Superman in Batman #5

[raidensix]

What did you think of Superman's appearance in Batman #5? He and the rest of the league got owned by newbie Gotham.
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[GodofBoredom]

It's a typical "throw Superman under the bus, to show how powerful the other guy is" that is much too prevalent at DC.

The Justice League in general doesn't fare very well in Batman comics.

[Vanguard-01]

Yeah, that story kinda sucked for the League. Worfing is one of the laziest ways to show the power of a new character.

I would be less annoyed by this story if it was like the only story of it's kind from the Bat books in recent memory, but they just did Endgame a year or two ago.

On of the Bat book's true saving graces has been the fact that they have been largely uninvolved in the using of outside characters to prop up Batman. Most of those "Batman beats up Superman" or "Batman takes down the Justice League" moments about which we like to complain actually take place in Superman and/or Justice League books. The Batman office rarely gets involved in such things. In Batman's own books, characters outside the Bat Mythos rarely even show up because the Bat brand is so strong with both heroes and villains that it's rarely necessary to bring in outsiders.

Yeah, people. It's a disturbing, but very true, story that a lot of those "Superman losing to Batman" stories actually happened in Superman's own books. His Editorial office tends to be the one to bring Batman into his world and make him look bad. It's one of the eternal mysteries of Superman: why does his Editorial team seem to think that having him being constantly showed up within his own books by a character outside his own mythos is a good way to promote or build him up? It makes no sense. And yet, it happens ALL THE TIME.

So yeah, if I'm Mark Doyle, I want to tell my writers "Look, let's keep this bashing of other characters to a minimum people. We don't need the bad press of being accused of using non-Bat characters to prop up Bat characters.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I was totally onboard for it. It was a reasonable extension of the surprise justification for what had seemed like a logical lapse up to that point (Gotham's upper limits being wildly inconsistent from issue to issue) in order to elevate the threat for the finale, and show why only Gotham Girl could possibly save the day here. As for Superman himself, he's the only member of the team it takes multiple shots to put down and he's the last one left standing (unless you count Batman who wasn't in the fight period, and was no more effective than any of the others), so I'd say it's a fine showing for him.