?

    A: Superman and Batman have been thrust together because of their heroic inclinations, but I'm not sure they "like" each other so much as respect one another's abilities. I don't think the old "World's Finest" paradigm really applies anymore, there's just been too much water under the bridge. I mean, you've essentially got a Kansas farm-boy with the power of the universe trying to be buds with a brooding big-city billionaire who dresses like a bat. If it weren't for the capes, these two would have about as much in common as Paris Hilton and Noam Chomsky. And yet that desire to do good ... to "help" ... is enough to pave over their obvious differences. That's a long-winded way of saying their relationship will continue to be "complicated," which is, of course, half the fun of doing a team-up book...

    Q: You're going to be inheriting the title in a time when the DCU is going through some serious shaking thanks to Infinite Crisis - will Superman/Batman reflect any of the ongoing Crisis, or will it all be over except for the shouting when you start up?

    A: I'm not ignoring Crisis - that would be like ignoring a 9.0 earthquake - but my first Superman/Batman arcs actually take place a couple years back. You may actually see some of the precursors to Crisis and the OMAC Project books as we roll along.

    Q: For you, what makes a story perfect for Superman and Batman, rather than one hero or the other individually? Is it just the magnitude of the threat (bigger than one hero, but smaller than the JLA), personal connections to both heroes, what?

    A: It's partly the threat, but it's also finding stories that force them to work together, using their own unique abilities to solve problems. A story where Superman's punching apart planets probably wouldn't leave much room for Batman, while a drawing-room detective story wouldn't be the best use of Superman's time. What I want to do is showcase their individual skills and their personalities, creating situations where the sum of the parts definitely makes a stronger, if still emotionally disparate, whole.

Read the complete interview at the Newsarama website.



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