Batman/Superman [2019] #14 - DC Comics

BATMAN/SUPERMAN No. 14, January 2021

Despite this comic bringing Joshua Williamson’s three-part “Planet Brainiac” storyline to a fairly fulfilling finale, some within this particular publication’s audience probably still found themselves checking out the comic’s actual page count once they had finished perusing it. Indeed, it’s arguably hard to recall such a rapier-fast read as the one the California-born writer presents within Issue Fourteen of “Batman/Superman”, as the titular characters finally manage to stop the homicidal machinations of an utterly deranged artificial intelligence located deep inside a “deadly moon base”.

Happily however, rather than “DC Comics” simply reducing its content, this apparent brevity of an experience is actually down to good old-fashioned prodigious penmanship and a thoroughly enthralling battle against a technologically advanced opponent, courtesy of the script cleverly mixing the Man of Steel’s pulse-pounding encounter against the composite Batman/Superman automaton in Metropolis, with that of the Dark Knight’s clever infiltration of its electronic mind in the digital world; “It worked… Overwhelmed the program long enough for you to download it into a closed system."

Also adding to this book’s sense-shattering shenanigans is Williamson’s use of Steel and Batwoman as supporting cast members, and their crucial involvement in distracting the misguided ‘Brainiac protocol’ prior to the “World’s Finest duo” applying their coup de grâce. John Henry Irons debatably takes the lion’s share of such a spotlight, thanks to his “little Hail Mary for rainy days” and ability to hack into the “army of killer robots”. But Batwoman definitely steals the show with a genuine badass moment as she single-handedly takes out an entire army of mechanical murder-bots using just her electrically-charged fists, and purposely poses atop her mountain of metallic mayhem.

In rounding off this excellent instalment, it would simply be rude not to mention Max Raynor’s extraordinarily dynamic contribution to the success of this comic’s story-telling too, and his breath-taking attention to detail for all the numerous automatons based upon the cream of the DC Universe Rogues Gallery. This publication’s prodigiously pencilled bouts of pugilism really are tremendously well-drawn, with the artist’s ability to imbue every punch with a palpable, bone-breaking impact doubtless making many wish the comic had at least depicted a few panels of Kate Kane’s aforementioned triumph over her numerous foes.

The regular cover art for "BATMAN/SUPERMAN" #14 by David Marquez & Alejandro Sanchez