I loved the artist (Jae Lee) for the first 3 issues of this, then after that it went back to a more standard style that was good, but not as cool. With the artist change, the story arch changed too. The first arch was about an alternate dimension/Earth so there are 2 Batmans and 2 Supermans, good stuff, but kind of confusing.

The 2nd arch was about a video game technology that made things happen in real life and an alien that made everyone angry so millions of angry gamers were playing games that were causing damage in real life. It was kind of cheesy but original. ( )

I would actually give it 3.5 out of 5 stars, but you all know GR by now. Anyhow, you can find my full review of this over on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian. Click on the link below to read my review.

Review link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/06/booknote-batmansuperman-vol-1-cro... ( )

Young Batman and young Superman's first meeting? Huzzah!
This is a boy meets boy, boy meets boy's older alternate self while his older alternate self meets boy. Toss in a girl and her older alternate wifey version. Add a goddess and shake well. The whole time we're leading up to the nasty God who wants to come and kill the earth.
They do call Earth 2 as such eventually (where the older alternates live), but what is the first earth called? I don't think it's Earth One because those books are outside of the New 52. And I keep seeing references to an Earth Prime Superboy who is the only her of his planet (not sure if this New 52 or not), so likely not that earth... I know. All this stuff going on and I am worried about the names of the two earths. ( )

Batman/Superman: Cross World
Author: Greg Pak & Jae Lee
Publisher: DC Comics
Published In: New York
Date: 2014
Pgs: 144

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
Before the dawning of the Heroic Age, before their friendship, before the Justice League and before Darkseid, a Superman and Batman were sent to another world by a rogue goddess. in this parallel dimension, the two greatest heroes of a world must become a team before they are who they will become. But to get home, they’ll need the help of two other World’s Finest superheroes, the Superman and Batman of Earth-2.

Genre:
Adventure
Comics and graphic novels
Disaster
End of the World
Fantasy
Fiction
Multiverse
Science fiction
Superheroes

Why this book:
I’ve largely ignored the New 52. I’ve fallen out of love with the monthly collection of comics to read. I’ve gone through these cycles before. This one does feel different though. I picked this up not realizing that it was New 52 related and carried it around the library with me before deciding, for sure, that I would give it a try.
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Favorite Character:
Earth-2 Superman. He’s everything that Superman should be when well written.

Least Favorite Character:
Kaiyo, the Chaos Bringer almost made me put the book down the second she was introduced. Seemed silly to me. And that’s saying something. Luckily, I kept reading. Kaiyo is a bit rehabilitated by the Darkseid/Highfather/New Gods origin story, but still not a character I’m particularly in love with. Comes across as a pilot fish to Darkseid’s shark.

Character I Most Identified With:
Earth-2 Alfred sitting on that porch with Jonathan Kent while the boys played.

The Feel:
The New 52 characters don’t feel familiar in anything other than the uniforms they wear.

Favorite Scene:
Love young Earth-2 Clark and Earth-2 Bruce playing baseball and, then, fighting. And E-2 Alfred and E-2 Jonathan sitting on the porch.

E-2 Martha putting a stop to the fight between Earth-0’s Superman and Batman.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
I don’t like the way that Gotham is drawn in the scenes where Earth-0 Clark and Bruce are watching the kid be bullied and what the outcome is going to be. Gotham to me is brutal architecture. This was viney.

Hmm Moments:
A Superman who grew up without even as much Jonathan and Martha in his life as we are used to seeing in older comics. Makes me glad I skipped the majority of the New 52. That isn’t tearing the Man of Steel down to his essence. That’s just tearing him down.
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Last Page Sound:
That’s alright...I guess.

Author Assessment:
I don’t know. Case-by-case basis.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
meh!

Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
South Campus

Dewey Decimal System:
741.5973 BAT

Would recommend to:
genre fans
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Errata: ( )

Despite a confusing beginning (I had to go back and read that part over) the story does a great job of bringing the old and new worlds together, and the art suits the story perfectly. ( )