by: RILEY GOLDEN/Editorial Assistant
Batman and Superman are in the Batcave discussing the first time they met.
Kaiyo, the Chaos Bringer, a demon, teleported Batman and Superman to another world where they would fight and beat older versions of themselves. The heroes left the world to be destroyed by Darkseid, and Superman is telling Batman that they need to go back. Before they can finish their conversation, Kaiyo appears and teleports them to Earth-2, an alternate DC comics universe.
“Batman/Superman: Second Chance” sends our heroes to Earth-2 Smallville, Superman’s hometown. Kaiyo is giving Batman and Superman a second chance, but it takes them some time to figure out why.
Batman points out that they’re intangible, but they soon realize that they have a split second to become tangible at certain points to change the outcome that this world will have. This could alter everything about space and time, which affects how they make choices throughout the comic.
After Batman and Superman are given some exceptionally difficult choices to make about intervening in Earth-2, and the awesome appearance of Batman’s daughter, Kaiyo brings them back to their world, Gotham City, but with a twist. Batman and Superman have no idea who they are.
It’s quite interesting and amusing to see Clark Kent wake up with no memories. He makes note of not knowing who he is, and has the feeling of being invulnerable to anything on this world. Superman, still gaining consciousness, crosses paths with Catwoman as she is being chased by a large, creepy looking robot– known as Mangubat– and naturally reacts to help the damsel in distress. There are some steamy conversations between the two, to put it mildly.
At the same time, Bruce Wayne is waking up with the same problems. Very curious as to why he is dressed like a bat, he gets attacked by Scarecrow and almost dies. But his body reacts naturally to save him.
Still playing cat and mouse with Scarecrow, Batman gets gassed by Scarecrow’s fear gas, but quickly realizes that someone with no memories has no fears, and is able to overtake Scarecrow.
Later on in the story, Alfred, Wayne’s lifelong butler and guardian, gets Bruce ready for an event, and he just cannot get enough of being the richest guy around. He has a blast with his expensive toys, and even takes a bat-toy out as Bruce Wayne, unable to consider consequences that he has no way of predicting, which is quite comical. He even manages to get romantically entangled with Lois Lane, Reporter for the Daily Planet and Superman’s longtime love interest.
In the midst of all of the chaos on earth, Kaiyo is at The Edge of the Realm of Darkness, where he encounters Lord Satanus, Ruler of Earth’s Dark Realm. This takes it too far. It was just weird. Lord Satanus is an obvious reference to Christian theology’s Satan, and he looks very creepy. Not to mention Kaiyo catches the reader very much off guard because he is pink-skinned and also has quite a menacing appearance.
My first reaction when I opened the comic was that the art was very cartoon-esque. That being said, the art style grows on you. But by the time that happens, the art style changes to a darker tone.
My favorite part of the comic, both visually and story wise, is when Batman and Superman remember who they are. The way their memories coming back is portrayed is very aesthetically pleasing, and Batman’s almost left me in awe. The way the artist drew all of the key moments of Bruce Wayne’s life coming back to him is magnificent, to say the least.
Aside from the almost too farfetched appearances of Lord Satanus and the demon, Kaiyo, the dynamic of Superman and Batman living their lives with a few different spins and romances makes for a fun read. Although I did not love the art, it was decent, and the story was fun. I just think it would have benefitted from Lord Satanus not being there.
I give “Batman/Superman: Second Chance” 3 out of 5 stars.
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