Superman/Batman: Generations

Reviewed: Superman and Batman: Generations TPB by John Byrne

The plot: The friendship of two superheroes from the early part of the 20th Century into the far future is explored, as is the dynasty that rises and falls as a result of their relationship.

I have been a harsh critic of the work of John Byrne for the past few years, as he has turned out project after project that has disappointed, disgusted and infuriated me.

Face it: John Byrne drawing Spider-Man should have been one of the most fun, exciting superhero comics in years, especially with the level of creative freedom he now enjoys at whatever company he chooses to ply his trade. Instead, we got Spider-Man Chapter One, a book packed with retroactive continuity "fixes" so unnecessary and insulting to the readers, creators and characters themselves that the storyline is considered canonical only by Byrne and his collaborators on the current Spider-titles (and perhaps the most forgiving of readers). Byrne's retcon of the Hulk's origin was so absurd and insulting that even Marvel was denying it was canon before the ink was dry on the paper.

His work for DC immediately preceding his return to Marvel was monumentally boring: Wonder Woman, I can understand how it might be tough to make her interesting. But Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters, in the hands of the man who plotted and drew Byrne's classic runs on Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four, should have been awe-inspiring, not yawn-inspiring.

So, when Superman and Batman: Generations hit the stands as a four issue series, I went out of my way to ignore it. It had to suck.

Now I learn, it didn't. Not at all. In fact, it's a really entertaining read.

And it's difficult to figure out why. Why is this book, which plays so well with the mythology of the two most famous superheroes in the history of the world, so entertaining, while Byrne's take on the third-most famous superhero, Wonder Woman, was so God-awful dull? Spider-Man and the Hulk are edging in on icon territory as well, and Byrne has proved completely, utterly incompetent in depicting their tales.

I really have no theories about this strange paradox, other than to say that when Byrne wants to, he can still turn out competent, entertaining superhero work. This book, and the Batman/Captain America one-shot that preceded it, prove that in spades. When he doesn't put in the effort, though, well...Spider-Man Chapter One.

Also, it almost goes without saying that this is an Elseworlds title...but then again, in their way, so are Spider-Man Chapter One and Byrne's brief, disastrous Hulk run.

Byrne comments in one way or another one just about every aspect of these two characters over the length and breadth of their existence. He uses as his stepping-off point the idea that Superman and Batman debuted in the late 1930s, and lived out their lives to the present day (and beyond) all in one connected, linear timeline. No multiple Earths, no retroactive continuity, no time-compressed, eternally young heroes high on super-soldier formula. Just two men living their lives, growing old, and creating a dynasty with their two families that endures through time. Touched by glory and tainted by tragedy, the dynasty nonetheless endures.

It reminds me of a story Jim Steranko did for a Superman anniversary issue years ago, but Byrne is far more generous with detail and makes it intensely personal, where Steranko's tale was somewhat cold and distanced. Steranko saw Superman and his dynasty as a tale of Gods; Generations, at its heart, is tells a tale of men. Good men, like Superman and Batman, flawed, evil men like Lex Luthor and the Joker, and the men and women who have the misfortune of getting caught in the middle.

Byrne either researched this meticulously or called upon deep reserves of memory to use even the most obscure moments of DC Universe history as lynchpins of his sprawling, yet eminently human, storyline. He introduces the Ultra-Humanite, I believe the very first supervillain in the Superman mythos, and weaves his existence with Lex Luthor's in a way that is beyond clever. Because it not only provides an unexpected plot twist, it also serves as meta-comment on the manner in which Luthor inherited the mantle of the earlier villain over the life of the series.

Much the same is the Joker/Joker Junior subplot here. While The Jokerz have supplanted the Joker in the Batman Beyond continuity on television, my four-year old son still calls them all "The Joker." The boy knows an archetype when he sees it. The Jokerz might not be "The" Joker, but they fill the same role, and call up all the subtext of six decades plus of myth-making. That Byrne is capable of making me think of the lessons of Joseph Campbell in such a positive and unexpected way speaks volumes of what he remains capable of doing in comics, if he wanted to apply himself.

I mentioned that this is a sprawling saga, and it is. It ventures from the familiar streets of Gotham and Metropolis to the jungles of Viet Nam and the deepest reaches of intergalactic space, all the while remaining focused on the humanity of Batman and Superman, and the (sometimes tragic) effect they have on the lives of those they love.

Byrne manages to cram tons of story into the 192 pages of Generations. Any story using Lex Luthor, Ra's Al Ghul, the Joker, Bat-Mite, Mr. Mxyzptlk, multiple Robins, the Justice Society of America, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and oh yeah, Batman and Superman and their familiar cast of characters, without giving any of them the short-shrift, has something going for it. That Byrne has chosen to put his heart into the writing and artwork make it his best work in years.

I'd like to see more like this.