Batman Superman #1 finally brings back the best buds of the DC universe to their own monthly title. It is written by Greg Pak with pencils by Jae Lee and visually, it is quite a treat. The art and style reminded me a lot of the early Batwoman issues from when I was reading that comic. You really have to take in each page as a whole and then read the panels. As far as the story, well it didn’t wow me as much as the art.
This issue shows us Bruce Wayne’s and Clark Kent’s first meeting. It’s pretty much exactly what you would expect. Bruce Wayne is undercover for a reason that I never figured out and Clark Kent tracks him down to ask if he knows anything about several Wayne Enterprise employees that have been murdered in Metropolis. This is the first time the story kind of fails me. Why would Clark Kent go all the way to Gotham City to hunt down Bruce Wayne to ask him about the murders?
From here things get confusing pretty quick. We are quickly shown who is behind the murders or are they? Suddenly we are in a different time and Batman is his current self, but Superman is still in jeans and a t-shirt. I’ve read the issue twice and I still have no clue what is going on. Honestly, it coasts by just on art alone and even that wasn’t complete. Jae Lee only completed the first 18 pages and Ben Oliver finished up the book. Kind of a bummer for a first issue and with the story problems, I don’t really know how I feel. I might have been able to swallow the confusing story and half finished art, but then they charged $3.99 for the book. I enjoyed the old Superman/Batman books and was hoping this would be similar, but this first issue is off to a rough start.
If you are willing to pay the price and wait an issue or two for, hopefully, things to make more sense, then you will be in for a visual treat of a book, but not much else.
