Batman Superman The New 52

Batman and Superman have appeared together in comic books for decades.

And whether a viewer cares for the super team in film, Batman and Superman still form a compelling partnership in the comics.

There are the old “best buddies” team-ups of “World’s Finest” comics from decades ago, a “Super Friends” in comics.

Readers can find the more bitter relationship sparked by Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Returns” that pitted an aging Batman against an immortal Superman – an alliance turned rivalry turned antagonistic.

Or readers can find a mix between the two, such as the collected editions of “Batman Superman: The New 52, Vol. 1.”

Here, the New 52 younger versions of Batman and Superman meet for the first time. This Batman is young and raw; Superman wears a short-sleeved “S” T-shirt, jeans and hiking boots – he cannot even fly yet, giving truth to the old Superman adage: able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

These younger versions not only meet each other, they meet their older counterparts who are old chums. In this version, the older Batman and Superman met as boys and became friends as Bruce and Clark.

The story has some original twists for a partnership that is so old and has endured thousands of stories. Writer Greg Pak can be thanked for the twists.

The art is dynamic, and subtle. Classical and innovative. The artistic team led by Jae Lee can be thanked for that.

Pak and Lee make a team nearly as super as Batman and Superman.

This is a book from a few years ago and can be found on discount shelves.