Smallville Season 11 has been the centre of rave reviews, incredibly high buy-rates and unbelievable storytelling, but does Batman’s addition in to the book feel like a cheap cash-in, or is there an actual story to it? While we don’t know for sure yet, his introduction was solid and laid some interesting groundwork for the character.
As previously revealed, Superman was infected with radiation that allowed Lex Luthor to track his every movement. This infection was actually the original idea of Luthor’s Guardian initiative, which now disables Superman from living his Clark Kent persona. Where does this leave Clark? This latest issue explores Superman looking for the ability to have a moment with his fiancée, Lois. She’s his heart and soul, and she can’t go a day without him. Will Clark be able to spend at least one night with Lois? Lex’s radiation definitely isn’t going anywhere, so this issue definitely has some follow-up on the situation.
Not only is Guardian’s aftermath shown, but we also get a solid introduction to Batman. Intergang has thugs in Gotham bringing in high-tech weapons, but who is their contact in and what connection do they have to the Caped Crusader? What started out with Nightwing fending off simple thugs turns in to a much bigger plot that will plunge Bruce straight in to Superman’s home turf – Metropolis. Pere Perez leaves art duties, while Chris Cross takes on the pencils and they’re absolutely fantastic. Batman and Nightwing’s costumes have amazing designs that work in the universe, each complete with gorgeous coloring. One has to ask, now that Nightwing is a female, does that make the character any less of a bad-ass? Barbara Gordon is incredibly intimidating here with a nice arsenal of combat, but the real fear comes from the Dark Knight. This introduction for Batman definitely shows us the direction Bryan Q. Miller is taking the character, and the dynamic we may see when he finally interacts with Clark.
Bryan Q. Miller delivers a solid introductory issue to Detective, which laid some great groundwork for what’s to come in the future. Where will this journey towards Metropolis lead the Dark Knight? We can only guess.
4 out of 5 stars
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