2000-2010: Best Friends Again
(Links to scans will be added to this summary over time!)
1999-2000 is a pretty clear watershed in Clark and Bruce's friendship. There are probably a variety of reasons for this--one key is that the people writing several important titles were clearly fans from the age when Superman and Batman were buddies. This is another interesting thing about comics as a fandom--over time, there are constant tugs back and forth as kids who were fans at certain times grow up to write comics themselves and decide to bring back characters they loved (like, say Judd Winnick and Jason Todd), or kill characters they didn't love, or write characters in relationships like they enjoyed back when they were a young fan. In 2000, that meant that Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb, and Joe Kelly had an increasing amount of clout, and they missed Clark and Bruce being best friends.
This resulted in storylines, both in the JLA and in Superman and Batman's own titles, that required more and more teamwork between the two characters. As kawahori has noted, 2000 also marks the year Lex Luthor became President of the United States in the DCU. That means that what Luthor did affected Gotham much more, and as a result Batman had to take a more active role in Superman's life. The boundaries between Metropolis and Gotham, which had been so carefully maintained in the 90s, started to crumble and characters started to cross over a lot more.
As an early example, in the one-shot "D.O.A.," (June 2000) the Parasite kidnaps Lois Lane and Superman, poisoned with Kryptonite, turns to Batman for help finding her. "D.O.A." is an interesting storyline because you can see the writer, Joe Kelly, struggling to find a new sort of narrative that lets Superman and Batman be at odds while not falling back on the older "Superman represents law and order, Batman represents vigilantism." Kelly's new formulation is that Superman represents emotion and Batman logic (a dynamic which is of course catnip to a lot of slash fans!) As Batman and Superman work to find and save Lois, Batman's dispassionate detective work conflicts with Superman's passionate attachment. Although I think Kelly weights things quite a bit in Superman's favor, Bruce doesn't come off as totally in the wrong either, and it's got some fascinating character moments.
The major breakthrough in Clark and Bruce as friends, however, is Emperor Joker. EJ takes place in the Superman titles in Sept.-October 2000, and is a jumbled crazy chaotic mess of a story with really only one consistent theme: Batman is awesome and Superman is his best friend. The series is also highly recommended for any hurt/comfort fan, as it features some horrific suffering and torture, both emotional and physical. The basic concept behind it is that Mr. Mxyplyzyk has unwisely decided to give the Joker some of his powers as a prank. The Joker being what he is, though, he seized control of all of Mxy's powers and has used them to re-write the universe to his liking. What follows is a lot of fourth-wall-breaking insanity, as Clark struggles to figure out why this universe is so wrong and find a way to fix it. The key to the mystery and thus to the entire universe: Where is Batman?
Meanwhile, at exactly the same time in the JLA title, Mark Waid had taken over full writing duties from Grant Morrison. He immediately wrote two story arcs that focus not on the heroes as near-deities, as Morrison tended to, but as the JLA as a group of very human people who make mistakes and get hurt and have vulnerabilities and fears. The first of these, " Tower of Babel," is a storyline where Batman has been keeping records and plans on how to take out all of his team members in case of brainwashing. Ra's al-Ghul steals those records and uses them against the JLA, causing deep hurt and betrayal. Eventually the league votes Batman out, with Superman casting the deciding vote. However, the League remains fractured by dissent and doubt, and the hinge of the story is Superman having a serious heart-to-heart with Batman about how to heal the wounds. The second major arc, " Divided We Fall," has very few moments between Clark and Bruce, but is a fascinating character study--a supernatural force splits most of the League into their civilian and superhero personae. So Batman and Bruce, Superman and Clark, Plastic Man and Eel O'Brian, Green Lantern and Kyle Rayner, and so forth. It's worth a read for the exploration of Clark and Bruce as characters, even though they don't interact in any meaningful way in it.
In the Superman titles in 2001, Clark is still reeling from Luthor being elected President. kawahori helpfully pointed me to a couple of very nice stories that show Clark and Bruce interacting about the topic--one where Superman seeks comfort from each JLA member in turn while giving them Christmas presents, and one where Lois and Batman decide to take action about President Luthor's possession of the Kryptonite ring (Superman unwisely gave it back to him a few years earlier!) Both show Bruce and Clark off to good snarky-buddy advantage, and as a bonus Lois is awesome in the second one as well.
So in two years that's probably more interaction in the comics that they had from 1990-1998 or so combined. Inevitably, this created a shift in the perception of their relationship. More and more, people assumed that Clark and Bruce were friends--not just reluctant, bickering comrades, but two people with a deep friendship partially-hidden by a screen of snark.
Still, it's kind of a big jump from there to actual lovers. However, that's exactly what Ben Raab decided to make Clark and Bruce in his Elseworld title Shogun of Steel (2002). Elseworlds are basically "what-if" AU stories, set in either canon with some important change or an entirely transposed reality (The Nail: What if Clark had never become Superman? Red Rain: What if Batman were a vampire? Whom Gods Destroy: What if Clark were a rapist centaur and Diana was a Nazi and Lois became Wonder Woman and Lana became a goddess and healed rapist-centaur-Clark through the power of her love and then she and Lois and Clark all lived together in a happy threesome on the moon? This is an absolutely accurate description of this Elseworld). In "Shogun of Steel," the Justice League are transposed to medieval Japan, and in the process, Batman somehow becomes Hana (Flower), a Japanese woman who becomes the ninja Komori (the Bat) to avenge the death of her parents. She meets Hoshi (Star), a man with unearthly powers, and they join forces...and in the process fall in love. What's most interesting about "Shogun of Steel" for me is that "Bruce" and "Clark" are very much in-character, sniping and snarking and arguing about ends and means, right up until they clinch (which leaves one to conclude that the clinch is also quite in-character!)
Another alternate-world take on the characters, if not an official Elseworld, is Darwin Cooke's The New Frontier (2004), which sets the familiar DC characters against the backdrop of the Cold War. Superman and Batman both play major roles, but interact only twice in the actual series (and one of those times only second-hand). The two have a very public confrontation in which Superman attempts to arrest Batman, but Batman slips away before he can be caught. But all is not as simple as it seems... Perhaps even more interesting than the series itself for Superman and Batman's relationship is the New Frontier Special, which tells the story of how the two first clashed. It's got some witty identity play and fun dialogue between the two, plus a bonus kick-ass Wonder Woman.
Also while we're away from the actual continuity, there's Chip Kidd and Alex Ross's " The Trust" (2004), which is a short story set in the Silver Age (Dick is Robin, for example). It's basically a love letter to Clark and Bruce's friendship, exploring the issue of Superman giving Batman the Kryptonite once more. It's an amazingly sweet look at their friendship, in which Batman says that only for Superman's sake would he fire a gun (loaded with a Kryptonite bullet to stop a mind-controlled Clark).
Back to continuity! In one of the big Batman stories of 2002-2003, "Hush," Jeph Loeb took the opportunity to write Batman and Catwoman going to Metropolis to hunt down Poison Ivy, where Bruce runs into Clark Kent and Lois Lane. There's some wonderful interplay between the three of them in the Planet offices, and a great sequence where Ivy sics a mind-controlled Superman on Batman. Unlike some of these trumped-up fight scenes between the two, there's no real antagonism between them, just a desperate urgency on Batman's part to get through to Clark in time.
2003 is a serious landmark for Superman and Batman: the creation of their own regular team-up title once more called Superman/Batman (pre-slashed for your convenience!). In fact, from 2003-2008 there are so many interactions between Superman and Batman in the comics that it's nearly impossible to summarize all of it, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some important ones. If I'm missing a favorite scene of yours, let me know in comments and I'll see if I can add it! The first regular writer of S/B was Jeph Loeb (of "Emperor Joker" and "Hush" before), and when he got creative control of the title, he went to town. The hallmark of Loeb's writing on the title were the synchronized inner monologues of Clark and Bruce. Sometimes their thoughts were ironically dissonant, more often they revealed how perfectly in-sync the two characters were and how well they knew each other. But what the constant voice-overs mostly served to do was to give the indelible impression that Superman and Batman do nothing but think about each other. All the time. The resulting slashiness was clear and distinctive enough that webcomics like Shortpacked even made fun of it:
Loeb was responsible for four major story arcs on S/B: "Public Enemies," "Supergirl," "Absolute Power," and "Vengeance." All four are worth reading and are pretty much the defining documents for the current portrayal of Superman and Batman's relationship (as of 2010).
" Public Enemies" (Oct. 2003-March 2004) was the culmination of President Luthor's career, and once again Luthor brings Clark and Bruce together as a team. A Kryptonite meteor is heading toward Earth, and Luthor decides to blame Superman and use this as a chance to declare him a wanted criminal. Superman turns to Batman for help, and Batman has his back. The story is basically a love letter to these two characters and their friendship: although they think differently, both are always there when the other person needs them.Eventually Superman, apparently driven past his breaking point by the President, seems to be considering killing Luthor. Does Bruce try to talk him out of it?
(Note that Bruce apparently gives Clark priority over the entire world there!)
"Supergirl" was the re-introduction of Clark's cousin Kara to the post-Crisis continuity. The arc is a good read--not least because of Michael Turner's heart-stoppingly gorgeous take on Clark--but doesn't have a great deal of relational development between Clark and Bruce. 2005's " Absolute Power," however--! AP features an AU in which three renegade criminals from the future kidnapped Kal and Bruce as children and raised them as brothers. Grown to adults, Superman and Batman rule the Earth as despots. Not surprisingly, there are some extremely slashy moments in this one. The angsty fun continues even after Clark and Bruce inevitably start to unravel this false future: Batman takes the opportunity to stop Chill from killing his parents and promptly vanishes. Superman finds himself in yet another AU in which Ra's al Ghul rules the earth and Bruce never became Batman. He has to find Bruce and convince him to unravel this AU and let his parents die again.
By 2006 and " Vengeance," Loeb's storytelling was suffering from a serious loss of coherence (his young son had recently died of cancer, so he had some reason). "Vengeance" is a mash-up of DC and a set of Avengers analogues from Marvel, who arrive in the DCU claiming Superman is a murderer. Bizarro and Batzarro are in there, and rally help from all the different worlds and timelines to save Superman, and...it's very hard to keep track, really. But it has its moments, like Clark and Bruce speaking Kryptonian to each other or Mr. Mxyplyzyk explaining at the end he staged the whole plot just to make Clark and Bruce realize how much they mean to each other. @_@
After Loeb departed the title in 2006, there was never another regular writer, and Superman/Batman suffered some consistency problems because of it. Clark and Bruce's relationship was kind of all over the map, though generally friendly. Still, there's plenty to love in the later issues, and they're definitely worth a read for seeing some different takes on their friendship. A few of my favorite moments include:
--Superman/Batman Annual #1 (Dec. 2006). This is a retelling of the Golden Age story in which Superman and Batman discover each others' secret identities because they accidentally get booked for the same single-bed room on a cruise ship. Clark and Bruce are super-snarky and insulting, which fits because it's early in their careers, but the whole thing is way too much fun to miss.
--"Fathers" (Sept. 2008). This odd one-shot, which I can't imagine is meant to be canon, has Thomas Wayne and Jor-El meeting before their sons are born and Thomas convincing Jor-El to send his son to Earth.
--"L'il Leaguers" (Oct.-Nov. 2008). Mxy introduces Superman and Batman to the Fifth Dimensional Justice League, which is chibi versions of the JLA. The story takes a heartbreaking turn which I personally think feels like DC dicking the readers around, but there's some really sweet and sad interactions between Chibi Batman and Superman.
Meanwhile, back in the regular continuity (after Loeb's run, Superman/Batman became more or less cut off from actual canon and events in continuity mostly didn't affect the title), superfixated reminded me of another treat for the hurt/comfort fan: Sacrifice (Sept.-Oct. 2005). This sequence of issues is tied in to the mega-crossover Infinite Crisis, but all the casual fan needs to know is that Superman is mind-controlled, fights and nearly kills Batman, Wonder Woman kills the person controlling Superman's mind, Superman angsts a great deal.
The JLA was restarted after the events of "Infinite Crisis." JLA #0 (Sept. 2006) shows Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman getting together to decide who will be on the roster. The present-day events are intercut with scenes from the past and the "future" (some of which have come true, some of which didn't or haven't yet), including a retcon "missing scene" of Batman responding to Superman's death back in 1993.
Recently, Superman and Batman have had an increasing tendency to make cameo appearances in each others' titles. These brief crossovers often have wonderful little revelations about Clark and Bruce's relationship: for example, in the storyline "The Third Kryptonian" (2008), we discover that the Fortress of Solitude is programmed to respond to Batman's voice, and that Superman has programmed a Kryptonian warsuit to recognize his biometrics. That's nice.
Generally speaking, recent canon portrayals of Superman and Batman have followed the basic pattern set in motion by Jeph Loeb: good if snarky friends. Of course, considering how many people write them, there are exceptions. Two of the most striking are Azzarello's confrontation between the two in "For Tomorrow" (in which Batman in full costume on a rooftop demands Superman call him "Bruce") and Frank Miller's out-of-canon take in All-Star Batman and Robin (with Superman as a Neanderthal proto-fascist). But on the whole, the two have each others' backs when things get tough, no matter what.
Or, well, they do until Batman is presumed dead after the events of "Final Crisis" in Jan. 2009.
Batman sacrifices himself to help stop Darkseid from enslaving the Earth and is struck by Darkseid's "Omega Sanction," a special version of his eyebeams that causes the victim to become unstuck in time, living lives of pain and suffering over and over. Superman finds a body that he presumes is Bruce's (as it turns out, it isn't, but Clark doesn't know that) and bears it to Gotham to hand over to Alfred and Dick. (scans from Final Crisis and its aftermath coming soon!) Thus, since Jan. 2009, Bruce Wayne has been gone from the DC continuity. However, "The Return of Bruce Wayne," a five-part miniseries, is due to start in May 2010, which means Bruce should be back in the DCU (and available for potential reunions!) around October 2010. If there is a Clark/Bruce reunion of any sort (well, they have to interact again for the first time SOMETIME), it'll get linked up here. Will Bruce's disappearance and return mark a change in his character, or in his relationship with Superman? Or will they still be, as Superman calls him for the first time in the animated version of "Public Enemies" (2009), best friends?
Only time will tell...
Back to top page
1999-2000 is a pretty clear watershed in Clark and Bruce's friendship. There are probably a variety of reasons for this--one key is that the people writing several important titles were clearly fans from the age when Superman and Batman were buddies. This is another interesting thing about comics as a fandom--over time, there are constant tugs back and forth as kids who were fans at certain times grow up to write comics themselves and decide to bring back characters they loved (like, say Judd Winnick and Jason Todd), or kill characters they didn't love, or write characters in relationships like they enjoyed back when they were a young fan. In 2000, that meant that Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb, and Joe Kelly had an increasing amount of clout, and they missed Clark and Bruce being best friends.
This resulted in storylines, both in the JLA and in Superman and Batman's own titles, that required more and more teamwork between the two characters. As kawahori has noted, 2000 also marks the year Lex Luthor became President of the United States in the DCU. That means that what Luthor did affected Gotham much more, and as a result Batman had to take a more active role in Superman's life. The boundaries between Metropolis and Gotham, which had been so carefully maintained in the 90s, started to crumble and characters started to cross over a lot more.
As an early example, in the one-shot "D.O.A.," (June 2000) the Parasite kidnaps Lois Lane and Superman, poisoned with Kryptonite, turns to Batman for help finding her. "D.O.A." is an interesting storyline because you can see the writer, Joe Kelly, struggling to find a new sort of narrative that lets Superman and Batman be at odds while not falling back on the older "Superman represents law and order, Batman represents vigilantism." Kelly's new formulation is that Superman represents emotion and Batman logic (a dynamic which is of course catnip to a lot of slash fans!) As Batman and Superman work to find and save Lois, Batman's dispassionate detective work conflicts with Superman's passionate attachment. Although I think Kelly weights things quite a bit in Superman's favor, Bruce doesn't come off as totally in the wrong either, and it's got some fascinating character moments.
The major breakthrough in Clark and Bruce as friends, however, is Emperor Joker. EJ takes place in the Superman titles in Sept.-October 2000, and is a jumbled crazy chaotic mess of a story with really only one consistent theme: Batman is awesome and Superman is his best friend. The series is also highly recommended for any hurt/comfort fan, as it features some horrific suffering and torture, both emotional and physical. The basic concept behind it is that Mr. Mxyplyzyk has unwisely decided to give the Joker some of his powers as a prank. The Joker being what he is, though, he seized control of all of Mxy's powers and has used them to re-write the universe to his liking. What follows is a lot of fourth-wall-breaking insanity, as Clark struggles to figure out why this universe is so wrong and find a way to fix it. The key to the mystery and thus to the entire universe: Where is Batman?
Meanwhile, at exactly the same time in the JLA title, Mark Waid had taken over full writing duties from Grant Morrison. He immediately wrote two story arcs that focus not on the heroes as near-deities, as Morrison tended to, but as the JLA as a group of very human people who make mistakes and get hurt and have vulnerabilities and fears. The first of these, " Tower of Babel," is a storyline where Batman has been keeping records and plans on how to take out all of his team members in case of brainwashing. Ra's al-Ghul steals those records and uses them against the JLA, causing deep hurt and betrayal. Eventually the league votes Batman out, with Superman casting the deciding vote. However, the League remains fractured by dissent and doubt, and the hinge of the story is Superman having a serious heart-to-heart with Batman about how to heal the wounds. The second major arc, " Divided We Fall," has very few moments between Clark and Bruce, but is a fascinating character study--a supernatural force splits most of the League into their civilian and superhero personae. So Batman and Bruce, Superman and Clark, Plastic Man and Eel O'Brian, Green Lantern and Kyle Rayner, and so forth. It's worth a read for the exploration of Clark and Bruce as characters, even though they don't interact in any meaningful way in it.
In the Superman titles in 2001, Clark is still reeling from Luthor being elected President. kawahori helpfully pointed me to a couple of very nice stories that show Clark and Bruce interacting about the topic--one where Superman seeks comfort from each JLA member in turn while giving them Christmas presents, and one where Lois and Batman decide to take action about President Luthor's possession of the Kryptonite ring (Superman unwisely gave it back to him a few years earlier!) Both show Bruce and Clark off to good snarky-buddy advantage, and as a bonus Lois is awesome in the second one as well.
So in two years that's probably more interaction in the comics that they had from 1990-1998 or so combined. Inevitably, this created a shift in the perception of their relationship. More and more, people assumed that Clark and Bruce were friends--not just reluctant, bickering comrades, but two people with a deep friendship partially-hidden by a screen of snark.
Still, it's kind of a big jump from there to actual lovers. However, that's exactly what Ben Raab decided to make Clark and Bruce in his Elseworld title Shogun of Steel (2002). Elseworlds are basically "what-if" AU stories, set in either canon with some important change or an entirely transposed reality (The Nail: What if Clark had never become Superman? Red Rain: What if Batman were a vampire? Whom Gods Destroy: What if Clark were a rapist centaur and Diana was a Nazi and Lois became Wonder Woman and Lana became a goddess and healed rapist-centaur-Clark through the power of her love and then she and Lois and Clark all lived together in a happy threesome on the moon? This is an absolutely accurate description of this Elseworld). In "Shogun of Steel," the Justice League are transposed to medieval Japan, and in the process, Batman somehow becomes Hana (Flower), a Japanese woman who becomes the ninja Komori (the Bat) to avenge the death of her parents. She meets Hoshi (Star), a man with unearthly powers, and they join forces...and in the process fall in love. What's most interesting about "Shogun of Steel" for me is that "Bruce" and "Clark" are very much in-character, sniping and snarking and arguing about ends and means, right up until they clinch (which leaves one to conclude that the clinch is also quite in-character!)
Another alternate-world take on the characters, if not an official Elseworld, is Darwin Cooke's The New Frontier (2004), which sets the familiar DC characters against the backdrop of the Cold War. Superman and Batman both play major roles, but interact only twice in the actual series (and one of those times only second-hand). The two have a very public confrontation in which Superman attempts to arrest Batman, but Batman slips away before he can be caught. But all is not as simple as it seems... Perhaps even more interesting than the series itself for Superman and Batman's relationship is the New Frontier Special, which tells the story of how the two first clashed. It's got some witty identity play and fun dialogue between the two, plus a bonus kick-ass Wonder Woman.
Also while we're away from the actual continuity, there's Chip Kidd and Alex Ross's " The Trust" (2004), which is a short story set in the Silver Age (Dick is Robin, for example). It's basically a love letter to Clark and Bruce's friendship, exploring the issue of Superman giving Batman the Kryptonite once more. It's an amazingly sweet look at their friendship, in which Batman says that only for Superman's sake would he fire a gun (loaded with a Kryptonite bullet to stop a mind-controlled Clark).
Back to continuity! In one of the big Batman stories of 2002-2003, "Hush," Jeph Loeb took the opportunity to write Batman and Catwoman going to Metropolis to hunt down Poison Ivy, where Bruce runs into Clark Kent and Lois Lane. There's some wonderful interplay between the three of them in the Planet offices, and a great sequence where Ivy sics a mind-controlled Superman on Batman. Unlike some of these trumped-up fight scenes between the two, there's no real antagonism between them, just a desperate urgency on Batman's part to get through to Clark in time.
2003 is a serious landmark for Superman and Batman: the creation of their own regular team-up title once more called Superman/Batman (pre-slashed for your convenience!). In fact, from 2003-2008 there are so many interactions between Superman and Batman in the comics that it's nearly impossible to summarize all of it, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some important ones. If I'm missing a favorite scene of yours, let me know in comments and I'll see if I can add it! The first regular writer of S/B was Jeph Loeb (of "Emperor Joker" and "Hush" before), and when he got creative control of the title, he went to town. The hallmark of Loeb's writing on the title were the synchronized inner monologues of Clark and Bruce. Sometimes their thoughts were ironically dissonant, more often they revealed how perfectly in-sync the two characters were and how well they knew each other. But what the constant voice-overs mostly served to do was to give the indelible impression that Superman and Batman do nothing but think about each other. All the time. The resulting slashiness was clear and distinctive enough that webcomics like Shortpacked even made fun of it:
Loeb was responsible for four major story arcs on S/B: "Public Enemies," "Supergirl," "Absolute Power," and "Vengeance." All four are worth reading and are pretty much the defining documents for the current portrayal of Superman and Batman's relationship (as of 2010).
" Public Enemies" (Oct. 2003-March 2004) was the culmination of President Luthor's career, and once again Luthor brings Clark and Bruce together as a team. A Kryptonite meteor is heading toward Earth, and Luthor decides to blame Superman and use this as a chance to declare him a wanted criminal. Superman turns to Batman for help, and Batman has his back. The story is basically a love letter to these two characters and their friendship: although they think differently, both are always there when the other person needs them.Eventually Superman, apparently driven past his breaking point by the President, seems to be considering killing Luthor. Does Bruce try to talk him out of it?
(Note that Bruce apparently gives Clark priority over the entire world there!)
"Supergirl" was the re-introduction of Clark's cousin Kara to the post-Crisis continuity. The arc is a good read--not least because of Michael Turner's heart-stoppingly gorgeous take on Clark--but doesn't have a great deal of relational development between Clark and Bruce. 2005's " Absolute Power," however--! AP features an AU in which three renegade criminals from the future kidnapped Kal and Bruce as children and raised them as brothers. Grown to adults, Superman and Batman rule the Earth as despots. Not surprisingly, there are some extremely slashy moments in this one. The angsty fun continues even after Clark and Bruce inevitably start to unravel this false future: Batman takes the opportunity to stop Chill from killing his parents and promptly vanishes. Superman finds himself in yet another AU in which Ra's al Ghul rules the earth and Bruce never became Batman. He has to find Bruce and convince him to unravel this AU and let his parents die again.
By 2006 and " Vengeance," Loeb's storytelling was suffering from a serious loss of coherence (his young son had recently died of cancer, so he had some reason). "Vengeance" is a mash-up of DC and a set of Avengers analogues from Marvel, who arrive in the DCU claiming Superman is a murderer. Bizarro and Batzarro are in there, and rally help from all the different worlds and timelines to save Superman, and...it's very hard to keep track, really. But it has its moments, like Clark and Bruce speaking Kryptonian to each other or Mr. Mxyplyzyk explaining at the end he staged the whole plot just to make Clark and Bruce realize how much they mean to each other. @_@
After Loeb departed the title in 2006, there was never another regular writer, and Superman/Batman suffered some consistency problems because of it. Clark and Bruce's relationship was kind of all over the map, though generally friendly. Still, there's plenty to love in the later issues, and they're definitely worth a read for seeing some different takes on their friendship. A few of my favorite moments include:
--Superman/Batman Annual #1 (Dec. 2006). This is a retelling of the Golden Age story in which Superman and Batman discover each others' secret identities because they accidentally get booked for the same single-bed room on a cruise ship. Clark and Bruce are super-snarky and insulting, which fits because it's early in their careers, but the whole thing is way too much fun to miss.
--"Fathers" (Sept. 2008). This odd one-shot, which I can't imagine is meant to be canon, has Thomas Wayne and Jor-El meeting before their sons are born and Thomas convincing Jor-El to send his son to Earth.
--"L'il Leaguers" (Oct.-Nov. 2008). Mxy introduces Superman and Batman to the Fifth Dimensional Justice League, which is chibi versions of the JLA. The story takes a heartbreaking turn which I personally think feels like DC dicking the readers around, but there's some really sweet and sad interactions between Chibi Batman and Superman.
Meanwhile, back in the regular continuity (after Loeb's run, Superman/Batman became more or less cut off from actual canon and events in continuity mostly didn't affect the title), superfixated reminded me of another treat for the hurt/comfort fan: Sacrifice (Sept.-Oct. 2005). This sequence of issues is tied in to the mega-crossover Infinite Crisis, but all the casual fan needs to know is that Superman is mind-controlled, fights and nearly kills Batman, Wonder Woman kills the person controlling Superman's mind, Superman angsts a great deal.
The JLA was restarted after the events of "Infinite Crisis." JLA #0 (Sept. 2006) shows Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman getting together to decide who will be on the roster. The present-day events are intercut with scenes from the past and the "future" (some of which have come true, some of which didn't or haven't yet), including a retcon "missing scene" of Batman responding to Superman's death back in 1993.
Recently, Superman and Batman have had an increasing tendency to make cameo appearances in each others' titles. These brief crossovers often have wonderful little revelations about Clark and Bruce's relationship: for example, in the storyline "The Third Kryptonian" (2008), we discover that the Fortress of Solitude is programmed to respond to Batman's voice, and that Superman has programmed a Kryptonian warsuit to recognize his biometrics. That's nice.
Generally speaking, recent canon portrayals of Superman and Batman have followed the basic pattern set in motion by Jeph Loeb: good if snarky friends. Of course, considering how many people write them, there are exceptions. Two of the most striking are Azzarello's confrontation between the two in "For Tomorrow" (in which Batman in full costume on a rooftop demands Superman call him "Bruce") and Frank Miller's out-of-canon take in All-Star Batman and Robin (with Superman as a Neanderthal proto-fascist). But on the whole, the two have each others' backs when things get tough, no matter what.
Or, well, they do until Batman is presumed dead after the events of "Final Crisis" in Jan. 2009.
Batman sacrifices himself to help stop Darkseid from enslaving the Earth and is struck by Darkseid's "Omega Sanction," a special version of his eyebeams that causes the victim to become unstuck in time, living lives of pain and suffering over and over. Superman finds a body that he presumes is Bruce's (as it turns out, it isn't, but Clark doesn't know that) and bears it to Gotham to hand over to Alfred and Dick. (scans from Final Crisis and its aftermath coming soon!) Thus, since Jan. 2009, Bruce Wayne has been gone from the DC continuity. However, "The Return of Bruce Wayne," a five-part miniseries, is due to start in May 2010, which means Bruce should be back in the DCU (and available for potential reunions!) around October 2010. If there is a Clark/Bruce reunion of any sort (well, they have to interact again for the first time SOMETIME), it'll get linked up here. Will Bruce's disappearance and return mark a change in his character, or in his relationship with Superman? Or will they still be, as Superman calls him for the first time in the animated version of "Public Enemies" (2009), best friends?
Only time will tell...
Back to top page