Rating:  -
I bought Superman/ Batman Public Enemies for two reasons. One was that I'd seen some really positive reviews about it on Amazon and a few other websites and I always like stories where Superman and Batman crosspaths. But my main reason for getting this was Jeph Loeb. I hold him high on my list of comic book writers, for me he's up there with Frank Miller and Alan Moore.
I loved The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Superman For All Seasons is my favourite Superman book. I also even really enjoyed Spider-Man: Blue, and I'm not a big Spider-Man fan. But I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this book.
The storyline itself was good, an asteroid made out of kryptonite is headed for Earth. Being kryptonite, he can't stop it, so I figured that's where Batman would come in to help. But a lot of the story seemed cluttered and it just felt like it was being written without any real plan or idea on where it would go.
It had a large number of lesser known DC characters. I think that's both good and bad. It's good to put these characters in a comic with big name characters like Superman and Batman, it's the best way for people to learn about them and get into them. But at the same time, they took attention away from the main focus of the story.
There were also a number of smaller plotlines running throughout the story that sometimes made me forget there was a giant kryptonite asteroid about to destroy Earth.
The writing and dialogue itself is still really good. And personally, I loved how each page and panel showed both Bruce and Clark's individual thoughts. How they both want the same thing, but have much different trains of thought and ideas on how to get it.
I also really enjoyed the prologue that shows how Clark first saw Bruce when they were children, with great art on those pages by Tim Sale.
The artwork in general in this story is still good though, it's very clean and cartoony, but not too cartoony that it makes you feel like a child for reading it.
Overall, it's an okay crossover story. It has a lot of things that weigh it down, but there a moments of greatness in it that I think make it worth reading. If you want to get into Jeph Loeb, I'd recommend reading The Long Halloween or Hush first, before reading Public Enemies, as this isn't the best representation of how much of a great writer he can be.
I give it three stars.
Rating:  -
great stuff. movie has better ending but book in is entiery is, as always, so much better.
Rating:  -
Awesome read that leads into another read, definitely a worthy introduction to a well-written Series.
Rating: -
The plot of this story isn't all that great, it doesn't break any new ground or is even that original, but the characterization of both Superman and Batman, especially in their thought boxes, are spectacularly unique. The way they play off each other and practically finish each others thoughts is something that has been imitated since with nowhere near the insight as the original. McGuiness' art is, as always, cartoonishly appropriate.
Rating: -
Illustrated by Ed McGuinness and written by Jeph Loeb, this volume collects the first six issues of the Superman/Batman comic book. This book is like a throwback to the team-ups of yesteryear such as World's Finest. Highly enjoyable!
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