Oh the things to say about this book. First of all, the story did seem okay for what it was, and I consider it decent popcorn entertainment, so for face value, it did entertain.
Pretty much a paint-by-numbers resolution of the story; Superman takes care of NRX-G, kills him in fact, but since it’s an cybernetic life form I guess we are giving Supes a pass there. Batman tackles the Durlan on the ship, pretty much your standard cliched villain that thinks his cause is justified versus Batman who looks on with disgust.
Then Superman jumps aboard the ship as the Durlan posing as Gaines had the ship doing a Kamikaze run into downtown Metropolis. You get a fight with Superman and the Durlan, Superman wins, Superman stops the ship from crashing into the Daily Planet Building, the Durlan seemingly kills himself, Bruce and Clark have a pow-wow concerning terrorist ways of warfare.
Oh, and a piece of the Durlan is seen floating around where the ship splash-landed, so apparently Casey is doing more “setup” for a possible continuation of the centuries long Durlan-Kryptonian war.
I can kind of see what Casey might have been going with an almost morality tale about guerrilla warfare, but it just seems to come off flat and almost cliched. Yeah, yeah that is wrong headed and “WE must do better.” The same old, we shouldn’t be the bad guys argument. Quite frankly, that isn’t what I am reading comic books for. If I wanted that lesson about how to fight a war, I’d watch Sean Hannity, not read Superman/Batman!
That aside, the major gripe I have with this book is the trade dress. Yes I know, as I said last time, a comic book reader should be used to this sort of thing by now, but still, the conclusion issue mentions nothing about the “Our Worlds At War” story despite the banner splashed across the cover. And apparently this “new direction” ends here as Paul Levitz takes over, with Jerry Ordway doing the art, with a brand new story next month. Very disappointing as this seemed like a great idea for the title. The two Icons of the DC Universe and various events throughout the years, it could have been gold! But instead it seems that the direction was just your standard “tie-in that really doesn’t tie-in, we are just selling books” crossover. For what it’s worth though, issue # 72’s cover, also the cover art for the latest TBU Comic Podcast, done by Fabrizio Fiorentino does look awesome, and the story does sound intriguing.
I enjoyed it for what it was, but considering my expectations for the run and the big letdown for the new direction.
Superman/Batman #71:
Reviewed by SteveJRogers