Superman/Batman: Torment

by Alan Burnett

Book Overview

Originally published in single magazine form as Superman/Batman 37-42--T.p. verso. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401217400
• ISBN13: 9781401217402
• Release Date: February 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.5" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite series

This series continues to be awesome! The Artwork never fails, the stories are always tight and on well thought out and it stars BATMAN AND SUPERMAN! you can't go wrong! With Torment the action picks up and the heroes are really going to need to rely on eachother more than ever.

Superman/Batman series Finally Back on Track!

I had given up on this title until I read this story. After leaving it sit on my shelf for a year, I finally picked it up and it has restored my faith in this once flagging series. Alan Burnett writes a mean Superman/Batman tale and understands the inverse relationship these characters have, which he sums up very well in the last few pages of the book. Readers will notice that this tale reads more like a Batman story than a team up, where finding a missing Superman is the object of the story. Although Superman's mind is shattered in this tale, it is Batman who we feel sorry for at the end of the book. His encounter with Becca, the wife of Orion, leaves him questioning his mission and the solitude he must endure to complete it, and his sacrifices to save his friend go unnoticed, even by the Man of Steel himself. As for the art; Dustin Nguyen is a tremendouly talented artist who I must commend. I am glad DC realised this and gave him the job of drawing Batman in the pages of Detective Comics. His art is crisp and clean and Dustin is well on the road to the A-List. I just wish DC would put more artists of this caliber on the Batbooks. If the last few volumes of this book left you cold, with the confusing, sometimes out of continuity storylines, then this volume will be a welcome relief. I look forward to reading more from this talented team.

A prelude of things to come

It is currently quite in vogue to bash this comic just for its' very existence. "Do we really need a Superman/Batman teamup book?" is the litany voiced ad nauseum on internet messageboards. The chorus of complaints has reached an even higher pitch with the recent announcement of the new weekly series Trinity. Fortunately not all fans dance to the beat of the same drummer, as some of us prefer to judge stories on their own individual merits and not just by their premise. On this particular trade we welcome the writing talents of Alan Burnett, well known for his work on the DC animated universe. His intriguing tale takes our intrepid heroes on a perilous journey to Apokolips to battle Darkseid and Desaad, whose conclusion will set the stage and have severe ramifications for the DCU in the upcoming months. The story encompasses much of the New Gods lore, including the recent loss of Darkseid's Omega powers and the relationship that the Source Wall and Highfather's staff have to that. Along the way Batman is introduced and unintentionally seduced by Orion's beautiful wife Bekka, who is literally a sex goddess with some very powerful pheromones. This subtext is explored further as he reflects on his life and the sacrifices of love and passion that he has made for the sake of his full time mission as Batman. We also see the long overdue pairing of Desaad with the Scarecrow, a match truly made in Hell, although the Scarecrow is once again reduced to being someone's punching bag. Will DC please finally remove the kick me sign from behind his back. The trade ends on a tantalizing cliffhanger which directly segues into the Death of the New Gods storyline that is currently concluding. On the artistic side Burnett is ably assisted by the increasingly growing in stature presence of Dustin Nguyen. In a previous review of his work, I compared his illustrations to Jack Kirby's, so it is fitting irony that he would be involved in a story featuring many of Jack's greatest creations. After reading this solid effort, here's hoping that Alan Burnett follows in the same footsteps as Paul Dini, who has successfully made the transition from the animated DCU to the comics medium, and has a lengthy and stellar run himself.