Batman/Superman #1 Spoiler: A Guest Star You'll Never See Coming

With the launch of Greg Pak and Jae Lee's Batman/Superman today, the earliest meeting of the World's Finest is being told again, for the first time in the New 52. We get a version of Batman with a less-techy costume; we get Superman in his jeans and t-shirt; we get Bruce Wayne playing at being a homeless man, watching children fight. And, along the way, they find themselves transported through space and time, and there's a hugely unexpected guest star. Spoilers on from here on out, folks - we've done what we can to ensure it will be after the ad break before we say anything much. After spending the first chunk of the issue thinking back on his childhood in Smallville, Superman finds himself actually transported there--he thinks by Batman--and face-to-face with another version of Batman, who immediately sets upon him with Kryptonite. The whole thing would be very confusing if it weren't for the fact that Pak has already established that the first arc takes us to Earth Two.

But just when in Earth-2's timeline? it's hard to say, given the fact that both Superman and Batman are both alive, and they died during Darkseid's attack on that world. Oh, and there's another guest-star, too--one that has the potential to really upset things for Superman: Pa Kent. While he might have died alongside his wife in a flashback sequence (which jives, more or less, with New 52 history for Earth-1), apparently on Earth-2 he's still here--or at least he was when this event took place five or so years ago. Interesting... And yes, that's a few pages of guest pencils by Ben Oliver. Jae Lee's elaborate layouts grace most of the issue, but the last five pages or so are Oliver--which actually suits the story given the context. But more on that later, when we present a full review of the issue.