With Melissa Benoist winning the hearts of comic book readers and TV watchers the world over with her turn as Kara Danvers in CBS’ Supergirl, I thought it’d be prudent to go back and take a look at the comic that introduced me to Supergirl while reintroducing her to the DC Universe after Infinite Crisis.
This is a look back at the second arc of “Superman/Batman” written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Michael Turner.
Written by Jeph Loeb
Illustrated by Michael Turner
If you take two of the biggest and best known characters in comics – Batman and Superman – and mix them together with a dash of intrigue and a touch of adventure this is the resoundingly successful result! After tracking a Kryptonite asteroid to Gotham City Bay, Batman discovers something mysterious and highly suspicious – it seems a space craft is somehow embedded in the rock! This craft is carrying someone who appears to be from Krypton and is, by all accounts, Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El. But is she who she appears to be? Showcasing the creative energy of two of the most respected creators currently working in comics – Jeph Loeb (“Batman: Hush”) and Michael Turner (“Tomb Raider”).
In re-reading these six issues of “Superman/Batman”, I was reminded of something: this series, at least at first, was simply amazing. With Jeph Loeb writing, this was one of the freshest and sharpest takes on both Superman and Batman in Dc history. His experience writing both characters in their solo adventures (and crafting some essential stories of each character with Tim Sale) allowed him a perspective into each of their minds and used that to play the characters off one another in stories that played to their strengths, both individually and as a team.
After an introductory arc that, sadly, doesn’t hold up as well due to some convoluted continuity stuff setting up “Infinite Crisis”, Loeb teamed up with artist Michael Turner to reintroduce Kara Zor-El to the DC universe and did so in a way that re-cemented her as a character of importance and weight. The set-up is pretty simple: after the incident with the giant Kryptonite meteor heading to Earth that was blown up by a giant mecha that looked like Composite Superman in the last arc (which is a seriously a thing that happened because comics are amazing), Superman is quarantined to the Fortress Of Solitude while Batman gathers and studies a crash-landed chunk of Kryptonite during which he discovers a Kryptonian spaceship and a young girl who can only speak Kryptonian and seemingly has the same powers as Superman.
From there, Loeb and Turner take us on a field trip to all the corners of the DC Universe from Metropolis and the Fortress Of Solitude to Themiscyra and even to Apokolips. That’s one of the best aspects of this storyline is that bringing Kara into the DC Universe when it already has so much history means that Loeb and Turner are able to use high profile characters like Wonder Woman and Darkseid as part of the story while bringing lesser known, but still popular characters like Harbinger or Big Barda and Mister Miracle. The universe feels densely packed and as Loeb and Turner follow Kara’s initial journey into the world, they capture the overwhelming sense of having way too much responsibility thrust onto you at once. Characters, though well intentioned, end up pulling at her from all different directions and Loeb does a great job of capturing the spirit of an overwhelmed teenage girl who just wants to work things out on her own.
Michael Turner is an artist whose death left a major gap in the world of comics and this collection of his art shows just how great he was. His style is crisp and angular and exagerrated, bringing ferocious life to this world and these characters while embracing their over-the-top status as comic book characters. Superman is huge in Turner’s art with muscles rippling under the suit, but he never loses that boyish charm in his expressions and Turner does a fantastic job capturing his trusting smile. Batman, meanwhile, feels like two steps away from going full Todd MacFarlane with incredibly pointed ears, a cape draped in shadows and atmosphere, but he never gets so dark that he feels out of place standing shoulder to shoulder with Superman. Turner captures these characters perfectly and nails the grandiose nature of the DC Universe with locations like Apokolips in his heart.
Continued belowThe only downside is that pretty much all of his women look identical. While Batman and Superman couldn’t be more different, Harbinger and Supergirl are basically indistinguishable as are the brunette versions, Wonder Woman and Big Barda. It’s such a shame because so much work goes into each page and the action is fantastic and epic, with a wall of Amazons facing off against a horde of Doomsday clones, but the very base problems of women in comics being there largely for the sex appeal rears its ugly head once again. This is especially true when Turner’s depiction of Kara goes against Loeb’s writing in some cases. Loeb did a great job exploring the vulnerability and emotional state of Kara while Turner… sexualised her with a very visible thong line over her jeans. It’s the kind of thing that can break the moment and ruin otherwise amazing art.
However, that said, it’s hard to not appreciate this arc from the bigger picture. It was a fantastic reintroduction to the character of Kara Zor-El and brought in many aspects of the character that we’re beginning to see brought to live action by Melissa Benoist. Jeph Loeb’s writing was pitch perfect for all of the characters and clearly had a lot of fun touring the DC Universe and touching base with a huge cast of DC characters. Michael Turner’s is art is, for the most part, still incredibly impressive. The action setpieces throughout the arc are stunning and Turner’s style is still a refreshingly unique blend of Todd MacFarlane and Jim Lee and all the best aspects of their stylistic interpretations of these characters. Just, like I said, this was 2006 and the push for women to be depicted better in comics wasn’t quite were it’s at today (and it’s not like it’s anywhere near perfect nowadays anyway) and you can definitely.
Still, if you’ve been bit by the Supergirl bug, you can do no better than starting her in the comics here.
