Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Michael Turner
Publisher: DC/Titan Books
"What made [Michael Turner's female depictions] sexy wasn't the typical pinup shot of adolescent male fantasies..." - Jeph Loeb on Michael Turner.
I open this book at random - a double page spread of two appallingly badly anatomied young female, wearing virtually nothing, brandishing penis replacements at each other, both with legs spread, with a whole numeber of other scantily clad ladies of dubious parentage (well with legs, waists and tits like that, they ain't human) standing around.
I open the book again: Superman has a face drawn with a ruler - straight line for his chin, diagonal lines for his jaw...
YMMV. Personally I find Turner's figure work to be ludicrous, to show a distinct lack of knowledge of how people look, and move, and act, and to me it distracts from the story. If you happen to appreciate his style, then you'll obviously get much more from the art than I did.
The story, then. Another spaceship crashes to Earth, with a fully grown Kara, cousin of Kal-El, in it - Supes thinks she's the real deal, Bats thinks she may be an imposter and they should be careful. Although the story was pretty much painting by numbers and laughable at times, I actually enjoyed it in an "action movie of the week" type of way. Also, Loeb plays Superman just right - i.e. he's as thick as two short planks, just really really powerful - and it's Batman who gets all the best lines, who has the best plan to defeat Darkseid on Apokolips and basically acts all mean and moody and - well, spot on.
From a Bat-fan perspective, it's a jolly good romp; forgetable, sure, but nice while it lasts, easy to digest and can be taken in in one sitting. If you dig the art, so much the better.
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