Batman/Superman [2019] #11 - DC Comics

BATMAN/SUPERMAN No. 11, October 2020

As ‘thrilling conclusions’ go, there was surely little doubt in this twenty-two page periodical’s audience that Joshua Williamson delivered on “DC Comics” pre-publication promise that the titular characters would bring “the deadly machinations of the Ultra-Humanite” crashing to an end. However, just how the California-born writer’s narrative “will reverberate across the DC Universe for months to come” is arguably much harder to imagine, considering that his “Atomic” story-line wraps with the unnamed mad scientist’s degenerating brain being housed within S.T.A.R. Labs and Bruce Wayne successfully removing the villain’s “damn detonator” from his chest using the Batcave's advanced surgical table.

True, Batman is clearly unsettled by the Ultra-Humanite’s claim that “someone was keeping Atomic Skull captive” before Albert Michaels blew up Gotham City’s Financial District, and the American author unsurprisingly has the supposedly dead scientist tear himself free of his grave plot at the comic’s end. But none of this seems to suggest something so deadly has been started that the Burbank-based publisher’s “fictional shared universe” is in danger of being affected, nor that Superman’s revelation to the world that he is Clark Kent will detrimentally impact his relationship with the Dark Knight; “Clark, Stop. I know that. And I wasn’t mad that you didn’t consult with me about revealing your identity. I was only frustrated with how I reacted.”

What Issue Eleven of “Batman/Superman” does deliver though is a thoroughly enjoyable battle of sheer strength and sharp wits between the Man of Steel and one of “the first supervillains of the Golden Age of Comics.” Indeed, the pair’s titanic tussle, superbly sketched by former “Alpha Flight” artist Clayton Henry and beautifully coloured by Alejandro Sanchez, is arguably faultless, as Kal-El demonstrates to both his arch-nemesis and any perusing bibliophile that “Batman isn’t the only detective” in this book by using a trail of rare radiation and his supersonic hearing to locate the Ultra-Humanite’s secret headquarters. Aided by an incapacitated Caped Crusader, Williamson really shows off the Kryptonian’s fighting savvy by having him distract his ‘omnipotent’ opponent just long enough for his partner to neutralise the crook’s technologically advanced base of operations.

The regular cover art of "BATMAN/SUPERMAN" No. 11 by David Marquez