Batman/Superman #1 Review

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #1

by Greg Pak, Jae Lee, and Ben Oliver

(NOTE: Sorry about the late reviews. This weekend, I'm going to try my best to upload reviews like mad!)

DC is trying to appeal to the OCD audience by putting the character's names in order on the title.

So, Batman/Superman #1 is a very unique sort of book. Quite a bit is set up here by Mr. Pak, such as a Superman getting blasted to Earth-2, a series of Wayne Enterprises employees being murdered in Metropolis, and something involving Catwoman, that isn't really made clear. Now, I am far from Greg Pak's  biggest fan. The only things I've read from him were his short Astonishing X-Men run, and the first issue of Xtreme X-Men, both of which, I hated. So when I found out he would be doing the relaunch of Superman/Batman or Batman/Superman (whatever the hell you want to call it), I was not happy. I would have had DC put someone like Jeff Parker, who did the great first chapter of the Adventures of Superman, or Michael Alan Nelson, who fixed Supergirl. And let me say, I'm really not sure what to think of this. Pak tries to go for a very Scott Snyder-ish vibe from the book, from opening the book with an anecdote, relying HEAVILY on narration, or the incredibly creepy tone. Some things he nails, such as the character dialogue which is very well written, and the pacing. Some of the things I didn't like, were that he throws us into the middle of a story that we barely get any set up on. Like, why is Clark in Gotham in the first place, just to interview Bruce Wayne? What's with those alien-looking  robots Batman has, why does some random guy have a remote to control them, and why do they look so weird? And WHAT THE HELL IS CATWOMAN DOING IN METROPOLIS? But even with that flaw, Pak delivers a very entertaining story, and I like how he characterizes the two main heroes. They are not the  characters we are used to, but you can tell, they will eventually become the heroes we know and love, unlike douchey Zero Year Batman. 

The art of this book is breathtaking. The unique JH Williams style layouts are pure magic, and the atmosphere is something Lee really captures. His style is what you would get if you took the most surreal Picasso painting out there, threw in a splash of  Andrea Sorrentino, and a dash of Frank Quitely. The only problem is, that Ben Oliver comes in to finish the last ten pages. Now, Oliver is a very good artist himself (Have you read Action Comics #0? If not, go read it now), but his style does NOT mesh at ALL with Lee's. 

Batman/Superman is a pretty good book, and despite giving it a lower rating that I thought I would have, I'm going to stay on for the intriguing plot set up, and the incredible art.

STORY: 3/5

+ Good character writing

+ Entertaining as hell

+ Some really interesting plot points

- Some really weird and confusing plot points

- Leaves some things out

ART: 4/5

+ Jae Lee's art.

+ Ben Oliver's art.

- They don't work together

VERDICT: 3.5/5