Review: Batman/Superman #16
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist:Â Ivan Reis
Letters: Saida Temofonte
Colors: Sabine Rich Â
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
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Summary
Batman/Superman #16- In the aftermath of Dark Nights: Death Metal, catch a glimpse of brave new worlds within the DC Universe…but what are these strange planets?
As we delve into the parallel lives of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, we’ll meet new villains, new heroes, alternate realities and a transdimensional collision that you will need to see to believe! It’s the dastardly debut of a cadre of new villains, including the Spider Lady and her poisonous webs, Dr. Atom, who sports a Kryptonite pendant and the maniacal machinations of the Unknown Wizard!
You’ve never seen Batman and Superman like this before—so buckle up and get ready for the start of a new era courtesy of writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Ivan Reis!
Positives
What a unique way to read a comic book. At the top of the pages we get a Superman tale that has a taste of Superman in the 1960s yet with the influences of several storylines. Bruce Wayne is that playboy with trust and commitment issues. Clark Kent has his trusty grey suit complete with a fedora. And Jimmy Olson is still taking photographs using a trusty old Nikon camera
Throw in Lex as the “The Unknown Wizard” (sorry to spoil that one, but you knew it was coming) you have a 1960s serial. However, Alfred has Venom coursing through his veins. These eggs are really scrambled.
Your bottom pages feature a Adam West/Burt Ward type of feature with all the trimmings of a Spider Lady villain (is that Lois or Silver Sable from Marvel?) It’s that old team-up of Joker and Penguin as well. We should expect the theme song and spinning logo at this point.
But if we lift our head up, we see that it is not the double feature we had anticipated as Superman and Batman are caught up in some other type of mystery in outer space. Three stories in one and we may never get closure on that double feature.
Positives 2.0
This type of comic is the perfect playground for some flashback Easter Eggs. But in this case the authors and artists provide us some alternate versions of our heroes where we do have some familiar faces but not in very familiar roles. That’s what makes this latest Multiverse storyline so intriguing. We can get that type of mixture and we are now fine with it.
However, the sediment needs to settle so we can figure out what is real, what could be real, and what is simply fun storytelling while we are on pause in the natural timeline.
Negatives
None, really, as it is a fun story. It has a lot of open holes for our own imagination and it would be great if we got to see “the ending” of the double feature. Maybe that will happen…maybe not. But it was like putting on an old pair of comfortable jeans and finding a $20 bill in the pocket! Â
Verdict
Batman/Superman #16- Something Old… Something New… Something Borrowed… Something Blue! It’s not a wedding, but it has all the feel of an 80’s VCR tape unwinding and spilling all over the floor.
