Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson - Page 3

middyseafort · June 1 2009, 01:38 AM

Smiley wrote:

I did enjoy The Last Days of Krypton, but I just don't feel a need to pick up Enemies and Allies. The first meeting of Superman and Batman in John Byrne's Man of Steel comic series was well done, and I'm not nostalgic for 1950's sci-fi.

I finished the book on the flight to Manila, and it's hardly 50s sci-fi even though it plays with the Red Scare that was part of those flicks.

I enjoyed the novel, but felt the writing was a bit too ready-made in terms of description and character insights, certainly not as refined as Tom DeHaven's prose in It's Superman. Moreover, I thought the endgame was too much of a riff and telegraphed so much that it was hardly a twist.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the Bond-esque aspect of the plot and style, something that KJA calls himself out on throughout the book. I also like how it tied into The Last Days of Krypton a bit and touched upon a great deal of the aspects of both the Superman and Batman mythos.

While not the Earth-2 Superman or Golden Age Superamn, this was the closest interpretation since The New Frontier and It's Superman to my two favorite iterations of the Man of Steel.

Mr Light · June 1 2009, 03:17 AM

Tell me about it, the characters kept thinking "hey this is just like James Bond!" about twelve times in the book. Kinda annoying.

blockaderunner · June 2 2009, 06:50 PM

Greg Cox wrote:

blockaderunner wrote:

I've never been to keen on the idea of the novelization of superheroes. It's not that they're crap, but superheroes have always worked, at least to me, best in the visual medium of comics. When Superman's cape flutters in the breeze, you don't want to read two or three sentences describing it. You want to see a top notch artist illustrate it.

That's always the challenge, but you can try to compensate by emphasizing the other senses, the ones that comic books can't convey. What does it feel like to flame on? Can Superman feel that breeze against his face? What does Darkseid's voice sound like? What does Gotham City smell like? Does heat-vision burn when it hits you?

Prose also gives you the opportunity to try to get into the characters' heads more. In theory, at least.

That's what thought clouds and narration boxes are for. JMS used it with tremendous effect in his run of Spider-Man.

ClayinCA · June 2 2009, 08:37 PM

Greg Cox wrote:

Funny you should ask. I've already written the novelizations for both COUNTDOWN and FINAL CRISIS. COUNTDOWN comes out in July (just in time for Shore Leave!). I don't think FINAL CRISIS has been scheduled yet.

Thanks for asking!

Really looking forward to reading both of those, Greg - I've enjoyed your other books a great deal.

One of the criticisms of COUNTDOWN was that it didn't do a very good job tying in to the event it was...well, counting down to (that being FINAL CRISIS itself). Were you able to rectify (or even address) any of that in the novel?

Greg Cox wrote:

As for FINAL CRISIS . . . as usual, I had to simplify and streamline the plot a bit to adapt it to book form. But talk about a fun bunch of characters to play with: Frankenstein, evil Mary Marvel, Darkseid, the Green Lantern Corps . . . .

That really must have been a challenge. There are so many things in the plot of that book that either took place between panels, or were left to be inferred by the reader, or were otherwise obfuscated, that I can't imagine the adaptation process was in any way easy.

Greg Cox · June 2 2009, 09:41 PM

ClayinCA wrote:

Greg Cox wrote:

Funny you should ask. I've already written the novelizations for both COUNTDOWN and FINAL CRISIS. COUNTDOWN comes out in July (just in time for Shore Leave!). I don't think FINAL CRISIS has been scheduled yet.

Thanks for asking!

Really looking forward to reading both of those, Greg - I've enjoyed your other books a great deal.

One of the criticisms of COUNTDOWN was that it didn't do a very good job tying in to the event it was...well, counting down to (that being FINAL CRISIS itself). Were you able to rectify (or even address) any of that in the novel?
.

To be honest, I mostly treated them as two separate projects. In the FC book, I sometimes referred to the events of COUNTDOWN, but usually in a kind of vague and unspecific way.

"Rumor had it Mary Marvel had surrendered to the dark side . . . ."

"Darkseid was believed to have been destroyed . . . "

That sort of thing. It was just simpler that way.

Admiral_Young · June 2 2009, 10:12 PM

I finished the book over the weekend and I must say that I enjoyed it immesenly. I agree that the build up to Batman and Superman was rather slow but it gave KJA time to do a couple of pages on their origins that I really enjoyed reading. There wasn't much action but I figured that this was meant to be a detective novel...both with Bruce using his skills as a detective and Clark as an investigative reporter. This book focused way too much on Luthor and his plan to take over the world. I would have loved if Brainiac was used some how as the villain.

Loved all the UFO references and 50's era references...it really did have a New Frontier, Superman for All Seasons type of feel to it. I can see why Anderson felt it necessary to acknowledge Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in his acknowledgment page. Overall I would give this a 3.5/5 rating (a much stronger rating than I gave Last Days of Krypton which was a 1.5 or a 2.0.)

Snaploud · June 17 2009, 11:46 PM

I just read The Last Days of Krypton (as I'm planning to read Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies). I thought it was surprisingly good, and it makes me interested in reading more novels by Kevin J. Anderson.

Snaploud · June 17 2009, 11:52 PM

middyseafort wrote:

I enjoyed the novel, but felt the writing was a bit too ready-made in terms of description and character insights, certainly not as refined as Tom DeHaven's prose in It's Superman. Moreover, I thought the endgame was too much of a riff and telegraphed so much that it was hardly a twist.

Interesting. I couldn't get all the way through It's Superman. It just seemed to drag on a bit too much, but that could have been because I was busy with so many things at the time. It's hard to get into a book when you're stopping and starting all the time.

Broccoli · June 18 2009, 04:25 AM

Snaploud wrote:

I just read The Last Days of Krypton (as I'm planning to read Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies). I thought it was surprisingly good, and it makes me interested in reading more novels by Kevin J. Anderson.

I loved LDoK. A very fun, quick read.

Snaploud wrote:

middyseafort wrote:

I enjoyed the novel, but felt the writing was a bit too ready-made in terms of description and character insights, certainly not as refined as Tom DeHaven's prose in It's Superman. Moreover, I thought the endgame was too much of a riff and telegraphed so much that it was hardly a twist.

Interesting. I couldn't get all the way through It's Superman. It just seemed to drag on a bit too much, but that could have been because I was busy with so many things at the time. It's hard to get into a book when you're stopping and starting all the time.

While I liked it, It's Superman did drag in some parts. I felt that DeHaven seemed to go into too much detail at times for the book's own good.

Holoaddict · June 19 2009, 02:34 AM

Comic books are too much of a headache (sometimes literally) for me to read. But I still love the characters. So, when I am not watching tv shows or movies with them, I read the novels. I enjoy both the adaptations and the original novels. I have been looking forward to the Superman/Batman novel every since I read Last Days of Krypton. Unfortunately I must wait for the paperback. But I am sure it will be worth it.

wew · June 19 2009, 02:10 PM

Well with comic books hitting the 3.99 mark, novels seem to be a better value.

I read about 25% of the story at my bookstore, it seemed pretty good.

Snaploud · June 19 2009, 05:56 PM

I enjoyed The Last Days of Krypton more than Enemies and Allies, but both books were entertaining.

Enemies and Allies really should have been longer. We didn't get enough Batman/Superman interaction.

June 1 2009, 03:17 AM	#32
Mr Light Admiral Location: Pennsylvania	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson Tell me about it, the characters kept thinking "hey this is just like James Bond!" about twelve times in the book. Kinda annoying. __________________

June 2 2009, 10:12 PM	#36
Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Location: Metropolis	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson I finished the book over the weekend and I must say that I enjoyed it immesenly. I agree that the build up to Batman and Superman was rather slow but it gave KJA time to do a couple of pages on their origins that I really enjoyed reading. There wasn't much action but I figured that this was meant to be a detective novel...both with Bruce using his skills as a detective and Clark as an investigative reporter. This book focused way too much on Luthor and his plan to take over the world. I would have loved if Brainiac was used some how as the villain. Loved all the UFO references and 50's era references...it really did have a New Frontier, Superman for All Seasons type of feel to it. I can see why Anderson felt it necessary to acknowledge Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in his acknowledgment page. Overall I would give this a 3.5/5 rating (a much stronger rating than I gave Last Days of Krypton which was a 1.5 or a 2.0.) __________________ Admiral Young Chief of Operations Ignoring the The Last Stand since 2011.

June 17 2009, 11:46 PM	#37
Snaploud Admiral Location: Massachusetts, USA	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson I just read The Last Days of Krypton (as I'm planning to read Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies). I thought it was surprisingly good, and it makes me interested in reading more novels by Kevin J. Anderson. I could see a continuation featuring Zor-el. He could have saved Argo city using his energy bubble. That would have given him the years necessary to build the Jor-el-designed ark-ships.

June 19 2009, 02:34 AM	#40
Holoaddict Commodore Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson Comic books are too much of a headache (sometimes literally) for me to read. But I still love the characters. So, when I am not watching tv shows or movies with them, I read the novels. I enjoy both the adaptations and the original novels. I have been looking forward to the Superman/Batman novel every since I read Last Days of Krypton. Unfortunately I must wait for the paperback. But I am sure it will be worth it.

June 19 2009, 02:10 PM	#41
wew Rear Admiral	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson Well with comic books hitting the 3.99 mark, novels seem to be a better value. I read about 25% of the story at my bookstore, it seemed pretty good.

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June 19 2009, 05:56 PM	#42
Snaploud Admiral Location: Massachusetts, USA	Re: Batman/Superman Enemies and Allies Kevin J. Anderson I enjoyed The Last Days of Krypton more than Enemies and Allies, but both books were entertaining. Enemies and Allies really should have been longer. We didn't get enough Batman/Superman interaction.