We all know that Dark Knight Returns spawned Batman vs. Superman as a meme, but Son of Krypton and Bat of Gotham had battled plenty of times before, although it was always a hoax, or due to red kryptonite, or some other dodge where they were best friends again when it was all over. Heck, just about every World's Finest cover in the late 1960s had the two of them fighting each other one way or the other.
My question is: What are the best BvS stories you remember?
For example, there was a World's Finest where Superman hypnotized Batman into forgetting Supey's secret ID to see if Batman could ferret it out, thereby pointing out any holes in the Clark Kent cover story. Batman did, and Superman became angry and demanded to be hypnotized into forgetting Batman's ID, so he could show that he could figure that out, too. He did -- because Batman secretly helped him. What I remember about it is that it showed Superman being genuinely petty -- it wasn't red kryptonite, or Mr. Mxyzptlk, or any other dodge -- Superman was genuinely being a jerk, but Batman played along anyway, because they're pals.
Another I only vaguely remember is one where Superman lost his powers and became Nova, figuring he could be like Batman. Only he was terrible at it, and once again Batman had to secretly help him out. (Or something like that -- I read part one and part two literally decades apart.)
Another is where Superman replaced Batman with a partner who turned out to be a robot -- he was using ther robot to protect Batman for some reason and, of course, had to lie to him to justify the cover.
Anybody else have any favorites? I'll run a "top 10 BvS battles" column if y'all can help me think of enough of them!
And, of course, there's Kingdom Come and that other Mark Waid story where Batman's plans to kill the Justice League were stolen and used.
Replies
Superman wanted to help and had good intentions but was still condescending and, while he might not have deserved the beating he got, he certainly earned it!
I guess we weren't supposed to think about it, but if Kryptonians become super on Earth, why don't Earthlings become so weak they can't stand up on Krypton or in Kandor?
I remember a Jimmy Olsen story where he went back in time and became Kal-El's babysitter on Krypton. He did, in fact, have to wear special gravity boots to stand up. I don't recall another time where that was the case -- probably too cumbersome.
Richard Willis said:
Good one!
Philip Portelli said:
World's Finest Comics pitted our heroes so often they could've named the book Batman vs. Superman. I haven't read most of these stories in a couple of decades, so I don't remember if they were any good. But here's a sample:
Other issues to consider include #240 (a zany Bob Haney tale in which Superman becomes King of Kandor and Batman assassinates him; it's not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story), #249 (more Haney zaniness; Superman is turned into a vampire and Batman nearly impales him with a magic stalagmite; the Phantom Stranger guested and the pencils were by Kurt Schaffenberger), and #258 (by Denny O'Neil; Batman is infected with a Kryptonian plague [from #256] that transforms him as seen on the cover. I only got to skip-read this one.)
I've not read #287 or #301, which also seem to be candidates. #302 has them fighting on the cover, but the GCD says the cover story was a reprint of the Neal Adams Superman and Batgirl vs Batman and Supergirl story from #176. They're not shown fighting on the cover of #176, but they do fight inside.
#180, with Superman about to throw Batman to his death on the cover, was the second part of the Nova tale. The two-parter was an imaginary story. When Superman tackled a gang as Nova he pulled his punches by force of habit and was captured. The gang implanted a device that controlled his mind and caused him to attempt to kill Batman. The pencils were by Ross Andru. Andru's Batcave was based on the one from the TV show.
"The Super-Key to Fort Superman!" from Action Comics #241 might also be considered a Superman vs Batman story. A two-parter in Lois Lane #99-#100 had Superman and Batman on the opposite sides of the trial of Lois for the murder of Lana. I've read the second part, and don't remember it as very good.
Silver Age DC (except for LSH & JLA, maybe) is not my forte. I would love to see a collection (or two) of those stories posted above. I never owned or read World's Finest #180, but there was a house add for it in a comic I did have. I always wanted to read that story.
As for my own choice, I'm going to go with John Byrne's Man of Steel #3, which set the tone for the post-Crisis Superman/Batman dichotomy ("my" Superman and Batman) for years to come.
For example, there was a World's Finest where Superman hypnotized Batman into forgetting Supey's secret ID to see if Batman could ferret it out, thereby pointing out any holes in the Clark Kent cover story. Batman did, and Superman became angry and demanded to be hypnotized into forgetting Batman's ID, so he could show that he could figure that out, too. He did -- because Batman secretly helped him. What I remember about it is that it showed Superman being genuinely petty -- it wasn't red kryptonite, or Mr. Mxyzptlk, or any other dodge -- Superman was genuinely being a jerk, but Batman played along anyway, because they're pals.
Five years ago, I did a Deck Log entry on this one---"A Forgotten Gem: World's Finest Comics # 149 (May, 1965). Here's the link: https://captaincomics.ning.com/profiles/blogs/deck-log-entry-122-a
It's one of the best stories to appear in the title after Mort Weisinger took over as editor.
Richard Willis said:
Actually, Mr. Willis, that was addressed. Not invariably, but in most of the adventures which saw an Earthman. such as Jimmy Olsen, entering Kandor, there was a reference to donning gravity-shoes so he could stand in Kandor's gravity (which simulated Krypton's).
Case in point: the story which prompted your comment---"The Feud Between Batman and Superman", from World's Finest Comics # 143. Here's the germane panel:
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