Superman/Batman

Superman/Batman is a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Superman and Batman. Superman/Batman premiered in August 2003 and is an update of the previous series World's Finest, in which Superman and Batman regularly join forces.

Superman/Batman explores the camaraderie, antagonism, and friendship between its titular characters. Prior to the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, the two iconic characters were depicted as the best of friends. Jeph Loeb, the series' first writer, uses a dual-narrator technique to present the characters' often opposing viewpoints and estimations of each other. Frank Miller's landmark series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was the first DC story that depicts the heroes at odds with each other, as opposed to Pre-Crisis incarnations. DC Comics continued to take this approach in mainstream continuity Post-Crisis.

Fans criticized Loeb's run for its lateness during the "With a Vengeance" storyline although it was during this time that Loeb's son Sam was dying of cancer. Superman/Batman #26, the first issue after Loeb's final issue, features a story plotted by Sam Loeb. Twenty-six writers and artists who knew Sam worked on the issue, donating their fees and royalties for the issue to The Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund.

Jeph Loeb
In the first story arc, "Public Enemies" (issues #1-6, illustrated by Ed McGuinness), then-U.S. President Lex Luthor declares Superman and Batman enemies of the state, claiming that a kryptonite asteroid headed for Earth is connected to an evil plot by Superman. Luthor offers a $1 billion bounty, which encourages both supervillains and superheroes to attack the two heroes. Superman nearly kills President Luthor in the Oval Office, and Batman steps aside to let him before Superman decides not to. Batman and Superman seek out the new Toyman, Hiro Okamura, who builds a spacecraft with enough firepower to destroy the asteroid. The danger averted and Luthor's plans in jeopardy, Luthor injects himself with a mixture of Venom and synthetic kryptonite, dons a battle suit from the planet Apokolips, and confronts Batman and Superman. Luthor is defeated and appears to die in the battle, although he is shown to survive. The fight costs Luthor his presidency.

In "Protégé" (Issue #7, illustrated by Pat Lee), Superboy and Robin investigate the new Toyman for their mentors.

In "The Supergirl From Krypton" (issues #8-13, illustrated by Michael Turner), the kryptonite asteroid is revealed to hold a pod that contains Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El. Batman is suspicious of the new Supergirl, saying her arrival is too coincidental. Wonder Woman abducts Supergirl to Themyscira to train her for combat. Darkseid attacks Themyscira and kidnaps Kara, intending her to be the new leader of the Female Furies. On Apokolips, the heroes rescue Supergirl after Batman threatens Darkseid with the planet's destruction. Darkseid later appears to kill Supergirl at the Kent farm. Enraged, Superman throws Darkseid into the Source Wall. Superman finds Supergirl alive on Themyscira, where she had been teleported secretly, and he introduces her to the superhero community.

In "Absolute Power" (issues #14-18, illustrated by Carlos Pacheco), three time travelers eliminate members of the Justice League, except for young Superman and Batman, whom they raise as their own children. Batman and Superman are raised to be dictators of the world, eliminating all opposition and killing people who would otherwise be their friends. During a fight with the Freedom Fighters the timeline is thrown into chaos, and the two men travel through alternate timelines. Darkseid makes a deal with them in one reality to send them back through time to stop the supervillains who raised them from altering history. Superman and Batman restore history, but the murders they committed haunt them.

Issue #19 is a stand-alone backdoor pilor story for the Supergirl series. The issue was later reprinted as Supergirl #0.

In "With A Vengeance!" (issues #20-25, illustrated by Ed McGuiness), Mr. Mxyzptlk battles the Joker, who has tricked Bat-Mite out of his powers, using other characters as their pawns. Superman and Batman fight a team of superheroes from an alternate universe called the Maximums (a pastiche of Marvel Comics' Avengers series, more specifically their incarnations from the Ultimate universe, the Ultimates). Keeping the bargain he made in "Absolute Power", Superman frees Darkseid from the Source Wall, and, double-crossed by Darkseid, becomes trapped in the Source Wall instead. Recruited by Bizarro, multiple versions of Supergirl rescue Superman from the Source Wall before they are all transported to an arena. There, they fight Darkseid, Lex Luthor, and evil versions of Superboy and Supergirl in a battle that involves versions of Supermen and Batmen from many different realities. Bat-Mite escapes, and the two imps tie up all the loose ends and return all the participants to their point of origin.

Sam Loeb
Jeph Loeb's son Sam Loeb died on June 17, 2005 at the age of 17 after a three-year battle with cancer before finishing the story he was writing for Superman/Batman #26. Jeph Loeb, along with 25 other comic book professionals and artists who had known Sam, worked on the issue, scripting or penciling individual pages. Marvel Comics allowed John Cassaday and Joss Whedon to work on the issue despite their exclusive contracts. All 26 contributors donated their fees and royalties for the issue to The Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund.

In "The Boys Are Back in Town" (issue #26), Superman and Batman send Superboy and Robin to visit the Toyman in Japan because he has not been heard from in a while. The issue was released shortly after Superboy's death in Infinite Crisis #6, and Robin's eulogy of Superboy serves as both a framing sequence and as a meditation on the author's passing.

The 26 contributors to the issue:

"Sam's Story", a back-up story written by Jeph Loeb ten days after his son's death, depicts young Clark Kent's friendship with a boy named Sam who gets cancer. Tim Sale provides the art for the story in a style reminiscent of the Superman For All Seasons limited series.

Mark Verheiden
Superman writer and Smallville producer Mark Verheiden took over Superman/Batman with issue #27.

In "Nevermind" (issue #27, artist Kevin Maguire), Superman and Batman find their minds have been transferred by Ultra-Humanite and Brainwave into the bodies of Powergirl and the Huntress, respetively, and must race the clock to prevent the change from becoming permanent. The issue is presented as a dream that Power Girl has while in Kandor, alluding to events that happened on the parallel world of Earth-2 prior to the merging of the multiverse into the New Earth.

In "The Enemies Among Us" (issues #28-ongoing, illustrated by Green Lantern artist Ethan Van Sciver), Batman is attacked by what appears to be a rampaging Martian Manhunter, and the heroes try to stop the martian as he shapeshifts into various supervillians from the past. Guest starring various Green Lanterns, including John Stewart and Hal Jordan.