Batman/Superman #21 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes and Ulises Arreola
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 10, 2015

Depowered

I have been looking forward to this issue since both Batman and Superman #40 hit the shelves and blew every one's collective minds. With everything that's happened, this book has to be the most affected...Bruce is dead and Clark doesn't have a secret identity and is depowered.  Not quite the World's Finest we are all used to, huh?  I'm usually not open to drastic changes like this, but I'm keeping an open mind and remaining optimistic.  Did this second chapter of The Truth reward my patience?  Let's find out...




This issue starts out with a bang.  Superman has been the big guy on the block (actually Universe) and I've seen enough prison movies to know what bad guys try to do to the biggest guy.  They are coming out of the woodwork to kick Clark's ass now that they know they can try without getting destroyed.  Guess what?  Clark destroys them.  He mentions that it's nice to finally cut loose and I liked seeing it as well.  Besides the suddenly appearing knife in leg bit, I really liked this opener.  Unfortunately, things go downhill from here.

Clark goes to see the guy he blames for his recent problems...Lex Luthor.  This scene should have been a slam dunk.  It was not.  In fact, it was really disappointing.  I figured Lex would gloat and laugh at Superman's plight, but instead he just doesn't believe it.  I get that it's Lex being arrogant about the whole situation, but this should have been a huge scene, but instead it's just a setup to get Clark to Gotham.

Then after no transition at all, Clark is getting punched by mecha Batman in Gotham City.  Lex is with him as well, but nothing is explained.  I know some of you are muttering, "But Jim, this was in the sneak peek".  Well, kind of.  That ended with Lex showing up and telling Clark to work with him because he had no choice.  Here, he just is there...and it goes against the way it was set up in the preview.  What gives?

Clark then slips off to find Bruce.  Everyone reading this book had to be waiting for this and when he heads into the Batcave, I was on the edge of my seat.  He finds Alfred and what could have been one of the best scenes in recent memory felt forced and rushed.  I have a list of things that pissed me off about this scene (I'm sure I'll mention them on our podcast this week), but the thing that stuck with me most is Clark thinks Alfred is lying about Bruce being dead.  What a jerk!

I hate to sound like I'm piling on this issue, but...Clark then calls Lois and it felt like Greg Pak needed to fill a couple pages so he had Lois and Clark say nothing to each other on the phone for a bit.  With what we know and don't know about the secret identity reveal, this conversation just felt odd.  It also felt like filler.

With everything I've said above, the issue ends in a badass fashion.  Clark is done taking it on the chin so he's taking it to the streets in style.  It looks like next issue will bee Batman vs Superman round two.

I really didn't like this issue.  It felt rushed with so many jarring transitions and weak and/or confusing character moments.  It doesn't help that I'm still confused with what people know and don't know.  I would figure that Clark would have heard the news that Batman was dead, but that's not the case.  It's just confusing.  I hope that The Truth gets better quick because I'm starting to lose interest already.

I have really enjoyed Ardian Syaf's art since he jumped on this book, but this issue is just okay. Nothing made me jump up and take notice, but I wasn't offended either.  I really don't have much else to say.

Bits and Pieces:

I didn't like this issue.  It felt rushed, had poor transitions and the overall story wasn't that interesting. Greg Pak had two scenes that could have been classics, but both fell flat.  The art was okay, but overall this issue was a disappointment.

5.0/10