Heroes vs. Heroes (Marvel/DC part 2)

So, last time, I reviewed/reminisced my way through the classic company crossovers, now, we race through some slightly more modern stuff.

Let's see how the new kids fared...


Spawn Batman

Yeah....so...90's was this whole Spawn era...well, hmm....

All right, so Miller says right on the inner front cover that this one occupies the same universe as "Year One", and "Dark Knight Returns", and I still don't know how to feel about that.

It's an all right little book I guess...nothing egregious springs to mind...

It's got some teeth grating little quirks that I can let go.

It is fascinating...how Frank Miller mutated his Batman into...what I like to call "Bat-fuckenasshole", starting in "Dark Knight Strikes Again", and even worse in "All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder", yet...Batman in this one is the sane mature one who sees Spawn as a clumsy brawling punkass.

It's like Miller was zombie bitten by McFarlane, and was resisting the infection at first, then lost.

More on this later...


Batman Spawn: War Devil

Piece of shit.
Yup, there are even worse books than "Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human".

Hyla told me to avoid this back in the day, and I would have, but both of these came shrink wrapped in a two-pack.
Can't pass up a bargain...

Tch, damn, Moench did this?
His Batman/Draculas were fuckin' great....
Well, if Miller can stumble, anyone can.

Bats & Spawn fight zombies & skeletons in this, so...you can tie it into the whole hero/horror thing too, I guess...if ya want...


Batman/Punisher: Lake Of Fire

Pretty good, but this is the start of what I call the "they're essentially the same guy", teamups.
I think I like contrasts better.

This is post-Bane Azreal-Batman, not real Batman.

 Hence why him and Frank get along...for awhile.

Hmm...looking at the art there, and flashing back from a detached objectified perspective, I really think Az-Bat was a direct attempt to Spawn-ify Batman.
How did I not see it before?
Hmph.
Bleh.

Yeah, readable, but not Earth shaking.


Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights

So, this time, classic Batman is back in town, and he hates Punisher.

Punisher hates him back, but no more than he hates pretty much everybody.

Ehh...s'alright...but Janson's art is back from "Batman Spawn: War Devil", and...gotta say, I'm not a fan.

I do dearly love the ending though, where Punisher tries to kill Joker, Batman stops him, Punisher says what we're all thinking with "how many times have you put this maniac away? I can end it right here and now!".

Batman spouts some boilerplate self righteous bullshit, there's a tussle that Bats inevitably wins, and Punisher skulks off with "you know...you and that giggling idiot deserve each other".

Much as I dig Batman, that's just great.
Worth the whole price of the book, right there.
The rest is pretty much filler to deliver that moment in book form.


Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger

Set way back in the time where Silver Surfer is still Galactus's unquestioning lapdog.

Technically, the fight is a draw...but...I gotta lean it towards ol' Darkseid.

Darkseid holds his ground, Galactus realizes Apokalypse isn't worth eating, and fucks off, and it's heavily hinted that Darkseid planted the seeds for Silver Surfer's memory restoration, and rebellion.

Y'know, I'm thinking George Lucas stole a lot from the Kirby-verse for Star Wars.
Darkseid is Vader-ish, Apokalypse looks like the Death Star...hmm..

I have conflicted feelings seeing John Byrne stuff now though.
Love his art, you're almost always guaranteed a good show with his stuff, but great googa moogah, the internet has revealed him to be...a highly unpleasant person.

Cartoonishly arrogant, liar, hints of bigotry, not a guy I'd want at my dinner party.


Spiderman and Batman: Disordered Minds

Spidey and Bats versus Joker and Carnage.

Carnage sucks, I totally remember what I hated about 90's comics now.

But, at least Joker ruthlessly mocks his lack of style in this.
So, it's self aware, unlike the wank in the Spawn stuff.

Which brings me back to Miller's Bat-Fuckenasshole.
Skip McFarlane, he was bitten by Carnage.

So, Spidey's met Supes and Bats, Bats has met Spidey and Hulk, the company big guns have all inter-met now.

Anyway, the good guys win, Bats grumpily makes a new friend, and Spidey earns grudging respect.

Good stuff, but not the epic the old school ones were.


Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances 

Kyle Rayner is back from "Green Lantern versus Aliens", and just in these two appearances, I've taken a shine to the kid.
I would see more of his adventures.
So, the writers totally did their job, if that happened.

This one is a bit more of the epic I was looking for.

The plot, Thanos dupes Kyle into helping him, and Parallax dupes Surfer, leading to the trademark hero misunderstanding, before turning on the real villains for the trademark cosmic showdown.

Fun read, mucho enjoyed.
Wish they could all be like this.

So, doing okay so far...but up next...the overwrought quantum mumbo-jumbo starts up....