After a wacky jaunt into the world of role playing games gone horribly awry, Greg Pak and (YES!!) Jae Lee have returned to the other worldly and bizarre with Batman Superman #8. For those reading Earth 2 and Worlds’ Finest, Power Girl and Huntress are nothing new, for those who have not, a little history lesson.
During the battle with Darkseid on Earth 2, Supergirl and Huntress (then known as Robin), were sent through a portal, one that dumped them off in our world. Since then, they’ve been Power Girl and Huntress, a crime fighting duo like no other. Now, in Batman Superman #8, things have gone awry. Power Girl is displaying power spikes, ones that force her abilities to act out in very destructive ways. Unable to control them, she has fled the side of her best friend Huntress, who is left with no choice but to reach out to Batman, the man who was her father on Earth 2, but here is a total stranger.
Batman is thrown right off his game. Not only is he dealing with a woman who is his daughter from another dimension, he also has to deal with her being the child of Selina Kyle, indicating a relationship with her that he could never have on this Earth. Huntress and Batman attempt to find Power Girl and figure out what’s wrong, preferably before Superman is brought into the mix. At this point in their relationship, Batman and Superman are not exactly best buds. Batman doesn’t trust Superman, and finds his inability to not play the hero aggravating.
Such is life, and when Superman hears of another Kryptonian, even one from another dimension, in trouble, he must fly into action. Problem is, without knowing what’s causing Power Girl’s power spikes, Batman is afraid it might start affecting Superman, thus leaving the two most powerful creatures on planet Earth out of control. While there is action and intrigue to Batman Superman #8, Greg Pak is really analyzing how Superman and Batman differ – how each man pursues right and justice, but in completely opposite styles. The New 52 has allowed some exciting grey area to play with the budding friendship, and Pak takes full advantage of it.
Pak is so effective because he can play the bombastic, as he does in Action Comics, but also the subtle, as with Batman Superman. Pak focuses on the psychological events, the stress of Power Girl, the weird family dynamic between Batman and Huntress, the family dynamic between the Kryptonians, and the dynamic between Batman and Superman. Humanizing those with great power has always been Pak’s forte, and here it makes the characters that much more layered and interesting.
Jae Lee is back on art duties, so the rejoicing never ends. This is magical stuff, really unique and exciting. Lee has touches of Norman Rockwell and Alex Toth, but never loses his original eye. Dealing with dark subject matter, Lee brings a texture of nightmares to his panels. Things are foreboding, especially with Batman and Huntress, and Superman becomes elemental, almost primal. Nobody works in the way Jae Lee does, which is something you can’t often say about comic book artists.
(4 Story, 4 Art)
