DCNU New 52 just released Batman/Superman issue 2, Double Time and it's official, Zack Snyder confirmed at Comicon that the The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight will be squaring off on the big screen. Fortunately for those of you who can't wait till 2015, there is Batman/Superman 2. WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS BELOW, MAJOR SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.
Let's start with the art. The first bite of issue number one started out sweet but left us with a weird taste--not bad, just weird--when artist Jae Lee passed the pencil to Ben Oliver mid-issue.
Thankfully, Lee returns in full force for the second issue.
Once again...we begin in Gotham, but this time we get to go inside the Batcave. At first glance, the Batcave looks a whole lot like...well...a regular cave.
Lee's minimalist approach and his use of shadows and shading work well together. We only see what we need to see. Surely it's possible that there's a giant penny and a taxidermy T-Rex hidden somewhere behind the seemingly barren blue backdrop, but there is no need for such idol details.
Besides, there is a certain beauty to blank space. All the breathing room provides a breath of fresh air.
Outside of the cave, the cleaned up alt/future Gotham is a nice, new spin on the city. This certainly isn't the same gorgeously gritty hellhole from issue number one. The dove filled, blue skies bare wittiness to a city saved.
Smallville maintains the same storm-brewing-in-broad-daylight feeling of the first issue. What really stands out here are the characters. Lee's Superman has that hint of the George Reeves inspired Alex Ross realism, while still maintaining an element of fantasy.
Ma and Pa Kent look like they were pulled straight out of American Gothic. Pa Kent, however, looks about 20 years older then he did when Oliver introduced him at the end of issue one.
Now on to the big city. We still don't see much of Metropolis but the skies here are a beautiful blend of Gotham's blue and Smallville's dust colored yellow.
The real treat comes when we meet the ladies. Lois Lane and Wonder Woman aren't your typical overdeveloped and underdressed pieces of eye candy. We don't see them from the male gaze and they come off refreshingly like real women.
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
Last months issue, titled Cross World, had our heroes doing just that. The two's "first" meeting didn't go so well, and after a case of mistaken identity they we're about to go toe-to-toe before being zapped into another dimension by a mysterious magical villainess.
Writer Gregg Pak wastes no time revealing the villains identity and motives. The grinning, glowing ghoul is Kaiyo the Trickster--a self professed god who is on the hunt for the earth’s mightiest mortals.
After Kaiyo finds the worlds finest, they are sent through space and time to an alternate future earth. Much like last month, the title Double Time tells us a lot.
The issue focuses around the duo befriending their dual selves, but first they gotta fight.
The older superman makes short work of his angst filled counterpart, while the older, bluer Bats tries to match fist and wits with his younger self.
After they wise up, the alt world’s blue Batman takes the Darker Knight on tour of the new and improved Gotham city.
Seems Bruce spruced up the place after the Supreme Court approved a new form of imprisonment--cryogenically freezing offenders, leaving little need for Arkham. The former prison for the criminally insane became an amusement park for children.
The lack of repeat offenders ment our heroes could spend less time protecting the earth and more time improving it. As Superman points out to his equal, Wayne Tech advances have but eliminated the need for fossil fuels.
The plot starts to twist when the supermen go to meet Lois Lane. Seemingly out of nowhere, Wonder Woman pins Lane to the ground, revealing that Lois has been possessed by the Trickster.
The verdict: 8 out of 10
Gregg Pak promised that our patience would be rewarded, and it's starting to pay off. Still the slow progress and the $3.99 price tag make this seem like an arc better made for the trades.
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