DC COMICS
WRITER: Michael Green, Mike Johnson
ARTISTS/COVER: Shane Davis, Matt "Batt" Banning

Superman and Batman, in their quest to eradicate all Kryptonite, enter a secret US government facility where they confront a team of superhumans who were created to take down Superman.

This story has a good mix of action, drama and suspense with Batman and Superman up against enemies who pose a serious and credible threat against them. The two come prepared with Superman bringing a special lead armour but their antagonists have an ace up their sleeve as well.

The big problem with this issue is that in both writing and art, it tries too hard. While it is understandable that Superman would be hurt to know that the government is plotting against him, he sounds almost like a crybaby when he starts whining about how the country he loves has turned against him. Considering the number of times he and various other Kryptonians have turned against humanity, he should understand why governments would fear him. It is parrticularly ironic since he is working with Batman, the guy who created Brother Eye and the protocols for destroying his fellow Justice League members. And then, as if to justify Superman's tantrum, in comes Amanda Waller, talking like Lex Luthor and making veiled threats like Goldfinger. Apparently, John Ostrander, the creator of Amanda Waller, may be the only person who knows how to write the character as everyone else turns her into the stereotypical 'evil government functionary.' To top things off, the government's secret weapon-- revealed at the end-- has the stupid name of 'All-American Boy'-- and get this, he is

 --- SPOILERS ALERT--

a Kryptonite-impregnated Doomsday-clone!! How many times will Doomsday and his copies be used as the 'unbeatable foe' of every DC story? Well, at least they didn't use Superboy-Prime.

The art has scenes of dynamism and power and the fight scenes are genuinely exciting but many panels are just too cramped with detail that break the flow from page to page and makes it hard to tell what is going on. The designs for the antagonists in this story are very imaginative however, giving each of them a unique look while putting a group 'imprint' on all of them.

Despite my complaints, this issue still gets three and a half stars out of five although it could have done much better.