Continuing with our tour through the Marvel/DC crossover specials released to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their first collaboration, the second trade paperback released is “The Dead of Knight and Other Stories.” Don’t ask me which company released which one, as the creators in these books have worked at both companies at one time or another, so I can’t even tell. What I can tell is that these stories were a labor of love for those who stitched them all together for this book.
Although many stories were put out, each with several different characters from both companies, I’ll only be sharing my thoughts on the Superman/Spider-Man stories, as I did in my previous post.
Without further ado, let’s get right to it!
I wish Brad Meltzer would do more comics. I really do. He is an accomplished novelist, and although that translates to being a bit verbose at times, he really does love Superman and DC Comics. I remember going to a book signing of his years ago in Boston during seminary, where I got my first printing of “Identity Crisis” signed, where he was glowing as a fan about getting the opportunity to write Superman. His enthusiasm was palpable.
It should also be said that he has supported the Siegel & Shuster Society, so there’s that too.
The featured story in this collection is written by Meltzer and drawn by Pepe Larraz, and has Superman and Spider-Man buried under rubble with Kryptonite in the vicinity, so Peter is basically on his own.
The story is decent enough, with both characters’ dialogue very much in line with who they are and not out of left field. There is the obligatory “If This Be My Destiny” moment for Spider-Man to lift the rubble and save the day, as there was in the other special too, and the art is good all around.
The story wasn’t Meltzer’s best, as it seemed he succumbed to the challenge of writing a believable problem for both Supes and Spidey. Superman being possessed by a symbiote just doesn’t work for me.
A smattering of random villains teaming up- a comic trope which rarely works, if ever- doesn’t really help matters at all.
Still, there are some heartwarming moments with both characters’ families, and the newshound aspect with Clark and Peter that works well. In all, a good story, just not quite as good as Waid and Jimenez’ in the other collection.
Bullet points!
Spider-Man Noir & Golden Age Superman
Aesthetically, I absolutely adored this story! Of all the character pairings, this one felt completely seamless, as if they belonged in each other’s worlds! Really great concept and art by Marcos Martin.
I’ve never been a huge Dan Slott guy though, as something feels just a tad off about whatever character he is writing. Still, he does a serviceable job here. A fun story.
Gwen Stacy and Lana Lang
Meant to be a “loves lost” type story, or perhaps nostalgia for one’s youth, this sees Spidey and Superboy teaming up in the past as Gwen and Lana relate their experiences in the foreground. It wasn’t a world beater but did have a good deal of charm.
Nice to see Joe Kelly write a short story here, which coincides with a new gig on the Amazing ongoing, as it feels like honoring the ’90s!
Superman and the Thing
WOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!
Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are now mainstays in their own company and haven’t worked at either of the Big 2 in years. I have no idea who talked them into returning or how, but just this creative team handling Superman makes me feel like all is right in the universe again!
The story wasn’t the greatest collaboration either has worked on (it actually felt quite preachy, oddly enough) but Johns and Frank could do a six pager showing Clark Kent putting dishes away and I would love it.
Worth the price of the book alone!
Steel and Thor
Louise Simonson was never my favorite writer growing up, but I must say that any time she has dipped her toe back in the water in recent years, I enjoy her writing immensely.
In this story, she and Todd Nauck spin a yarn about Steel and Thor teaming up to stop the Hobgoblin. I am not sure why, but somebody at Marvel seems to insist on shoehorning Thor into a couple of these stories, even though it doesn’t quite feel like he belongs. Here, especially, his power levels are just wayyy too big for the world the other characters occupy. A decent short, though.
Supergirl and Spider-Gwen
Easily my least favorite story of this bunch, as Supergirl just comes off as a mean, catty older sister to Gwen here. Maybe Stephanie Philips thought the characters’ personalities were too similar and needed to change one of them. It didn’t work.
Phil Noto doing art chores again on a Supergirl story, though… awesome!!
Superman and Miles Morales
Brian Bendis seems to always be teamed up with a fantastic artist, and here he and one of his collaborators on Ultimate Spider-Man, Sara Pichelli, do a story about Miles teaming up with Superman.
I choose to forget that Bendis ever had anything to do with Superman, so I am not going to comment too much on that side of this, although his dialogue for Superman always felt very in character.
I never read his Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales stuff, so I can’t speak to it, but this story probably made fans from that run pretty happy.
Superman and Spider-Man
I have grown to really love Jeph Loeb’s writing over the years, and to see him and Jim Cheung paired up again in the same year is just fantastic (they recently did a Batman/Wonder Woman Hush spinoff special).
Although at two pages I really can’t call this a story, it’s more of a pep talk by Superman to Peter, trying to lift his spirits out of the doldrums- a perfect place for both characters to be when interacting- but it is probably my favorite piece in this whole book. An impressive feat, considering how much else is in here!
I love seeing Superman honored as a central piece of DC Comics, and I love how much talent was collected in these two books from both companies.
Looking back, I wonder why Dan Jurgens wasn’t involved in this at all (not even a cover?), given that he is such a historic figure for Superman, has worked on Spider-Man, and is probably pretty available right now. It would have been great to have him, and I can think of a few others that would have been nice too.
Even so, the book was an enjoyable read, even if the other one beats it by a nose. Recommended!
Capeage Meter: 7 out of 10
