A review by ponch22
Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles by Jim Lee, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, Scott Snyder, Mark Verheiden, Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb, Matthew Clark, John Byrne, Jack Kelly, Joe Kelly, Greg Capullo, Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, Brett Booth
3.0
Picked this up from my online library/Hoopla app because it looked interesting & I barely ever borrow my allotted titles every month... Not sure if the collection was created to benefit from the recent BVS film or if it's been around for years (Edit: looks like it was published in late 2015, so probably a cash grab/movie tie-in), but school kids have debated who would win for decades so I thought it would be a fun collection to read. I'll review the stories as they are presented. Because every story is one (or two) comic book issues, it's hard to do much without spoiling something so beware:
"One Night in Gotham City" seems to be pre-Justice League as Superman travels to Gotham City to apprehend its outlaw and take him to the police. The two characters know of each other (Batman has created a force field that surrounds his body, keeping Superman from touching him) and there's basically no fighting between the two—just a lot of talking as Batman shows Superman why he does what he does. Seems a super villain, Magpie, is killing people all over town by replacing shiny, expensive objects with deadly ones. The story is clever enough with Batman & Superman outsmarting each other; but in a collection of BVS stories, the lack of actual fighting is extremely disappointing. 2*
"Who Would Win?" takes the fact that the concept of this collection is what is discussed on playgrounds and turns that into a story. The issue is told through two young boys—one a Superman fan, the other Batman—as they play out who would win in a fight between their favorite superheroes. It's a lot of fun with their narration over the story and schoolyard dialogue (e.g. Batman saying, "Actually... YES, it is supposed to annoy you. Superturd.") The fight is good but the preamble is the best—setting the rules, figuring out why they'd even be fighting. The epilogue is pretty nice too as we pull back and see Superman & Batman have overheard the whole thing. Gorgeous art. 5*
"Justice League (Part 2)" is a real tease. The story starts with Superman and Batman battling but soon Green Lantern and Flash join in and it seems the whole brawl is due to some confusion from aliens who attacked them all. There's a lot of prior story that is left out (like, I assume, Part 1?) and there's no resolution at all. My favorite part is when Flash runs circles around Superman only to get flicked down the block... Some very nice artwork but since it's just a small piece of a much larger story and doesn't feature too much BVS, 3*
"Batman Endgame (Parts 1 & 2)" is a nice little story that again feels a little cut off in this collection (I have to imagine there's some kind of resolution in the actual issue after Part 2's final panel). Part 1 begins with a clever fake gas attack in downtown Gotham City which is explained with a mini-flashback showing Batman has a plan to turn downtown into a safe zone where he can battle the entire Justice League. Seems something (or someone) has affected Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and (by the final pages of Part 1) Superman & all are coming to attack Bruce. The final page of Part 1 hints that the Joker is behind this in-fighting and Part 2 is where the two really battle. Batman also is having weird dreams thanks to some Scarecrow fear toxin, but that's not really here nor there. The two battle it out and in the end "neither of [them]" wins. 3*
"The Dark Knight Falls" has probably gotten me over my desire to read [a:Frank Miller|15085|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1335457016p2/15085.jpg]'s [b:The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]. I've always heard wonderful things about that graphic novel, but if this is what it's like, I don't think I can. These final pages were brutal to read—the art is ugly, the characters are nearly indistinguishable (I couldn't tell Gordon from Wayne), the story is rambling, and from what I've read to try to make sense of this issue, the end of that novel is ruined here. There is so much setup, there's barely even half a dozen pages left to actual feature any Batman/Superman fighting! Maybe if I was reading this as part of its own story, and it wasn't immediately after such beatuiful artwork I could enjoy it, but I almost stopped reading it several times. I mean, at one point it seems there are a bunch of mutants/sons of the Batman who are an evil force in Gotham but then they're riding horses helping Batman keep the city safe during nuclear fallout?! I can't ever quit anything, so I finished it... If I could assign it negative stars, I would. 1*
Average of everything: 3* exactly, although that final story left such a bad taste in my mouth, it almost drags the whole thing down another star...
Spoiler
"The Battle" has Batman fighting a Poison Ivy-controlled Superman. Throughout, Batman knows that Supes is being controlled and he doesn't want to hurt him, so he's holding back somewhat. Apparently, in this universe, Superman has shared a Kryptonite ring with Batman in case something like this ever happens. The actual battle between the two isn't too thrilling—lots of punches and a little cleverness—although the cameo appearance of Krypto (the Super Dog) is nice. Art is great 4*"One Night in Gotham City" seems to be pre-Justice League as Superman travels to Gotham City to apprehend its outlaw and take him to the police. The two characters know of each other (Batman has created a force field that surrounds his body, keeping Superman from touching him) and there's basically no fighting between the two—just a lot of talking as Batman shows Superman why he does what he does. Seems a super villain, Magpie, is killing people all over town by replacing shiny, expensive objects with deadly ones. The story is clever enough with Batman & Superman outsmarting each other; but in a collection of BVS stories, the lack of actual fighting is extremely disappointing. 2*
"Who Would Win?" takes the fact that the concept of this collection is what is discussed on playgrounds and turns that into a story. The issue is told through two young boys—one a Superman fan, the other Batman—as they play out who would win in a fight between their favorite superheroes. It's a lot of fun with their narration over the story and schoolyard dialogue (e.g. Batman saying, "Actually... YES, it is supposed to annoy you. Superturd.") The fight is good but the preamble is the best—setting the rules, figuring out why they'd even be fighting. The epilogue is pretty nice too as we pull back and see Superman & Batman have overheard the whole thing. Gorgeous art. 5*
"Justice League (Part 2)" is a real tease. The story starts with Superman and Batman battling but soon Green Lantern and Flash join in and it seems the whole brawl is due to some confusion from aliens who attacked them all. There's a lot of prior story that is left out (like, I assume, Part 1?) and there's no resolution at all. My favorite part is when Flash runs circles around Superman only to get flicked down the block... Some very nice artwork but since it's just a small piece of a much larger story and doesn't feature too much BVS, 3*
"Batman Endgame (Parts 1 & 2)" is a nice little story that again feels a little cut off in this collection (I have to imagine there's some kind of resolution in the actual issue after Part 2's final panel). Part 1 begins with a clever fake gas attack in downtown Gotham City which is explained with a mini-flashback showing Batman has a plan to turn downtown into a safe zone where he can battle the entire Justice League. Seems something (or someone) has affected Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and (by the final pages of Part 1) Superman & all are coming to attack Bruce. The final page of Part 1 hints that the Joker is behind this in-fighting and Part 2 is where the two really battle. Batman also is having weird dreams thanks to some Scarecrow fear toxin, but that's not really here nor there. The two battle it out and in the end "neither of [them]" wins. 3*
"The Dark Knight Falls" has probably gotten me over my desire to read [a:Frank Miller|15085|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1335457016p2/15085.jpg]'s [b:The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]. I've always heard wonderful things about that graphic novel, but if this is what it's like, I don't think I can. These final pages were brutal to read—the art is ugly, the characters are nearly indistinguishable (I couldn't tell Gordon from Wayne), the story is rambling, and from what I've read to try to make sense of this issue, the end of that novel is ruined here. There is so much setup, there's barely even half a dozen pages left to actual feature any Batman/Superman fighting! Maybe if I was reading this as part of its own story, and it wasn't immediately after such beatuiful artwork I could enjoy it, but I almost stopped reading it several times. I mean, at one point it seems there are a bunch of mutants/sons of the Batman who are an evil force in Gotham but then they're riding horses helping Batman keep the city safe during nuclear fallout?! I can't ever quit anything, so I finished it... If I could assign it negative stars, I would. 1*
Average of everything: 3* exactly, although that final story left such a bad taste in my mouth, it almost drags the whole thing down another star...