Batman/Superman is one of those series I refuse to give up on,  I held out hope for Green Arrow and Justice League Dark and they rewarded me by becoming some of the best books DC has to offer. The latest issue of Batman/Superman gives the series potential to become greater but as a single issue, it failed to capture the magic it needed.  This issue gives us the close on the arc of our memory-less title characters and sets up future plot developments for our villains Lord Satanus and Kaiyo. As tired as I was with carefree Bruce, it was really fun to see him canoodling with Lois Lane, not really a relationship we’ve ever seen written about, it was definitely thought provoking. I guess I should reason with carefree Bruce, he’s told by everyone he’s a hardass with psychologic trauma, who WOULD want to remember that? Alas the pair decides to remember and everything is back to it’s social norm. Catwoman sneaks away after the jig is up and Superman and Lois are still not together, everything is all peachy.
The biggest positive that we can take away from this issue though is that it marks the end of “Injustice Superman”, can we all agree we’re getting enough evil Superman from that series, I don’t need another reminder of what a rogue Superman is capable of.
POSITIVES
It was really funny to see Bruce do his best Dick Grayson interpretation with Lois. We know Bruce can act suave when he needs to be but we’ve never seen him cut loose with anyone really and that by itself is a win. Granted it was a bit awkward to see Lois parading around in Batgirl’s suit but can we really be that upset?
The other big positive about this issue was the moment both Superman and Batman remembered who they are. The panel of Batman thinking he’s going to burst out screaming was as telling and powerful as any panel this series has graced us with. The world needs the real Batman, no matter the dismay it may cause to Alfred or anyone else. Also the whisper conversation between Bruce and Clark was fantastic, it’s another testament to the friendship and bond they have, even if one of them has no memories.
NEGATIVES
I’m not going to say I expecting an ending like this occur, but I totally was. One of the biggest downers on this particular arc was predictability, that and many plot holes but I digress. It was valiant effort but Greg Pak to introduce a new element to the Batman/Superman relationship but it ultimately falls short.
Also I had a big gripe about Catwoman keeping up with rogue Superman. And how Mangubat recognized Lois through her Batgirl mask.
VERDICT
Batman/Superman #15 does its best to finish the arc out strong but comes up just shy of making this issue a must have. Buy it if you wanted to see how the arc ended but besides that let’s hold out hope for the next storyline.
RATING
