Books : Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Buy It For the Art
Jeph Loeb is the luckiest writer in comic books today.

For some reason, I haven't a clue why, He gets' paired with the best artists. Who compensate big time for his mediocre and not well thought out stories. And his books sell well.

I won't even bother to go into the plot in this book because there really isn't one. It simply involves a convoluted 'story' where Batman and Superman take down Lex Luthor. Like another review posted the book is more about just as many characters from the DCU as possible into a book than it is with any credible story telling.

I bought this book primarily for Ed McGuiness' artwork. I love the way he draws Batman. But that, and a later apearance by Huntress, are the two strongest selling points on this book. Jeph Loeb is not a good story teller, and I wish that someone at DC would stop spoiling by pairing him with artists he doesn't deserve to work with.

Rating:

- Solid and fun superhero saga from Jeph Loeb
Collecting the first storyarc from DC Comics' best selling series, Public Enemies finds the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight side by side as President Lex Luthor comissions a squadren of super heroes to bring them in as a huge remnant of Supes' planet Krypton makes it's way towards Earth. Jeph Loeb, who has crafted modern day classics with Batman: Hush and his other Batman tales with artist Tim Sale, manages to keep plot twists and solid super hero action coming, even if the plot is too elaborate for it's own good. His thought captions are the highlight of his script, as the thoughts of both heroes are compared and contrasted throughout. The art by Ed McGuinness has it's strengths and weaknesses. The action scenes are fantastically illustrated and the heroes look like the iconic characters that they are, but there are spots where it looks way too cartoony. Despite all that, Superman & Batman: Public Enemies is a solid and fun superhero yarn, and this handsome hardcover collection is worth picking up for longtime fans.

Rating:

- It's not these two heroes that are so over-rated

It's Jeph Loeb.

He used to be in top form with his Tim Sale Batman collaborations but this story has the same problem his story Batman: Hush had: Too many guest stars.

You see, overloading your story with characters doesn't make for good characterizations. It just gives the artist more opportunities for eye candy instead of real visual storytelling.

Comics, even moreso than tv or film are a purely visual form. Sorry, no soundtrack here. The words and pics do it all.

Batman and Superman are still great fictional characters and will continue to have great potential for years to come. When they get mishandled it's a shame.

Rating:

- Hey! A FUN Book To Read!
Look, you've got Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, guest heroes and villains galore, and a wonderful story drawn beautifully! Get this book NOW! ;)

Rating:

- superbook
this is one of the best teamups in comic book history.the art is fantastic and the story is great. to see the presence that luthor had on the united states and the world was unbelievable. in the end they over came everything that luthor threw at them leading up to the recent issue of batman superman, with them rulling over the world.this has to be the second best story from DC, with the other being identitiy crisis.if you are a fan of supes or batman, this is a must have for any fan or collector

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