Batman Superman #4

Writer Greg Pak Artist Jae Lee

 

Introduction

 

Catching up on issues #2 and #3 of Batman Superman last weekend was like coming home to roost. The interaction between the main heroes and their Earth 2 counterpoints have been incredibly beautiful. Greg Pak is adept at crafting fun, but believable dialogue bursting with interesting ideas that read great on the printed page. Jae Lee’s pages are so incredibly dark, that they almost give the issue a dramatic foil in the sense that the story is pretty and the art is sinister. Catwoman in particular has been drawn in an interesting manner in the alternate version of the Earth. The adversary of the series has been fairly vague thus far, most have referred to the beast as a colored cloud. Thankfully, the Darkseid Villain’s Month title gave some much needed context into the story. The best high concept television shows ever created always have one foot stemmed deep in the ground, with the other in a metaphor for something truly meaningful. Pak and Lee have crafted a tale about meeting different versions of yourself that show you something deeper about the relationships nestled in life.

 

Writer

 

Right away Pak delivers a very fun moment on the first page, comparing and contrasting the different aspects of the character with ease. This is a writer who is illustrating the fact that he should have been working on some bigger books at the big two for years. The sense of design featured on the introductory page also keeps the action moving in an interesting manner. The parallels of Batman and Superman are a major theme running all throughout this title. A sense of brevity explored through humor in the middle of the title involving magic is a Whedon level one liner. Time is spent tapping into the heads of the different characters, that serves to create a wonderful sense of tension building up to a big moment halfway through the comic. The arrogance of both Superman is also explored in a fascinating manner. It is impossible for a person to be perfect, even a Superman. The last moments have some wonderful touches, and seed the Darkseid Villain’s Month issue incredibly well.

 

Artist

 

Upon interacting with numerous people about the artwork of Lee, it is clear that most are completely divisive. Some wholeheartedly embrace the gothic shadows permeating in the story, while others turn away and cannot get passed the photorealism or heavily posed characters. None of that bothers me, simply because a different style in the New 52 is something that is desperately needed at the publisher right now. It is why the jarring transition of Brett Booth upon the next installment of this series is going to be really distracting. DC should have used someone like Ben Oliver who illustrated the second half of the first and this issue to keep a consistent tone with a slightly different style. Oliver has a very smooth transitions on the last couple pages of the book that is almost seamless. Enjoy the stagnantly beautiful art of Lee and Oliver while they are still on the title.

 

Conclusion

Batman Superman #4 ends an arc that is as close to perfect as comic books get. The art of Jae Lee and writing of Greg Pak, has been absolutely sublime. Fantastic character interaction such as this are why I read comic books in the first place.