BATMAN versus SUPERMAN
With a Vengeance! Chapter Four: Smoke and Mirrors (DC)
Where: Superman/Batman #23 When: November 2005 Why: Jeph Loeb How: Ed McGuinness

The story so far...
When a Kryptonite meteor is headed for Earth, Captain Atom is volunteered to pilot a rocket ship of intervention to protect not only the planet, but also it's greatest hero, Superman, from a life-threatening shower!

When Captain Atom reemerges in Japan, Superman and Batman soon discover the meteor housed a conscious entity called Kryptonite Man, capable of possessing and embuing a host body with incredible powers of Kryptonite radiation!

Amidst struggles with inter-dimensional elopers called the Maximums, Superman and Batman find themselves unwitting pawns in a much larger plot waged between Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Joker. Kryptonite Man returns to become the latest piece in the conflict, possessing Batman to best strike at his enemy, Superman!

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Mach Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Superman 5 (Lasers)


- When he witnessed the street murder of his parents, the young Bruce Wayne's destiny was forever shaped to be one dedicated to an ideal. Having spent his formative years studying the various sciences, martial arts, and crime fighting techniques, Bruce is ultimately inspired to become the one-man war on the criminal element in Gotham City: Batman.

Perhaps Batman's greatest power is the millions inherited from his industrialist parents, and the various facilities that came with that. They prove crucial in the design and construction of his many weapons, which are typically non-lethal, and have a variety of uses.

Complimented by his keenly strategic mind is Batman's expertise in the martial arts. He is extensively trained in multiple fighting styles, and commonly regarded to be one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters in the world. He is also extremely proficient in general urban warfare.

- With the planet Krypton on a path toward destruction, a scientist, Jor-El, bundles his only son into a rocket ship designed to take him far from the impending doom. The young Kal-El would be rocketted far from his home to come to land on the planet Earth, where a yellow sun would grant him the powers to become the man of steel - Superman!

A spiritual leader for the superhero community; Superman has a wide array of physical capabilities to back his presence up, the stalwarts being; super strength, flight, heat-vision, super breath, and super speed. He also has a keen intellect, his Kryptonian brain enhanced in much the way his body is.

A keen strategist, Superman has a broad understanding of sciences and battle tactics, but is often hindered by his own sense of caution and responsibility.

Additional: The rivalry in Frank Miller's dystopian superhero future has set the tone for the relationship between DC's, if not the entire medium's, two most prominent characters. The tradition of their friendship is restored today, but often with the tense undertones introduced vividly in Dark Knight Returns.

Jeph Loeb was responsible for the previous encounter on record [Batman #612], when it was Superman who was acting against his will, influenced by the potions of Poison Ivy, who herself was part of a larger plot in Hush.

The other recorded battles came from Miller, both set in the DKR future, where Batman's superiority was challenged by few. Common to all of three fights is Superman's role as aggressor, and his resulting defeat.

History: Batman (3-0-0)
The Math: Superman Ranking: Batman (#2)

What went down...
Having spotted Batman, Superman descends toward The Maximum's island headquarters, unaware that the Kryptonite Man has returned and taken possession of his ally's body. He soon gets the picture:

Emitting Kryptonite radiations, the possessed Batman easily matches Superman's invulnerabilities and rocks him with a devestating blow.
Weakened from the moment he drew near the island, Superman struggles to pull himself up by Batman's costume. He's punished for the naivity with a stiff headbutt reminiscent of Batman's own arsenal, as much as any Kryptonite Man's.

Kryptonite Batman continues the assault, raking at Superman's chest, before putting him down with a devestating roundhouse kick. His blows prove powerful enough to spill the blood of the badly weakened Superman.

Despite the sapping presence of Kryptonite, Superman is still strong enough to tear away at part of the Maximum's headquarters, using the architecture as a battering ram.
Alas, the lithe body of the Batman provides Kryptonite Man with the tools necessary to leap the clumsy shield, and swoop dowm with a punishing boot to the face!

The kick sends Superman hurtling like a wounded bird, downward from the top of the elaborate design of the Maximum's dome. His landing is a harsh one, cracking the landing pad of the Maximum's jet, and alerting the attentions of the Maximum called Robot.

Rattled by the devestating impact, Superman gingerly rises to ask for help from Robot, who was only recently his adversary. The bulky android remains silent while Superman shares his plans, not long before the Kryptonite Batman descends.


Emitting a flaming green glow, Kryptonite Batman lunges sloppily at his target, underestimating the Superman. Kal shows a little fighting skill of his own, whipping his super-strong hands into Batman's torso.

The pressure point blow leaves Kryptonite Man unable to move half of his host body. The moves gives even the ailing Superman all the room he needs to move at super-speeds to surround the paralyzed Batman with the metallic casing that makes up Robot's hull -- made of lead!

The lead casing creates a safe barrier between Superman and the weakening substance. With no organic alternatives, and Superman's body a death sentence fo the Kryptonite spirit, he's left with few choices when Superman demands he exit Batman, or face the prospect of permanent imprisonment within the suit.

The intervention of the Maximums and an order for Robot to suit-up puts an end to the stand off, but as the armor leaps off of Batman's body, he confirms that the presence of the Kryptonite Man is gone. A small consolation given yet another impending confrontation with the Maximums!

The Hammer...
Well, it took four tries, and the assistance of a Robot, but let the record show that Superman has finally scored a victory against his statistical inferior, Batman.

Granted, it's not a particularly good start for Batman in what guarantees to be a big year for the character, but even with the conceit of featuring 2007's top ten characters, we try not to give that kind of thing too much thought. Also, I thought it would be nice to recall our first month of Infinite Wars, where two of the previous Superman/Batman showdowns were showcased, albeit in a much shorter form.

Jeph Loeb's work is one of those things that seems to polarize a good many comics readers. While I tend to think some of that is due to a process of absorption by readers indulging in online forums, there are also those inevitable qualities about something like Superman/Batman that can be jarring.

As seen with a concept like the Kryptonite Man; Loeb goes very broad with his Superman/Batman work, indulging in the bold action that Ed McGuinness is so capable of serving, without any large intent to rewrite the face of comics. This arc in particular reads so much like an exercise in popcorn, bringing together two cultural giants for little more than a rip-roaring good time.

Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, one tends to wonder how this book was representing DC editorial meetings of the time. Dan DiDio, and other editorial staff assure readers that much of the DC canon is being intimately mapped out years in advance, which would be one explanation for the story's penchant for showcasing some of the parallel Earth's coming to prominance in the new 52-Earths Megaverse.

Preceding even Infinite Crisis; the B-story of Bizarro and Batzarro serves up visits to well known parallel universes now identified as: Earth-11 (Reverse Genders), Earth-12 (Batman Beyond), and Earth-30 (Red Son).

Similarly, Loeb played extensively with parallel realities and dimensions during the Absolute Power storyarc. Events across all stories are mostly inconsequential romps in alternate universe fun, but much like Brian Azzarello's work on Superman served an inadvertant prelude to Project OMAC, [For Tomorrow], one wonders if these aren't fun little easter eggs for fans of the megaverse to go back an discover.

I suppose, amidst the changing references and measurements, it's worth acknowledging that these universes all existed prior to the emergence of the Megaverse at the end of 52. Before that, there was a never ending sprawl of fictional alternate universes referred to as the "Multiverse", which made no attempts to elaborate on the specifics of Elseworlds tales, or anything else.

Today we have 52 numbered worlds in what is again being lazily referred to as the Multiverse. Because of the distinction between the old and new, I preferred and continue to use the early reference of Megaverse, specifically because it implies a greater importance, which speaks to the structure of it all.

If you've been reading DC comics like Countdown, which we haven't, you'll have seen these worlds coming and going regularly. Earlier in the week, in response to One More Day, we made reference to DC's ability to hold on to and utilize ideas, and I think the canonized Elseworlds tales are one of those examples.

The potential to do something amazing with some of the surrounding fifty-two Earths seems so fantastic, which probably makes the promise of a Final Crisis so potentially disheartening. Countdown caught up this week with events from Countdown: Arena, which saw icons of many Earth's murdered in an effort to collect together an army of characters to combat the Monitors.

When we talk about objecting to the license One More Day gives editorial to stop-and-start repeatedly, I think this is the kind of thing we're talking about.
It's about a contemporary standard of storytelling, and avoiding sloppy misdirection and slate wiping because someone doesn't feel they can write their way out of it.

Which brings us back to Loeb's work here on Superman/Batman, which manages to weave in and out of a lot of dated and cheesy concepts, without batting an eyelid. Granted, you need to approach The Kryptonite Man without any baggage, and get ready to go for a fun ride, but it's a prime example of just some of the things DC can achieve with their 52 Earths. A lot of fun!

Of course, now there's the issue of how we categorize alternate counterparts...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5

Half-asleep and exhausted we're still bringing you the very best we can in superhero fisticuffs, discussion, and review. If this entry managed to be coherrent enough to inspire joy, why not seek out With A Vengeance in collected format! The Infinite Wars receive Amazon kick-backs every time you order with a referred link, which means we can bring you even more fast fighting fantastic fisticuffery!

BATMAN & SUPERMAN versus
ATOMIC SKULL
With a Vengeance! Chapter Two:
Mistaken Identity Crisis (DC comics)
Where: Superman/Batman #21 When: September 2005 Why: Jeph Loeb How: Ed McGuinness

The story so far...
Batman and Superman have unwittingly become pawns in a fatal game of death staged between two of their oldest foes, but they each have more immediate and bizarre concerns.

An organized break-in at Wayne Tech sees an amped up Atomic Skull stealing a very specific lead atache case which contains synthesized kryptonite.

Meanwhile lurking in the shadows, Batzarro, and another motely grouping of avenging warriors, but are these champions friend, or foe? Batzarro am knows!

Previous Form:
Batman (#1): Batman has victories over Amazo, Captain America and Superman.
Superman (#7): Superman has defeated the Hulk and Metallo.
Atomic Skull: Atomic Skull has not previously been featured.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Superman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Batman 5 (Professor)
Speed: Superman 6 (Sound Speed)
Stamina: Superman 6 (Generator)
Agility: Batman 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Batman 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Superman 5 (Lasers)

I'm going to admit straight up - I'm kinda ignorant to a lot of Atomic Skull's finer details. I'm going to assume this isn't a great issue to draw data from, either, seeing the character painted as little more than a Ghost Rider analogue in a key vaguely similar to Vengeance.

Statistically I think certainly as an individual Atomic Skull poses a potential threat to even Superman, but certainly he reads much more like your stock standard second/third tier opponent who is eventually disposed of after some minor trepidation.

In hand-to-hand combat, Batman might have a little bit of trouble with a guy like Atomic Skull. Of course, we've been doing this long enough to know Batman is smart enough to stay out of that kind of situation.
Even if Atomic Skull were somehow able to stage an ambush, gadgetry could probably slow things down enough for Bats to make a retreat, or retrieve the Batmobile ala the fight with Amazo. [Batman #637]

Then of course there's Superman, who can presumably take everything Atomic Skull can dish out, and as always come out on top.

Average: Batman & Superman 30 (+9)
Overall: Batman & Superman 60 (+39)
The Pick: Batman & Superman

What went down...
Alfred calls into the Batmobile to tip Batman off on the break-in, but Bats is already on the scene, and has Atomic Skull in visual atop an atomic themeed flaming motorcycle.

Skull hops his bike over the bonnet of the Batmobile, avoiding a direct collision.
Batman is able to use in-built grappling technology to snag the cycle as it drives, yanking it to a halt and sending Atomic Skull hurtling over the handle bars.

Batzarro watches on as the bike comes to an explosive halt, and is engulfed in the cycle's flames.

Batman goes into battle with the hopes of retrieving the case chained to Skull's wrist. Using his acrobatic skills he avoids an attempt at using the case as a weapon, and slings off a string of batarangs.

Atomic Skull's new armor proves to be much stronger than his previous, holding up to the attack. The chain, however, proves less robust, giving Batman a chance to retrieve the kryptonite housing case.

Atomic Skull continues the assault, using the broken chain like a whip, but Batman is able to use his superior speed to avoid any direct hit.
Batzarro's attempts to aid Batman prove more devestating than Skull's attack, blinding Batman with three flash cubes. Skull capitalizes, checking Batman across the face with the chain.

The villain looms in for a killing strike, but Superman arrives on the scene in the nick of time, arcing his arrival into a devestating torpedo attack!

Superman helps Batman to his feet, only to be crushed beneath the Batmobile by Atomic Skull. He follows it up, punching his way through the vehicle to get to the floored Superman.

The two mighty titans continued to come to blows when suddenly a teleportation boom tube explodes on the scene, and from within comes the battlecry, "MAXIMUMS MARCH!"

Batman, Superman and Atomic Skull each share a confused glance as Atomic Skull remarks, "They ain't with me."

Robot is able to collect spot intelligence from police radio broadcasts, and the team ascertains that Atomic Skull is a threat wanted by the law.
Using a bizarre weapon the Maximum's leader, Soldier, fires off a bullet that passes through Superman's hand with ease and penetrates the villain's skull.

The damage results in a massive firey explosion of energy, as Robot reveals to the team that this character is quite unlike their own "Skull Biker," whose powers are Satanic rather than nuclear, like Atomic Skull's.
Never the less, the deed is done.

The hammer...
Well, the best Batman and Superman can do is an assist, with Soldier striking the killing blow.

Readers familiar with this Superman/Batman storyarc will have immediately jumped to The Maximums as the feature of this particular issue, and in 2007 I'm sure we'll revisit it for the confrontation between the superteam and the starring protagonists.

For those who don't know, The Maximums are a fairly transparent analogue of the ever-popular Ultimates, from Marvel comics. The team that Jeph Loeb has actually taken over post-Millar as his first announced major task moving back to the House of Ideas (Marvel).

Superman/Batman was certainly a book that had it's fair share of detractors, but consistently I think it remained a misunderstood book. It's precipice was that of a traditionally fun superhero comic book, regularly willing to indulge in the classic, but with a contemporary twist. Something I have to say I've enjoyed during my dabbles in the title.

Ed McGuinness' art in particular is a treat, and inking/colouring combo of Dexter Vines and Lee Loughridge is superb. Loughridge's colours maintain a smooth palette, while Vines' inks are strong and certain of themselves.
These go together with McGuinness' bold cartoony lines to make an exciting and easy to read action-adventure story. On this book, I think McGuinness has perhaps never looked better.

It will be interesting to see how the pair handle The Ultimates proper.
Joe Madureira takes the art duties of the third 'season' of Ultimates, before McGuinness reteams with Loeb on the title in the fourth. I've fallen a little out of touch with the progress on the book, but an interesting note, and perhaps unfortuante weakness in McGuinness' approach is a change in designs.

Most notably Iron Man is taking on a graphic look far more like that of the traditional Iron Man, which is certainly striking to the eye, but highlights one of the follies of the development of the Ultimate brand as a whole.
Consistently it seems to be reducing it's relevence, and graphically I feel Iron Man's pull was as a fantastic reality that is largely absent from the streamlined designs of the traditional Iron Man.

Loeb has mentioned part of the evolution is explined by way of Stark's employment of developing technologies, but still, these familiar designs seem to detract from the clunky reality of Hitch's previous designs. Designs that went out of their way to show a utilitarian requirement over asthetic design.

That said, it's sure to be a great read, and certainly The Maximums were a fun preview of what's to come, and also a nice way to round out the year.
This issue was actually one I considered at length before launching the blog, so at the end of 2006 we come full circle, a full year later.

Thanks to all who've been patient with my lateness, and hopefully now that I'm only a few weeks late, we can look forward to a smooth running 2007!

Even if you don't have bulging muscles or special mutant powers, you still can be a hero in your community by getting your Online Social Work Degree.

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5
Additional Stats: Though present, Batzarro receives no stat. His bungled attack for Batman is not worthy of an assist statistic.

NEXT: January 2007 kicks off with the first post of the year, and finally the top five superheroes of 2006 are announced, plus much more! Including an all new Quick Fix featuring Moon Knight!