The Nerdy Bird Adores - Superman/Batman #51

For most of us, comics equals cool. Obviously some people in this world consider them the exact opposite but we'll forget about them for right now. Seeing a superhero overcome great odds or do something really spectacular with their powers makes our hearts swell with pride. A great issue can make us really happy and cause us to wonder how everyone in the world isn't reading comics too. Then there are girls like me. I read comics and react the same way to those great epic moments yet I also live for those adorable panels the wonderful creators seem to stick in now and then. As luck would have it, it's been happening a whole lot lately so I'm starting something new: The Nerdy Bird Adores

"I'm the goshdarn Batma--"

Now, I'm speaking from a girl's perspective, that's not to say that guys don't or shouldn't find this kind of stuff adorable too it's just that I'm probably more likely to admit it in public. How anyone wouldn't find Superman/Batman #51 adorable is beyond me! A younger (?) smaller version of Superman and Batman show up playing the hero just like their larger counterparts and acting very much like children. And we all know how much Batman loves children.

It's all fun and games for the Lil' Capes until they realize the Big Capes aren't taking them seriously. Of course Lil' Batman is the first to go off. He makes sure they know why he became a crime-fighter.

"Two shoves and nothing was ever the same again."

That's right, his parents were pushed, not shot and are still alive. And they were also about the same height as him. Big Batman decides his origin story is best left for another time. Of course Lil' Superman's parents are still alive and well too as is all of Krypton. They sent him away to Earth because it was going to rain. To the writers of this issue, Michael Green and Mike Johnson, you are amazing.

Things got a little weird when the Lil' League showed up. They were all over the place like kids on a jungle-gym and then Lil' Superman scooped up Lois in his arms with hearts floating around his head that were visible to everyone. Then the girls took it a bit too far...

"Are those lips?"

Eeek! Lil' Vixen, Wonder Woman, Black Canary and Supergirl are going after Robin! With floating lips! The rest was cute but this borders on creepy. Notice Lil' Flash's reaction to all the attention?

Obviously Mr. Mxyzptlk is behind it all, though not much else gets resolved in this issue, just a whole lotta adorable. A crew of Lil' Villains shows up as our cliff-hanger for the next issue though. Doomsday says, "Woof." Enough! There's only so much cute I can take in one sitting. Actually there was more than one issue this week that meets these standards but I'll save that for tomorrow. That's it for the first edition of The Nerdy Bird Adores.

Smack one, save one, put one in prison.

I never did like that Lana Lang. Always lurking. Popping up every few years to remind Clark she's still alive. Oh, and by they way, not married anymore! Hint, hint Clark. The other woman, the poor man's Lois Lane if you will, saved by Superman time and time again. This time Lana, it's personal.

Superman/Batman wrapped up it's K arc today with #49. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled. At Wizard World Philly Shane Davis hinted at a surprise ending that no one had yet picked up on. Well here it is: Lana Lang is a bitch.

If you haven't been following the book, Superman and Batman have been hunting down every piece of kryptonite on Earth in order to destroy it. They thought they were done until they found a rather large deposit in the possession of the U.S. Government. Eventually they discovered the kryptonite had been sold to them by LexCorp. Makes sense right? Only, Lex hasn't been running his company since he's been on the prison planet, Lana has.

Superman confronts Lana while Batman storms the building to figure out where the source of the kryptonite is located. Lana explains she was doing it for the greater good. LexCorp was in the hole and thousands of people depend on the company for survival. By arming the government against one of her oldest friends she was saving people. You know who else saves people Lana? SUPERMAN!

Batman finds the deposit of kryptonite they were looking for and Superman tells Lana it's over. Not so fast. She tells them there isn't one deposit, there are thousands and any attempt to go after them will force her to press a button which would release the kryptonite into the atmosphere as dust. Essentially she'd cover every inch of the planet making it unlivable to Superman and his super relatives. He calls her bluff and...she presses the button.

Clark is obviously crushed and immediately heads to the JLA Satellite for refuge. Luckily this catastrophe has a solution. Toyman (Toyboy?) Hiro has self-replicating spider-bots that clean on the microscopic level. They've got Earth clear of kryptonite up in no-time. In exchange Hiro got honorary membership in the JLA and a date with Powergirl.

Clark will probably never trust Lana again, nor should he, but he still knows there may come a time he might need to be taken down and he entrusts Batman will the last piece of kryptonite. On the last page we see Batman placing the kryptonite next to every other color kryptonite he's in possession of. No surprises there.

While reading Catwoman #80 today it hit home that the series has been canceled. I'm still really upset about that and suggest fans write to DC to get her back. It worked with Manhunter right? I actually didn't know when exactly it was set to end so I checked and we've got two more issues to go. The picture above will be the cover for #82 and has Selina looking more Audrey Hepburn than ever.

I'm not the only one who knows how important Catwoman is. In this weeks DC Nation column art director Mark Chiarello tells us the story behind "The Real Power of the DC Universe" poster that was given out during the NY Comic Con. Apparently Catwoman was never supposed to be in it and Adam Hughes took it upon himself to add her after repeated attempts to convince Dan Didio she should be included. I always thought it was a cool idea to have her there standing out as the only one dressed in black. But anyway, it's a fun story that's worth a read.

AAAAAND the creepy award for the week goes to....drumroll please...RED TORNADO!

Justice League of America #22 was focused on getting Red Tornado back into a body instead of drifting in the JLA computer. He's been a little depressed, granted, but while talking things over with his wife Kathy he tells her he watched Kendra and Roy having sex recently. Ewwww! Skeevy! Oh and the best part is, instead of Kathy yelling at him for being a peeping-tom, she jokes about how there's gotta be some porn on the JLA computer he can watch instead. Huh? Makes you wonder what else he's been watching...