Rating:  -
Well, this is what you get when you leave storylines to popular votes. I recall years back in the mid-90s some low IQ marketer had voting controls installed on the theatre seats at the Emerville Century Cinema theatre. It was an experiment designed to see if people wanted to dictate the outcome of a movie. It was "interactive entertainment".
It was something not done with a true vision of heart. Not done with any soul. Not done with the intent that someone had a great idea and wanted to share it with the world, but done for the sake of placating to the masses to earn a buck. Result; a dismal failure, as it should have been.
Ditto with this graphic novel title. However, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. My personal feeling? There's no story here. Just a plot cobbled and kludged around the wandering desires of comic book fans who want to see their favorite heros pitted against one another.
There is no attempt to resolve anything. The one fight that both audience and writers got write was the Hulk-Superman brawl, and even then it was sketchy at best because of a complete lack of story.
The other matchups? Juvenile at best. Tragic drek at worst.
Yes, I bought a copy just to have. I regret it in that I actually blew dollars on this thing, but, someday, some acne faced teenage comic book nerd is going to shell out good cash for my copy. Not sure if that's of any consolence to me or not, but it's the best I got I guess.
Rating:  -
This series suffers from a couple of things. First, way too much build up to battles which end up lasting only a page or so. The second is that for the most part, it's a second string line-up. None of the match-ups really generated much excitement for me either. Storm vs. Wonderwoman? Yawn! A series that had potential, but turns out mediocre!
Rating:  -
if you like both sides, such as, marvel and dc comics, then this is IT!
enough said! this is by far one of the best comicbooks Ive ever read! EVER!
Rating: -
When unfamiliar superheroes meet each other, it often goes something like this:
A: I don't know you, and my city is being destroyed! I will attack you!
B: Wait, wait, it's not me! And who are you?
A: I'm Superhero A, and this is my city!
B: Well, I'm Superhero B, and my bad guy is working with your bad guy!
A: Oh, well, that's different then. Let's team up and go get the bad guys!
And off they go, saving the day.
Now, I'm not complaining. As cliched as it is, many a good tale has been built upon the misunderstanding-turned-partnership foundation. However, when you're pitting entire comic universes against each other to answer the question 'Who'd take who in a fight?', you can't very well take the aforementioned approach without tedium setting in fairly quickly.
When DC and Marvel decided to team up for the miniseries contained in this volume, they realized they couldn't do it the old way. So instead, they give their characters a good reason to fight. As the universes start bleeding into each other, heroes, villains, and ordinary citizens find themselves transported into another reality--several DC characters wind up in the Marvel Universe, and vice versa. There's a science-fiction/metaphysical background story that explains why all this is going on, but in essence, each set of heroes (Superman v. Hulk, Wonder Woman v. Storm, and so on) has to fight for their own universe.
So, rather than building on the misunderstanding turned team-up formula, we're given heroes reluctantly taking each other on, which adds depth and excellent character moments, bringing nuance to an idea that could have just been a grudge match.
The writing is strong, with an excellent framing story, solid characterizations, and just enough exposition to keep the reader involved without getting bored.
The art is also of a high caliber, although some of the excesses of the 90s are on display here and there--check out the hyperstylized X-Men group shot on page 19. But such moments don't detract from the story, they just remind us of the time it was written.
While it's highly enjoyable for a fan (even a casual one) of either universe, I wouldn't recommend this for a new reader. Knowing at least some of the particulars of each universe (beyond knowing the heroes/villain who've appeared in movies) is really helpful when reading this book. For old fans and current fans alike, this is a fun dive into a world where comic book reality gets warped into something unlike any other crossover event that had come before.
Enjoy.
Rating: -
This is indeed a great concept, and functioned excellently in its goal of bringing together many of the "big-name" superheroes of both universes. In this respect, this series was definitely successful in its goal.
However, as a story, it is plausible as far as comic stories go, but lacks anything truly memorable. Certainly, there was a tiny bit of depth, but the already flimsy story is all but scuttled by the meager way it is told. Indeed, the story suffers extremely from trying to cram too much into too little. The story has no set up (which can work, but doesn't in this situation; think Emperor Joker tpb; bewildering beginning, but ultimately a good enough story that I'll be returning to it again and again), jumps straight into trying to fly through every super hero it can without any development, nor a deep exploration of how characters would interact.
Spoiler alert: The following reveals details of the story, skip it if you have yet to read the comic.
Indeed, after the fight between Superman and the Hulk, the justification was "a whole world...and the woman I love"? That's the reason he won (and fought harder)?!?!?!?!? How is the same statement not true for the other person? That didn't make any sense.
Then there is the fighting. Comics, if they fail at storytelling, at the very least, should be able to excite with dynamic battles and titanic clashes. Unfortunately, much like the story, something with such potential was woefully squandered in the name of cramming heroes into pages. Most of the match-ups make some sense, but still, with such limited space, GL v. Silver Surfer, lasting roughly a page and a half?
The action is too brief to be exciting, too short to be explored in any meaningful way, and honestly, long battles that had some potential are shortened by words (we could fight for days until one of us drops from exhaustion). Words cannot describe how disappointing the fighting in this comic is.
However, despite all that, it is a collection of many of the most famous heroes of all time, united by a semi-plausible story, and includes some interesting interpretations.
If you are looking for a good story, or some good fights, this is not what you want. But if you are a collector, or a big fan of Marvel, DC, or both, this is something that can go on your shelf, though it will rarely be looked at.
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