Okay, this book wins just for the brief Captain Carrot appearance.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dave Wielgosz
Art: Jorge Corona
Colors: Mat Lopes
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
During a heated argument, the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight are ambushed by a cadre of evil Multiversal doppelgangers. It’s Batman versus Superman in this no-holds-barred brawl between good and evil!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a lot of the issues that we’ve had in this run so far the creative team has stuck to mostly doing things that are very much within the norm in a way. I do hope that as more go on we’ll see more explorations of creativity outside of what’s considered the baseline of the characters or even some Elseworld types of stories. With this issue, writer Dave Wielgosz gets us the closest to that in a way by virtue of the last couple of panels alone but beyond that has a pretty fun book. Its one that lets Jorge Corona just go all out with the design to give us a lot of “brick” Supermen running around and some creative Batman designs as well from various places. Normally, Corona’s style is one I like but not on “mainstream” books because it’s not what you expect or even want to some degree with your iconic characters. But in a book like this, it’s bloody ideal to do something new with.
The premise has Superman meeting with Batman on the Watchtower orbital satellite to go over what happened on a recent mission and it leans into the way Batman traditionally isn’t a team player – depending on the period you read Justice League style stories. The two have long clashed but I’m amused at how Batman comes off serious emo-like here in calling out Superman for basically calling him to the principal’s office and all. The old stuff is at play but it has a more distinctive feeling here. Before they can get too far into it, however, worlds collide and we get a bunch of Batmen and Supermen from other timelines and dimensions that have joined up to take down these two “primary” ones. Most of them have been kind of roped into it or misled into it, but the result is the same.
The bulk of the book involves the fight that ensues as Superman takes on the Batmen and vice versa. Superman’s fight is actually more amusing and interesting as he leads them into a room where he de-powers himself and still holds back while going up against them, reinforcing his strength and tactics. Batman, on the other hand, wipes out a bunch quickly and easily with Kryptonite but struggles with a tougher version of Superman that plays hard like he does. It’s a good series of events that unfold that in the end brings the two primary ones back together to fight side by side, which is what’s really driving it. That’s what leads to the final page where we see other Leaguer’s coming back – including Captain Carrot – and we get the Batman/Superman hug that’s just the most hilarious thing ever in execution.
In Summary:
Normally, Corona’s artwork would frustrate me in most mainline books because it’s a departure from the norm in a way that’s too off-putting unless there’s some real story intent behind it. But I absolutely adore Corona’s take on the characters – from across the timelines – as presented here as something outside the mainline continuity. There’s a really great take on how he handles the teenager-ishness of Batman here from the script or the super boy scoutness of Superman. The fights are fun and could have used a few more pages but with it all wrapped up in the back and forth about how our two leads really need to work together to be at their best, it’s well-paced. It’s not a deep story in the slightest but it’s a wonderful visual treat.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology and Kindle
Release Date: November 9th, 2020
MSRP: $0.99
