Superman/Batman #6

[history79]

Comments

[lucean]

This was such a baffling end to the Luthor presidency storyline. Also something I never quite understood was that, unless my memory fails me, Luthor apparently did not know that Batman was Bruce Wayne, but still consideried the murder of the Waynes a way to distract him. This was so utterly bonkers.

Looking back, there is something I'm curious about. This storyline happened around the time Dan Didio arrived to the company and shortly before he become the Editor-in-Chief. Now as controversial Didio was already back then, looking back its clear that he really started asserting editorial control and reverting a lot of the directions even before officially taking over. The reason I've been thinking about is that what they did with Luthor seems so fitting to what Didio did overall. Quickly simplify things, kill off complex situations and kind of push it back to old standards for the characters.

[ozaline]

There was a throw away line by Clark early on saying that people know Bats is obsessed with that mystery even without knowing he is Bruce.

[mrwalker]

The Waynes were pretty well known I suppose, so it can make sense. At least more so than Lex knowing who BOTH Bruce and Clark are in BvS. Though Gotham's close proximity to Metropolis in the films + Batman having been around for decades at that point makes his knowledge of Batman's ID a little more palatable...

[crimsonmoonmist]

Clark, you could just hold a conference, say your piece about why Luthor shouldn't be trusted, implore people not to vote for him and let them decide for themselves without breaching the idea of a democracy. Just staying silent when you know what you know is kind of irresponsible.

[nyadnar17]

Its different for people like Captain America and Superman isn't it? For better or worse they have(had in Cap's case) cult like followings among millions of people.

[an_idol_mind]

Wouldn't that be true of any high-end celebrity endorsing a politician, though?

[lordultimus]

And as we all know, high-end celebrities are shining examples of using their influence responsibly and selflessly.

[crinos]

For some reason DC comics has this weird idea that Super heroes should no endorse or decry political candidates. Which, IMHO, is the sort of "Both sides" crap that got us Donald Trump as a President. So yeah, Clark was an idiot here.

[ozaline]

Captain America also once said he had to stay out of politics while Rogers is free to campaign. I think Supes feels the same way... Clark can speak against Lex as far as journalistic ethics go Superman may not.

[beyondthefringe]

This is what led to that bizarre miniseries a few years back which actually did have the various DC heroes taking sides during an election season. So you had like, Bill Willingham and Judd Winick having various heroes like Green Arrow and Hawkman openly supporting candidates while Superman refused to say who he'd support.

[icon_uk]

And Superman explained that heroes should not endorse a candidate because they are never up for election themselves, and viewed it as abuse of the position of trust which they hold in the minds of the electorate.

[strejdaking]

I mean, even if he thinks of himself as too big a deal, can't any of the JLA go to say something? Luthor is still a guy who tried to kill them all with his Legion of Doom right?

[mrwalker]

It really is baffling. Luthor is a mass-murdering monster, and the heroes KNOW it, even if they can't prove it in a court of law. Superman is one thing, but to have NO heroes speak out against Lex (AFAIK anyway) boggles the mind. It comes off as supremely arrogant in a way...like Clark thinks people would be robbed of their choice and free will in the election if he tells people they shouldn't vote for Lex.

[lordultimus]

Still a better story than Ultimatum.

[captainbellman]

There again, Nick Cage's "The Wicker Man" was a better story than "Ultimatum". It is a low, low bar to leap

[plastefuchs]

Wicker Man also brought us better memes than Ultimatum, so it got that going for it too.

[thatnickguy]

1) I normally love Ed McGuinness' art. And this story certainly had plenty of great examples of his work. But the pages with Superman punching Luthor's armor doesn't make sense. Even though it's obvious he's supposed to be punching it over and over, there's no indication of movement. Without any action lines, it looks more like he's pushing his fist into it.

2) Funny how they dropped that bomb about John Corben and then did jack all with it.

3) Such a sad, disappointing end to Luthor's presidency. I've said it before in other scans of this story, but the idea had endless potential and it was largely wasted, save for a small handful of stories. And then just ends with, "Nope, Luthor suddenly gets nuts, hops up on Super-Venom, and has a big fight in his power armor." Sigh.

4) He originally said something else at the end of this, but they changed it just before release so it tied in with the upcoming Infinite Crisis. I don't recall what he said originally.

[trooper924]

Regarding #4, I believe it was "Clark Kent is Superman", then they changed it and later referenced it in the Maximums story arc by showing Mr. Mxyzptlk use his magic to alter what Luthor was saying.

[thatnickguy]

I'm 500% certain it wasn't that. He learned Clark was Superman early into his presidency. I remember because a White House worker handed him a report, showing footage of Superman's rocket crashing in Kansas. Then Luthor killed him to keep the secret for himself. Another idea with unlimited potential that they wasted (his excuse for doing nothing was because he was still in love with Lois and didn't want to ruin her life by proxy).

Then later on, when he was still president, Manchester Black wiped his memory of Superman's identity.

[trooper924]

I don't know about all that, but I'm looking at my hardcover collection of the Maximums' story arc right now and it shows Mxyzptlk changing Luthor's dialogue from "Clark Kent is Superman..." to what's printed above.

[thatnickguy]

The issue I'm referring to long predates that, during Loeb's run on Superman, before the Superman/Batman series launched.

[sean_613]

Why didn't superman realize that Lex knew his secret identity when he brought up the barn line?

[balbanes]

Why is the final panel a blatant rip-off of Wolverine's infamous "now it's my turn" moment in X-men #132? I don't have a problem with books playing homage to famous scenes, but the two situations here have nothing in common.

I'm not the only one that sees it, right?

[icon_uk]

After YEARS of buildup to the Luthor Presidency and all the dramatic potential it had, and did indeed gave, THIS was the story they wasted it's culmination on? Sigh...

[scorntx]

What Jeph Loeb gives in a poorly executed storyline, Jeph Loeb can also take in a poorly executed storyline.