Batman #36: Superfriends Preview

[Kuwagaton]

Thanks to Jon11 in the Lois and Clark thread for finding this preview at the AV Club and posting the pictures there.

https://www.avclub.com/superfriends-...clu-1820918610

Superman and Batman feeling very much like their traditional "night same as day" selves.

[blitzwolf215]

Lol

Superman: " He should call ME!"

Batman: " NO, he should call ME!

This sounds like something Damian and Jon would say haha.

[juan678]

[JBatmanFan05]

King there sets the table for a title of a future Superman arc of his..."I Am Busy" lol

King ruined any three word sentences that start with "I am" for me.

[DragonPiece]

This is going to be a good one! Can't wait to see King finally writing my two favorite characters in fiction together!

[Jackalope89]

Then it spreads to their sons.

Jon: Your dad should call mine.
Damian: No, your father should call mine.

[Superlad93]

Already some subtle yet fantastic Superman and Lois right here. Anyone notice that it seems Lois is already busy writing an piece on exposing whatever failings that lead to the emergency Clark is dealing with? It's woven in so effortlessly along with their conversation that it really does get across the feeling that they've been doing this for a while, and that they're a team. The implication of their dynamic here is probably stronger than I've seen it anywhere else in like, I don't know, 6 years. Even the panel layout implies a level of different but equally comparable strength.

I'm genuinely excited for how King plans on comparing and contrasting this dynamic with Cat and Bat. And DAT ART!!! The hype is pretty freakin real for this one.

[Sacred Knight]

I was too busy noticing her hair color.

Seriously though, yes I noticed all that, its palpable in just a few panels. This does more in just a few panels than the main Superman titles have managed since the new era, to be quite frank. This is what I mean when I say show me their dynamic, don't just tell me in passing with empty sap.

I don't know how the relationships will be coming out of this, but if it can end on a lighthearted note I'd have Selina, Lois, and Steve plan a triple date because their SO's are so damn stubborn.

[Adekis]

Talk about great art- I especially love that last panel of Superman catching the train- his face looks fantastic- not too lined, not too young. Perfectly classic.

I will say though, first of all, Lois is obviously right and I have no idea why Superman is having such a hard time with this. Being emotionally stunted is Batman's thing, that's why he hasn't called you!

Second of all, I just don't think that "darling" is a good word to come out of Lois's mouth. Somehow it just doesn't work for me. Don't know why. I only like one pet name for the Man of Steel, and it's "Smallville".

Then again, I felt the same way about Jon calling his dad "sir" (weiiird) and nobody agreed with me on that, so maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree.

[Kuwagaton]

Lol, I don't go for that either. I never really saw Superman as a dude who has his son call him sir. Possibly perpetuated by an army brat mom. I also don't really put "darling" in Lois' vocabulary. It almost seems sarcastic, haha. Does make me curious about the affection Superman and Batman wll show each other by the end of all this, and how it'll be implied in the way they address each other.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Talk about great art- I especially love that last panel of Superman catching the train- his face looks fantastic- not too lined, not too young. Perfectly classic.

I will say though, first of all, Lois is obviously right and I have no idea why Superman is having such a hard time with this. Being emotionally stunted is Batman's thing, that's why he hasn't called you!

Second of all, I just don't think that "darling" is a good word to come out of Lois's mouth. Somehow it just doesn't work for me. Don't know why. I only like one pet name for the Man of Steel, and it's "Smallville".

Then again, I felt the same way about Jon calling his dad "sir" (weiiird) and nobody agreed with me on that, so maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree.

Jon calling his dad "sir" definitely sits wrong with me too. "Darling" works here though for me, since given the context of telling him to stop being a doofus and call his friend it reads like a playful setup to her calling him out on being ridiculous.

[K. Jones]

There's King-isms in the dialogue. But the panel depictions, the plotting in the background is stellar. Superman stopping a train from going off a broken bridge, and then noticing that Lois is investigating a train insurance fraud scam thing. It's not even subtle but we see it so infrequently that it's like a message from god or something. Pure Superman & Lois stuff.

Honestly, while I like the story beats, think the dialogue is the usual King, the thing I took away from this preview is just the art. It's been a hot minute since I've seen a full force GLAMOROUS Lois.

[Frontier]

Lol, I don't go for that either. I never really saw Superman as a dude who has his son call him sir. Possibly perpetuated by an army brat mom. I also don't really put "darling" in Lois' vocabulary. It almost seems sarcastic, haha. Does make me curious about the affection Superman and Batman wll show each other by the end of all this, and how it'll be implied in the way they address each other.

It makes her sound like King's Catwoman .

It's been a hot minute since I've seen a full force GLAMOROUS Lois.

Agreed.

I'd say they've been kind of conservative with Rebirth Lois visually up to this point, if in part because she's a mom now, not that I'm necessarily complaining about that.

[The Learner]

It's been a hot minute since I've seen a full force GLAMOROUS Lois.

Totally agreed, she looks stunning here.

As for the issue itself, I am not a fan of King's dialogues but Clay Mann's art makes up for it. Clark and Bruce both refusing to call each other feels odd to me, they are supposed to be best friends.

[Adekis]

It makes her sound like King's Catwoman .

Yeah, exactly. Sardonic "darling" is something GLAMOROUS Catwoman might say, not Lois.

I'd say they've been kind of conservative with Rebirth Lois visually up to this point, if in part because she's a mom now, not that I'm necessarily complaining about that.

Speaking of which, GLAMOROUS suits Selina a lot better than it suits Lois. I don't like Glamorous Lois either. I don't really like Mom-Lois, in part because I don't think Lois is the kind of woman who'd even want kids, but I also don't think of her as glamorous. If she gets gussied up for some big event, I think it should be kind of a big deal for her. Getting her glam on should be work that comes sort of hard to her, not an everyday appearance. That's not to say she's not beautiful; she is, she's just not GLAMOROUS.

I think it's Teri Hatcher informing that opinion of mine. Her Lois would always dress super businesslike, so whenever she put on a dress and did her hair up, it was because there was a reason to do it for a story. Even then her attitude didn't quite match her look, and I always got the sense that she was subtly uncomfortable with getting dressed up. By contrast, with Selina Kyle, there's a GLAMOROUSness that comes to her so easily that she literally woke up like that, and it results in her looking the way Lois does in the panels above. But Lois seems kind of wrong with that kind of easy glamor to me.

I use the word "glamor" too much in this comment.