Superman/Batman #2

Writer:  Greg Pak

Art:  Jae Lee, June Chung

Get Caught Up....

Batman and Superman engaged in fisticuffs.  The Trickster has apparently sent them to an alternate reality.

What’s Good?

I love the idea of the Trickster’s plans.  He’s an interesting villain and his motivations seem fairly ambiguous.  Where this story is going is anyone’s guess.  The interactions between the characters are what make this story worth continuing with.  I love seeing Clark Kent with Pa Kent.  We don’t get much of their relationship in the other New 52 titles since they retconned him into dying long ago.  

Jae Lee’s women are beautiful and artistic.  His Lois lane is great, and I love the first full image of Catwoman.  It is gorgeous work.  He has a great sense for setting a scene.  The cover is a a great image.  It’s not often you get the interior artist doing the work on the cover as well, so I applaud the artistic team for that.  June Chung’s colors are great as well.  I’m happy Lee was able to do the entire book this time around.  Last issue he split duties with Ben Oliver.

What’s Not So Good?

This is a pretty thick story.  It’s not one you can just sit down and read.  I found I had to dig up last month’s issue an read them together because I had forgotten parts of the story.  Is this because I’m getting old?  Probably.  Anyhow, that’s not the kind of writing that will keep the readers coming in.  I was hoping for something different from this book.  Maybe it will become that down the road, but for the meantime it looks like this is what we’re going to get.

Jae Lee’s art is solid, but can be hit and miss.  I really enjoy his depiction of Batman, but his take on Superman needs some work, and he comes across too feminine.  The action scenes don’t have a sense of urgency about them.  They seem forced and stagnant.

The Verdict....

This is a decent book.  I’ll continue reading because of Greg Pak.  I like when characters are placed in difficult situations.  I think getting teleported off to Earth 2 and meeting each other’s doppelgangers qualifies.

Oh, Yeah, And...