Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2003)
In August 2003, a new title called Superman/Batman was launched. Fresh off of successes writing both Superman and Batman, Jeph Loeb was given creative control of the title. Basically, the title gave Loeb a chance to officially and totally rewrite the relationship between the two men, steering them away from the antagonistic or distant tone of the 80s and 90s back to "best friends." For that alone, the title would be noteworthy. Loeb's writing style, however, added an extra level of intensity to their relationship. Loeb used dual-narration boxes which cut back and forth between Clark's thoughts (in yellow) and Bruce's thoughts (in blue). In general, the final effect was to give the impression that both of them think about each other constantly.
The first arc was called "Public Enemies," and the basic plot is that President Lex Luthor frames Superman and Batman decided to help him, leaving them both wanted fugitives. Eventually the two of them bring Luthor down and expose his crimes. The arc has been made into an animated movie with--frankly--a much tighter and more cohesive plot. Loeb's approach to writing is largely to cram as much fighting, characters, and craziness into a story as his artist can handle and let the plot sort itself out along the way (or, um, not).
"Public Enemies" is, to be blunt, the gold standard for Superman/Batman fannish squee. The first four or five issues are basically nonstop hurt/comfort, snark, and teamwork, smushed together in super-dense intensity. Skipping the plot and focusing on said h/c, snark, and teamwork, here are a few pages to give the feel of the whole work (really, the whole trade paperback is very much worth reading). Within the first few pages, Metallo has shot Clark with a Kryptonite bullet in a graveyard and Bruce has to do emergency surgery inside an open grave:
I love the casual way he vaults over Metallo and blows him up while getting to Clark.
Snarktastic!
Metallo recovers and buries them both alive in the grave, literally in each others' arms, now that I think of it.
The explosion knocks them down into the Gotham sewer system, where Clark fishes Bruce out of the water. Note the wonderful paired thought captions in the fourth panel, a classic Loeb-style use of them. Also note the MASSIVE HURT/COMFORT THEME of the two badly wounded guys supporting each other as they stagger to safety. *swoons*
Anyone ever written a story where Alfred has to deal with a Krypto running loose in Wayne Manor? HIJINKS.
Luthor calls in...um, approximately EVERY VILLAIN IN THE DCU to fight Clark and Bruce. The fight scene is frenetic, but most notable for the way Clark and Bruce work together and the trust they place in each other.
*looks up and then down* These two pages were pretty much the clincher for me about their relationship.
Awwww, man, I am such a sucker for warriors willing to die together. *sniffles*
Eventually Clark and Bruce confront Luthor, and Clark is angry enough to seriously consider killing him out of hand:
Yes, that's Batman basically saying Clark is more important to him than the whole world. It's kind of hard to top Loeb for Clark and Bruce as friends in canon. Of course, Superman doesn't kill Luthor--instead he's eventually taunted into revealing in public that he's been using Darkseid's technology, which turns public opinion against him, Superman is redeemed, and...the end (the ending is much more satisfying in the movie, although the relationship is more intense in the books).
It's safe to say this was a pivotal--perhaps the pivotal--storyline for Clark and Bruce post-Crisis. Since this point, there have been frequent conflicts between the two, but the canon assumption is still of a bedrock friendship between them.
Back to 2000-2010
Forward to Absolute Power.
The first arc was called "Public Enemies," and the basic plot is that President Lex Luthor frames Superman and Batman decided to help him, leaving them both wanted fugitives. Eventually the two of them bring Luthor down and expose his crimes. The arc has been made into an animated movie with--frankly--a much tighter and more cohesive plot. Loeb's approach to writing is largely to cram as much fighting, characters, and craziness into a story as his artist can handle and let the plot sort itself out along the way (or, um, not).
"Public Enemies" is, to be blunt, the gold standard for Superman/Batman fannish squee. The first four or five issues are basically nonstop hurt/comfort, snark, and teamwork, smushed together in super-dense intensity. Skipping the plot and focusing on said h/c, snark, and teamwork, here are a few pages to give the feel of the whole work (really, the whole trade paperback is very much worth reading). Within the first few pages, Metallo has shot Clark with a Kryptonite bullet in a graveyard and Bruce has to do emergency surgery inside an open grave:
I love the casual way he vaults over Metallo and blows him up while getting to Clark.
Snarktastic!
Metallo recovers and buries them both alive in the grave, literally in each others' arms, now that I think of it.
The explosion knocks them down into the Gotham sewer system, where Clark fishes Bruce out of the water. Note the wonderful paired thought captions in the fourth panel, a classic Loeb-style use of them. Also note the MASSIVE HURT/COMFORT THEME of the two badly wounded guys supporting each other as they stagger to safety. *swoons*
Anyone ever written a story where Alfred has to deal with a Krypto running loose in Wayne Manor? HIJINKS.
Luthor calls in...um, approximately EVERY VILLAIN IN THE DCU to fight Clark and Bruce. The fight scene is frenetic, but most notable for the way Clark and Bruce work together and the trust they place in each other.
*looks up and then down* These two pages were pretty much the clincher for me about their relationship.
Awwww, man, I am such a sucker for warriors willing to die together. *sniffles*
Eventually Clark and Bruce confront Luthor, and Clark is angry enough to seriously consider killing him out of hand:
Yes, that's Batman basically saying Clark is more important to him than the whole world. It's kind of hard to top Loeb for Clark and Bruce as friends in canon. Of course, Superman doesn't kill Luthor--instead he's eventually taunted into revealing in public that he's been using Darkseid's technology, which turns public opinion against him, Superman is redeemed, and...the end (the ending is much more satisfying in the movie, although the relationship is more intense in the books).
It's safe to say this was a pivotal--perhaps the pivotal--storyline for Clark and Bruce post-Crisis. Since this point, there have been frequent conflicts between the two, but the canon assumption is still of a bedrock friendship between them.
Back to 2000-2010
Forward to Absolute Power.