Superman and Batman learn each others identities and a guest appearance from Dea-Ack!

[proteus_lives]

Greetings True Believers! This S_D 1.0 classic needed a re-post. Superman/Batman Annual #1. The issue that launched a thousand slashfics. The story that covered the founding of DC's greatest friendship (Or depending on your point of view, it's greatest romance).

This story has everything. Action, humor, the multiverse, screwing with Lois and a certain Merc with a Mouth?

Enjoy!


Bats and Supes take care of some baddies and joshing each other about uncovering each other's identities. Meanwhile....Deathstroke has been hired to kill Bruce Wayne.




Sitcom plot time: Clark and Lois are sent to cover a cruise while Bruce is on the same boat to help cement his "playboy" image.

Bruce and Clark meet, the hate each other on site. Sitcom plot time part 2: They have to share a room! The steward dude asks if one of them will give up the room:



There is dinner and dancing that night and Bruce and Clark compete for the Beard's...I mean Lois's attention. Clark accidentally saves Bruce from a poisoning ala Deathstroke.

The insult-flirting continues.



And the page that launched a thousand and one slashfics.



A dimensional rift opens above the ship.

I love this panel.



Time to hero-up! But first to get rid of that meddlesome reporter/playboy but wait! La'Gasp!!



I love the little background on Clark's "disguise".

Sitcom plot 3: The unexpected guest-star!



Lois runs into Owlman and Ultraman (Who also just met) who captures her. Meanwhile back in the cabin:



Ha! Shakespeare.

Supes grabs Lois back. Ultraman is Ultra-Creepy.



They are dispensing with "sub" in subtext.



Meanwhile, Superwoman is trying to kill Bruce but is stopped by Dea--Ack! (Running joke in the issue, he never gets to finish saying his name).



Ouch! My super-balls!

Bruce and Owlman meet.





The fight-fight continues with much of the funny. But that rift thing is starting to get serious.

Superwoman is all like "Screw This".



And the boys can't seem to stop flirting.



The plan swings into action and we bid adieu to our mysterious Merc.



The day is saved and everyone is in their proper universe. But the icing on the cake is of course...screwing with Lois so she stays in the dark about Bruce and Clark.





Oh Lois....Shut-up. I love this issue so much. I didn't even need S_D's corrupting influence to see the sub-text. BTW, Clark's super-ventriloquism? Silver-Age Superdickery! Ha!

Comments

[darkblade]

Clark: Can't take off my glasses to sleep....

[kamino_neko]

Man, Clark is just so snarky in this story - on the one hand, it seems out of character for him to say 'up yours' to Bruce, even under these circumstances, on the other...he gets some really good lines.

[infinityandbeyond]

I'd say Clark can be very snarky (and vicious, even) when he wants to. Especially with someone like Bruce, who always seems to bring out that side of people around him. And I also like his calm and restrained reply when Bruce insulted him again with the "combat for dummies" thing.

[lamashtar]

And then Lois became a crazywoman..

[01d55]

http://sindeloke.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/in-defense-of-lois-lane/

[arilou_skiff]

Also Not-Deadpool-at-All-Deathstroke is funny.

[aaron_bourque]

DeadpoolNotDeathstroke is the only good part of this. Too much snark. Bad rehash of a not that great olden days story . . .

Yeah. DeadpoolNotDeathstroke is the only good part of this.

[icon_uk]

I'm not even that struck on the Deathstroke part, since what made Deathstroke a smart guy when he was introduced AS A TITANS VILLAIN, it's that we discovered he has kept in business by avoiding costumed heroes at pretty much all costs. Retconning him as a villain for another hero(es) earlier is just irritating to me.

[superfangirl1]

I love just love bruce and clark being so snarky with each other!

Oh, that's lovely.

[jazzypom]

Strangely, Superman on his own bores me to death, and I'm *does a see saw motion with hand* so so towards Batman. But when they are together, it's its own magic. Is this in trade? I'd buy it today if it were.

Re: Oh, that's lovely.

[skund]

This. Well, I tend to like Batman but mostly because he has a cool ensemble. Superman on his own is just.. *snore*.

Sadly, this never made it into a trade.

[stig]

I really don't like that line. For one thing, I don't see any similarity between 16-17th-century language and the word 'Batarang'. For another, I'd have thought Superman an intelligent enough person to appreciate Shakespeare rather than use the name as a derogatory term.

Actually he meant the opposite.

[schala_kid]

I don't think that was the case, he was being sarcastic when he said " 'batarang' sounds like Shakespeare" I mean Bruce just told him "What you just said sounds kind of silly" to which Superman responded "Oh yeah and I am sure the way you call your stuff sounds really poetic"

So yeah Clark was just being sarcastic.

[khaosworks]

"He took a nasty blow to the head while he was cowering in his closet."

Right.

[autumn_lily]

Three words out of that sentence are spot on though, can you guess which?

[sun_man]

Superman and Owlman are awesome right here

[zordboy]

I don't like the snark between Clark and Bruce...

...but suffering sappho, could this have been *any* gayer?

Seriously?

"Blows" while cowering in the closet, Superman undressing Batman at mach 4, sharing a room and a bed (!), all the flirting (going on between *everyone*), Superwoman talking about sausage-fests (not the good kind, apparently), Lois leaving them alone to flirt. I mean, for goodness sake.

Sometimes the subtext is barely even there. Sometimes it's so obvious it has a neon sign. I wonder why Kelly just chose to amp up the homoeroticism so much, you know? It's just weird.

[jelly_ace]

Well, it is titled Superman/Batman.

[jelly_ace]

Heh. I love this issue. So fun and crazy and snarky.

And the subtext! Reading this and Annual #3, you get the idea that the / in S/B really does put things into the writers' minds.

[kamino_neko]

Well, Joe Kelly's mind anyway (he wrote all the annuals).

[salamangkiero]

That's just comic book gold right there. and NotDeadpool was an utter laugh - and makes sense that he'd be an opposite of sorts to Deathstroke. As for Owlman...uhm, I find him somehow more of a one-trick pony in this one.

[warsaw]

Good lord, where to even begin.

[sherkahn]

Start at Deadpool, and end right back at Deadpool.

[angelophile]

What's Deadpool doing there?

[thandrak]

The backstroke.

[dalf]

Ryan Ottley drew part of this, right? Oh, I love his art. And it fits the story really well!

There's a little bit of OOC, but I'm willing to let it slide, since it's such a fun story!

[supergirl]

holy balls I can't stop laughing

[rani]

I'm a fan of Bruce's fancy jammies. And the shout-out to Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby with the fluffy robe.

[joasakura]

oh. man. I always loved this ish.

The part where Clark grabs him at superspeed; "BUH-GYUH!" never fails to crack me up.

Also, Dea-ACK! <3<3<3

[ravenous_raven]

agreed! plus Deadpool's "Brokeback Titanic..." see D.C., even /Deadpool/ gets it!

[taggerung301]

this issue was spectacular
I burst out laughing every time I read it

[ravenous_raven]

*see icon*...because this is AWESOME! man, so many icon opportunities, so little time...

[joysweeper]

*can't. stop. sniggering*

Oh, gold. I've read these scans twice now. Hee.

That's textbook There Is Only One Bed right there. *links that page to this*

*adds to memories*

[megami18]

Hey, has anyone ever posted scans of the original Silver Age (Golden Age) story that this one was copied from? I used to own it in a hardcover collection when I was a kid, and that was the story that single-handedly got me into comics. I'd love to read it again if anyone would mind posting it. It was pretty slashy too, if I recall

[psychopathicus_rex]

I would, too - consider it second-requested.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I liked the way Owlman was apologetic over the "secret identity" thing.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[korvarthefox.livejournal.com]

"We aren't going to get along, are we?"

"Apparently not."