REVIEW: Superman/Batman Annual #4 by Paul Levitz

Reviews

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Superman/Batman Annual #4

Written by Paul Levitz

Art by Renato Guedes

Look at that cover and ask me why I bought this book that wasn’t even on my radar, I dare you. Batman Beyond! Paul Levitz! An otherwise cheap week! Win! I seriously bought this book on nostalgia from high school, and enjoying Legion of Superheroes #1 and figuring I’d give Paul the shot here. Was it worth it? I thought so!

First, in a rarity for me, I’m going to tackle the art by Renato Guedes and the fact that his art actually makes me feel like I’m back in the Batman Beyond universe. The characters look the same, the environments haven’t changed, heck, we even get a club scene that feels like a still motion of the opening credits! It’s by no means a Bruce Timm emulating style, but it definitely looks right for the book.

The story picks up at some point after the show ended and the story focuses around Terry investigating some drugs from Metropolis, and even getting into a fight with Metallo. It becomes him going undercover to find the source of these drugs as we’re led to wonder, and then explained to, what happened to Superman after Starro, even a hint at the fate of Lois Lane in this world. Gotham is around for the beginning of the issue, but the meat of it is future Metropolis, which is cool for me because we never really saw much outside of Gotham during the series.

There’s a bit of a mystery going on, well, a few, and it’s a self contained story. It references the show for setup purposes, but the story itself is over by the end of the issue. This is an especially good thing as Levitz isn’t writing the upcoming Batman Beyond miniseries….Adam Beechan is….and I most likely will not be buying it, as I can’t name anything he’s written that I’ve enjoyed.

All in all, for five bucks, if you were a fan of Batman Beyond, or are still a fan of Batman Beyond, it’s definitely worth a purchase. If you’re not? Well, then this probably isn’t for you.

Overall?

7/10

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.