Review: Batman/Superman Vol. 2: Game Over

Quick Summary

Pros: There are plenty cool fight scenes throughout the book. The crossover with the Worlds’ Finest series is entertaining and well executed. The examination of Batman and Superman’s characters is interesting. The artwork looks great throughout the book.

Cons: The first story is slightly confusing, in some places.

Overall: The second volume in this series manages to maintain the high quality of storytelling and artwork from the first volume. This is a book that pairs over-the-top action with a thoughtful look into who the main characters truly are. This deadly combination works great in establishing an interesting narrative and solidifies this as a book any fan of Superman and/or batman should pick up.

Story

Batman/Superman Vol. 2: Game Over is a big volume with stories that range from good to great. Here, writer Greg Pak continues to compare and contrast Batman and Superman in order to enable the reader to better understand who they are. He does this by tossing the duo into intense and deadly situations, which makes this examination all the more interesting and exciting. This is a good book for any comic fan and a great one for fans of Batman and Superman.

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The first story, in this collection, is a three chapter saga that sees Mongul attempt to invade Earth by harnessing humanity’s violence. This is accomplished through a “video game” that uses nanotechnology to allow humans to control and fight actual superheroes. Though this unique premise can get a bit confusing in some places, it also lends itself well to over-the-top action and plenty of thrills.

However, this story isn’t just simple fighting. Pak also uses the nanotech-control plot device as a commentary on common comic book tropes. The beta testers in this “video game” constantly comment about what is happening to Batman and Superman. They remark on what feels real, what feels fake, and what feels like it has been done in too many comics already. This adds a dose of meta humor to the work that I’m sure plenty of comic fans will enjoy.

The next story involves Mongul’s son’s retribution after his father’s defeat. He forces Batman and Superman to gather members of their respective families and participate in a tournament to decide Warworld’s new leader. This allows for some fantastic moments between the book’s leads and Red Hood and Supergirl, two of the most rash and unpredictable allies that were available. A team-up like this is great from a comedic standpoint but also serves as another way for Pak to continue his ongoing examination into the series’ titular heroes.

Finally, the book closes out with a Batman/Superman and Worlds’ Finest crossover. At first, I was surprised by this and believed that it would end up being another forced crossover involving characters with little to no reason to interact. I was instantly proven wrong. With the existence of Earth 2 established back in Batman/Superman Vol. 1 (Review), this crossover feels completely natural and unlike forced crossovers between other series. It is even written in a way that makes it accessible to readers with no knowledge of what is happening in the Worlds’ Finest series, something rarely seen in crossovers like this.

Besides working as a crossover, this arc also works as an entertaining story. There are some great moments between all of the characters and all of their interactions feel meaningful. It also provides another avenue for Greg Pak to continue his exploration of Batman and Superman’s characters. Overall, this is another solid segment of an overall great book.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The volume starts out with Brett Booth taking over artwork. Though this change is a bit much at first, Booth’s more standard style of depicting heroics works better with the type of story being told here. This is an arc that celebrates and provides commentary on the very nature of heroes, so giving it an unmistakably superhero vibe was a great choice.

The rest of the volume mostly features the return of Jae Lee on art. As we said in our review of the first volume, Lee’s artwork is incredible and works wonderfully with Greg Pak’s storytelling. Superman, Batman, and all of their allies are drawn in such a unique and memorable way that every page feels like something fresh and interesting. The only problem is that R.B. Silva’s work on the Worlds’ Finest issues is an odd contrast to Jae Lee’s work. Even this problem is minimal though and can easily be overlooked in favor of the book’s many artistic positives.

Continuity

Batman/Superman Vol. 2: Game Over continues the story started in Batman/Superman Vol. 1: Cross World (Review).

The story here continues in Batman/Superman Vol. 3: Second Chance (Review).

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Batman briefly mentions John Corben’s transformation into Metallo. This happened in Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel.
• Jimmy Olsen’s recently acquired riches are referenced. He came into his money back in Superman Vol. 4: Psi-War (Review).
• Superman makes a passing remark about his fight with Darkseid. This happened in Justice League Vol. 1: Origin (Review).
• Batman mentions that Red Hood now has energy blades and intergalactic travel experience. The energy blades are explained by his involvement with the All-Caste, in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: REDemption (Review), and the intergalactic travel is explained by his involvement with Starfire, specifically what happens in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 2: The Starfire (Review).
• Batman has a quick flashback to traumatic incidents in both Batgirl and Red Hood’s lives.
  • The Batgirl flashback shows her being shot by the Joker, something that happened in Batman: The Killing Joke.
  • The Red Hood flashback show him after he was beaten to death by the Joker, something that happened in Batman: A Death in the Family.
• Krypto joined Superboy’s adventures at the very end of Superboy Vol. 3: Lost.
• The death’s of both Superboy and Damian Wayne are alluded to. Superboy died in Krypton Returns (Review). Damian died in Batman Incorporated Vol. 2: Gotham’s Most Wanted.
• The end of this book is a minor crossover with the Worlds’ Finest series that pulls in elements from both Worlds’ Finest and Earth 2.
  • Huntress and Power Girl’s escape from Earth 2 is first detailed in Earth 2 Vol. 1: The Gathering (Review).
    
  • Their first adventures on this Earth are detailed in Worlds’ Finest Vol. 1: The Lost Daughters of Earth 2.
  • The portion of their series that this volume crosses over with is detailed in Worlds’ Finest Vol. 4: First Contact.
• The being that comes through the portal, at the end of this collection, reflects the events happening in Earth 2 Vol. 4: The Dark Age.