Oddly enough, around issue 94 of World's Finest, the writers felt the need to give us an origin of the Batman/Superman team-up. There are two things wrong with this. One, this does not retell the actual story of the first Superman/Batman team-up and two, the framing device is a much better story.
Batman and Robin get wind of a revenge plot by a recently escaped Lex Luthor, so they rush to Metropolis to help their buddy, Superman. Superman shows up, but surprise! he has a new partner, Powerman.
Batman and Robin get their feelings hurt by the brusque manner in which Superman and his new friend blow them off. They even take potshots at Powerman, as if they're so insecure they have to tear him down behind Superman's back. My favorite slight is "Whoever he is, Superman had to carry him, he can't fly, so he hasn't superpowers." First of all, you guys don't have superpowers either. Secondly, the lack of flying ability does not logically eliminate the presence of superpowers. Aquaman can't fly, the Flash can't fly. Clearly jealousy has impaired their logic. To be fair, Powerman's only obvious power is his superhuman obnoxiousness:
Just so all you gentle readers won't worry too much for the fragile egos of the Dynamic Duo, I'll let you in on a little secret: Powerman is one of Superman's robots in disguise. Superman dressed him up so he could help if Luthor used Kryptonite without Batman and Robin being endangered by the evil genius' death ray device. I would like to point out that Superman's robots, in every other appearance, can fly. Also, I have no idea why Superman makes Powerman speak with a "remote control tape recorder device" when he could have just used his Super Ventriloquism.
Even more puzzling is why Superman seems to have such a low opinion of Batman and Robin's abilities to defend themselves against Lex Luthor.
No comments:
Post a Comment