Comics Reviews

Batman/Superman #19 review

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Batman/Superman #19 opens with a brief history of the capitol city of Kandor on the now eradicated planet of Krypton. The narration is provided by the book’s current villain who has been making Superman’s life a living hell. The quick history lesson serves well in the intro to forebode the dire situation that awaits our heroes.

Greg Pak drives this story forward with the World’s Finest closing in on their taunting enemy. With the help from The Atom, the World’s Finest and Supergirl all head into Braniac’s miniature casing of Kandor for a stealth reconnaissance mission to truly assess the situation. Practically being back on their home planet, Clark and Kara immediately feel the effects of Krypton’s atmosphere on their physiology. They decide to move around quietly to conserve their energy for the inevitable fight that’s sure to come. The team ventured into Kandor to retrieve an old friend of Kara’s that could possibly help their cause which is already proving to be a difficult task. They quickly find out the Kandorian citizens are under control and being converted as they speak. Superman stumbles on some Kryptonian technology that recognizes his genetic signature. The holographic presents information that has obviously been tampered with to be used as a motivation for revenge against Superman.

Where this arc really shines for me is the Kryptonian lore. We know so much about Superman here on Earth, it’s very interesting to learn more about his alien lineage. This is a family affair, so to see Supes and his cousin going off using their powers, I felt a bit giddy reading this issue. Pak and Syaf do a wonderful job at showing the will power of the cousins and Batman to get the job done. All of them are on a race against time so their every move is very crucial. Their efforts finally bring them face to face with Superman’s personal villain.

Spoiler
The “wicked scientist” shown in the beginning history intro is Superman’s version of the Joker. His interaction with Jor-El makes sense into why he is coming for Superman so viciously. His motive is similar, darn near identical to that of Zod’s in Man of Steel. Jor-El, although a very snazzy dresser, was not making many friends in his time on Krypton

Syaf’s art is very well suited to this title. He’s able bring Pak’s story to life and the colors provided by Ulisses Arreola are very vibrant. This issue really benefits in the art department with a lot of Kryptonian clothing, architecture, and of course EXPLOSIONS!

Spoiler
The visions that are shown when the holographic explains to Superman what happened to Kandor were fantastic. It was like seeing propaganda during a war, painting Jor-El and Kal-El as the evil beings who orchestrated the destruction of Krypton. Syaf illustrated the segment beautifully.

Recommended if:

  • You’ve jumped back onto this title
  • You’re interested in who has been terrorizing Superman
  • You enjoy any information about Krypton

Overall:

Greg Pak is building a story that’s very personal to Superman and offers some more history on Krypton. With the Fortress of Solitude still out of commission, it’s nice to see that we can still receive some Kryptonian information. Bruce, Clark, and Kara make a great team and this issue sets up what appears to be an pivotal next act. Worth the price $3.99 price tag.

SCORE: 9/10