Superman/Batman #49 Review

"Cache"
Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Art and cover by Shane Davis and Matt "Batt" Banning

Certain people will attest that I have raved about how awesome this title is for awhile now and this title continues to be exceptional no matter what some people say. Apparently this a divisive title that you will ever think is poorly written or well written. This issue is the end of Green's debut arc and for me I really enjoyed it. The running narration between Superman and Batman is enjoyable but I can see how it gets old for some people. The big reveal is that Lana Lang has been behind the whole selling weapons to the government to kill Superman. I think a lot of people are having trouble will this whole heel turn of hers but actually this goes along the lines of how she has been written since Superman: Godfall way back when. She has had that creepy obsessive vibe for a couple years now. A problem I had though is that they instantly solved the problem of Superman not being able to enter Earth. That had the potential to be a great Superman story and it is a shame it is wasted and makes me wonder why Luthor never thought of it. Another thing I liked was the reasoning for selling the weapons, it wasn't about killing Superman but it was to help all the people who are employed by Luthor, the salt of the Earth people which makes sense. There is also the fair share of humor with the Power Girl cameo which is always a welcome. The ending was what really stuck with me about how we got the Tower of Babel Batman again with him stocking piling Kryptonite [including the one that makes Superman high] in his batcave. It was a bittersweet thing because Superman made the geasture of giving Batman the only piece of Kryptonite left on Earth because they are best friends but Batman already has enough Kryptonite to kill him 8 times. It was not a classy moment for Batman. I'll admit that I am warming up to Superman too but not because of Geoff Johns but this comic instead. This story made it clear that Superman really loves Earth and wants to do everything in his power to be able to live there but there are people out there who are planning on ways to take him out no matter how much good he does in the world which is a sad reality that he is blissfully unaware of [to a certain extent]. The artwork is awesome and helps bring the story alive especially that moment where Superman dumps all the Kryptonite into the sun and Batman tells him put it where his enemies can see it so they know what's up [that was actually a pretty beautiful monologue by Batman and really put Superman over kind of like DBZ where Vegeta admitted Goku was better]. Again though, still mad about the blown storyline that Green came up with of Superman not being able to actually go to Earth, that could have been a defenitive Superman/Batman story, man, if I was DC I'd find a way to do that. This comic does raise interesting questions and it is a shame that they do not expanded such as if Lana had not done what she had done and then there is mass unemployment followed a giant recession would it really be Superman's fault? Again this comic does have a lot of nice little tibits that you can think about which does take away from it but not enough to warrant a lower rating.

Art: PHENOM
Overall: OWN IT