Sadly (albeit in keeping with the tone and subject matter) the story lacks the humor characteristic of the majority of Byrne’s work and delivers little in the way of surprises (a whole 10 pages are devoted to retelling the origins of Galactus, the Silver Surfer, Apokolips, et al, something which anyone buying such a comic might reasonably be expected to know already). This is good workmanlike stuff from veteran writer/artist John Byrne, with him depicting the face-off between Marvel and DC’s two premier ‘cosmic’ Big Bads, and there’s a strong supporting cast including the Silver Surfer and Orion. The Stygian deity Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, does battle to defend his world. Galactus comes to devour the world of Apokolips to satisfy his never-ending hunger. Did they pair them just because they’re both called Bruce? Enquiring minds want to know.īest Line: ALFRED: Perhaps a spot of tea will calm your nerves, Doctor Banner? 8. Darkseid vs. It was of course natural that after successfully pairing Superman with Spider-Man, DC and Marvel would want to use two more of their most popular characters for the next crossover, but the inherent improbability of the match makes the whole thing seem contrived, with the Hulk in particular coming out rather ill-served. The narrative moves along at a brisk pace with the Joker being as murderously psychotic as one could wish, but where the story perhaps falls down is that a battle between Batman and the Incredible Hulk is surely as mismatched as Jim Parsons fighting Anthony Joshua (this story was written 20 years before ‘The Dark Knight Strikes Again’, in which Batman can apparently take Superman to pieces without raising a sweat). García-López’s distinctive style of illustration, still used for DC’s merchandise today, never disappoints and does not do so in this story, which is a visual treat from the first panel to the last.

The gamma gun will cure the Shaper’s condition (for some reason) and in return for his help the Joker has been offered unlimited power. The Joker has made a bargain with the nigh-omnipotent Shaper of Worlds, whose power to turn dreams into reality is running wildly out of control and driving him insane. Before he can implement his plan, the gun is stolen by the Joker, despite the intervention of the Batman, who is forced to do battle with Banner’s green alter ego. 9. Batman vs The Incredible Hulk – The Monster and the Madman (1981)īruce Banner infiltrates Wayne Research, hoping its new gamma gun may provide a cure for his periodic transformations into the Hulk. DD is able to persuade Two-Face to spare Hyde’s life without resorting to tossing his coin by appealing to the man he once knew – though, as Two-Face ominously remarks, “Anything that happened here tonight…was simply the last of Harvey Dent”.īest Line: DAREDEVIL: I’d wager that’s covered under the “Utility Belt Act of 1939”. One nice touch though is the revelation that Murdock and Harvey Dent (Two-Face) were friends when they were both training for the law. As it is, we are left with a pedestrian plot, little more than a series of slugfests into which pretty much any Marvel or DC characters could be inserted with hardly the necessity of a re-write. The similarities between the backgrounds of Matt Murdock and Bruce Wayne in terms of their motivation for becoming vigilantes, as well as the passion for justice they share, and their very different concepts of what justice means, would seem to be natural territory to explore.Ĭhichester does this in a cursory way, if at all. Pairing Batman and Daredevil seems obvious, but the potential of the combination is not really lived up to here, largely due to the fact that almost no use is made of the respective characters’ secret identities.

Now Ralf Collie and James Corray Smith can reveal the Top Ten DC/Marvel Crossovers… 10. Daredevil/Batman – Eye for an Eye (1997) Love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t get away from them.

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