Posts: 1099 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Joined: 29.07.05
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #34
Written by Mark Verheiden
Art and Cover by Pat Lee
Edited by Eddie Berganza
PLOT:
Doc Magnus's new Metal Men, last seen in the pages of 52, are unleashed on the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. But first up is the horror that Superman foe Metallo has become!
REVIEW:
The Metal Men are another DCU team many old time fans know of. Created as a last minute 4 parter filler for the Showcase title, the team became unexpectly popular and went into their own title. And now, a film is in the working stages. But for me, I only read a future version in Kingdom Come and seen them in JLA #1, which I reviewed. So I knew of them, but anything beyond that was unknown to me. But because of Infinite Crisis, anything they were in in the '90s were retconned. So I was safe. So for this arc, it would sorta new to me as I never read the team as a whole. So let's go see.
The storyline here is about how Superman & Batman met Doc Mangus and his Metal Men. So in timeline terms, this either takes place before Meltzer's JLA #1 or after let's say the JLa/JSA team (unless another story will follow that). So that would mean this is their first public appearance. On the Superman/Batman title, I always did arc reviews. And while I wanted to do the change from arc reviews to simple issue reviews to this title, this issue didn't have enough of anything to say for a full review. But I'll try.
There is a bit of a subplot with Metallo who appears in this issue in a psycho appearance, as Superman says, thanks to his kryptonite heart now in a human body, Metallo is deteriorating. But Batman knows that even Metallo couldn't sneak in WayneTech to get a some skin-tech on his own. This goes back to the Metal Men, and the mystery that this issue leaves off on. The Metal Men do subdue the plant (Waynetech) in the end, so the question is: what is in the plant that they want? Is it the skin tech? And what's their plan on all this? Well that’s where the next issue would have to come in, so we need to wait.
As far as it goes for the Metal Men, the story here does give a bit of insight for those who do not read 52 from the character of Helen on Doc Mangus. We do see that Helen cares for him, but in an odd way so does the female robot; Platinum, or Tina (in this issue she is known also as Platina). The fact that Platinum is in love with Magnus isn't anything new to old readers, but the odd love triangle (if there is one) might be something new. Also new is a new member of the Metal Men: Copper. While nothing is revealed to her yet, it’s been said that she is sorta like a mother figure. Anything else beyond that; is where we need to wait until the next issue.
Overall, this issue of the three parter was still good. We got action, and small emotion, and the mystery of what’s going on is what’s going to lead me to the next issue. Then again, anything would get me to the next issue of any title. While at first I thought I might need to stay reviewing arcs on this title, reviewing issues of Superman/Batman of an arc will be okay for me. Don't get me wrong, I did review single issues of Superman/Batman but they were not part of a arc. Still, this three parter might be a nice treat for both fans of Superman/Batman & The Metal Men.
RATING: 3/5
Next Issue: A Metal War, now a Star War.
You don't get it, boy... this isn't a mudhole... it's an operating table.
(crack!)
And I'm the surgeon.
- Batman - The Dark Knight Returns
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