After the huge cliffhanger at the end of the previous issue, I have been DYING to find out what happens next. A team up between Ra’s Al Ghul and General Zod was always destined for diasaster, and my god that certaintly is the case with this issue.

Before we go into that, let’s take a look at the covers. First up is the standard cover by Nick Derington, which is quite the change as we are now used to seeing the wonderful artwork by David Marquez. The whole concept of this cover is so effective, you can feel the scale of what’s about to happen in this issue and the dramatic lighting and colours used really help bring this to life. I’ve always adored whole concept of The Bottle Of Kandor, so it’s great to see it in the limelight once again, but perhaps not for the best reasons.

Photo Credit: DC Entertainment

As for the variant cover, well it really is spectacular. It’s great to see Andy Kubert and Brad Anderson back doing Superman art, their work on ‘Up In The Sky’ was stellar and this is no exception. This really is an action packed cover as we see Superman and Batman under fire. Kubert & Anderson have mastered Superman’s heat vision, the technique they use is so effective. The use of lighting and shading really show the impact that it has. I really love this cover, and hope to see the pair return soon.

Photo Credit: DC Entertainment

Like I said before I had been DYING to read this issue, I wanted to know exactly what was going on between these two iconic and colossal villains an why. Well, in this issue we find out exactly that. Usually these kinds of mysteries are spread out over several issues, but it was nice to see everything explained in one, because now we get to the real action!

I really liked this issue, I did have discrepancies with the artwork and tie-ins which I’ll go into shortly, but overall it was an interesting read. I loved that Williamson has brought two of our heroes iconic villains, and iconic pieces of history and mythology back into the limelight. For Batman – Ra’s Al Ghul and The Lazarus Pit and for Superman – General Zod and The Bottled City Of Kandor. As someone who has always focused on Superman and his stories, it’s nice to see the two incorporated.







I have to say the artwork isn’t my favourite, it really reminds me of John Romita Jr’s work on the recent Action Comics series. Whilst it does bring the issue to life in a rather cartoonistic fashion, for me it just doesn’t have the same charm that David Marquez’ work had. With that being said the artwork really works where it counts, Nick Derington really brings to life the effects of the Lazarus Pit, especially when combined with colours by Dave McCaig.

Like I said, as a Superman fanatic I (like Superman) hold The Bottled City Of Kandor close to my heart, so I was excited to see what this creative team did with it. I have to say, I was NOT expecting this! I don’t think I have EVER seen anything like this done with Kandor and it’s people, it’s clear that Williamson is really showing off his imagination in this issue, and it pays off.

This issue was great, it really spelled out the plan of the two villains to us whilst coming to an incredibly shocking ending. The creative team to this series really aren’t holding anything back, they are throwing every spanner into the works for our heroes and it feels relentless. I will say that I don’t like how intertwined this story is with other series, as someone who has not read them, it can be confusing at times. I feel it would benefit with a ‘Bendis-Style’ breakdown of things we may have missed, but still it’s a very enjoyable series. And after yet another nail-biting cliffhanger, I am VERY excited to see what happens next.

Haven’t picked up your issue yet? You can pick up the standard cover by Nick Derington here (US). Or if you prefer the variant cover by Andy Kubert, you can pick that up here.

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