Alex and Joe hang out and talk about Batman Day and constantly wander off topic (what’s new?).
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on X respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Superman/Batman: World’s Finest
Fifteen years ago, I picked up this book when I had first moved to Canada and I was looking for something to read that wasn’t Marvel related. Volume one of a series seemed like a good enough place to start, and despite knowing very little about DC’s comics at the time I was more than aware who Batman and Superman was in the general sense from the movies and TV shows that had been released at the time.
The story was also adapted for DVD in 2009 or so under the title Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Because I’m not talking about the adaption today, I’m referring to the story under the comic book title.
No, today I wanted to revisit a story I hadn’t read in years because my wife picked me up a Batman blind box recently, and this was one of the books within the box. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed reading it until I flicked through the softcover collection again.
Collecting the first six issues of the series, Superman/Batman: World’s Finest was released in April 2004, and was written by Jeph Loeb with art by Ed McGuinness and colours by Dexter Vines. The story features a then President Lex Luthor, the framing of the man of steel for Metallo’s murder and a fantastic twin narrative device that allows Loeb to use the internal monologues of both Batman and Superman to great effect. It is often the source of my laughter when reading the book, as both men have some diametrically opposed viewpoints on things, and their thoughts in the moment are almost mirrored.
It’s honestly worth reading for that alone.
The story itself is largely free of any major continuity trappings from other series, by which I mean at the time I was able to go into this entirely blind about the state of the DC universe in 2004/2005 and still thoroughly enjoy the story. And my introduction to a cast of new characters like Captain Atom, Black Adam, Major Force and others I had never heard of before.
Although there have been a lot of really good Batman/Superman stories since this came out, the writing of Loeb and the way he has the two leads play off each other makes this collection stand out. If you’re not that keen on reading yet more stories featuring two of DC most popular heroes, then that’s fine. But you’ll be missing out on one of the coolest and most underrated aspects of this collection – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it happily again – the dueling monologues of Superman and Batman highlight Loeb’s understanding of the two characters and their relationship.
The only downside is that as my introduction to DC comics, this remains one of the finest examples of that relationship I’ve read to this day.
You can find this collection at your local comic shop; it’s still in print so shouldn’t be too hard to find if you’re looking for it. I highly recommend checking it out when you get a chance.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.
Alex and Joe hang out and talk about Marvel Legends. And, almost, only Marvel Legends.
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: The Highest House
I had picked this book up prior to going on vacation to read on the plane at the suggestion of my LCS, but never actually got around to reading the book while I was away. Thankfully, I found I had the time this week and decided to sit down and start reading the book in between devouring Andrej Sapkowski’s The Witcher novels.
I don’t say this lightly, but The Highest House is one of those books you give to people who don’t like comics, or don’t read comics, to show them what the medium can do. Its impact isn’t only felt in the story, but rather that you don’t need to be aware of decades of tropes and nuances to get the most from the book. This is just a really moving and powerful story about change and overcoming the shit life throws at you in order to rise above and become the best version of yourself.
Written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Peter Gross, the trade paperback set me back $30 Canadian, and is worth each and every penny that I paid for it. Without revealing too much about the story, this won’t be the longest column, but I want you to go in blind – just like I did.
Because this book is worth it.
I usually end this column with a recommendation to check out the book or series or movie in question, but I genuinely can’t recommend this graphic novel to you highly enough If you don’t grab this with both hands when you see then you’ll miss an Underrated gem.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.
Alex and Joe hang out and talk about…. well, honestly whatever toy based things come to mind.
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Batman: Child Of Dreams
This week I wanted to focus on one of the very few manga books I own. Batman: Child Of Dreams was written and illustrated by Kia Asamiya and was originally published in Magazine Z, before eventually being released in an English language version in 2003. At the time of translation it was common for manga to be flipped so that Western audiences wouldn’t be confused by the traditional right to left reading layout of the source material (I’m told this isn’t the case any longer), so when you’re reading the book you’ll notice Two Face is scarred on the wrong side. It’s a minor thing at best once you understand why it’s there, and don’t attribute the error to an artistic blunder.
The story is about a designer drug that transforms you into somebody for 24 hours before killing you, the trail of which Batman follows to Tokyo with the help of a journalist Yuuko Yagi.
Child Of Dreams works on numerous levels as a book. It’s a compelling Batman story in and of itself, but it also gently introduced those unfamiliar with manga to the medium with characters that they’re already familiar with. Although I would have liked to try to read the book the way it was originally designed to be read, it is still interesting to see Asamiya’s take on the Dark Knight and how his influences and style give a fresh light to a well established character.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t inspire me to jump into manga, nor seek out more works by the creator (simply because I didn’t know how to find either after a very brief search), but it still remains a Batman tale that I enjoy to this day. If you can find this for a decent price, and you want to spend some time with a different take on the Dark Knight, then you can’t go wrong with Batman: Child of Dreams.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.
Joe, Alex, and Matthew hang out and talk about…. well, honestly whatever comes to mind.
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Valiant Masters: Ninjak: Black Water.
Ever since I’ve started to collect Valiant comics, I’ve been picking up the hardcover deluxe editions here and there as a way to catch up in bulk on some of the series I’ve missed, and also because I just like the look of them. A while back I did a cost analysis as to whether it was worth buying the deluxe editions verses the softcover trades or single issue floppies at cover price; generally the savings were negligible depending on the size of the book (less than $5, I think) between the hardcovers and soft covers, but the difference between the hard covers and cover price floppies varied greatly depending on how many books were collected (and it didn’t factor in the cost of the floppies after they’ve been on the market for a while, as they can fluctuate higher or lower depending on different trends).
This is relevant only because the Valiant Masters hardcovers generally contain the first eight issues of the original Valiant series (either 1-8 or 0-7 depending on the stories within), which means that for $25 you end up paying about $3.25 a comic. Whether that’s a good price for the early Valiant books depends on which book you’re looking at; I’ve paid $20 for the first appearance of Rai, $6 for the first appearance of Ninjak and around $1 for others, so it’s largely a crap shoot, but for the most part the individual issues collected in the Valiant Masters are going to be cheaper than the hardcover itself depending on which one you’re looking at.
The point I’m making here is that while I’m talking about the hardcover today, in reality I’m really looking at the eight issues within the book (Ninjak #1-6, before giving us his origin with issues #0 and #00), and those you can probably find easier than the hardcover which may be out of print now. The floppies will likely be cheaper given how out of print Valiant hardcovers tend to sell for higher than cover price.
Perhaps my favourite aspect of these Masters editions is in comparing what I know about the characters from their 2012 relaunch and the versions that appeared in the 90’s. The Ninjak of the 90’s had his differences from the modern version; born to English parents as part of an experiment to grow enhanced humans, he grew up in Japan and learned the ways of the ninja from a temple he sought refuge in after his father was murdered. The rest, his technology and such, differ only in what was conceivable to the writers of the time.
Black Water has the titular ninja taking down an international conglomerate. It sounds fairly cliche now, but the story’s echoes of Batman and James Bond set it apart from the general run of the mill hero vs corporation stories. The story is only the first two issues of the series and , but by the time that story had wrapped I felt like I’d read a full trade – one of my favourite things about comics from the 90’s and before has always been the amount of content packed into each issue. The first six issues we get are wonderful. Reading these, and the other early Valiant, I can understand why the publisher gained such a strong following over the years. Compact, exciting, and with some truly exciting art (I acknowledge that comic art has come a long way since the 90’s, but these issues of Ninjak hold up very well even today).
There may only be a limited number of folks left who, like me, want to explore the original Valiant comics of the 90’s that haven’t already done so, but these hardcover editions are a brilliant gateway to the past, and great encouragement to go hunting for the comics that haven’t been collected – and may never be at this point. That’s why I think these books are underrated; because so few of you will be looking for them. Which is a shame because those early Valiant stories are fantastic.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.
Alex and Joe hang out and talk about the remake of the Crow, a few different movies, and Wolverine: Revenge.
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
Alex and Joe hang out and talk about whatever comes to mind. Wrestling, movies and comics.
You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.
