Batman/Superman #19 (New Comics)

Batman/Superman #19 Comic Review On youtube

Batman/Superman #19 Comic Recap

Behold, Kandor… Planet Krypton’s greatest dream. Her brilliant doctors cured the sky flu… her mighty warriors captured the wicked scientist Doctor Xa-du, and her proud citizens laughed off the apocalyptic warnings of Jor-El. How could they listen? Everything they’d ever experienced told them… Kandor is forever. Even when Jor-El’s prophecy came true, and Krypton exploded… Kandor endured. The alien intelligence known as Brianiac had collected the city, miniaturized and bottled her. And for a quarter century, her people slumbered in suspended animation… awaiting the day Krypton’s last son, Kal-El, son of Jor-El… would find a way to awaken them. But Kal-El got distracted. He fought for Earth instead of Kandor, and in that last, terrible battle with Brainiac, Kal-El’s fortress exploded, and Kandor and all her people vanished. And that’s when I entered the picture, Superman. I took your tiny, abandoned people, and I sent them out into your world, where this yellow sun gave them all your powers, to destroy everything you love. But why, you wonder? Why? Well, you and your friends have finally tracked me down. So soon you may have your answer. But first, Kal-El, son of Jor-El… behold Kandor… Krypton’s greatest dream.

In the microscopic laboratory known as the Ant Farm, Dr. Ray Palmer, Batman, Superman, and Supergirl look over the city of Kandor. The damage to the city is clearly the result of explosives. The city has experienced war. Unsure of what exactly is going on, the heroes agree to shrink themselves into the bottled city and investigate the source of the chaos. Inside, the three immediately feel the effects of the Kryptonian atmosphere. Supergirl and Superman can barely maintain their fight and feel their power is draining quickly, while Batman is protected by his reinforced suit, but is visibly struggling with the environment and says they need to move quickly.

They find some Kandorian soldiers, but Kara notices that something is wrong with them. The men’s hearts are beating in unison. Somebody is controlling these people. The group covertly moves to the home of a trusted friend of Supergirl’s, but they find the place ransacked and Kara’s friend Tali appears to be gone. Superman accidentally activates a device, which recognizes his DNA as that of Kal-El. It states that two relatives of Clark’s currently are on Krypton, namely Superman’s Aunt and Grandmother on his mother’s side. The device goes on to state that Jor-El was Krypton’s greatest villain, who framed Dr. Xa-Du and exiled him to the Phantom Zone. Superman’s father is then accused of destroying Krypton and sealing Kandor within a bottle, which he bestowed upon his son Kal-El to keep the city in his clutches.

Superman is outraged at this slander, but the heroes are interrupted when they are discovered by a squad of soldiers. The soldiers destroy themselves, burning Clark’s hand in the process. But Superman doesn’t care about his injury. He has had enough, and says they are going to the tower. With great effort, Superman and Supergirl fly to the top of the tower to destroy the Kandorian’s exit route, while Batman attacks the tower base and frees the captive prisoners.

Suddenly the heroes hear a sinister laugh and Dr. Xa-Du, also known as the Phantom King, appears in front of Superman. The King has had an infinite amount of time to plot his revenge in the Phantom Zone, and he gleefully summons Superman’s family and Tali, all of whom are clearly under his control, and ready to fight.

Batman/Superman #19 Comic Review

Hello and welcome to Comic Island! My name is Arden, and this is my recap and review of Batman/Superman #19.

So this one was pretty good. I really like this comic’s art, and we get a lot of pretty cool moments. As somebody pointed out in the comics for last issue, it is nice to have a modern story about Kandor, and this comic has a really solid introduction that goes into the history of this Kryptonian city. And though it’s brief, there’s some really well placed action and excitement peppered throughout the comic to keep it from being dry or boring.

Sadly there are a few things that bug me about this comic. The first problem is a little nit picky, but twice in a row now they’ve made the same joke about how Batman can do anything because he’s well, Batman. That was really funny and great the first time they made this joke, but it feels really lazy to do this twice in a row. But like I said, this is a very minor point in an otherwise perfectly serviceable comic book.

The other issue I have is less about this comic in particular, and more about how I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with this story arc. This story hinted at Superman facing a new villain, but Dr. Xa-Du is an old character and one that’s already appeared in the New 52 line, so I do feel like this story starts off in a very misleading way. This same thing happened in the last story arc of this series. They had a really cool premise where Batman and Superman lost their memory. It was a really neat idea that they were doing some really interesting stuff with – for example, Batman without his memories was a way happier guy, who just thought it was awesome to have access to all this cool tech and gadgetry, while also hinting at a potential bond between him and Lois Lane. But then not much really happened and things went back to normal pretty quick without them in my opinion properly having fun with this idea. Though as a bit of a side note, Batman and Lois do share some pretty… interesting lines in this latest comic as well. I don’t know if the writer Greg Pak has plans for this in the future, but that would be something I’d like to see them explore a little more cause that’s a fascinating idea to me.

I know what kind of writing Greg Pak can do, so I know he can do better than what I’ve been seeing of this series so far. Given that this is a big title with the World’s Finest, I’m wanting a little more out of these series. But I expect this story arc is going to wrap up pretty quickly and the whole thing is starting to look like it’s shaping up to be a bit of an underwhelming arc. It’s been four issues and it feels like very little has really happened yet, other than just hyping this villain whose motivations and story really aren’t anything new. That’s really lousy storytelling when you get right down to it.

So I can’t really say that I’d recommend this comic. You wouldn’t miss much if you were to skip this one, but I do like the art and certain parts of the story enough to say that if you can get this comic bundled with others, or just at a discounted rate online, it certainly wasn’t that bad and was entertaining enough, just nothing that special. And based on what I’ve read of the other comic I’ll be reviewing this week, there’s better stuff out there right now.

Let me know what you think of this story arc so far in the comments section. I do like to set a high standard with my reviews, so I do tend to be overly critical sometimes. But I feel it’s better to be honest, so when I do like something, you know that it’s really good and worth your time. I don’t like throwing out recommendations arbitrarily because I don’t want to waste your time or money. Plus sometimes it’s fun being a pessimistic snob. You should all try it more often!

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