Batman Superman #4 Review
Batman Superman is an odd book to say the least. This is probably the most surreal, strange title in the New 52 so far. And coming out of this issue as it ends its first arc, I’m finding it hard to solidify how I really feel about it.
I’ll just get this one out of the way first, though. Jae Lee is a divisive artist. You either like it or you don’t, there is really no in between here. If you haven’t been around his art before and this series is your introduction to it, you should get the gist of it by now. Reading a comic book featuring his art is more like thumbing through a painter’s interpretation of our DC heroes. The fact that this book exists with Lee at the helm of the artwork is actually strange in itself with such a Jim Lee oriented art style across the board. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a good thing. I am actually a fan of Jae Lee’s art style. I’m finding myself looking past the fact that there really isn’t any background work to be found here. Somehow, Jae Lee is able to form the story in a way where this actually makes sense. It’s too bad that Lee isn’t the sole artist this issue as another artist joins in for the last few pages, which seems to be the norm with this series.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a surreal book. The art isn’t the only surreal thing about it. We literally have two Batmans and two Supermans running around fighting each other with with the threat of Darkseid brooding over everyone involved. And now that the arc is finally over, questions that I had have been answered and loose ends that I thought weren’t going to be fleshed out are tied in a nice bow.
Where this series goes from here is anybody’s guess. While I’m not as enamored with this series as I was when I read the first issue, I am still really intrigued to find out what happens next. If you have been questioning whether to get on board with this book in the first place, you might want to hold out on it. It may be more prudent to see where this series goes from here before deciding to make a commitment to it. Likewise, if you have been reading since the beginning, you might be a little iffy yourself as to whether you want to continue on. This is just a strange book to say the least.
Score: 7.5