So Dark Knight over Metropolis is where we both started Further proof that it was a powerful marketing move.

World's Finest is a month away. I acquired it, but I'll wait to read it before deciding whether it should be included in these reviews.

Action Comics #654



(Dark Knight over Metropolis) "Part Three:"

writer: Roger Stern
breakdowns: Bob McLeod
finishes: Brett Breeding
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Glenn Whitmore
assoc editor: Jon Peterson
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: A-


The final installment of the big comic book event designed to attract new readers to Superman, and they leave Bob McLeod on the art? If I were Mike Carlin, I would have sat on Kerry Gammill's front stoop until he agreed to do this issue. How do we go from two issues of outstanding, top notch art to panels like these:



Still, I guess they figured that anyone who'd already stuck around for Parts I and II were going to read this one all the same. And, to be fair, there was something a lot more memorable about this issue than McLeod's awkward artwork...


The Batman / Superman Relationship

Here's the crux of this issue and, in a sense, of Dark Knight over Metropolis all along. When John Byrne first rebooted Superman, he went out of his way to take the antagonistic relationship between Superman and Batman that Frank Miller introduced in Dark Knight Returns and cement it into Post-Crisis continuity in Man of Steel #3. Byrne enjoyed having the two form uncomfortable team-ups again in Action Comics Annual #1 and Adventures of Superman #440, but that level of tension never eased.

A short time after, almost immediately following Byrne's departure from the Superman Office, Roger Stern and Jerry Ordway began subtly undoing a lot of the characterization Byrne had given to Superman, even while doing their best to respect his continuity. Once George Perez came aboard, that shift became even more pronounced, with Superman feeling very much like his Pre-Crisis goody-goody counterpart instead of the regular guy from Kansas Byrne had been going for.

It therefore makes sense that, given the opportunity, they'd want to reverse the Post-Crisis characterization of Batman and Superman's relationship as well, returning them to the friendship and mutual respect they enjoyed in the Pre-Crisis.



In fact, in some ways, the ending of this issue feels reminiscent of the beginning of their original friendship way back in Superman (volume 1) #76:



In that story, it's both their shared dedication to justice AND the mutual vulnerability they share after having their identities revealed to one another that compels them to forge a close working relationship and, ultimately, a great friendship. And we see the Post-Crisis Superman address that shared dedication to justice in this story:



But it's the second element, that shared vulnerability, that ends up playing an even larger role here. While Stern couldn't use the "Oops! You know my secret identity!" trick here (they've known each other's identities since Adventures of Superman #440), Batman and Superman do each experience a moment of tremendous vulnerability at the hands of the other in this story, and its the other's unwillingness to take advantage of that vulnerability that ultimately steers them towards a kind of mutual respect and hesitant friendship:






and all of this culminates with Superman deciding to entrust Batman with the Kryptonite ring that Batman already passed up the opportunity to take from him during that earlier moment of vulnerability:



While this was definitely a fan-boy cheer moment back in the day, as well as a clear nod to Dark Knight Returns (where Batman DID have to take Superman down because he had become corrupted), it's actually so much more important when you look deeper: this is the moment that undoes Dark Knight Returns. In that storyline, Superman and Batman's relationship was based upon mistrust. Batman spent years synthesizing kryptonite in order to take Superman down. Here, Superman gives the Kryptonite to him and asks Batman to be his check and balance. This pair can't end up going down Frank Miller's dark road now. Instead, the Superman Office has put them on track to become something different and a little closer to their Pre-Crisis counterparts.

But nostalgia and good feelings aren't The Superman Office's only motivation in doing this. The jaded Batman/Superman relationship was bad for Superman sales. Both DKR and Man of Steel #3 made Superman look like an utter chump; a character so lame and out of touch with the world that reading him would seem almost uncool. The very focus of DKoM has been to get Superman back in the limelight along with Batman -- they're different, but (in the spirit of every superhero crossover since the dawn of time) if the popular character approves of the less popular character, then don't his fans have to approve as well?


Important Details:

- Superman gives Luthor's Kryptonite ring to Batman, instructing Batman to take him down if he should ever lose control of himself and become a threat. Incidentally, considering the three examples of mind control Superman recently experienced (Sleez, Brainiac, and The Eradicator Device), this is hardly an out-of-left-field concern.

- Cat Grant is beginning to fall for Jose Delgado. Enter a romantic foil for the newly emerging Clark and Lois relationship.



Minor Details:

- I love this recap on the story of Amanda McCoy (largely recounting events from Superman #2 and Adventures of Superman #440).



I love it because of why it's there. Anyone who's been reading the Superman books for a while now (even just going back to Action Comics #653 last month) knows this story; this thorough recap isn't written for them. Instead, it's clearly there for the sake of new readers just entering, letting them know there's a rich backstory at work here while also making it thoroughly accessible to them.

And, with so few Byrne plot points still left unresolved, it reiterates the idea that Dark Knight over Metropolis is the perfect entrypoint for new Superman readers.

And don't forget the ad placed at the back of each chapter of Dark Knight over Metropolis, further echoing this point:




- Batman never did end up having a good reason for sticking around for this storyline.



It seems that the mystery surrounding the Kryptonite ring was always far more critical to Superman than to Batman. I'm still at a loss as to why it warranted Batman leaving Gotham to investigate in the first place. Granted, this entire storyline takes under 24 hours to resolve, but that's still a night in which Batman isn't patrolling Gotham's streets, all because he wanted to know why a hobo had a mildly radioactive ring that wasn't even entirely responsible for his death.


- While I love the continuing theme of the first page being the exact same file, only littered with more content each time, suggesting a greater sense of urgency and panic, I'm confused by this one:



Is Manheim trying to get Edge "fried"? I mean, that would make complete sense, but he's never said as much and, at the end of the story, when everything has gone to heck, the idea seems to first occur to him that they can no longer protect Edge:



What the heck?


- McLoud may generally suck, but I was impressed by this one page, in which Superman enters the ransacked apartment only to find Batman casually reading through evidence on the couch:



(well, I loved everything but that last panel)


- This is truly nitpicky, but how is it that Gangbuster takes an energy blast directly to the back



and can walk away saying this:



when the exact same weapon does this to Superman:



Even Batman watches and reflects, "Don't know how these things work, but if they can hurt Superman, I don't want to find out!"



Overall, while the basic premise of this story never made any sense, and McLoud's art is truly disappointing, what this issue ultimately does for the Batman/Superman relationship more than offsets the bad. This was an important move for the Superman Office, both in terms of boosting sales and in making Superman appealing to a wider audience once more.


Plot synopsis: Batman and Superman rescue Gangbuster and Cat Grant from Intergang, Batman learns the story of Amanda McCoy and explains it to Superman (and to all the new readers), Batman reveals that he has the Kryptonite ring and returns it to Superman, and a short time later, Superman surprises Batman in his cave, clearing the air and entrusting Batman with the ring in case Superman ever needs to be taken down.

The gun that shot gangbuster is clearly just a pistol, not those energy rods they're using against Superman.

You can see it when Gangbuster punches him and he drops it.