Batman/Superman #22 – Gene Luen Yang, Writer; Paul Pelletier, Penciller; Keith Champagne, Inker; Hi-Fi, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: The Gene Luen Yang run on Batman/Superman has been shockingly good, a meta exploration of the multiverse through the perspective of what these two heroes would have been without each other. But I never would have expected a finale like this brilliant done-in-one. The multiversal adventures are over, but a new cosmic tale is awaiting, courtesy of two unlikely partners—Mr. Mxyzptlk and Calendar Man. The mad Julian Day was one of many villains to die on A-Day, choking out on Joker gas as he obsessively doodled in his calendar, but he got a second chance as Mxyzptlk plucked him out of oblivion and cured him. They have a bond, you see. Calendar Man is obsessed with the little boxes of calendars because they help him understand the world, and Mxyzptlk reveals a shocking truth to him—they all exist in little boxes, because they’re contained within the panels of a comic book.
This gives Calendar Man a unique cosmic ability thanks to his awareness and Mxy’s magic hat—he can now see the panels, and interact with them. So get ready for one of the most fantastic single issues of pure, chaotic physical comedy you’ve ever seen as Calendar Man unleashes his new cosmic powers on rival villains and ultimately on Batman and Superman themselves. This issue demands careful reading, maybe more than one, because there are so many wonderful little details mixed in thanks to Yang’s script and Pelletier’s detailed, old-school art. The way Calendar Man interacts with the page—not always to his benefit—is incredibly clever. Mxyzptlk doesn’t get as much page time, but his closing monologue is one of the most perfect cappers to a comic I’ve seen in some time. This isn’t a long run, but with this finale it’s proving itself to be one of the very best DC books I’ve read in a long time. Don’t miss it and give Gene Luen Yang the credit he deserves.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
