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Superman/Batman: Generations

Superman/Batman: Generations

List Price: $17.95
Your Price: $12.21
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Met the Goals and Open For Future Chapters
Review: John Byrne set out with the idea of showing how comicbook characters (Superman, Batman, and their respective casts) might have developed if the characters were allowed to age real time. It starts with the two heroes meeting in 1939, and it presents additional chapters set at the 10 year intervals. Each chapter is written and drawn in the style of the comics of that decade - thus the styles vary from chapter to chapter. John does an excellent job capturing each era. In reading this book, one might feel that a lot of story happens "off panel" - since each chapter only shows one point in a year and happens 10 years after the previous chapter. This was part of John's intention as well. The whole idea was to tell a story while outlining events. The hope is for more of the stories and other years to be filled in with follow on projects. And it appears that DC has green-lighted for John to do Generations II which should hit stores in 2001.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Strange
Review: Pretty good job conjuring the feel for the comics of each era, but overall disappointing. I found the ending a bit weird and depressing ("Oh, well, everyone's dead but we're OK, ha ha.") Not without interest, but veers all over the place. And, like I said, depressing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A "must" for all Batman and Superman fans.
Review: Superman and Batman are more than just another couple of superhero comic book charecters. They are icons of American popular culture. John Byrne is a master writer and illustrator in the field of comics and graphic novels who has turned his imagination and talents to creating a modern graphic novel masterpiece in Superman & Batman: Generations. Set in an "alternate reality" (a concept very familiar to comic book readers) Byrne takes the first meeting of Superman (Clark Kent) and Batman (Bruce Wayne) in 1939) and then follows their life stories for a spectrum of a thousand years. Here are all the familiar supporting characters such as Lois Lane, Robin, Jimmy Olsen, Alfred, Perry White, Lex Luthor, the Joker, and Raz a' Ghul, but positioned in new roles and relationships showing "what if" alternatives if things had turned out differently from the traditional canon of Superman and Batman tales. Everything is thrown in to these interconnecting stories (each laid in chapters dedicated to succeeding decades) and include everything from robots to immortality. Superman & Batman: Generations is a "must" for anyone who has ever thrilled to the stories of the caped crusader masquerading as a playboy millionaire, or the man of steel to be found behind the disguise of a mild mannered reporter.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Disappointing execution of a wonderful idea.
Review: This is a wonderful idea: what if Superman and Batman's careers had begun in the late 30s, when they first appeared, and they'd remained active ever since, eventually getting married, having children, etc. Sadly, it doesn't come off well in execution. The story is disjointed and often disconcertingly grisly, the art perfunctory and phoned-in (it's not a patch on Byrne's lovely work on BATMAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA, which exists in the same world), and overall it never achieves the poignancy or strength of DC's own Earth-Two stories of years ago. Too bad.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Creative Reworking of the World's Finest
Review: This is an imaginary tale. One set in a different sort of comic universe. One where the characters age at a normal rate. Central to the story are two classic heroes, Superman and the Batman.

Skipping ahead through time in ten-year increments (with a final chapter taking place earlier than the rest), we follow the careers of Superman and Batman as well as their personal lives; spouses and children. There are some classic villains thrown into the mix but this is really the story of lives and not individual adventures.

Byrne does a very good job of capturing the look and feel of the comics' eras the stories are set in. He even includes the original inconsistencies in the universe (i.e. Superman originally could not fly (leaping in single bounds) but Superboy could). Unfortunately, information like this that was included in the original introductions were cut from this collected edition thus causing some confusion.

Some of the book is very dark as with aging comes dying. There are arguments, strife, separations and mysteries. Who did Bruce Wayne marry? We don't know as her face is never shown. But the effect of these generational glimpses is one of a complete story that is entertaining all the way.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Creative Reworking of the World's Finest
Review: This is an imaginary tale. One set in a different sort of comic universe. One where the characters age at a normal rate. Central to the story are two classic heroes, Superman and the Batman.

Skipping ahead through time in ten-year increments (with a final chapter taking place earlier than the rest), we follow the careers of Superman and Batman as well as their personal lives; spouses and children. There are some classic villains thrown into the mix but this is really the story of lives and not individual adventures.

Byrne does a very good job of capturing the look and feel of the comics' eras the stories are set in. He even includes the original inconsistencies in the universe (i.e. Superman originally could not fly (leaping in single bounds) but Superboy could). Unfortunately, information like this that was included in the original introductions were cut from this collected edition thus causing some confusion.

Some of the book is very dark as with aging comes dying. There are arguments, strife, separations and mysteries. Who did Bruce Wayne marry? We don't know as her face is never shown. But the effect of these generational glimpses is one of a complete story that is entertaining all the way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great story.
Review: This is one of the well thought out graphic novels I've ever read. The life stories of Superman and Batman are excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A brilliant Elseworlds novel
Review: This was really interesting and it is great to see what would happen if they grew old! It's a very clever graphic novel which starts in 1938 when they are both there normal age but as time goes by they get children and their families grow old around them. Superman looks like he does in the Seigel/Shuster comics but gradually changes to the Superman we know. His daughter is a brown haired supergirl with half his powers and Lex Luthor isn't the same Lex Luthor that Superboy knows!

This explains why Lex doesn't realise that Superman is Clark. Lex worked for this criminal boss but there was an accident where Luthor lost his brain but the boss lost the use of his body. They had an operation to swop and the boss became Lex.

Another cool thing is that as everyone grows around Superman, he has to wear face make up because he doesn't grow old! When he is Superman he just wipes it all off!

Batman grows old though so Dick Grayson becomes Batman and Bruce's son becomes Robin.

It's a really interesting Elseworlds comic book that I think all Superman and Batman fans should have a look at!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This is why Byrne is burned out.
Review: This was such a silly Superman/Batman story full of Byrne's under-welming writing and his dreadful artwork. Maybe he should retire from comics for good.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The world's finest at their lowest
Review: We all know that Superman is the ultimate boy scout, but in this story it's just too much. After all the man of steel goes through here, you'd expect he'd throw the villian into the sun, but no... the story is so insipid that... sorry I can't keep writing about this.


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