I started WRE on May 1st. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t hit it hard out of the gate like I hoped to. But this has been a strange week and I know I can easily pick up the numbers going forward. Apparently, and this is something I hadn’t really digested, I’ve become a person who needs to make time for reading or it just doesn’t happen. This is new for me, as I’ve spent most of my life being the person who puts reading first–to the point that it’s sometimes been an issue for me!

So let’s see what I managed to tackle…

Back in April I was going on vacation and picked up the Collected Comics edition of Superman/Batman for road trip reading. It has the first two arcs of the 2003 Superman/Batman series, with Jeph Loeb doing the writing. Ed McGuinness does the art on the first arc, Michael Turner on the second. That’s a hell of a style whiplash!

That first arc, Public Enemies, reactivated the part of my brain that loves McGuinness’ art style. He does superheroes like they’re Masters of the Universe characters, and it shouldn’t work to have so many characters be this buff but it totally does. I was reminded that action figures were made based on the story, and it looks like they’re still fairly easy to find and affordable. I could, in theory, build up a nice little DC collection in this style… for those who know me, I’m heading down an extremely dangerous path here!

Anywho, looking up the figures reminded me that McGuinness was also on the fourth Superman/Batman arc, which I’d never read, and brings me to Superman/Batman: Vengeance. You may have noticed that I skipped over the third arc entirely, which has its ups and downs. It does get referenced, but it’s not imperative that one reads it. Vengeance references Public Enemies and Supergirl (the second arc) FAR more, directly following up on plot threads in those. It also follows up on the then-recent Emperor Joker story. That seems like a weird pull to me because we end up with a story that is self-contained for anyone following this one book until it turns out to be a direct sequel to a multi-part Superman story that (as we’re reminded in-story!) hadn’t been collected at that point. I know, I know, crossovers and continuity and all that, I’m a nerd and I love it, but it felt something like watching a show and then halfway through the season finding out that everything actually leads to wrapping up a plot from a spinoff show. Or maybe like watching the spinoff and it wraps up something from the main? I’m starting to confuse myself so I’m going to move on. You either get what I’m saying here or you don’t.

The book was good though! Loeb and McGuinness make a fun team, and it was a hoot to see all these existing and new alternate universe characters–which manages to include the Avengers! I started out liking that aspect, but as the story really got moving it felt awkward and out of place. Instead of the Avengers pastiche we should have gotten even more alternate reality DC characters, since that was the whole theme of the thing.

It wasn’t a quick read, given alternating character perspectives and alternate universes and so on. That was a very good thing because it was so much fun to look at. A case where it really feels like art and writing achieve a synergy and both are saying “slow down and take it all in”.

I’m going to level with you: I have ALWAYS liked the “armored” Daredevil costume. Even when it wasn’t cool to like it, I had the whole Fall From Grace arc and read it until it fell apart. One of the nicer things about nerd culture taking over and the march of time and catering to nostalgia is that if you give something reviled for being “uncool” long enough, the people who liked it will be numerous enough to justify doing more of it, and here we are!

This book isn’t trying to do anything new, not that I can see. I get the feeling Chichester just never got the chance to do a straight “New Daredevil” Jack Batlin adventure and really wanted to, so he did. He starts out placing the story seemingly days after the end of Fall From Grace. We’re reminded multiple times that DD’s suit is “bio-mimetic” and thus has a lot of cool features that help it stand up to the punishment it takes way better than his traditional costume. It gives him an edge that he doesn’t normally possess. I have a personal take that most superheroes should have a whole wardrobe of costumes so they can dress appropriately to fight the villain of the story, so I’m totally here for “sometimes Daredevil should have armor”. A running gag of the story is that other characters call it “armor” but DD never does. Well guess what Matt-Jack, it’s in the name of the story so you lose.

I initially found the story confusing. Matt-Jack goes to Melvin Potter, former supervillain and current superhero tailor (nice work if you can get it) to repair his suit. Then just a few pages later he’s suddenly in the suit, and I thought I’d missed something because it doesn’t feel like enough time has passed. At the end of the first issue DD stumbles right onto the major villain of the arc, but I guess he just forgets and leaves because in issue 2 he needs Spider-Man to get info he already knows so he can find the same villain. I did a lot of confused flipping! But once the comic settles into its groove I had a lot of fun with it. I’m not familiar with Netho Diaz, but I really enjoyed the art here. It really does feel like a 90s book, a “lost adventure” of sorts. I definitely recommend treating yourself. I don’t think it’s strictly necessary to read Fall From Grace to follow it, but that’s tough to say since I know that story so well (and I would recommend it regardless!).

That’s it for this week. Let’s see what I can get up to for next week.

-Luke