This is an exciting sneak peek because it shows that the upcoming film is moving towards adapting a look and feel from the pages of the Batman comic books. The Batmobile looks similar to the one portrayed in ink and the batsuit appears more like the "costume" illustrated in comic books versus the "body armor" look of past films.
If you can't wait until May 6, 2016 release of BATMAN VERSUS SUPERMAN at movie theaters to get your superhero fix than you can pick up an edition of the graphic novel BATMAN/SUPERMAN:CROSS WORLD that was recently published by DC COMICS. This graphic novel compiles issues 1-4 of the monthly comic book Batman/Superman plus throws in the Darkseid one-shot comic from DC Comics 2013 Villain's Month. The comic book is supposed to portray the Dark Knight's first meeting with Superman in the New 52 universe. The New 52 is the 2011 relaunch of DC Comics where its entire ongoing monthly superhero books were cancelled and 52 new series debuted that erased all of DC Comics past history and started its franchises over again from scratch. The goal of this transformation has been to make DC's characters more modern and relatable to current times with the goal of enticing new readers.
I have to say though that I just haven't been impressed by many of the New 52 stories that I've read so far, and this includes BATMAN/SUPERMAN. It seems the creative team at DC is just trying too hard and the stories from my perspective are too over the top trying to tie-in and merge super heroe stories with supernatural elements and sci-fi characteristics in a manner that seems forced and contrived rather than cool and creative.
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: VOLUME 1 "CROSS WORLD" introduces readers to a time when Batman and Superman didn't know each other and had an adversarial relationship with a storyline that travels across the DC Multiverse. In this story arc Batman and Superman first confront each other and than are transported to the alternate dimension of Earth 2 where they encounter different incarnations of themselves. I just found this intradiminsional story line tied to their first meeting very confusing. I was constantly confused over which version of the character was being portrayed, which timeline was being referred to, and essentially who was who throughout the book. Than Wonder Woman flew into the picture on a pegasus out of the blue and I just lost interest all together in the story from the cheesiness.
One interesting aspect of of the comic book was that Earth 2 versions of the Dark Knight and The Man of Steel have been friends since they were children while in the regular universe they are just meeting each other and are adversaries as adults. The book does a nice job of delving into this Earth 2 relationship but not enough about the regular universe version's initial meetings. While the New 52 is supposed to up the comic books to new fans by letting them read stories without the burden of extensive back stories on the characters it seemed you really needed to know the back stories of both the regular universe and Earth 2 universe characters to stay in the plot of this story.
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If you enjoy the New 52 JUSTICE LEAGUE comic books, I'd recommend picking up BATMAN/SUPERMAN but otherwise I'd give it a pass.
On another note though, if you haven't read BATMAN ETERNAL yet I'd highly recommend you pick up that comic book. BATMAN ETERNAL is part of a year long celebration of Batman's 75th anniversary that is a weekly published book by DC COMICS. The artwork and stories from the first 5 issues so far is exceptional. It is one of the best comic books I've read in years. You'd think that DC that with so many issues to publish on a weekly timeline that they might cut corners but so far everything about this series has been first rate! The story involves a detective from Detroit taking a job with the Gotham PD. On his first night on the job, Commissioner Gordon is set up and a crime boss from the past reappears to try and rebuild his empire of vice.
What is nice about BATMAN ETERNAL is that while the story has fantastical elements to it, it also has a gritty realistic approach to its story telling. Commissioner Gordon is set-up when he allegedly shoots an unarmed man and causes a subway crash. The villain who sets this up is a mob boss who corrupts the Mayor and Commissioner Gordon and turns the police against the Caped Crusader. Than the mob boss turns his sights on the Penguin who has moved into power in the seedy gambling/prostitution/drug side of Gotham. We aren't looking at alternate universes and mystical powers in this series but rather a vigilante taking on crime in a dangerous world filled with mobsters, villains with superpowers, and bad guys with high tech devices.
Throughout the year run of this comic book it is promised that a long list of villains, sidekicks, and friends will appear in the pages of BATMAN ETERNAL. Will we see some Batman/Superman sequences? You'll have to pick up the issues to find out each week at your local comic book store or digital outlet. I recommend you check it out!
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary digital pdf of BATMAN/SUPERMAN VOLUME 1 "CROSS WORLD" from the publisher to review. I was not mandated to write a positive review to receive the digital copy. The views and opinions in this post are my own.
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