Justice Fatigue: An Exhaustive (and Exhausting) Discussion of Zack Snyder's "Justice League"

So, Zack Snyder's "Justice League." 

Prelude to a Bad Decision

I decided, apropos of nothing, to put on Joss Whedon's Zack Snyder's "Justice League" while doing some work today. I discussed the movie when it came out eleventy billion years ago, and thought it was fine. It's not good, but grading on the curve of every DCEU movie up to that point, it was a solid B-. Sitting in 2021, I remember bits and pieces of it—Steppenwolf looking like he stepped out of an XBox 360 cutscene, the decent cell phone video of Superman that was marred by the terrible attempt to CGI out Cavill's moustache, all the characters sounding like their rough counterparts in "The Avengers"—but not a lot of details.

Obviously the intervening years have altered my perspective on the film, both through the revelations about the behind-the-scenes racism and abuse and through the fanatical and also frequently abusive behavior of the fans clamoring for this version of the film, which absolutely definitely existed and was finished years ago and also needed an additional $70 million dollars and reshoots to complete. 

That perspective has not been altered for the better. 

Against my better judgment, I'm going to watch the Snyder Cut sometime, probably this weekend, so I figured it'd be good to see how it deviates from the theatrical release, like I did for the Lester and Donner cuts of "Superman II" so very long ago. I don't expect to enjoy either one; my feelings on the superhero movies of Zack Snyder are well-documented, and even under the best circumstances, four hours is too @#%*$! long for a superhero movie. But four hours of nihilistic spite dressed up in cinematic deepities and CGI with a sepia-toned overlay is unlikely to be the best of circumstances. 

Will it be better than two hours of the extremely generic re-skinned "Avengers: Age of Ultron" that got released to theaters? There's only one way to find out!

"Both Grunting": A Detailed Look at "Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice"

In preparation for my viewing of Justice League, I decided to revisit Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. I've been dithering with this post on and off for a month, and while I don't think it's gotten any shorter, at least I feel like it says all I'm going to need to say on the subject. Also, I added some pictures.

Anyway, you may recall that I did not care for the movie the first time around. I'm approaching this like I did with my Man of Steel rewatch that I did in preparation for that viewing: trying to focus on the positive, to find the movie that I've seen fans posting gifs of on Tumblr for a year and a half. To that end, I'm watching the Ultimate Edition, which I've heard is better than the theatrical cut.

Without further ado...

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Hot Garbage

Let the record show that I didn't irrationally hate Man of Steel, that I consistently had a lot of positive things to say about it, despite having serious problems with the last part of the film.

I cannot say the same for Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. If you're looking for positivity and charity, look elsewhere. Spoilers, snark, and bile ahead.

Comics I bought this week

Avengers Arena #4: I still haven't decided if I want to follow this series, so it's still not in my pull list. And this issue left me so ambivalent that I think it might finally be my last. I'm just not curious enough about what's going on to continue reading. There's nothing offensively bad about the issue or anything; it's nice to see Chase and Nico from Runaways again, and their encounter with the Avengers Academy kids ends up being a fairly nice inversion of the usual superhero team-up story (they're friends first, then they have the big misunderstanding and fight). I think I see where this is all going; I don't think many (if any) of the "dead" characters are actually dead, but that it's all misdirection and illusion on Arcade's part for some larger, more nefarious plan. At least, I hope that's what's happening, because the alternative is kind of gross and dumb. And I'm not entirely sure that I want to find out which option it ends up being.

Batman and Robin #17: I caught up on "Batman and Robin" and "Detective Comics" last week in hopes that I'd dislike one enough to drop it, and that didn't actually happen. That said, I think this issue of B&R would make a fantastic jumping-off point. It's a pretty touching, heartfelt story about the dreams of Damian, Bruce, and Alfred, which acts as a coda to the entire series up to now, even flashing back to the playbill boat Bruce made back in the first or second issue. It's structured like a last issue, to the point where I had to check that this wasn't Tomasi's last issue as writer or something. Rumor has it that something's going to happen with Damian in Batman, Inc. this month, and the solicit for Batman & Robin #18 isn't giving anything away, but I guess I'll be finding out in a few weeks.

Katana #1: I've tried all of Ann Nocenti's first issues in this New 52, but I haven't actually stuck with any of the books so far. Green Arrow turned me off with the art, Catwoman just didn't hold my interest, and Katana? Well, I like the story, and Nocenti does a good job making Katana distinct (and fleshing her out more than she was the last time I caught up on "Birds of Prey") and strong, while also setting up an interesting conflict and environment. That said, I'm not a big fan of Alex Sanchez's art, which at times obscures the action and has some poor continuity. I'll check out the next issue to be sure, but I wish they'd pair Nocenti with a better artist for once.

Batman #17: I think there's definitely some weight to the argument that Death of the Family went on too long and got too big, and I haven't even caught up on all the tie-ins (I don't read "Red Hood and the Outlaws," and I'm way behind on "Nightwing"). But this issue--and the main saga here in "Batman"--is pretty great, and I think I'll probably try to re-read the whole thing sooner rather than later (especially since there are a couple of bits in this issue, namely the comment about the boat and Bruce's little blank book, that I didn't understand, presumably because they were referenced earlier). Capullo is a top-notch artist, and I think Snyder injects some very interesting notions into the Batman/Joker relationship, playing on the classic tropes, subverting them, and re-enacting them in other ways. People have criticized this series for its gruesomeness, and there's been some of that in previous issues and tie-ins, but most writers in recent years wouldn't have made most of Joker's bits in this issue tricks and misdirection the way Snyder did. It'll be interesting to see how the radioactive tracer pans out, and how the fallout of the Bat-family affects this book going forward, since it looks like the Joker toxin's suggestion-inducing feature hasn't worn off quite like the rictus grins have. I kind of can't wait to buy this story in trade paperback form.

Green Arrow #17: This is the second time I've tried following "Green Arrow" as a series since the relaunch, and it looks like it's the more successful of the two so far. Lemire does a lot here to try something different with Ollie's status quo, setting up what appears to be an ancient conspiracy of archers and a lot of surreal "everything you know is wrong" stuff. I think I'd kind of prefer to have Ollie as the superhero Robin Hood or the politically sensible Batman, but I'm interested enough in this take to see where and how it goes. As far as the art goes, Sorrentino's got a sketchiness similar to Tolibao's or Sanchez's above, but it lacks a lot of the flaws that I think hampered those books, and has a nice detail and dynamism to it. It doesn't hurt that the coloring and staging of panels seem to have taken a page from that other successful book about a superhero archer.

Mr. Freeze and humility

I've been playing a lot of Arkham City when I've had a little free time here and there, and it's reminded me of a bit of weirdness surrounding one of my favorite Bat-villains, Mr. Freeze. Why "Mister"? Freeze legitimately has a doctorate. Intellectual supervillains are typically more than happy to lord their advanced degrees over society and its protectors--Doctor Octopus, Doctor Light, Doctor Double X, Doctor Sivana, Doctor Phosphorus--even when they don't actually have those degrees (I'm looking at you, dropout Doom). Looking through Wikipedia's list of fictional doctors, the only other villain who does the same is Marvel's Mister Hyde, and he took his name from a story.

Is Victor Fries the most humble supervillain in the DCU? Is this just another part of his tragic life story? Was his doctorate revoked? If so, why is Doctor Light allowed to keep his?

Curioser and curioser, the politics of comic book academia.

Boldly Going

I finally picked up some of the Batman: Brave and the Bold DVDs, and while I'm waiting for the first season to arrive, I popped one of the second-season discs into the DVD player for background. I've watched the show off and on enough to know it's awesome, but "A Bat Divided" is just a special kind of great. It's not just the interesting new twist on Firestorm--which I hope carries over somewhat into the New 52 where the status quo seems similar--nor is it the huge number of cameos--Killer Moth! The Eraser! The Ten-Eyed Man!--it's Dr. Double X, who is just a sensational character rediscovery.

Characters like Dr. Double X are the reason why I wish I knew more about the zanier eras of Batman, since the zany tide of the Silver Age crazied all boats. I just wish I'd known about him when I was doing Walking with Superman. I can already imagine the plot...

Some more snippets

New Doctor Who starts this coming weekend! I'm excited, even if Torchwood has been doing a decent job of filling the Doctor-shaped hole in my life. I've caught some of BBC America's lead-up specials, doing the VH1-style talking heads thing. It's a little disappointing that these "Best of" showcases are limited to the last two seasons, because I kind of doubt that "the Siren who turned out to be a holographic nurse with terrible bedside manner" would show up on anyone's "best Doctor Who monsters" list. But it also has Natalie Morales and Mark Sheppard and Paul F. Tompkins, so there's that.

One thing that's become clear from these clip shows is how long Steven Moffat has been laying in the "Doctor is his own worst enemy" theme. I thought the twist of the mid-season finale, that the Doctor's "I'm super-badass and you all should be afraid of me" speeches have finally come back to bit him in the ass, was particularly inspired. But now I see that Moffat laid the same twist into "The Pandorica Opens," where the Doctor is seen to be the greatest threat in the universe, but we still side with him because the ones who think he's dangerous are his enemies. "Amy's Choice" gave us the Doctor's self-loathing made manifest, threatening his companions; meanwhile, "The Doctor's Wife" showed just what kind of danger the Doctor has put those companions into just by bringing them into his massive, insane time machine. Even "The Lodger" has what appears to be the Silence putting the world in danger by trying to imitate the TARDIS.

It'll be nice if this means that the series scales back a little; ending every season with the destruction of everything is going to get really tedious after awhile, if it hasn't already. I would love to see another "Black Orchid," for instance.

---

I finally got a Wii. It's not something I've been exactly itching to buy, but there are definitely some games I'd like to play on it--not the least of which are on the Virtual Console. I downloaded Super Mario World and Chrono Trigger--the latter of which I missed out on years ago--and I'm excited to get into those. The newest Mario Kart proved to be as entertaining and frustrating as previous iterations for me, and I got WiiFit because I'm really trying to get into shape.

But the reason I mention it here is Batman: Brave and the Bold, which I picked up the day I bought the system. I'd heard good things about the game, and the show is fantastic, so it was kind of a no-brainer. I haven't played much, and it's certainly no "Arkham Asylum," but it's a damn fun game. It's old-school action platforming similar to "Scott Pilgrim," which is still a great game, but Batman: Brave and the Bold goes one better by including Batman. So far, it's everything that I've loved about River City Ransom, the "Brave and the Bold" TV show, and the Animated Batman game for the Genesis/SNES era. The controls, animations, and collision detection are sometimes a little clunky, but otherwise I'm having a blast.

---

Siskoid's recent Superman post has me thinking about Super Friends again. The show was just a little before my time (an ad for the then-forthcoming series appeared in one of my Mom's comics that I read growing up), but I watched several episodes when it was on Cartoon Network while I was in high school. It's one of the few media incarnations of Superman that I haven't really looked into, and the relative dirt-cheapness of the DVD sets on Amazon has me thinking about giving it a shot.

There is one teensy problem, which is that there are an awful lot of DVD releases, with no really clear order--not surprising, for a show that ran for thirteen years in various iterations. That, and from my own experience and proclivities, I know I've liked the Wonder Twins and New Gods years than some of the others. Then again, I've more recently been getting more partial to the Silver/Bronze Age mentality that has been on-display in some of the episodes I've seen, so maybe the Wendy-and-Marvin years are where I should start.

So I put the question to my legions of knowledgeable readers: if I want to start watching Super-Friends, where do I begin?

Just when I thought I was out...

Today's newly-released solicitation for Stormwatch #2:

STORMWATCH #2
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA and AL BARRIONUEVO
Art and cover by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
On sale OCTOBER 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
The moon is alive! Following the events of SUPERMAN #1 where [TEXT REDACTED], the covert team of sci-fi Super Heroes known as Stormwatch must not only battle the Earth’s moon, but find a way to hide its monstrous metamorphosis from the rest of the Earth! How? Uh, they’re working on it. Meanwhile, the recruitment of Midnighter goes poorly, and we learn why the Martian Manhunter is a member of the team. Written by Paul Cornell (Doctor Who)!

Superheroes battling the moon because it's going through a monstrous metamorphosis? That is crazy. Like, precisely the kind of crazy that I want to read about.

Okay DC, you got me on this one. "Stormwatch" it is.

---

In other news, the second issue of the Red Hood book shows that it was possible to design a costume skimpier than Star Sapphire's. Meanwhile, Jason Todd joins Citizen Steel and that guy from "All-New Atom" in having his spandex-clad junk apparently displayed on a cover. Somehow I imagine this image will change before October. Because obviously that, and not Starfire's impossible costume, is the offensive and unacceptably sexual part of the image.

---

The announcements of miniseries for Huntress and the Penguin, and a maxi-series for the Shade, demonstrates that DC's going beyond the New 52 in coming months, which gives me hope for some characters (and perhaps more importantly, creators) that we haven't seen yet. Still no more women in the writing or art credits, though.

I want to spend another minute on that "Penguin: Pain and Prejudice" miniseries. It purports to be an origin story for the Penguin, which seems kind of odd. Why would they be releasing this now? I can't help but see parallels to the Scarecrow, Ra's al-Ghul, Joker, and Two-Face miniseries and trades and specials that cropped up before "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" respectively, and the timing (the fifth issue of the mini, if on-time, would ship in February, meaning a trade could be out by May, easily in time for "The Dark Knight Rises") seems right. Is the Penguin an as-yet-unannounced villain (or just supporting character) in the next Batman film? I'll be interested to find out.

Walking with Superman: Day 295

When Superman heard that the police in Petoskey, Michigan, had arrested Batman, he couldn't help but look into the matter. But Clark Kent's not the only investigator curious about the Wolverine State's Dark Knight--Tim Drake is on the case as well! Superman and Red Robin delve into the mystery of the Captured Crusader, finding much more than just a masquerade gone bad! Villainy is afoot in Petoskey, and the only man who knows the truth is trapped behind bars--and at his enemies' mercy!

Batman's SabBATical: Day 254

Bruce Wayne's worldwide Batman, Inc. recruitment drive brings him to Tel Aviv, where the streets and alleyways are patrolled by the mysterious Hadassah and her teen sidekick Shepherd, the so-called "Goy Wonder." But Batman's not the only visitor to the White City this night--Victor Goodman is in town, and armed with the Orb of Ra, King Tut plans to revisit the Biblical plagues on the Mediterranean coast! As the sea turns to blood and frogs choke the streets, Batman and his Israeli allies race for the source of the disturbance, before darkness falls--along with the first-born child of Thomas and Martha Wayne! But once the threat of King Tut has been abated, Hadassah must still survive...her Bat mitzvah!

Getting it Right

I was pretty harsh on Chris Roberson's first issue of Superman, mainly due to a fairly glaring error. I also have a history of getting quite annoyed when comics mangle basic science in the service of technobabble. There's an art to technobabble, and it's clear that not every writer is the staff of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

So it's always nice to be able to praise writers when they get it right. And in "Superman/Batman" #80, Chris Roberson got it right.

Frankly, it started with some excellent time travel action in the DC One Million future in #79. I'm a big fan of DC's various futures, especially that one, and I'm similarly a big fan of stories that play around with time travel, so this hits a lot of nice notes for me. I do wish post-DC One Million uses of the 853rd Century characters would recall that their outfits have lens flares associated with them; every damn character commented on the strange fabric of the heroes' outfits in the original crossover, and it's not like lens flare is difficult to add.

But I digress. The point is, the first part of the story is strong, but it's the second part that really makes me happy.

It starts with Epoch's attack on Superman, using a burst of red sun energy. I've noted before the recent trend in writers treating red sun energy as if it immediately robs Superman of his abilities, as it did in the Silver Age. Since the dawn of the modern age, though, Superman's cells have stored yellow sun energy like a battery, and so exposure to red sun energy alone shouldn't drain that energy. Under red sunlight, Superman's cells simply shouldn't recharge, but they should use the yellow sun energy as usual.

So I'm elated to see Roberson getting that precisely right on this page. Epoch fires red sun energy at him with such intensity that it would cause Superman to burn off yellow sun energy (since invulnerability uses that energy like any of his other powers) while being unable to replenish it. As Superman explains, the attack still left enough yellow sun radiation in his cells that he would have his abilities. It's a small, simple detail, but it's still nice to see.

The real treat, however, comes when Superman, Batman, and Robin are locked in Epoch's "Omega Barrier," a cubic force-field with a barrier "as impenetrable as the event horizon of a black hole." First, there's this excellent bit of characterization:

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like a pitch-perfect Superman line. And the way out of a trap that's as inescapable as a black hole is the same way that energy and information escape from a black hole. As Superman correctly explains, even a vacuum is constantly churning with the creation and annihilation of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs. Normally these quantum fluctuations average out to nearly zero energy, but at the event horizon of a black hole, every so often pair creation causes one particle to appear outside of the black hole's range, and the other to appear within that range, causing one particle to fall into the black hole and the other to escape. The net effect is that energy leaks out of a black hole as Hawking Radiation, and over time that would cause the black hole itself to evaporate.

So Superman focuses his heat vision on the Omega Barrier's wall, hoping to increase the rate of particle-antiparticle pair production, and thus create a buildup of Hawking Radiation, which ultimately knocks Epoch out of the sky and disintegrates the barrier. It's a very clever solution, and any scientific quibbles I might have are minor at best (and at least one of them evaporates faster than a black hole if Hawking Radiation is understood in a context of quantum tunneling). It's an excellent example of how real scientific concepts can be tweaked into interesting superheroics without losing the integrity of the science.

So kudos to Chris Roberson. More than anything else, this issue has me excited to see what he does next with the Man of Steel, and based on this two-parter, I hope he stays on the book beyond the conclusion of "Grounded." Because it looks like he's capable of a lot more than batting cleanup for Straczynski.

Walking with Superman: Day 100

Today, The Fortress of Soliloquy brings you an exclusive three-page script preview of the milestone Walking with Superman #100! Check it out below the fold!


PAGE 1
PANEL ONE: Wide shot. Superman is standing atop one of the supports of the Bay Bridge, watching the sun sinking slowly toward the horizon through the San Francisco skyline. His back is to us, his cape is swaying slowly in the breeze.

1 CAP: San Francisco, CA.

2 CAP (SUPERMAN): What a beautiful city.

PANEL TWO: Closer on Superman's face. He's smiling.

3 CAP: I take it all in.

PANEL THREE: Split into many small panels, each showing some San Francisco locale or random resident or object, snippets of the things Superman is experiencing.

4 CAP: The people,

DIALOGUE (Unattached bubbles): I'll have the mahi-mahi.

SFX: Aurk aurk! (sea lion noise)

5 CAP: the sights,

DIALOGUE: Lombard and Laguna, thanks.

6 CAP: the smells,

DIALOGUE: DNA tonight?

SFX: Ding! Ding!

7 CAP: the sounds...

DIALOGUE: Over by Pier 39.

SFX: Thum-thump

PANEL FOUR: Close on Superman, looking surprised.

8 CAP: I hear it before I see him, of course. That's the way he is.

PANEL FIVE: Superman takes off toward the skyscraper at 201 Mission St.

9 CAP: Jimmy has his signal watch.

10 CAP: Lois calls my name.

11 CAP: J'onn has that telepathic link.

12 CAP: But when he needs to contact me...

PANEL SIX: Superman lands on the ledge, where Batman is perched, looking down at the city.

13 CAP: He just turns off the gadget that masks his heartbeat.

14 BATMAN: Took you long enough.


15 SUPERMAN: It's not exactly a spotlight, you know. I assume you're not here on vacation.

PAGE TWO

PANEL ONE: Batman holds out a small holographic projector, which displays dossier images of Carl Draper, Checkmate Pawn and former supervillain.

1 BATMAN: Checkmate security chief Carl Draper, aka "Deathtrap," and "Locksmith."

2 SUPERMAN: We've met.

3 BATMAN: Twenty-five days ago, he disappeared from his apartment.

PANEL TWO: Wide shot from behind Batman's shoulder. His holographic projector is now displaying a wide set of images of various Superman and Batman villains. Superman looks on from the other side of the translucent panorama, arms crossed over his chest.

4 BATMAN: Since then, there have been over two dozen similar disappearances.

5 BATMAN: Killer Croc, abducted during prison transfer.

6 BATMAN: Riot, vanished from his cell at Stryker's.

7 BATMAN: Bloodsport, never made it to arraignment.

8 BATMAN: Firefly, The Riddler, Parasite, Metallo.

9 SUPERMAN: And so on.

PANEL THREE: The hologram flips to an image of the Film Freak, tied up on the steps of the Gotham City Police Department building. He is unconscious and dressed in a gray jumpsuit.

10 BATMAN: This morning, the Film Freak was dumped on the steps of the Gotham City Police Department, dressed in a gray prison uniform. His identification listed the name Robert Stroud.

11 SUPERMAN: The birdman of Alcatraz?

PANEL FOUR: Batman looks Superman in the eye, and points at him in a somewhat accusatory fashion. Superman is skeptical.

12 BATMAN: On the day that you arrive in San Francisco. Not a coincidence.

13 SUPERMAN: And you think Draper is behind the disappearances? He's reformed.

14 BATMAN: If you call working for Checkmate reformed.

PANEL FIVE: Batman produces a small baggie of prescription pills from his utility belt.

15 BATMAN: Draper's rehabilitation involves a cocktail of strong anti-psychotics. I tested his most recent prescription refill. Placebos.

PANEL SIX:

16 SUPERMAN: This still doesn't seem like Draper's style. Where's the challenge in trapping prisoners?

17 BATMAN: I don't like it either. There are too many missing pieces.

PAGE THREE

PANEL ONE: Batman pockets his evidence, while Superman watches the sun setting over the ocean.

1 SUPERMAN: So I suppose this means we're breaking into Alcatraz?

2 BATMAN: I don't see another option.

PANEL TWO: Superman turns back toward Batman. Superman is wary, Batman is almost eager, having pulled out his grappling hook.

3 SUPERMAN: And you realize that this is a colossal trap.

4 BATMAN: Of course.

PANEL THREE: Close on Superman's face, with an expression of staunch determination.

5 SUPERMAN: All right, then. Let's go.

PANEL FOUR: Large panel. Superman flies and Batman swings north across the city, toward Alcatraz Island, as night falls over the west coast.

---

WALKING WITH SUPERMAN #100
Script by TOM FOSS
Someone's been kidnapping the enemies of the World's Finest team, and all signs point to Alcatraz! Superman and Batman are breaking into the Rock, but what sinister secrets await them inside? It's wall-to-wall action in this landmark hundredth installment!
On sale OCTOBER 29 • 64 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Walking with Superman: Day 90

While Superman visits Gotham City, NJ, his alter ego spends some time at a charity fundraiser sponsored by the Wayne Foundation. The costume ball provides an outlet for movers and shakers from business empires and media conglomerates to move and shake for a good cause. Unfortunately, not everyone at the masquerade has such charitable intentions. A Vulture, a Fox, and a Shark have crashed the party to prey on the revelers, and they plan to treat themselves to a fortune in charitable donations, jewelry, and ransom demands for their socialite hostages. The Terrible Trio have been operating long enough to know that you don't commit crime in Gotham without preparing for costumed intervention, especially when Superman is visiting, so they've arranged some disastrous diversions throughout the city to keep the heroes busy. Little do they know that they have the World's Finest duo trapped among their hostages! Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent must try to stop the Trio without compromising their secret identities, while outside the ballroom walls, Gotham City burns!

Walkin', yes indeed

Let's start with the good, shall we? This is easily the most in-character Superman has been during Straczynski's arc. Moreover, it's nice to see some discussion of the New Krypton events, and some repercussions thereof, even if they're fairly fleeting. Moreover, the "superheroes invite trouble" plot, while a bit overplayed, is the kind of story that this arc should be telling: what happens when Superman visits small towns that aren't used to superheroic battles and action and such? It's also good to see that Straczynski did enough research to get the name and mascot of Danville High School right.

That being said, the issue still has a boatload of problems, the biggest of which being the mischaracterization of Batman. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that Straczynski wrote this issue with Bruce in mind, then made a few changes to turn it into Dick when it became clear that Bruce wouldn't be around. Frankly, I wish he'd just used Bruce, because the conversation doesn't work as one between Superman and Dick. It's way too familiar, and not nearly as reverential as I expect Dick to be around Superman. Moreover, I don't think Superman would call Dick a "psycho," no matter what mask he was wearing.

But then there's the whole notion that Bruce and Dick are out of touch with the common person, which is predicated on almost exactly the same stupid notion that the whole story arc is based around. Superman isn't out of touch with the common person because no matter what happens, he's still a Kansas farm boy. You don't get much more "common person" than that. With Bruce and Dick, the case is a little easier to make, seeing that both have been world-traveling millionaire playboys, but in those dark alleys that Superman suggests are so isolating, most of their patrolling typically involves street-level thugs, gangs, and other ne'er-do-wells. Batman's in touch with a different class of "common people," the "common people" of Gotham City, but it's not all aristocrats and supervillains as Superman suggests.

Then there's the continuing problem of race, as Superman dangles a stalker who's visually quite similar to the drug dealer from the first issue, and now a schoolteacher of color who ends up the sinister pawn of a Kryptonian artifact, for no discernable reason¹. I guess it's all okay, because the redneck truck driver from "Superman II" gets to have some superpowered revenge².

And at the end we get the "Batman was right" ending, where everyone's upset with Superman and he gets a new reason to angst about whether he's a force for good or ill. It's a paint-by-numbers angsty Superman story, of the sort that people have been complaining about for years. Me, I'm the kind of guy who doesn't necessarily mind when Superman cries; I am the kind of guy who minds when Superman doesn't do anything else.

And maybe that's not a fair criticism of this book, since Straczynski hasn't been writing Superman since Our Worlds At War, or whenever we want to pin down the start of the "angsty Superman" problem. But, like his tone-deaf characterization of Dick Grayson's Batman, it would be nice if he actually spent some time reading modern Superman comics, and seeing that "hey, let's have Superman question his usefulness" is about the most overplayed plot in the last several years. Heck, they made a movie about it.

It's like destroying Themyscira over in "Wonder Woman." I only read "Wonder Woman" regularly from about the time of "Our Worlds At War" on, and even I know that this is at least the third time it's been destroyed in that timeframe. Straczynski seems to think he's breaking new ground and telling these deep and meaningful stories--and maybe he is in "Wonder Woman," which I dropped--but at least in Superman he's walking over well-worn ground. And while he's got Superman walking on Interstate Geoff Johns from Arcuditown to Singerville by way of Azzarello Heights, old Route Cary Bates is gathering dust.

And that's a damn shame.

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1. That's not really a criticism; 'Kryptonian artifacts making people superpowered and evil for no discernable reason' is a time-honored tradition (cf. Every "Smallville" episode ever).

2. He actually doesn't look anything like said trucker, but man, that seems like a missed Easter Egg opportunity.

Walking with Superman: Day 26

Maxie Zeus has imprisoned Superman and enslaved Olympia, Washington, but he seeks to assert his godhood over the rest of the world. The creatures and armies of Zeus march across the Pacific Northwest, expanding the reign of god-king Zeus, and no mortal superhero can get anywhere near the ever-increasing boundaries of Olympus. To take down a mad god, the heroes must become gods themselves. Batman assembles a pantheon: Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Steel, the Flash, Plastic Man, and ancient Roman hero Alpha Centurion. Together they must storm Olympus, rescue Superman, and take down Maxie Zeus once and for all, or Earth will fall before the thunderous might of Zeus.

Do the Truffle Shuffle!

It's hard to say what the worst part of the latest issue of "Batman: The Widening Gyre" is. But if I had to pick a single panel?

Yeeeeeaaah...

Give Bats a Chance

Hey you. Yes, you, the average comics fan. How do you feel about Batman?


Yes, that's pretty much what I figured you'd say. Although I wasn't sure you could use the word "awesome" that many times in a sentence. What do you like about Batman?


Great, all good answers. I noticed that you mentioned his intellect and preparedness, which are certainly both key components of his character. Now, what do you think of Grant Morrison's Batman? Specifically, I mean the JLA-era.


Yeah, he did get some awesome scenes. That one you mentioned is a particular favorite. Changing gears, now, how do you feel about the '60s "Batman" TV series?


All right, careful with that eye rolling. Yeah, I hate those articles too; I don't know why columnists keep going back to the "Biff! Pow!" well anymore, considering the show's been off the air for forty years. But the media treatment aside, what do you think about the series?


Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured you'd say. Here's the thing, though: that Grant Morrisonian, super-prepared, hyperintelligent Batgod? That's the '66 Batman. Seriously, go back and watch it sometime; Morrison's Batman owes at least as much to Adam West as to Denny O'Neil. You want a Batman who's prepared for everything, then you need look no further than a Batman who has anti-gas pills, a lifelike Bruce Wayne dummy, and shark repellent. The colors may be brighter, the continuity looser, and the plots more straightforward, but I think you'll find that the Batman you know and love once had eyebrows drawn on his cowl.

Robin: Gosh, Batman, is there anything you don't know?

Batman: Oh yes, Robin. Several things, in fact.
--"The Pharaoh's in a Rut"

Rocksteady Studios: Call me

Now that Warner has acquired the folks who made Batman: Arkham Asylum and are presumably going to make more games based on the DC characters, you know what story would make for a killer video game?

Superman: Emperor Joker

It'd work for a lot of the same reasons that Arkham Asylum worked: potential for dark, surreal environs, the opportunity for Mark Hamill, a hero who is continually outnumbered and outclassed, etc. But starting the game off in the normal world, fighting villains and thugs and establishing Superman's powers and world and the basic game mechanics, then stripping him of all but a fraction of his power, turning him into the villain, placing him in a surreal world under a madman's control, and pitting him against much stronger villains like Bizarro No. 1, Ignition, and Lois Lane, all so he can slowly regain his powers and take control away from the Joker, would make for a pretty epic gaming experience.

Otherwise, just a game where you're up against Mr. Mxyzptlk would be cool. But Emperor Joker would be a blast.

A question for people reading "Superman/Batman"*

Why is Joe Casey writing a follow-up to Our Worlds At War, a crossover that happened nine years ago?

Don't get me wrong, I own every tie-in issue to the original crossover. I could justify it by saying that I was already reading most of the titles anyway, and that it got me to start regularly reading Supergirl, Impulse, and Young Justice again, or that the tie-in issues of Superboy were actually really good, but basically it was a crossover that spun out of the Superman titles, and so my compulsion kicked in.

But regardless of whether or not people who obsessively bought everything related to the Superman titles bought it, it wasn't a very good story overall, and I don't think it was particularly well-received or well-remembered. So why revisit it now?

There's a part of me that would be tempted to buy this, but there's also the Joe Casey factor; around the same time, Casey was writing some of the worst Superman comics I've ever read. So the one-two-three punch of a guy whose Superman run was (in my mind) legendarily awful writing an unnecessary follow-up to an at-best mediocre decade-old crossover doesn't have me chomping at the bit to set down the money for it.

But it does have me morbidly curious, and I know there were some people who regularly read "Superman/Batman" not too long ago, so I'm curious what the heck is going on there.

Anyone?

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*Assuming, of course, that there are any.