Review: Batman/Superman Vol. 2- World’s Deadliest
Quick Summary
Pros: The stories here have a few solid moments between Batman and Superman and connect to their ongoing adventures in interesting ways. One of the stories is great.
Cons: The majority of the stories in this collection aren’t that memorable and, ultimately, leave the collection feeling a little underwhelming.
Overall: This is a collection that fails to truly impress or disappoint. The stories here occasionally have some positive points but these are typically balanced out by negative ones. There is one great tale within the book but the majority of them are just alright. Readers who simply want to see Batman and Superman together may still get a kick out of moments within this book but readers looking for a universally positive book may want to look elsewhere.
Story
Batman/Superman Vol. 2: World’s Deadliest, by Joshua Williamson, is a pretty average collection. The volume essentially consists of several, short Superman and Batman team-ups that pit them against a variety of different enemies. These conflicts have their moments, especially when they focus on the ways Batman and Superman’s different styles complement each other or when they focus on expanding storylines from other comics. However, when it comes to actual storytelling, most of these stories are pretty unremarkable. Only one, a humorous battle between Bat-Mite and Mister Mxyzptlk, is a real standout. In the end, this makes the collection worthwhile for fans looking for a complement to the rest of Batman and Superman’s adventures but not as worthwhile for fans simply looking for an excellent collection of their adventures.
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The majority of the stories in World’s Deadliest are just alright. The opening story has a unique connection to events going on in Superman’s life but fails to do anything interesting with Ra’s Al Ghul. The next story adds to Atomic Skull’s ongoing narrative but isn’t actually that compelling outside of this point. The “Planet Brainiac” story fares better, as it highlights some of the best aspects of these heroes and concludes in a unique way. However, the Grundy story fails to raise any significant levels of excitement and only manages to provide anything worthwhile at the very end, when it depicts a wholesome moment between Batman and Superman. Overall, none of these stories are downright bad but none are that good either.
The standout story is the fight between Bat-Mite and Mister Mxyzptlk. This is a fun story on its own that does well in poking fun at comic book tropes. It is also a well-executed parody of arguments within the DC fandom, lampooning many fan’s penchant for pitting their favorite heroes against each other.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The quality of the artwork in World’s Deadliest is somewhat like the quality of the story in that it is just alright, neither good nor bad. Almost all of the chapters within the book are structured well and avoid any significant problems. Most chapters do a solid job in depicting the action and emotion within the narrative. In addition, Max Raynor does a particularly nice job in creatively depicting the off-Earth scenes in the “Planet Brainiac” story. However, there are no chapters that are truly striking when it comes to visuals. There are even a few places where character proportions feel a little off. Overall, this makes for a book with passable but unremarkable visuals.
Continuity
Batman/Superman Vol. 2: World’s Deadliest continues the story from Batman/Superman Vol. 1: Who Are the Secret Six? (Review).
The Batman/Superman series will continue in Batman/Superman Vol. 3. Pieces of the story arc from Batman/Superman #9-11 are continued in Teen Titans Annual #2, collected in Teen Titans Vol. 4: Robin No More.
This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:
- Kandor was destroyed in The Man of Steel (Review).
- A note at the beginning of this collection indicates it takes place before Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (Review).
- Clay Ramsay was caught in an explosion in Action Comics Vol. 2 Annual #1, collected in Action Comics Vol. 2: Bulletproof. He went through “changes” across Superwoman Vol. 1: Vol. 1: Who Killed Superwoman? (Review).
- General Zod (Reading Order) recently parted ways with Superman (Reading Order) in Superman #17, collected in Superman Vol. 3: The Truth Revealed.
- The references to Ra’s Al Ghul’s grandson spending time with Superman’s son refer to the Super Sons team-up (Reading Order).
- Zod was imprisoned by Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad Vol. 1: The Black Vault (Review). He served on the Suicide Squad (Reading Order) in Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Earthlings on Fire (Review). For more information, see ComicBookWire’s “General Zod Reading Order“.
- Superman came back from the grave in Superman: The Return of Superman.
- The person Batman knows who was brought back to life by the Lazarus Pit is Red Hood (Reading Order).
- Batman/Superman #9 specifically mentions Gotham being taken over by Bane (Reading Order) and terrorized by the Joker (Reading Order). These are likely references to the City of Bane (Review) and Batman: Endgame (Reading Order) events, as another note indicates this volume takes place prior to the Joker War (Review) (Reading Order) event.
- Batman/Superman #9 references Atomic Skull’s presence in recent issues of Teen Titans. Specifically, it refers to events from Teen Titans Vol. 3: Seek and Destroy.
- Superman revealed his secret identity in Superman Vol. 3: The Truth Revealed.
- In Batman/Superman #12, Batman references an item found in New York that was the result of actions from Metal Men #6-9, collected in Metal Men: Elements of Change.
- In Batman/Superman #12, Batman also references the destruction of various organizations that occurred in the Event Leviathan (Review) (Reading Order) event.
- Batman/Superman #12 mentions Brainiac’s recent activities. He began working with Lex Luthor (Reading Order) in Justice League Vol. 4 #18, collected in Justice League Vol. 3: Hawkworld (Review), and continued working for him throughout Scott Snyder’s run on the Justice League (Reading Order). He also encountered Supergirl in Supergirl #33-36, collected in Supergirl Vol. 2: Sins of the Circle (Review) and Supergirl Vol. 3: Infectious (Review).