Scans: Batman/Superman #1
Jul. 5th, 2013 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mithenBatman/Superman #1: Written by Greg PAK; Pencils by Jae LEE
At last, the new team-up with Clark and Bruce has started! Overall my impression is positive: they're intensely distrustful and hostile at their first meetings (both as Bruce and Clark and as Superman and Batman) but that's fine with me if you're doing a friendship origin story! Jae Lee's art is moody and Gothic and downright surreal--probably not for everyone, but I liked it very much. There's one plot direction I did not like, but that's probably me being a sourpuss and Pak's writing is good enough that I have hopes it won't be a problem in the long run.
It was really hard to limit myself in my choice of pages, they're all quite lovely--I can only encourage you to go buy the whole thing!
The story starts in Gotham, which Lee portrays as a brooding tangle of brambles and leering gargoyles against a pale sky rather than an actual city--there's a very dreamlike feeling to all of his locations. Clark comes across Bruce sitting on a park bench and watching as two children are bullied by a group of other children. Furious, he chases the bullies away and rounds on Bruce to accuse him of sitting by callously. Bruce, on the other hand, says that by interfering, Clark has denied the kid the chance to fight back against the bullies (the text seems to side with Bruce on the whole, as the kid flips Clark off before running away). The conversation continues:
The scene shifts to Metropolis, where Batman is there trying to protect a man and his daughter from a murderous Catwoman (it turns out she's possessed, so it's not OOC per se). The rescue goes a bit awry and Batman terrifies the daughter; when Superman shows up he assumes Catwoman and Batman are working together.
(I assume that's a typo in the second panel; at two hundred beats a second the kid's heart would explode).
The being possessing Catwoman observes the situation and is pleased:
Well, I couldn't agree more, lady.
At which point she opens what seems to be a boom tube and drops them on what isn't specified, but Pak has said is Earth-2, where Superman immediately runs into Batman--but not the Batman he was just fighting:
Because this isn't "his" Clark, the Kryptonite levels are off, and it nearly kills Superman, who freaks out and starts attacking this Batman as well, but stops cold when Pa Kent (who, remember, is dead in the DCnU) shows up. And on this cliffhanger we end!
Loved much about this, but to be honest the idea of dropping two characters who hate each other on top of an older version of themselves who are friends already annoys me greatly. It risks short-cutting the whole process of becoming friends and making it impossible for the friendship to be truly organic. Why are Clark and Bruce friends? Because they told themselves they had to be. I didn't like it with the rebooted Star Trek's Kirk and Spock, and I don't like it here--but the art and writing are both so good that I'm willing to give Pak the benefit of the doubt and see what he does with the idea.
At last, the new team-up with Clark and Bruce has started! Overall my impression is positive: they're intensely distrustful and hostile at their first meetings (both as Bruce and Clark and as Superman and Batman) but that's fine with me if you're doing a friendship origin story! Jae Lee's art is moody and Gothic and downright surreal--probably not for everyone, but I liked it very much. There's one plot direction I did not like, but that's probably me being a sourpuss and Pak's writing is good enough that I have hopes it won't be a problem in the long run.
It was really hard to limit myself in my choice of pages, they're all quite lovely--I can only encourage you to go buy the whole thing!
The story starts in Gotham, which Lee portrays as a brooding tangle of brambles and leering gargoyles against a pale sky rather than an actual city--there's a very dreamlike feeling to all of his locations. Clark comes across Bruce sitting on a park bench and watching as two children are bullied by a group of other children. Furious, he chases the bullies away and rounds on Bruce to accuse him of sitting by callously. Bruce, on the other hand, says that by interfering, Clark has denied the kid the chance to fight back against the bullies (the text seems to side with Bruce on the whole, as the kid flips Clark off before running away). The conversation continues:
The scene shifts to Metropolis, where Batman is there trying to protect a man and his daughter from a murderous Catwoman (it turns out she's possessed, so it's not OOC per se). The rescue goes a bit awry and Batman terrifies the daughter; when Superman shows up he assumes Catwoman and Batman are working together.
(I assume that's a typo in the second panel; at two hundred beats a second the kid's heart would explode).
The being possessing Catwoman observes the situation and is pleased:
Well, I couldn't agree more, lady.
At which point she opens what seems to be a boom tube and drops them on what isn't specified, but Pak has said is Earth-2, where Superman immediately runs into Batman--but not the Batman he was just fighting:
Because this isn't "his" Clark, the Kryptonite levels are off, and it nearly kills Superman, who freaks out and starts attacking this Batman as well, but stops cold when Pa Kent (who, remember, is dead in the DCnU) shows up. And on this cliffhanger we end!
Loved much about this, but to be honest the idea of dropping two characters who hate each other on top of an older version of themselves who are friends already annoys me greatly. It risks short-cutting the whole process of becoming friends and making it impossible for the friendship to be truly organic. Why are Clark and Bruce friends? Because they told themselves they had to be. I didn't like it with the rebooted Star Trek's Kirk and Spock, and I don't like it here--but the art and writing are both so good that I'm willing to give Pak the benefit of the doubt and see what he does with the idea.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-05 08:58 pm (UTC)I wondered as I was reading if you'd bring that up and you did.
Personally I don't think it's a bad idea AT ALL. I know I've seen it used as a romance trope in certain circumstances; someone has a vision, or time-travel etc, whatever and sees themselves with someone they current can't stand or dislike or just met or don't even know; and in those circumstances I've enjoyed the mystery they try to unravel of 'Well how the hell does that happen?'
It wasn't / isn't done well in Reboot!Trek.
I've seen it done well in fic, however.
I think it needs a willingness to explore and recognize that foreknowledge means nothing in the present but a warning. In R!Trek it's very very forced. I feel Kirk hasn't even pissed straight to try to earn Spock's respect for not leaving a mess on the toilet seat; far less anything else.
But I don't think that situation has to be played out like that at all. And with a detective and an investigative reporter; trying to get to the truth of how such a thing could happen? Trying to figure out 'Was that real, or was that pretend to get me to trust him' - could be interesting.
I'd trust you to do it.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-06 02:35 pm (UTC)It's true, I've seen it done well--but with romance I do prefer if it's two friends who have started to consider something more (even if only unconsciously) and then run into a coupled version of themselves. But I do agree with your point that a certain level of "What the HELL is different in this world that I could be friends with a monster like you?" would work just fine at prolonging the development of a relationship--more a sidetrack than a short circuit in that case. So far I've liked what Pak has done, so I'm certainly not going to throw up my hands after the first issue!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-07 04:58 pm (UTC)ARGH I can't remember the title. In that case it was done very well.
I also agree on the inadequacy (ha , Spock would be delighted) of the current Reboot Trek take on their friendship. Due to the breathless action and almost no time for serious character interaction we are somehow just meant to assume that behind the scenes they became fast friends. This is good for fic writing (glaring holes in the continuity of characters) but bad for the general movie audience... I cannot see that Kirk and that Spock overcoming their differences so quickly...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-08 12:51 pm (UTC)I remember that one! The difference is that Clark in that story was told he was destined to end up with Batman, who was portrayed as a gorgeous blond guy who looked nothing like the dark-haired stranger Clark later runs into and finds himself falling for. :) So he tries not to fall in love with Bruce because he knows his "destined lover" is someone else--and is head over heels by the time he finds out it's actually been Bruce all along. :)
I do like stories where they're already friends and then they meet versions of themselves that say they'll be lovers! But in that case they usually secretly already want to be lovers, so it isn't going against what they want.
I'm hoping Pak has more time to relax and fill in those spaces than Abrams took with Kirk and Spock! Comics don't have to be nonstop action, he should have some space to stretch out a bit...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-09 06:05 pm (UTC)I do like stories where they're already friends and then they meet versions of themselves that say they'll be lovers!
Yes I like that as well. But with Kirk and Spock they start out as antagonists insulting each other pretty harshly... although I've seen fic doing the transition really well.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-07 05:07 pm (UTC)And how much do I LOVE Clark scenting Bruce in the park? GUH.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-08 12:51 pm (UTC)