Hello, my friends. Two familiar figures are operating within their respective cities and they each have the potential to become the World’s Finest, but they’ll soon find themselves upon a particular clash the likes of which the world wouldn’t be remotely prepared for. While the long & winding road towards said confrontation played out in perplexing fashion upon the big screen, our focus takes us to the 1.5-year period following the fight against the massive World Engine and its evil operators but before the various events that would eventually plant the seeds for the globe’s signature superhero team. On that note, I welcome you back to another installment of…
Last time, we checked out the digital-only prequel comic to the DCEU’s inaugural entry known as “Man Of Steel”. In said story, it followed Kara Zor-El who was among a group of several young Kryptonians being sent out on an otherworldly scouting and expansion mission. However, a bullish & malevolent trainee named Dev-Em managed to stow away on board and murder her entire crew while she was in cryogenic sleep. Eventually, she discovers that he had taken control over the scout ship and that he intends to use her as a means to help repopulate their race. She would confront and defeat him in a climactic fight before she crash lands in the frozen northern land that would ultimately become part of Canada, where she would venture out on her own. Sadly, this version of Supergirl would never pop up again at any future point within the entire series. If you’re interested in learning my thoughts about said comic, you can click the aforementioned link and see what I thought about it. With that recap out of the way, we now get to the featured sophomore entry that attempted to greatly expand this particular world, though it was within a film that became noteworthy for various reasons that Warner Bros. Studios wasn’t expecting.
Making its NYC and L.A. premiere on March 20, 2016 before getting its general release on March 25, it had Zack Snyder returning to the director’s chair while David S. Goyer also came back to write the movie’s script though he would be joined this around by Chris Terrio. Made on a $250 million budget, it went on to rake in over $874 million during its theatrical run. Despite its monetary haul, it was largely panned by critics while also having an infamous second-weekend box office drop-off of 68-69%. Leading up to the movie’s release, there would be plenty of tie-in merchandise including toys, cereals, books and everything in between. It would also have several more comics than the prior film, so let’s shine a critical light upon these particular periodicals.
For our first batch, we have a five-issue digital-only mini-series that’s tied in with Dr. Pepper and was initially accessible by scanning the barcodes of said soft drink. Published on January 28, 2016, this set would be officially known as “Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. With Christos Gage taking up the writing duties, Joe Bennett handling the pencil work, Sean Parsons as the inker and Hi-Fi serving as the colorist, how do these particular chapters handle themselves within the build-up to the mainline movie? Let’s crack these chapters open and find out.
We open in Gotham City where Garfield Lynns a.k.a. Firefly is setting up some fire bombs alongside a pair of goons in order for them to incinerate some “merchandise”. Despite them having just set the charges up and the youthful perp wanting to head out in order for all of them to avoid the Dark Knight, Firefly strangles him and says that any person can set things ablaze while it takes a professional to properly execute these kinds of assignments along with a standard that he wants to live up to. The fellow perp named Sal assures Garfield that the guy is simply nervous before Lynns tells them to get back to work. Afterwards, Sal talks with his fellow henchman and mentions that the youthful man used to be in the military.
He then says that it’s best not to rush these things, even if the Caped Crusader is on to them since they’ll still be around and still under Firefly’s good graces. The young goon then mentions how he’s heard about Batman getting more brutal recently, to which Sal agrees as he mentions a moment from his criminal past where he was robbing a guy on the street. Suddenly, his gun-wielding hand gets struck by a Batarang before he gets captured by the Dark Knight and winds up hanging from a high point above the ground. Sal then mentions that things have changed over time before he then talks about another perp named Pete Doumanian who was in the middle of a robbery several months ago. The Caped Crusader then smashes in and despite Pete being able to draw his gun on the opposing figure, Batman’s presence is enough to terrify and prevent him from pulling the trigger before the Dark Knight delivers a crippling kick to him.
Afterwards, Sal brings up how the Caped Crusader was always tough but has gotten harder over the years. They then talk about the “Metropolis Situation” as the young henchman says that Batman wasn’t over there, to which Sal says that it’s possible that he could’ve been due to both cities being on opposite sides of the river before he then brings up how “idiots” believe that the Dark Knight isn’t a single man and that there must be an army, yet he doesn’t remotely believe it since he mentions how the Caped Crusader is simply someone “who’s made himself better than anyone”. Sal then says how with this world being a rough place, someone who works harder than others and prepares themselves will make them believe that they’ll handle anything. However, the climactic situation over in Metropolis has made the goons wonder what it does “to a man like him”.
With all of the charges set up, Firefly then gives his perps two minutes to evacuate before he sets them off. The young thug then wonders how Garfield will survive the blast, to which Sal says that Lynns is protected within his suit. Suddenly, the detonator gets hit out of Firefly’s hand by a Batarang as Batman then swings in and confronts them. As Bruce Wayne crushes the detonator with his boot, Garfield then uses his flamethrower on him while mentioning that he has his own armor as well as a respirator.
Fortunately, Batman was wearing his own oxygen mask before he attacks and defeats his fiery foe.
He then confronts the two goons and intimidates them with his mere presence, causing them to simply discard their guns and wind up captured in order for them to get presented to the police. Afterwards, Bruce swings away as a cop mentions that he pities anyone who winds up in his sights while wondering who could remotely take him down, to which Issue 1 ends with the reveal that Lex Luthor had been watching him via a security camera.
Issue 2 begins at the Daily Planet in Metropolis as Lois Lane and Clark Kent are each heading out to report on different things. Clark mentions that he’s covering some Bangladesh-based floods, while Lois is off to expose some corruption. From there, we follow Lane as she arrives at Hanford Technologies and goes to see Mark Hanford in his office who secretly has a hand gun at the ready. As they begin the interview, it’s revealed that he’s being accused of illegally profiting from the recent attack upon the city.
She then presents a copy of the original form filled out by the foreman whose crew excavated upon the site of his former headquarters which collapsed during the initial film’s climactic battle. In addition, she mentions that the Department of Homeland Security required them to note how many pieces of Kryptonian technology were discovered and removed which notes that there were eight in total. She then mentions that the electronic version of his company’s report only mentioned five, along with the fact that data “purportedly extracted” from the Kryptonian tech was put up for sale on the dark web by a user who told her that he works for Mark. She then assures him that this man gave her a sworn and notarized statement after being shown several pictures of what this tech did to the people during that massive attack. Not only that, but she brings up a Swiss Bank Account number that he was using to deposit his payment is also the same “anonymous account” that Hanford used to pay for his Kenya-base hunting trip on the endangered Black Rhino. Frustrated with how she found out about his illegitimate activity, he takes out his hand gun and aims it at her.
She then calmly tells him that he won’t get away with what he did since she gave her Editor-In-Chief Perry White her evidence and that he knows where she’s at. She also mentions that she’s informed Homeland Security about this and thus, they’re revoking his passport along with alerting every single airport, seaport and border checkpoint in order to make sure that he doesn’t try to flee the country. He then says that she’s given him no reason to just murder her right now, to which she says that he’ll still pay for his crimes. They then hear some police sirens from the street as she tells him that the cops are on their way, to which she mentions how it’s ultimately up to him as to how severe his punishment will be. He can either wind up in a Supermax facility or get the Death Penalty for treason and murder or even get Solitary Confinement and spend the rest of his life alongside other vile criminals. On the other hand, he can reveal the identity of those who bought the Kryptonian technology from him (which is the only detail that she doesn’t have) and she can forget about him sticking her up in order to help him get a less-severe sentence. In particular, she would tell the courts that Mr. Hanford was a victim of the attack and that he did everything he could to save his company from complete collapse.
He argues that he’s doing just that given the thousands of people under his employ and that he wasn’t able to get a loan, hence why him selling some of the Kryptonian tech was the only thing he could do in order to save his business from the brink. She promises to make sure that his story gets told and that he’ll get seen in a sympathetic light, just as long as he calmly surrenders to the proper authorities which will allow him to serve his sentence within a minimum security prison and allow him to get out in time in order to see his kids graduate from college. In order to him to receive that however, she tells him to hand over the gun since the police are almost there. He then notices that the sirens are going away from his building and that they haven’t been summoned to his location, to which she then manages to use this distraction to her advantage as she disarms him before subduing him with a pair of key strikes.
While she admits to improvising on the unrelated police sirens, she tells him that she did contact Homeland Security prior to her showing up since she wanted enough time to talk to him. As she relieves the gun of its bullets, she then says that she’ll publish his side of the story while also mention that he had loads of “considerable personal assets” (home, jets, fine art) that he could’ve used as collateral for a loan. Because he didn’t want to risk losing them however, he instead sold those pieces of Kryptonian technology on the Black Market. Just then, she gets a call from Perry as she assures him that she’s fine before telling him to send the police to Mr. Hanford’s office. From there, she begins to head back to the Daily Planet in order to get her corruption exposure story ready with the soon-to-be former company boss’ quotes included.
We then shift to a week later where Lex reveals in a speech that he’s just bought all of Hanford’s holdings, along with the company’s initial site, while also keeping all of Hanford Technologies’ employees. When asked if the company is sound, Luthor says that it is and says that Mark’s biggest mistake was selling the Kryptonian technology. After his assistant named Mercy Graves helps him into his limo, Issue 2 ends with him quietly mentioning how said tech has “so many interesting things” to do with it.
Issue 3 opens on the destructive battle in Metropolis as a rogue Kryptonian lays waste to the city. During this, it gets mentioned that tens of thousands of lives were lost within the first eight minutes of him unleashing his attack as he wipes out the municipality’s skyscrapers in no time. Despite a swift response from the U.S. Military, he was able to easily lay waste to their air-based defense.
It’s then explained that they weren’t able to deploy heavy weapons against the opposing Kryptonian due to the high risk of adding onto the ever-rising body count. That decision ultimately became moot since within half-an-hour, the city along with half of its population was ultimately wiped out.
It’s then revealed that this was all a CGI demonstration being held within a closed meeting being held by the Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities as Kentucky Senator June Finch asks the presenting General how accurate this situation is, to which Elkins says that it could possibly happen based on “the actual capabilities of an average male Kryptonian” and based on data that they got from the attack on Metropolis. Senator Stearns then argues that them forming a committee to study Superman will make him think that they see him as their enemy, especially since he’s just helped put out hundreds of wildfires within the man’s state. June says that this is a good point before she asks Gen. Elkins if he considered approaching Superman and asked for his help, to which he tells her that they did yet decided that it was too big of a risk given how little they know about him. Despite Superman having performed various valiant acts, Elkins reminds the group that he’s not human and that they can’t make regular assumptions given how they’re unsure about his “motivations”, “loyalties” and “psychology”. A fellow senator agrees with his argument as he then adds that even if they enlisted his help, they would be exposing their committee’s existence to him as well as the defensive measures that they’re building against him.
Gen. Elkins then mentions how even if they were to find out that he’s a loyal Earth citizen, their doctors have brought up some troubling possibilities given how they haven’t been able to study a live Kryptonian, specifically any cranial problems such as mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder or dementia. Finch then asks him if he got in contact with some “sociologists and political scientists” about Superman’s potential geopolitical impact, to which Elkins says that they have since it’s where some of their gravest concerns lie. He brings up how Superman has stayed out of conflicts between different nations and has mainly focused on small scale incidents such as “natural disasters, crime and humanitarian missions”. However, they don’t know how long this will last or if he’ll side with one country over the others since saving some lives could possibly lead to the start of a war, especially if he decides to embark on a endeavor that they see as “harmful” since they have no means available to remotely stop him.
Stearns then brings up how they keep arguing about how much they don’t know about Superman despite the fact that he defended the planet against members of his own race and that he’s kept saving human lives, thus they should ask for his cooperation. However, his fellow senator says that they would be foolish to share their intentions with him before they have more information about Supes since there’s no going back once they finally approach him. Stearns then mentions how there’s also no return from him finding out that they’ve been treating him like he’s their enemy, to which the opposing senator says that he’s trying not to hurt Superman’s feelings and it just proves how dangerous he can be, yet Stearns counters with the fact that he doesn’t want them to alienate their best protector should another alien invasion happens. June then breaks up their argument and tells them that while she’s grateful for all of the lives that Superman has saved during the short time that he’s been active, she mentions that the world has changed long before they found out that he existed and that they must be ready should another alien attack occur which is what their “best people” are already prepping for.
She then says that their major concern isn’t about otherworldly threats or their impact on their world, but about the impact that Superman is having just by existing here. She argues that while he means well with his intentions, they’re having some troubling reactions that range from people asking him to help them with their smaller scale problems along with alarming concerns from “survivalist militias” who think that he’s a scout for a larger alien invasion. As such, she sees the reactions to Superman being just as important as the figure himself since his coming can potentially be looked back on human history as well as their response to it. Because they still don’t have a sufficient amount of information about him, she believes that they must take the necessary steps and gather more details before they take the next crucial step. She then leads a vote towards them authorizing and funding a committee that will study Superman along with his effects on the world, to which she receives a unanimous vote. She then adjourns the meeting and informs the senators that she’ll provide them with some briefings before Issue 3 ends with her asking Gen. Elkins for what they do know about their subject.
Issue 4 begins with a passenger train wildly speeding, especially with its controls not functioning. Fortunately, Kal-El flies in and begins to deal with this situation by using his Heat Vision to disconnect the rear power car from the rest of the train before smashing it off of the tracks. He then used his Heat Vision to disconnect each passenger car while also providing them with enough space to come to rest and not strike each other.
Just then, he spots an approaching curve and realizes that he doesn’t have the proper amount of area needed to safely carry this plan out. As such, he gets in front of it and uses his strength to slow the train down just enough in order to keep the passengers safe while also preventing it from jumping the tracks & into complete derailment.
Unfortunately, he soon discovers that he’s going to run out of space before he can finally bring it to a complete stop. As such, he proceeds to fly up to the top of the main train and uses his super strength to lift it up.
From there, he proceeds to guide it off the track before setting it down within a wide-open field that’s both flat and soft while also making sure that it remains upright while it loses all of its forward momentum.
With the situation finally under control, he then proceeds to carefully help the injured passengers get the appropriate medical attention, going from most severely harmed to least. During this entire ordeal, it’s then revealed that the narration was coming from a news discussion program as the bespectacled Mr. Weidman says that while he understands other citizens’ concerns about one person possessing several powers, Superman’s actions should ultimately ease their worries. While the woman named Teri agrees with his point and even mentions how this individual should be seen in a favorable light, the other guy says that they should be concerned about the big picture in that they should wonder if anyone with those kinds of powers should be allowed to operate without having to answer to anyone. In addition to that, his powers only make him “godlike” and that he can’t be at multiple incidents at the same time which means that some lives will ultimately be saved over others. Weidman argues that Superman did everything that he could during the battle in Metropolis, to which the other guy assures him that he wasn’t talking about said incident. Specifically, he talks about war and why our hero doesn’t get involved in them. Weidman then says that he agrees with Superman’s stance in not getting involved within these “political disputes”, yet the other guy says that our hero could unilaterally disarm a country’s military arms with no one able to stop him. He then argues that while he doesn’t want Superman to get involved in wars, he wonders why our hero doesn’t just evacuate the innocent victims from said conflict. Weidman mentions how Earth is already suffering from a refugee crisis, to which the other guy says that he’s discussing this on the basis of human emotion and that Superman can either let these horrors go on & do nothing about it or wonder how long he can let these conflicts carry out before he’s had enough.
From there, Issue 4 ends with the program wrapping up with Teri mentioning how certain problems are more complex than a simple runaway train to which a viewing Lex says that he not only agrees, but is even “counting on it”.
Issue 5 opens with Luthor standing in front of the wreckage of his company known as LexCorp as he mentions how the building was supposed to be his “crowning achievement” since he saw his “perfect marriage of architecture and technology” as Metropolis’ grandest structure. However, he was forced to tear those plans up following the city-wide attack by General Zod and his cronies. Fortunately for him, he’s glad that it turned out this way since he tells the attending press that while several companies are fleeing as a result of said incident, he intends to rebuild LexCorp Tower. After receiving some ceremonial scissors from Mercy, he cuts the opening ribbon while saying that he believes in his home city of Metropolis and that its future is bright. Afterwards, he starts to take his leave but allows the reporters to ask him some questions.
One of them named Neil tells him that if the city isn’t able to recover from this recent disaster, then his ambitious plans will be disastrous towards his company. However, Lex says that he doesn’t see the incident as a disaster since several people in uniform along with regular civilians risked their own lives that day. While his financial support towards the rebuild is the least he can offer, he is bothered how more people within his position aren’t sharing his same feeling. Another reporter then informs him that following his announcement, the local politicians and media personalities have called out on those that fled the city after the incident. As a result, several companies that initially decided to bail on Metropolis are now changing their minds while other businesses that weren’t there to begin with are actually going to expand into the municipality. Not only that, but she tells Luthor that she wouldn’t be stunned if he sold some of the properties that he bought following the disaster as a profit, all of which intrigues him.
As Lex reaches his limo, he gets asked if other companies are inspired by him into bringing their business to Metropolis or they’ll risk suffering from bad publicity if they don’t follow his lead. He says that it’s the former since he believes in the best of people and is glad that “regular folks” like him can be inspiring. When a reporter named Ken mentions how he’s a hero to the city just like Superman, Luthor says he’s nothing like him. The same reporter then asks why he doesn’t want to be compared to him along with if he’s among those who doesn’t believe that Superman is the hero that he claims to be, to which Lex explains that he doesn’t know said being well enough to comment on said issue and that he believes that no one truly does. As such, he says that it’s important for them to recognize Metropolis’ “ordinary” civilians since they’re surrounded by the “evidence of what alien beings can do”.
He then reminds the reporters that humans are capable of doing amazing things before he heads out as Graves commends him for handling the various “Gotcha Questions”. He assures her that he was being truthful before he shares what little details they do know about Superman, which includes him being from another planet, he flies and he shoots hot beams from his eyes before exclaiming that he’s capable of destroying a city with his own hands while making gullible people love him.
After they arrive back at their base of operations, he brings up how the being will deal with smaller scale incidents yet stays out of politically charged situations. He then finds it convenient that neither he or anyone else seems to know too much about Superman before he arrives at his personal computer console as the series ends with him telling her that he’s going to change that before asking her to make sure that he’s not disturbed.
Next up, we have our lone batch of physical tie-in comics within this whole set. Known collectively as “General Mills Presents Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice”, this four-issue mini-series had its individual books sold within participating General Mills cereals. As for when they were released, the DC Extended Universe Wiki claims that its February 28, while the DC Wiki says that they came out the same month as the film itself (March 2016). As for the kinds of adventures that took place on 7″x5″ paper, let’s reunite once again and find out.
Kicking things off with our initial tale called “Playground Heroes” (Writer: Jeff Parker, Penciller: R.B. Silva, Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr., Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse), we begin with a super struggle to come. We then have a journal entry being written by a young boy named Jacob Washington as he mentions that he wrote a paper about his recent field trip for his writing club, yet he didn’t include how it affected him along with how important it turned out for him. He then backtracks to Friday morning where he’s ready for his ride to school before his mother tells him that they’ll also be giving a ride to a young boy named Lucas who had recently moved into town with his parents and will be attending Washington’s school for the first time. During the ride, Jacob talks to Lucas and learns that not only is he from Utah, but he’s also currently in sixth grade. After noticing his interest in Superman, Jacob assures him to keep looking up and that he’ll eventually see the familiar hero. Eventually, they arrive at school before Washington joins his fellow Writing Club for their impending field trip where they’re met upon by Clark who’ll be accompanying them alongside their teacher. While he waits in line, Jacob then spots Lucas getting hassled by a trio of bullies as Washington’s journal entry mentions how those goons always pick on anyone who’s new to the school. He didn’t intervene because he’s been looking forward to this field trip for a long time and he’s also just met Lucas, yet he feels guilty that this problem is happening right now. Although Kent manages to step in and get the bullies off of the kid’s back before rejoining the field trip group, Jacob sees Lucas running off crying afterwards and feels bad as a result.
Later, the group arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs before Clark presents the building’s Tachyon Transfer machine before a female scientist explains that it allows them to teleport non-organic material across vast distances. She then says that they’re planning to build a receiving station on the moon in order for them to start building an international moon base without having to keep sending them up with several rocket trips. Jacob then mentions how they’ve already brought things through without a station, to which she confirms it by exclaiming that they were aiming their beam at random objects while the station will allow them to both focus and control where the materials ultimately land along with them being in one piece. The group then gets prepped for a demonstration by wearing their Polarized Eye Shields before Dr. Forsythe activates the machine in order to show off a quick burst. Suddenly, a trio of aliens teleport in before Forsythe gets ordered to shut it down. However, it’s then revealed that he’s working for those creatures called the Ko’Erst as he proceeds to boost the tachyon gain in order for more of those beings to arrive. The alien leader then explains that he and his cohorts were messaging Forsythe’s cerebral cortex with instructions ever since they started opening tachyon portals, along with the fact that this station is connected to one on their home world. He then reveals that they’ll plan to mildly terraform Earth in order for the atmosphere to be suitable for his alien race. In his journal entry, Jacob mentions that he and his group were now trapped with an unknown alien threat before bringing up that Kent suddenly went missing.
Just then, Superman bursts in before the Ko’Erst scan him and discover how he’s closely related yet not an Earthling. With more of their alien comrades about to come through, Forsythe is unable to break free from their mind control and the machine isn’t able to be turned off due to it being permanently linked, Kal-El uses his strength to tear up the massive mechanism which manages to cut the circuit off. The Ko’Erst aliens then scan him and discover that he’s “Lorviian” which they describe as “a destroyed world in the Bergeron Arm of Galaxy-9”, to which Superman clarifies it as his former birth planet of Krypton before he gets told that “Planet-3” will be their new outpost. Washington then mentions in his journal entry that he never thought about Superman not being amongst the human race until he saw an otherworldly creature treat him differently, which made him realize that Kal-El doesn’t see himself as either “different” or “special”. The Ko’Erst aliens then force Superman outside before they fire their eye beams at him, during which Jacob says in the journal that our hero regularly faced trouble because he knew how to solve it yet doesn’t know that he can, yet he takes these challenges on because it’s the right thing to do and not because of his super powers.
The aliens then discover that Kal-El managed to evade their shots by swiftly flying before he defeats them with several strikes, all-the-while Washington brings up in his journal how despite S.T.A.R. Labs’ security cameras catching this fight, it pales in comparison to just seeing him in action in person. After Superman subdues the hostile creatures, he learns that they’ll each be kept in separate containment chambers until their tachyon console gets repaired and can send them back to their home world. Forsythe then assures him that he’ll be able to return them since he learned how those beings came to Earth to begin with. He explains that the Ko’Erst used this exact technology to locate any tachyon signals before they used their telepathic abilities to control him into exploiting this connection, to which he then suggests that strapping frequency scramblers on their necks will properly incapacitate them. Later, the Writing Club gets dropped off at school as Jacob says in his journal entry that word has spread about said situation. Just then, he spots Lucas gets picked on by the same trio of bullies as he manages to step in and tells them to back off. One of the bullies then threatens to harm him if he doesn’t step off, to which Washington manages to stand his ground while apologizing to Lucas for not intervening much sooner. During this, Superman flies in behind him as the bullies decide to back off as Jacob admits within his journal entry that he thought that he looked tough before he discovers Kal-El right behind him. He then gives Washington a journal and says that he found it while he was looking for any further alien gear before complimenting him for his “work” against the bullies, along with welcoming Lucas to Metropolis as he proceeds to fly away. As they proceed to get picked up by Jacob’s mom, Issue 1 ends with Washington concluding his journal entry on how this day was important due to him seeing Superman yet it’s nothing compared to having somebody look at him like he was said figure.
Issue 2 will see us among a different group of students embarking on their own “Field Trip” (Writer: Christos Gage, Penciller: Federico Dallochio, Colorist: Jim Charalampidis) as we open upon several teenage pupils from Metropolis Middle School who’re visiting Wayne Enterprises as the tour guide shows off various things that they’re working on, ranging from high-end technology to advanced medicine. She then presents a demonstration of some biotech weapons that were recovered from the Kryptonian attack on the city, yet one particular student isn’t finding it fascinating. This young lady named Zoe isn’t as impressed by it when compared to her classmate named Evan since she’s far-more interested in seeing some of the company’s top secret projects. He wants her to stay out of this, especially since her father is an actual Daily Planet reporter, yet she says that you sometimes have to misbehave in order to achieve some Pulitzer glory. As such, she sneaks away from her fellow classmates and makes her way towards a restricted area. She soon finds one of the doors to be open and that its adjacent keypad has been melted in a similar way to a wall that was blasted by a Kryptonian weapon.
She then enters and discovers a group of thieves who’re wielding Kryptonian weapons, along with them also wearing Kryptonian armor that they’ve swiped during the aftermath of the massive city-wide invasion. With the group looking to steal even more of this gear, the female perp tells their eye-patched leader named Kevin that their signal jammer will only help them for so long. Zoe tries to call the police, but the device affects her cell phone as she then decides to go find a guard. Suddenly, she gets grabbed from behind as it turns out to be Bruce himself as he tells her that they have to be careful due to how dangerous those Kryptonian weapons can be. He then recognizes her from her class field trip as she exclaims that she wandered due to her already being familiar with the tech that his company was working on upon the main level. He tells her that appreciates her curiosity and that he saw her slip away from the group before he then followed after her in order to make sure that she didn’t head towards any hazardous part of the facility. He then informs her that the thugs have a Kryptonian signal jammer and that he has her to thank for wandering off since he wouldn’t have otherwise known about this brewing incident, to which he then wants her to reunite with her fellow students and tell them to find some shelter on the upper floors. She then asks him what he’s going to do, to which he says that he saw a delivery van right outside that doesn’t belong to his company and assumes that it’s the perps’ getaway vehicle. As such, he’s going to wait for them to come out before he has the proper authorities deal with them. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to carry that plan out since the thieves spotted them and proceed to hold them up at gunpoint.
Kevin says that they managed to steal the Kryptonian gear from the vault and that they’ll use them in order to secure their escape. Wayne offers himself as a hostage in exchange for letting Zoe go, yet Kevin strikes him with a Kryptonian gun before he and his fellow thugs take Bruce and Zoe under their malevolent grasp. Fortunately, she manages to knock the signal jammer out of the female perp’s hand as it falls onto the floor and becomes damaged. She then threatens to harm Zoe who assures her that it was an accident since she got pushed, yet Kevin tells his team that they still have hostages along with enough firepower to defeat anyone who confronts them. Bruce then tells the group to surrender, yet one of the perps named Eddie doesn’t take his offer seriously since it’s him and his group who have the upper hand. Wayne then says that they’ve gotten their newfound power without earning it and that they don’t know how to use it responsibly, to which he then warns them that they’ll discover their own limitations while also causing lots of harm along with way which is something that he can’t allow. They then reached the company’s loading bay as Kevin leads most of the team out towards the van before they’re suddenly met upon by Kal-El as they proceed to fire their Kryptonian guns on him, scoring some hits and forcing him out of the sky.
Back inside the building, the door was closed during all of this as Eddie wonders why their adversary wasn’t able to tell that his group had hostages before Bruce explains that his company’s exterior is made out of lead which Superman isn’t able to see through. Eddie then orders his hostages to step outside, yet Wayne is able to disarm and knock him out before he then provides Zoe with the excuse that he was trained by his security guards. She then tells him that they must help Supes, yet he says that it’s too dangerous and that he can take care of himself. She then wonders if there’s anything nearby that they can use, to which he spots a few key devices and comes up with an idea. Back outside, Kevin and his perps are in hiding after Kal-El had destroyed their getaway vehicle. Kevin demands for him to let them flee since they have the weapons that can harm him, yet Superman says that he’s responsible for making sure that those pieces of Kryptonian tech doesn’t harm anyone despite him having increasingly fewer ways for him to make “things very uncomfortable” for them. Just then, the female perp hears a noise coming from her walkie-talkie as she assumes that Eddie is trying to contact them. Suddenly, she and the thugs get a massive auditory assault as it’s revealed that Bruce had placed the walkie-talkie right next to the fire alarm and set it off.
This provides Kal-El with a key distraction as he manages to destroy the Kryptonian weapons with his Heat Vision before he grabs all three goons and flies them towards the police. Back inside the building, Wayne manages to receive some video feed from his company’s security cameras and assures Zoe that not only is Superman okay, but he was able to quickly recover from the high-pitched noise. She then asks him if he would like to meet Supes, yet he declines for now while adding that it would be tricky to explain why she got separated from her classmates. He then compliments her on her bravery and says that while it’s usually good to obey the rules, it’s sometimes necessary to go against them in order to do what’s right. From there, Issue 2 ends with them heading out while he tells her that it would be wise for her to inform her guide that she received a personal tour from the company’s CEO. She then says that there will always be another chance to meet Superman, to which he agrees as the comic closes on Kal-El having stripped the thugs of the Kryptonian armor.
Issue 3 now brings us to some youthful peer pressure into providing some “Picture Proof” (Writer: Marguerite Bennett, Artist: Marcus To, Colorist: Irma Kniivila) as we begin in Gotham City where a narrator mentions how there’s very little belief to be found within the municipality, especially in anything that they don’t see. For far too long, its citizens have been caught within the grasp of “darkness” and “disappointment” of “the cold truth”. However, a major exception is taking place within the movie & shopping district known as Carytown Crossing as a group of armed thugs are being pursued in a vehicular chase. As we discover that Batman is hunting them down, the narrator is then revealed to be a young girl before the Dark Knight launches his motorbike at the perps, smashing into their car and ultimately leading to their arrest.
The lady narrates about how the police see him as a criminal while the news calls him a hoax, her friends see him as a myth and their parents only recognize him as an urban legend. To her, they made eye contact and she could tell that not only was he real, but is also a man. It’s then revealed that the young girl named Emily was sharing this incident with her friends during lunch, but the red-haired boy named Brian isn’t buying her encounter. He then asks her why she didn’t capture any proof of him on her cell phone, to which she explains that Batman had a device that scrambles all nearby phones. Their fellow friend named Hailey then tells him to stop teasing Emily, yet Brian still demands for her to get some kind of proof of his existence. Emily then storms off while their fellow friend named Jacob calls him a jerk.
Later that night, she returns to the scene of her encounter and approaches a storm drain since she saw a disc that the thieves had stolen roll down into it yet the Dark Knight didn’t initially notice. With her correctly assuming that he’ll realize it and return to retrieve it, she manages to hide in time just as the Caped Crusader arrives. Later, she’s back home and within her room as she looks over her several cell phone pictures that she took. While the majority of them hardly capture him, she finally comes across her lone good shot as her proof to her friends.
Having printed out her snapshot, she arrives at school and is about to join up with her fellow compatriots. Brian is once again acting rude and unbelieving, to which Jacob tells him that he doesn’t have to say every single thing that pops into his head. Hailey then says that the biggest act of kindness that anyone is capable of “is the thing you don’t do”. As such, Emily takes that advice and decides to withhold her picture. Later that night and in her bedroom, she wonders why she didn’t show her proof of Batman’s actual existence. Suddenly, she’s met upon by the Caped Crusader himself who’s right outside her window and within a tree. He tells her that even though he knows that she took his picture, he wants her to remain calm since he’s not going to take it from her. He then says that because she followed him and was aware of what move he would make, he compliments her as a shining beacon for the next generation and that she can be the dream of Gotham becoming better since he trusts her. He then takes his signature leave before she narrates about how that trust is for her to do the right thing.
As the night sky proceeds to open up with rain, she makes her way outside with her Batman picture while narrating about how the move we don’t make can be “the smartest move of all” and “the biggest kindness”. She realizes that the good that the Dark Knight is bringing to the city is for the scumbags to be continuously left unaware that he’s actually human. As such, she deletes the snapshot from her phone before tearing her picture up before Issue 3 ends with her heading back inside while narrating that the criminals’ uncertainty of the Caped Crusader can make said figure a “ghost”, a “shadow” and even a “legend” to them.
Issue 4 brings this mini-series to a close as we wrap upon some youthful discussions about our featured figures in a tale called “Lights Out” (Writer: Joshua Williamson, Penciller: Eduardo Pansica, Inker: Art Thibert, Colorist: Jeromy Cox). We open at an orphanage at night where three young boys aren’t asleep as David reminds his friend Robbie to keep his voice down, especially since he’s shocked by Carter’s claim that Batman is better than Superman since he personally prefers the Man of Steel over the Dark Knight. David says that the Caped Crusader is a myth, yet Carter tells him that he actually saw Batman swinging past his window late one night even though David doesn’t believe him.
Robbie then says that Superman is better due to him having powers that allows him to go into dangerous places, save people from places that’re difficult to get to and he prevents problems from getting worst. David agrees with him by adding that he uses his powers to help others instead of just helping himself, yet Robbie says that Batman doesn’t have powers yet he goes after dangerous criminals and works with the police to help them serve justice.
Robbie then brings up that Superman is able to fly, especially in outer space, and is helping to “make the world a better place”. David argues that Batman has better gadgets and drives the Batmobile in order to get to people in a short time and help them.
Robbie then brings up how Superman helps people all over the world, especially in disaster-ridden areas, since he’s there when people need him and that he stands up for what’s right. David then argues about Batman being a mythical being and that he doesn’t want anyone to know that he did a major act due to him being selfless. As such, he helps several people all throughout Gotham and he prevents anyone from negatively affecting those in need before he ultimately slips away without anyone seeing him. He then adds how the Caped Crusader is humble and doesn’t like to show off unlike Superman, to which Robbie argues that the Man of Steel isn’t showing off since he wants to make sure that everything’s okay. With both boys serious in their sides of the argument, David then says that the only way this debate could be settled is if they actually fight each other.
Just then, their verbal exchanges has caused their fellow orphans to wake up as a little girl says that the two heroes wouldn’t fight each other since they can become friends and work together in order to save the day. She then says that Wonder Woman would defeat them both before she tells them to go to bed as the series ends with Robbie saying that when they’re together, the two figures truly are “the best heroes in the world”.
For our final piece of tie-material for this film, we have a digital-only prequel comic called “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – Upstairs/Downstairs”. Published on February 29, 2016, this periodical was made in collaboration with Doritos and Wal-Mart. With the initial team of writer Christos Gage, penciller Joe Bennett, inker Sean Parsons and colorist Hi-Fi reunited, how will their combined skills be utilized for this one-shot story? Let’s join forces once again and find out.
We begin on a newscast that’s intercut with Bruce doing some pull-ups in the Bat Cave as a reporter comments about the weather being just as good on the day that the evil Kryptonians attacked Metropolis, to which a lone Kryptonian known as Superman sided with America’s military in order to take them down. As a result, the reporter is at the upcoming presentation of a statue that will honor him as she then wonders if the Man of Steel will be present for it. Wayne is then met upon by his butler Alfred Pennyworth who mentions how he hasn’t even had a single street named after him despite his several years of crime-fighting, yet Bruce says that it’s better that way since a criminal would attempt to murder anyone who tried to approach it. Alfred then admits to having a sliver of jealousy if he was in Batman’s shoes, yet Wayne says that Superman isn’t a professional since those who are actually work before he gets back to his training.
Back at the upcoming ceremony, the reporter asks a man who was working in the city on the day of the massive invasion. Soon enough, he was met upon by General Zod who was about to murder him. Fortunately, Superman intervened as the guy tells the reporter how that individual was “one of them”, yet fought against them in order “to protect us”. The reporter then interviews a woman who talks about the lives that were lost in the widespread attack, yet also says that no one would still be here if Superman wasn’t there as she describes him as “the greatest gift” they ever got and that she hopes for him to show up so she can tell him that. The reporter then talks to a young lady who has some “concerns” about him. She does call him a hero and that it’s undeniable about all of the people that he’s saved, to which the reporter then mentions his worldwide actions since they’re potentially “writing a modern mythology”. Bruce continues to hear the interview while he’s still in his training as the young lady then says it’s almost too good to be true since she wonders if anyone who can do the great feats that Superman is capable of doing knows what it’s like to get ill or even come across anyone “bigger & stronger” and wonder if they’ll try to harm him. She then mentions that she would like to physically meet him and understand if he knows what it’s like to be human. In particular, she would like to know if he’s aware if he’s either helping or hurting anyone. The reporter then tells her that she could ask him herself since they’re only a few minutes away from unveiling the statue before Wayne gets an alert from his Motion Detector.
At the same time that Superman heads into space to deal with a situation while Bruce suits up and heads out in the Batmobile, it gets intercut with the reporter beginning to ask a certain question: “What makes a hero?”. As Batman goes up against a group of thugs who’ve just received some high-end guns and Kal-El confronts a Soviet satellite that’s firing a massive laser, she asks what it’s like to stand up against “evil and injustice” along with nigh impossible odds, what it’s like to have great strength and use it to shield anyone who doesn’t have it.
She also wonders what it’s like to do all of that either on a daily basis or even “doing the impossible”, to make mistakes yet rebound from them in order to make sure that they never happen again or even cover every last base in order to reach a point where there’s nothing that one couldn’t ultimately handle. After both heroes take care of their situations, the reporter ultimately asks if there’s only a single kind of hero or if they can be different.
Afterwards, the big moment has arrived as Superman’s statue gets unveiled before a random woman confuses some flying balloons and a few doves for the Man of Steel.
Later, Bruce returns from his fierce fight as Pennyworth helps him towards some medical attention while the reporter says that they don’t know what present danger Superman is facing at this moment, yet it’s understandable that he didn’t show up for his statue reveal since “an entire world” needs his help. She then mentions how even though he wasn’t born on Earth, the world still accepts him as one of them.
Wayne is watching this newscast while Alfred tends to his wounds while the reporter concludes her broadcast by saying that the statue represents how much they appreciate the Man of Steel in addition to all of the things that he’s done. This irritates Bruce as he tells Pennyworth that Superman isn’t one of them and never will be before he gets back to his training. From there, the comic ends with him saying that people believe that they can feel secure knowing that Superman is safe to be around, yet he wants to be ready when it gets revealed that Supes isn’t.
In terms of how each of these series along with the single issue ultimately handle themselves upon this critical stage, they range from competent solo adventures to hinting at both the building conflict between the two featured heroes along with the uncertainty & unease towards Superman’s intentions upon Earth. First up, allow me to share my individual thoughts upon the initial mini-series sponsored by Dr. Pepper. It’s something of a mild surprise given that someone from the Dark Knight’s Rogues Gallery is actually in the Batman-centered entry, even though the main focus is to ultimately hint at the brutal nature that’s brewing from the Caped Crusader’s actions. Like the movie however, it doesn’t provide a natural progression over several crime-fighting years as to how he got to this dark state that we’re given at the start of the film aside from grown-up Bruce’s initial scene during the destructive climax from “Man Of Steel”. Admittedly, that’s more of a fault on the film itself since it’s too preoccupied with trying to catch up to Marvel Studios’ already-progressed world-building, as opposed to simply giving the Dark Knight his own solo entry within this line in order to flesh him out within his own solo adventure before combining them together here. As for the comic itself, it’s some fairly decent stuff that keeps Batman in the shadows (also just like the movie, at least initially) while setting up a little foundation for the character via a discussion amongst some low-level criminals all while preparing its audience to see him in an (admittedly) topsy-turvy cinematic experience. It succeeds in that vein with professional art and well-handled pacing, but not much else in other areas. Even still, it’s fine for what it is as a starting point for this five-issue run. In terms of Lois Lane’s featured issue, this was actually a well-executed standalone story that showcases her feisty bravery along with her being able to use her surroundings (or in this case, distant police sirens) in order to get out of a perilous situation without Superman’s help. Seeing her go up against a corrupt business leader who has a history of deviously pocketing money in the past and is now using the technological remnants from the destructive attack on Metropolis to underhandedly get even more cash in order to recover actually worked here, as it was a relevant way to combine the comic book inspired nature of this budding universe alongside the real world corporation sins that continue to plague the human race within several countries nowadays. She kept her cool within the tense moment, all while Hanford’s past action and his rash decision caused him to sink into the legal quicksand that would ultimately consume him by the end of that book. With good artwork, good pacing and effectively subdued action, it highlights its featured character in a wonderfully effective way while showcasing her tough-as-nails demeanor that’s required in order to be an effective reporter. It was enjoyable all-around and solidified itself as one of the best books to come from this batch of tie-in comics. As for Senator June Finch’s lone time to shine on the digital page, it sets up a major plot thread concerning Superman’s superheroic actions upon Earth and the unintended, uneasy concerns that it’s bringing to the populace. On the one hand, all actions (no matter the intention) can run the risk of having negative consequences. He absolutely means well with his worldwide deeds for the several helpless individuals, but the featured group of government officials has some of them being rightfully fearful due to them knowing very little about him. On a side note, it does play into a larger problem that the movie has in that Superman doesn’t talk to Finch, any government senator or even give a public address to the people much sooner about what his intentions are which could’ve eased some peoples’ tension towards him. In terms of the comic setting this debate up, it felt like its argument provided some logical points from both sides of the private debate while also being provided within a neat pace. The artwork also remained good throughout and allowed its main moment to be presented in a coherent fashion, thus allowing its story to stand out and keep its reader engaged. While the film itself doesn’t follow through on this debatable narrative thread in as solid of a fashion as it could’ve been, this comic is still able to lay this foundation down with effective ease in order to help this book stand out in a reasonably good way. As for the Superman-focused entry, he’s primarily in the background since he effectively deals with a runaway train while only having minor injuries amongst the passengers to deal with once he takes care of said incident. It’s only when we get near the end of the comic that a news-based discussion program gets to the central point about Superman saving the day across the world, yet staying out of war-based global conflicts in order to keep his neutrality for these kinds of incidents. Now of course, the movie-based incident within the fictional African country of Nairomi will begin to cast a doubtful light on him that proceeds to grow towards a fever pitch as the film plays out. Between this issue and the prior June Finch-focused entry, it seems like Superman has been attempting to provide some crucial help towards the world’s citizens over the course of 1 1/2 years (since that’s the in-film time jump from the opening fight in Metropolis to the discovery of Kryptonite, the initial political discussion with June and the Nairomi situation) without having to choose sides in overseas conflicts. However, it builds a problem of him constantly having to not answer for his actions which leads to the uneasiness within some people to grow. Sadly as I’ve already mentioned, the movie makes the major mistake of not having Superman talk to Finch, any major official or even address the public much sooner in order for him to provide some much-needed context for his actions, thus leaving it to his eventual climactic sacrifice in order to convince the world that he truly means good. However, that’s a criticism for the film and not this comic which ultimately does a decent job of setting this potential plot thread up. While the counterargument to Weidman’s point could’ve been delivered and worded a little bit better, the discussion still makes sense and delivers the existential crisis that the movie looks to explore at. All-in-all, it makes for another neat entry that delivers a decent penultimate punch. Rounding out this initial mini-series, we have the Lex Luthor-focused issue. After “Man Of Steel” briefly hinted at him and his company’s presence in a few spots, this comic does a good job of finally establishing him within this line. This felt like a proper introduction to the eventual villain since he comes off as caring for the city, especially with his desire to help the municipality recover from Zod and company’s devastating attack. While his inspirational presence inspires others to help Metropolis recover and he does express his appreciation towards the human service workers, he also hints at his growing hatred for Superman. Just like the two prior issues, the only explanation he gives is that they don’t know him all that much. Of course, his motivation would receive further explanation within the film itself all-while he carries out his overly-convoluted master plan. As such, the comic gives him a sane start to his characterization and thankfully prevents the reader from being subjected to any hint of insanity that his development along with the entire movie’s narrative progression has in store. In terms of the book, the information that we do get is fairly light yet felt genuine in its delivery, the pacing was calm & free-flowing with how it delivered its key information and the artwork was colorful & professional throughout. In the end, it caps off this first limited series on a good note while the set as a whole served as a decent foundation for anyone who’s either about to subject themselves to the film that they’re tied into or comes across these and discovers them in a far-more sane light. All-in-all, they’re enjoyable for what they are and deserve to be checked out by anyone who’s curious enough. In terms of the four-issue series made possible by General Mills, they’ll be entirely discussed within this section. For each entry, the standalone stories are told from the perspective of a child or a teenager with a common thread amongst all four books being that a youngster either encounters or physically meets either of the two featured heroes. Because these comics are focused more towards children, they each seem to carry a moral lesson amongst the four mini periodicals. With “Playground Heroes”, there’s sort of a through line of standing up to bullies that both Jacob and Superman each have to face. With the kid, he has to ultimately deal with bullies who’re picking on his new neighbor/fellow schoolmate Lucas. As for Kal-El, the Ko’Erst aliens do pressure others into doing their bidding by their mind control. This theme isn’t too prevalent throughout the book as it could’ve been, yet the rest of the material is engaging for its young audience as its backed by decent pacing, pleasant artwork and rollicking action in order for this line to get off to a nice start. “Field Trip” manages to have both heroes, yet our featured youth Zoe is mainly with Bruce Wayne while they both stay out of Superman’s sight during the entire armed robbery of Kryptonian tech. Both Bruce and Kal-El each manage to deal with this situation from their respective ends while also not interacting with each other prior to their eventual cinematic meet-up. Sadly, Zoe doesn’t get to contribute too much due to the fiends being armed along with Wayne having the physical training to properly deal with them. She does disarm and shatter the perps’ signal jammer, but this perilous moment doesn’t allow her to be remotely relevant along with the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a major theme throughout this particular book. Aside from those gripes, it’s still decent stuff for what it is. With good artwork, tense pacing and well-handled thrills, it’ll keep its young readers engaged enough despite its young protagonist being caught in a situation that lacks some meaningful ways for her to contribute. Thankfully, “Picture Proof” is able to help get this mini-series back on track. Not only does this finally allow Wayne to get sole superhero focus as Batman, but its main young protagonist named Emily gets a nice character arc within this limited space. Despite seeing the Dark Knight in action, she gets annoyed by a nonbelieving Brian and is also pressured into providing proof of the Caped Crusader’s existence. Once she finally gets her proof, she ultimately goes against her initial intention before she gets complimented by Batman for her decision while also praising her as a bright spot for Gotham’s future. The moral is ultimately spelled out during the closing narration, yet it’s still a good one where sometimes not taking action is the preferred choice since allowing someone to do good while they’re operating in the shadows is actually the right call. The lesson is understated, yet still pretty effective since it’s also backed up by some colorfully ranging artwork, well-done pacing and characters that do plenty throughout the story in order to make the narrative stick as effectively well as it ultimately does. Rounding out this four-issue series, we have “Lights Out” which is mainly a nighttime debate between two young boys as to which of the two featured heroes is better. It’s understandable that there won’t be too much in terms of thoroughly in-depth arguments given how it’s between children, yet it’s nice that they acknowledge the various skills, abilities (along with gadgets and his main vehicle when it comes to Batman) and even the numerous ways that each hero provides some much-needed help to the citizens of the world. Ultimately, the comic’s main strength comes in the boys’ need to one-up each other in the defense of their preferred superhero. This gets wonderfully presented by professionally handled artwork, good pacing and some wholesomely humorous moments as it ultimately closes this mini-series out on a pleasant note. Finally, we have Doritos & Wal-Mart’s one-shot contribution known as “Upstairs/Downstairs”. Using the Superman statue reveal as part of its narrative device, it does set the initial feel in the world that he’s become a beloved figure in Metropolis due to him siding with the humans against rogue members of his own race. While the response from the three interviewed citizens are primarily pro-Superman, the young lady’s response has a small hint of concern as to whether he can be entirely relatable. While the comic doesn’t reveal why Batman doesn’t trust Kal-El, his reasons do get explained in the movie proper. As such, the comic does have an air of curious secrecy for its readers who initially decide to check this out before the film as it makes them wonder why Bruce only sees Superman in a negative light. In a similar vein to his solo issue from Dr. Pepper’s mini-series, the Man of Steel is primarily in the background while the Dark Knight and the reporter co-opt this book’s primary focus in order for the comic’s main discussion to engross its readers. Because this is a prequel to a movie that it’s tied into, it makes sense for the book to have its set up without having much in terms of payoff. Despite this area being lacking, there’s still a far amount of content to obtain from this book as it is backed by some good artwork, high-energy action moments and a pace that’s somewhat free-flowing yet still gets its main details delivered in a timely manner. All-in-all, this closes out the entire line on a particular note that’s competent and feels far-more structurally planned out compared to what awaited fans in the film itself which was anything but an “absolute certainty”.
Overall, this entire set of tie-in comics ranged from engaging and intriguing at best to decent reads that’re perfectly fine at worst. The books brought to us by Dr. Pepper and Doritos/Wal-Mart do more leg work in trying to expand this world along with setting up the discussion points that the film tries to answer, while the four General Mills-sponsored books felt more kid-friendly since it views our two main men from the various youthful perspectives. Every comic felt structurally sound while they presented their own set-up tales or standalone stories and don’t remotely hint at the narrative madness to come within the DCEU’s sophomore cinematic entry. If there’s even a 1% chance that you’re remotely fascinated with the harrowing tale that wound up on the silver screen, then these comics can be recommended as a sane palette cleanser. As such, you can curb your curiosity and check them out within a book-based battleground that doesn’t require you to pick a side.
Next Time: After she was transformed by her toxic lover but before she wound up imprisoned and ultimately found herself enlisted into Task Force X, the Clown Queen of Crime’s life as well as her criminal exploits with “Mr. J” will be brought center stage as another infamous entry also found itself with a comic book tie-in. Unlike BvS though, it only got a single four-colored periodical and it’ll serve as our review subject. May our critical match its crazy as we tackle “Suicide Squad: Suicide Blonde”.
Batman (created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger), Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) and all related characters are owned by DC Comics.
